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If Only This Set Could Talk!

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

If Only This Set Could Talk! Can you imagine the stories?

The Celebrity Game inspired Merrill Heatter to work overtime trying to develop another multi-celebrity game. One Sunday afternoon he suddenly hit on an idea…put the celebrities in a giant tic-tac-toe board. He brought in partner Bob Quigley and the two pitched the idea to CBS daytime chief Fred Silverman, who ordered a pilot. So, with Bert Parks emceeing in 1965, the two taped a pilot called The Hollywood Squares.

Silverman had a slot to fill and a choice to make between Squares and The Face is Familiar. He chose Face (anyone remember that one?). When the option expired Heatter and Quigley shopped the show to ABC and NBC and were turned down cold. But NBC at least agreed to take a second look, and bought it. Their only complaint was that they didn’t like host Bert Parks, so they searched for another host. Supposedly, someone saw a Kellogg’s ad featuring comedian and song-and-dance man Peter Marshall …and the rest was history.

The Hollywood Squares premiered on NBC on October 17, 1966, at 11:30 a.m. EST, opposite The Dating Game on ABC and reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS. Ironicly, Van Dyke costars Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie were guests on that first show, and in fact were regulars for years. Three more of those first squares–Abby Dalton, Wally Cox and Charley Weaver– were also regulars during the show’s first few years. The Hollywood Squares would hold onto that time slot for ten years; ABC would move The Dating Game to another time within a year.

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21 responses to “If Only This Set Could Talk!”

  1. Michael Rogers

    I read once that the scenery doors at NBC Burbank were 17 ft high, so the “Squares” set had to be shorter than that.

  2. Nancy Griswold Drexel

    Yes!

  3. Paul Duca

    The center square for the debut week of shows was…Ernest Borgnine.

  4. Mark Heller

    terribly tough to watch, as a member of the studio audience.

  5. Mike Shaver

    Sadly ironic, Silverman turned down “Hollywood Squares” for CBS in ’66, and when he took control of NBC in the early 80s he went out of his way to get rid of it there, regardless of how popular it still was.. I guess he figured shows like “Supertrain” and “Pink Lady and Jeff” would have been bigger hits.. (He probably still does!)

  6. Dave Livingston

    The hilarious thing is Peter Marshall took the job out of spite because he hated Dan Rowan (who was the other one up for the hosting job)

  7. Randy West

    I also used to see the squares in the hallway all the time. It looked much smaller and not at all glamorous when not lit. But that’s true of pretty much every set and prop.

  8. Harvey Daye Jr.

    Hulu had about 15 shows posted at one time, not sure if they are still there or not

  9. Phil Walker

    This is priceless! Thank you!!

  10. Brendan McLaughlin

    From another shot taken during that taping session, I can tell you who everyone is. Starting with George Gobel in the bottom right and going clockwise: Loretta Lynn, Roddy McDowall, Dinah Shore, Vincent Price, Karen Valentine, Harvey Korman, and Shirley Jones — with Paul Lynde, of course, in the center.

  11. Gary Donahue

    I wish they would rerun Hollywood Squares including the original with Charlie Weaver in the center square.

  12. Bob Sewvello

    Notice that the contestants didn’t have to face the audience.

  13. Bob Sewvello

    Both CBS Television City and NBC in Burbank must have exciting places during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

  14. Sarah Cox Watson

    Cool infol.

  15. Jaimal Ware

    According to Peter Marshall’s book about The Hollywood Squares, it Merrill’s wife who saw Peter’s Kellogg’s ad.

  16. Rick Fazekas

    That’s a tough angle to ID the stars from. I recognize George Gobel in the green sweater, and of course Paul Lynde…. I’d say I’m drawing a blank on the others, but I don’t think that’s appropriate here.

  17. Maureen Elliott

    I had forgotten about this one!

  18. Steve Newman

    I remember the days when NBC was a real booming production facility. That thing was parked in the hall all the time.

  19. Tom Jurek

    O yes. Thanks.

  20. Val Ginter

    Those are lights…for the cyc…I think?

  21. Tom Jurek

    What was the purpose of all those monitors?

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