''Play the Game'', also known as ''Let's Play the Game'', was one of the earliest

game show 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 Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

s to be broadcast over an

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television network, and the first known example of a television panel show. In 1941-42, CBS aired an early game show, ''

CBS Television Quiz ''CBS Television Quiz'' is a televised game show, running from July 2, 1941, to January 7, 1943, on the CBS television station in New York, WCBW Channel 2 (the forerunner of WCBS-TV). It was the first game show to be broadcast regularly on televisi ...

''.

Broadcast history

''Play the Game'' was essentially a televised version of the parlor game charades. The show was hosted by Dr.

Harvey Zorbaugh Harvey Warren Zorbaugh (September 20, 1896 – January 21, 1965) was Professor of Educational Sociology, at New York University. he was born in East Cleveland, Ohio and educated in sociology at the University of Chicago. He married Geraldine Elizabe ...

, professor of educational sociology at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. The show aired over the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

on Tuesdays from 8 to 8:30 pm ET from September 24, 1946, to December 17, 1946. The show also aired on ABC from August 20, 1948, to November 6, 1948, in primetime. A previous version of the program had been broadcast locally in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on WNBT Channel 1 (the predecessor to

WNBC-TV WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo statio ...

) in 1941. Although broadcast on DuMont, the program was actually produced by

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in order for that network to develop experienced crews in anticipation of its own entry into television broadcasting; in this sense, it was the first ABC television series.

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighbor ...

Channel 7 subsequently broadcast later episodes of the program to the New York City market during 1948. Celebrity panelists during the DuMont Network run included

Ireene Wicker Ireene Wicker (born Irene Seaton, November 24, 1905 – November 17, 1987) was an American singer and actress, best known to young radio listeners in the 1930s and 1940s as “The Singing Lady”, which was the title of her radio program. She a ...

Ray Knight Charles Ray Knight (born December 28, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder best remembered for his time with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets. Originally drafted by the Reds in the tenth round of the 1970 Major League ...

, and Will Mullin. There were also audience participation segments during which viewers were invited to call in their guesses to the charades being presented.

British Version

A British version (albeit as a pure panel game) aired on BBC-tv from 4 August 1947 to sometime in 1950, and was later adapted for children from 1951 to 1952. Hosts of this version included Cleland Finn, Sally Rogers, and Robert MacDermot.

Episode status

As with most DuMont programs, no episodes of this show are known to exist in the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the ar ...

or other collections. The status of the ABC version is unknown, but is likely also lost.

References

Bibliography

*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...

, 2004) *Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

, 1964)

External links