August 25, 1958…”Concentration” Debuts On NBC
The original network daytime series, “Concentration”, appeared on NBC for 14 years, 7 months. With 3,796 telecasts, this was NBC’s longest running game show. Hugh Downs was the original host and served from ’58 till ’69. During this time, Hugh was also Jack Paar’s side kick on “Tonight” but in ’63, Downs became the new anchor on “Today”. In ’85, The Guinness Book Of Records recognized Hugh Downs for holding the record for the greatest number of hours on network television.
“Concentration” had a lot of homes, but the daytime version was always inside 30 Rock. From ’58 till ’65 Studio 3A was home. 1965 till 1967, it was 3B, and 8G from ’67 till ’73. This was the last show on the NBC roster to go color and that happened November 7, 1966.
There were two short lived night time versions…one was hosted by Jack Barry in 1958 for four weeks from Studio A at NBC’s 67th Street location, which was where the “Home” show was done. The second primetime version was April to September of ’61 from the Ziegfeld Theater on Monday nights with Bob Clayton as host.
When Downs left in ’69, Bob Clayton took over, but three months later Ed Mcmahon hosted for six months during Clayton’s leave of absence for an illness.
The show ended in ’73, but six months later, it was back on NBC as a Goodson – Todman syndicated production from the west coast with Jack Narz as host, and ran till ’78. Art James was the original announcer. By the way, the girl in the photo is PA Patty Prebble who later married Jack Barry. -Bobby Ellerbee
I loved that show but did it really end in ’78? I remember watching it as a kid, but could it really have been that long ago?
I got his autograph in 1952 after he walked into Studio DD in Chicago following the National Farm and Home Hour. He stood at that little console and said: “Portions of the preceding program were on electrical transcription. This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.” And then he’d leave. He did this every Saturday for months…possibly years.
I purchased an old Concentration home game at a flea market this past spring. This has the old 30-square format instead of the IMO dumbed down 25-square one.
Hugh is also a music composer and classical music lover. A few years ago, I interviewed him for the local classical radio station in Austin, Texas when he performed as narrator for a classical music piece with the Austin Symphony. He was kind and gracious and generously autographed a transcription disc I owned from the old NBC Radio Network “Monitor” program.
The syndicated version was produced at KTTV and shot with Norelco PC-70 cameras. I recall that they recorded an absurd number of episodes each tape day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XQVRa04FJU&sns=em
A small correction: Ed McMahon replaced Clayton not because of illness but because the so-called NBC brain trust thought McMahon, as a bigger TV name, would boost the ratings. But the opposite happened and Clayton was reinstated as host in September. He had served as McMahon’s announcer in the interim.
I remember watching it when I was a teen-ager.
I went to a taping in the 60’s with Hugh Downs. My friends thought I was a big deal because I was on TV when they scanned the audience LOL. I wish I knew what what I know now about NBC’s studios.
I was in the audience for many “Concentration” tapings from 1970-73. The one feature I remember was the presence of a live organist playing the show’s music.
“Today” executive producer Al Morgan famously disliked Hugh Downs. One of the things that bothered him was Hugh’s double-duty as “Concentration” host. He felt that it was beneath a serious “Today” anchor. But Hugh often pointed out that he was an entertainer, not a journalist, and had no such qualms about hosting a game show that aired, in many markets, immediately after or shortly after “Today.”
I loved that show as a kid. I always wondered if the puzzle board was electric or worked by stage hands. And it amazed me how a prize could be “wiped” off one contestant’s list and onto another’s almost instantaneously.
I had no idea the show survived Hugh Downs. Hmmm.