''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' are American TV
game shows
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...
that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of ''
Password
A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...
'', which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations. With only subtle differences between them, both ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' retained the format of play as their predecessor, with two teams of two people each—a celebrity and a contestant—attempting to guess a mystery word using only one-word clues. A new feature included a series of five passwords as clues to an overarching puzzle for the teams to solve.
''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
, and were taped on Stage 3 at
NBC Studios in
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
. ''Password Plus'' was a
Mark Goodson
Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.
Early life and ea ...
-
Bill Todman
William Selden Todman (July 31, 1916 – July 29, 1979) was an American television producer and personality born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest-running shows with business partner Mark Goodson, with whom he created ...
Production and ''Super Password'' was a Mark Goodson Production.
''Password Plus'' aired from January 8, 1979 to March 26, 1982, for 801 episodes. The program also won a
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...
for
Outstanding Game Show in 1982. ''Super Password'' aired for 1,151 episodes from September 24, 1984 to March 24, 1989.
Cast
Hosts
''Password Plus'' was hosted by original ''Password'' host
Allen Ludden
Allen Ellsworth Ludden (born Allen Packard Ellsworth; October 5, 1917 – June 9, 1981) was an American television personality, actor, singer, emcee, and game show host. He hosted various incarnations of the game show ''Password'' between 1 ...
from its debut until April 1980, when he took a leave of absence after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis Cullen (February 18, 1920 – July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. His biggest claim to fame was as a game show host; over the course of his career, he host ...
, who at the time was hosting the show that preceded ''Password Plus'' on NBC, ''
Chain Reaction
A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events.
Chain reactions are one way that syst ...
'', filled in until Ludden returned a month later.
Ludden left the program again in late October of 1980 due to further health problems and was replaced by
Tom Kennedy Thomas or Tom Kennedy may refer to:
Politics
*Thomas Kennedy (Scottish judge) (1673–1754), joint Solicitor General for Scotland 1709–14, Lord Advocate 1714, Member of Parliament for Ayr Burghs 1720–21
* Thomas Kennedy, 9th Earl of Cassilis ...
. Cullen was hosting ''
Blockbusters'', another Goodson-Todman production also airing on NBC by this time.
Ludden made no further television appearances before his death on June 9, 1981, and Kennedy hosted the remainder of the series.
Bert Convy
Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy (July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991) was an American actor, singer, game show host and panelist known for hosting ''Tattletales'', ''Super Password'' and ''Win, Lose or Draw''.
Early life
Convy was born in St. Louis ...
was the host for the entire run of ''Super Password''.
Announcers
Gene Wood
Eugene Edward Wood (October 20, 1925 – May 21, 2004) was an American television personality, known primarily for his work as an announcer on various game shows. From the 1950s to the 1990s, he announced many game shows, primarily Mark Goodson ...
was the regular announcer on both ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password''.
Johnny Olson
John Leonard Olson (May 22, 1910 – October 12, 1985) was an American radio personality and television announcer. Olson is perhaps best known for his work as an announcer for game shows, particularly the work he did for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman P ...
,
Bob Hilton
Robert Wesley Hilton (born July 23, 1943) is an American television game show personality. He hosted ''The Guinness Game'', a revival of ''Truth or Consequences'', and the 1990 revival of ''Let's Make a Deal'' for one season and replaced by Monty H ...
,
John Harlan, and
Rich Jeffries
Rich Jeffries (born Jefferson Ray Richards, September 1, 1938March 30, 2012) was an American television announcer.
Early life
Rich grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Bass High School. After being a drummer in a local band, Rich decided to ...
substituted for Wood on different occasions on ''Password Plus''.
Jeffries was the first announcer of ''Super Password'' and served as a regular announcer until November 23, 1984. After the first nine weeks, Wood replaced Jeffries as announcer on November 26, 1984. Jeffries and Hilton occasionally substituted for Wood.
Gameplay
The rules for ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' were almost identical. Two teams, each composed of a contestant and a celebrity, competed. The object, as on the original ''Password'', was for the clue-giving partner to get the receiving partner to guess a given word (the "password"). The giving partner on the first team offered a one-word clue, to which the receiving partner was allowed one guess. There were brief time limits for both the clue and the guess. Teams alternated giving one-word clues until the password was guessed, or until each side had given two clues (three in the early days of ''Password Plus'' until June 15, 1979).
The following infractions by the clue-giver forfeited the receiver's chance to guess the password:
* Giving more than one word, or a hyphenated word.
* Giving a word that was not dictionary-valid, as determined by a panel of off-stage judges.
* Taking too much time to give a clue.
* Excessive gestures or physical movement.
* Saying the password or any form of it.
Capitalized words, proper names, and foreign words were allowed, as were vocal inflections intended to lead the receiver to the password. A clue-giver was allowed to repeat a previous clue or guess from either team.
As on the ABC run of ''Password'', the team with initial control of a password on ''Password Plus'' had the option to give the first clue or pass to the other team. Originally, the team that did not get the previous password was given the option, but this changed on August 13, 1979. ''Super Password'' eliminated the option entirely, requiring the team that guessed a password to give the first clue on the next one.
The rules regarding clue-giving were the same as on all previous versions of ''Password'', with the exception of two instances exclusive to ''Password Plus''. Beginning with the April 23, 1979 episode and continuing until the series' end in 1982, two rules were put into place. The first disallowed any password's direct opposite, or
antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...
, as a legal clue (such as "loose" for "tight"). The second expanded a penalty already present in the game. When the series began, if the clue-giver given the option to play or pass did not decide in time or failed to give a clue, the other team's clue-giver was allowed to give two clues to his/her partner. After the change, the two-clue penalty was extended to any time a clue-giver failed to give a clue in time. In all cases, the two clues had to be given separately, with one guess at the password after each.
Password Puzzle
The new element of the revivals was the "Password Puzzle". Each password, once revealed, became one of five clues to a puzzle referring to a person, place, or thing. The passwords themselves were not worth any money; only the puzzle affected the scores. Correctly guessing a password allowed that participant one chance to solve the puzzle. If a password was not guessed by either player, it was added to the board without a guess at the puzzle. If that occurred on the final password, the solution was revealed, the puzzle was thrown out, and a new one was played. If a clue-giver said the password or any form of it, or if his/her partner guessed it based on any infraction by the clue-giver, it was added to the board and the guesser on the opposing team was given a chance to solve the puzzle as a penalty.
For the final password in a puzzle, if the guesser was incorrect, his or her partner was given a guess as well. On ''Password Plus'', if both teammates did not guess correctly, the puzzle solution was revealed and a new puzzle was played. On ''Super Password'', if one team failed to guess the puzzle after all five words were revealed, the opposing team's contestant and celebrity partner were each given a final chance to solve it.
A correct guess by either team won money for its contestant, and any remaining passwords were revealed. Additional puzzles were played until one contestant reached $500 to win the game. If the solution to the puzzle was inadvertently revealed in any way, the puzzle was thrown out.
In 1981, the switch in celebrity partners that normally took place before the start of each game was moved to after the third puzzle. On ''Super Password'', the contestants switched partners after the Cashword game which followed the $200 puzzle. However, on All-Star Specials, partners did not switch after the Cashword game.
Cashword
"Cashword" was an additional bonus on ''Super Password'' played by the winner of the second puzzle for an accumulating cash jackpot. The celebrity gave clues to a more difficult password. The contestant won a jackpot which started at $1,000 and increased by that much each time it was not won by guessing the password within three clues. This round did not affect the scores and only awarded bonus money. The Cashword automatically ended following an illegal clue from the celebrity.
Alphabetics/Super Password
The winning team played for a cash prize in the bonus round, called "Alphabetics" on ''Password Plus'' and "Super Password" on ''Super Password''.
The gameplay of the round was the same on both shows. The contestant had 60 seconds to guess 10 passwords beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet (e.g., "A" through "J"), with the celebrity giving one-word clues as in the main game. The celebrity could see only the current password until the contestant either guessed it or passed. He/she could use multiple words to form a sentence, but had to pause distinctly after each one. For the period on ''Password Plus'' in which opposites were forbidden, this was enforced in Alphabetics as well. The contestant won $100 per guessed word, and a cash jackpot for solving all 10 before time expired.
On ''Password Plus'', the grand prize was originally a flat $5,000, but was reduced by 20% for every illegal clue given. During the period that the main game was played to $500, Alphabetics was played for a jackpot that started at $5,000 and increased by that amount every time it went unclaimed. The penalty for illegal clues remained at 20% of the total at first, changed to a flat $2,500 in late 1981, and reverted to 20% by the final week of the series.
''Super Password''s bonus round was also played for the same accumulating jackpot as in the final months of the ''Plus'' run, with no upper limit imposed by NBC. However, if an illegal clue was given, the word in play was thrown out.
Champions retired after playing the bonus round seven times on ''Password Plus'', or five times on ''Super Password''.
Merchandise
Three editions of the ''Password Plus'' board game were made by
Milton Bradley
Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...
in the early 1980s. Milton Bradley made an eight-track cartridge version of the game for its
OMNI Entertainment System
The OMNI Entertainment System was an electronic stand-alone game system produced by the MB Electronics division of the Milton Bradley Company, released in 1980.
Function
The system played primarily trivia question games from 8-track tape cartri ...
.
In 1983, a version for the
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...
and
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
was going to be made by The Great Game Company. However, both versions were scrapped later on due to
the Video Game Crash at the time.
A ''Super Password'' video game was released for
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicatio ...
, the
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
, and the
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
by
Gametek
GameTek was an American video game publisher based in North Miami Beach, Florida known for publishing video game adaptations of game shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s. GameTek was a trade name for IJE, the owner of electronic publishing rig ...
in 1988. A version for the
NES
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
was also planned around that time, but never surfaced. In 2000, a ''Super Password'' hand-held game by
Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics Ltd. (also known as Tiger and Tiger Toys) was an independent American toy manufacturer best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, the Talkboy, Giga Pets, the 2-XL robot, and audio games such as ''Brain Warp'' and the Br ...
was released.
Broadcast history
Password Plus
''Password Plus'' was first shown at 12:30p.m., filling part of the time left when the talk/variety program ''
America Alive!
''America Alive!'' was an American television talk-variety program created by Woody Fraser. The show had a brief run on NBC, which aired it as part of its weekday daytime programming schedule from July 24, 1978, until January 4, 1979.
Overview ...
'' was cancelled. On March 5, 1979, two months after its debut, the series made its first time slot move to noon following the cancellation of NBC’s revival of ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...
''. It moved back to 12:30p.m. on August 13, 1979 when the Goodson-Todman game ''
Mindreaders
''Mindreaders'' is an American game show produced by Goodson-Todman Productions (now part of Fremantle (company), Fremantle) which aired on NBC from August 13, 1979 through January 11, 1980. Although NBC originally agreed to a 26-week run, the ne ...
'' premiered at noon. On June 20, 1980, three other NBC game shows were canceled to make room for
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
's
morning talk show and in the shuffle that followed, ''Password Plus'' was moved on August 4, 1980 to 11:30a.m. when the daytime drama ''
The Doctors'' moved from 2:00p.m. to 12:30p.m. (this time facing the second half-hour of CBS's ''
The Price Is Right
''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'' and ABC's ''
Family Feud
''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The show has had three separate runs, the ...
''), with ''
Card Sharks
''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. The game features two contestants who attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a row o ...
'' taking the noon slot on June 23, 1980, replacing ''
Chain Reaction
A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events.
Chain reactions are one way that syst ...
''. The series returned to noon on October 26, 1981 upon the cancellation of ''Card Sharks'', and remained there for the remainder of its run. The final episode aired on March 26, 1982, and through a scheduling shuffle its place on NBC's schedule was replaced by ''
Search for Tomorrow
''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986.
Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show focu ...
'' (which had moved to the network from CBS).
Super Password
The program returned in September 1984 as ''Super Password'' and aired in the noon Eastern time slot, facing, for its first two weeks, the then 8-year-old ''Family Feud'', then ''
Ryan's Hope
''Ryan's Hope'' is an American soap opera created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, airing for 13 years on ABC from July 7, 1975, to January 13, 1989. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in th ...
'' on ABC. Although several stations passed on it to air local news or syndicated programming, ''Super Password'' remained in that time slot for its entire 4½-year run. Later in the decade, NBC affiliates began dropping most of the network's daytime game shows, along with ''Super Password''. The increasing number of stations carrying local newscasts at noon during this time caused the program to experience a decline in its viewership. The show's final episode aired on March 24, 1989, the same day ''
Sale of the Century
''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...
'' aired its series finale.
''Super Password'' was
Bert Convy
Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy (July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991) was an American actor, singer, game show host and panelist known for hosting ''Tattletales'', ''Super Password'' and ''Win, Lose or Draw''.
Early life
Convy was born in St. Louis ...
's last network game show (and final for
Mark Goodson Productions
Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.
Early life and ea ...
) hosted before his death two years later. Though he emceed a pilot for an ABC revival of ''
Match Game
''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...
'' in late 1989, he was too ill to host when it was picked up a year later (the hosting duties ultimately went to Ross Shafer for the series). Convy later hosted ''
Win, Lose or Draw
''Win, Lose or Draw'' is an American television game show that aired from 1987 to 1990 in syndication and on NBC. It was taped at CBS Television City (one of the few non-CBS game shows to tape there), often in Studios 31, 33, and 43 at various ...
'' and ''
3rd Degree'' for syndication before his death from
brain cancer
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...
in 1991.
International version
Over one year after ''Super Password'' aired its final episode in the U.S., a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
version called ''
Palavra Puxa Palavra''.
Episode status
Both shows exist in their entirety, and can currently be seen on
Buzzr
Buzzr is an American digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Fremantle North America, a unit of the Fremantle (company), Fremantle subsidiary of RTL Group. The network serves as an outlet for the extensive li ...
. Both shows were previously aired on
GSN. However, certain episodes were not shown due to celebrity clearance issues that were out of GSN's control.
Beginning on July 2, 2018,
GameTV
GameTV is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It currently broadcasts a mixture of game shows, reality competition series, and films.
The channel was first launched in 2005 under the ownership of ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
began airing the first 65 episodes of ''Super Password''.
Kerry Ketchem
In January 1988, a man later discovered to be a previously convicted felon with active warrants for his arrest appeared on ''Super Password''.
Kerry Ketchem, who competed on the program under the name "Patrick Quinn", won a total of $58,600 in cash over four days on ''Super Password'', which included a record-tying $55,000 jackpot win in the bonus round. However, his appearance on the show led to his apprehension on charges of fraud.
Ketchem's arrest came as the result of an investigation started when a bank manager in
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
, called the
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
after having seen his episodes. He was discovered to have outstanding fraud warrants in Alaska and
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, and producer Robert Sherman was contacted by the Secret Service shortly thereafter. Around the same time, Ketchem—claiming that he was leaving the country on work-related business—called Mark Goodson Productions and asked if he could collect his winnings in person instead of having a check mailed to him, which is the usual standard procedure. Sherman said yes, with the knowledge of the Secret Service, and gave him a date and time. When Ketchem showed up to the Goodson offices he was apprehended and taken into custody by local officials. The arrest came two days after his appearances finished airing.
Booked on the outstanding Indiana warrant, Ketchem was found to have used his "Patrick Quinn" alias (which came from the name of one of Ketchem's college professors) to commit
credit card fraud
Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The P ...
in Alaska;
to defraud a used car dealer; and to
collect illegally on an insurance policy on the life of his ex-wife. Ketchem, who had previously spent 18 months in prison on an unrelated felony charge, agreed to a plea deal in May 1988 on charges of mail fraud. He was sentenced to five years in prison
and his winnings were rescinded as he was ruled to have violated contestant eligibility rules.
See also
*''
Password
A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...
''
*''
Million Dollar Password
''Million Dollar Password'' is an updated version of the game show ''Password'' on CBS, which was hosted by Regis Philbin and ran from June 1, 2008, to June 14, 2009. FremantleMedia produced the program.
Production and broadcast history
''Millio ...
''
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password''
1970s American game shows
1979 American television series debuts
1982 American television series endings
1980s American game shows
1984 American television series debuts
1989 American television series endings
American game shows
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show winners
English-language television shows
NBC original programming
Television series by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions
Television series by Fremantle (company)
American television series revived after cancellation