''Tattletales'' is an American
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 ...
produced by
Goodson-
Todman
Todman (7 October 1954 – 1976) was one of the greatest Australian Thoroughbred racehorses and an important sire. He was perhaps best known as the winner of the inaugural STC Golden Slipper in 1957, being the first of Star Kingdom's five su ...
Productions in association with
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
. The program had two runs on the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
daytime schedule between February 1974 and June 1984.
It was hosted by
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 ...
, with several announcers including
Jack Clark,
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
John Harlan providing the voiceover at various times. Wood was the primary announcer during the show's first run, and Olson was announcing during the 1980s.
The show's premise involved questions asked about celebrity couples' personal lives and was based on ''
He Said, She Said'', a syndicated Goodson-Todman show hosted by
Joe Garagiola
Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. (February 12, 1926 – March 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, later an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality.
Garagiola played nine seasons in Major League Basebal ...
that aired during the 1969–70 season which in itself was based on an unsold pilot called ''It Had to Be You'' hosted by
Ed McMahon
Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...
which featured four civilian couples instead of celebrity couples in 1966.
Host
Bert Convy was awarded a
Daytime Emmy Award for hosting the show in 1977. Bert Convy and his wife, Anne, occasionally played the game during the 1970s run, most often during weeks in which the panel was made up entirely of other game show hosts and their spouses. Among the hosts who filled in for Convy during these episodes were
Gene Rayburn
Gene Rayburn (born Eugene Peter Jeljenic; December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the American television game show ''Match Game'' for over tw ...
,
Bob Barker,
Bobby Van
Robert Jack Stein (December 6, 1928 – July 31, 1980), known by his legalized stage name Bobby Van, was a Musician, musical actor and dancer, best known for his career on Broadway theatre, Broadway, in films and television from the 1950s throu ...
,
Jack Narz
John Lawrence Narz Jr. (November 13, 1922 – October 15, 2008) was an American radio personality, television host, and singer.
Early years
Narz was born to John and Ado Narz, in Louisville, Kentucky, along with sister Mary, and younger brothe ...
and
Richard Dawson
Richard Dawson (born Colin Lionel Emm; 20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was a British-born American actor, comedian, game-show host and panelist in the United States. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in ''Hogan's Heroe ...
. All five hosts also participated in playing the game along with other hosts such as
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
Chuck Woolery
Charles Herbert Woolery (born March 16, 1941) is an American game show host, talk show host, and musician. He has had long-running tenures hosting several game shows. Woolery was the original host of ''Wheel of Fortune'' (1975–1981), the orig ...
.
Gameplay
The show changed its format after its first four months on the air. The second format remained for the rest of the show's run, including its later versions.
Production for ''Tattletales'' was set up at Hollywood's
Television City
Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...
in either Stages 31, 41, 43. In both formats, the show's set consisted of two parts. One was a desk behind which three players could sit. The other was a small seating area in the rear left corner of the stage, which was used to keep the players not in the game isolated; a sliding wall covered the seating area during gameplay and each player had a set of headphones to block out any noise from the other side of the wall. Usually, the game began with the husbands isolated and the wives onstage. When needed, the offstage players would appear on monitors in front of their spouses.
The studio audience was divided into three color-codes sections: red, yellow (which Convy jokingly nicknamed the "
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
section"), and blue, each section of 100 members rooting for one celebrity couple. Audience members in each section divided the money their respective couples won. The couple with the most money at the end of the show won the game, earning their section a $1,000 bonus. In the event of a tie, those sections split the $1,000 bonus. A member of the winning section was also randomly drawn to win additional prizes. Audience members received their winnings in checks distributed as they left the studio.
Format No. 1
In the first format, Convy asked the players onstage two questions, which usually started with "It happened at..." or "A story involving..." and then Convy completed the question. After each question was read, a player onstage buzzed-in to answer the question. That player then gave a one- or two-word clue that the spouse would recognize. Convy then repeated the question to the offstage players, appearing on the monitors in front of their spouses, followed by the clue. The offstage player who buzzed in first answered the question, and if the couple's answers matched, they won money for their rooting section.
A correct answer was worth $100 with a one-word clue, and $50 with a two-word clue. Convy then asked another question, usually multiple choice, called a "Tattletale Quickie," to each couple in-turn. On their turn, each onstage player answered the question, and the spouse appeared and answered the same question. If the answers matched, the team won $100. The players changed places in the second round.
Format No. 2
In June 1974, the game dropped the first type of question, and questions in the "Tattletale Quickies" format were used for the entire show (though the "Quickies" name was dropped). The scoring format also changed. Each question had a pot of $150, split among all couples who matched ($50 if all three matched, $75 if two matched and $150 if only one couple matched). If no one matched, the amount of the pot was added to the next question. The husbands were first asked two questions, after which the players changed places prior to the second round. The wives were then asked two more questions, with the value of the final question doubled to $300. The syndicated version offered the same; plus, one member of the winning rooting sections, chosen at random, got six different parting gifts.
Broadcast history
CBS placed ''Tattletales'' at 4:00 PM (
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
)/3:00 PM (
Central Time Zone
The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordinate ...
/
Mountain Time Zone
The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The clo ...
/
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00) ...
) when it premiered, replacing the long-running soap opera ''
The Secret Storm
''The Secret Storm'' is an American soap opera that the CBS television network transmitted from February 1, 1954, to February 8, 1974. It was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas ''Search for Tomorrow'' and ''Love ...
''. It formed the last third of an afternoon game show block that also included ''
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 ''
Match Game '74''.
The show changed time slots three times in 1975. On June 16, CBS moved it to 11:00/10:00 AM. On August 11, after ''The Price Is Right'' returned to the morning, ''Tattletales'' moved to 3:30/2:30 PM. On December 1, it returned to its original time slot.
On December 12, 1977, CBS moved ''Tattletales'' to the 10:00/9:00 AM in a scheduling shuffle with ''The Price Is Right'' and ''Match Game '77''. ''Tattletales'' gradually began to lose viewers and ran its 1,075th and final show of the original version on March 31, 1978. It was replaced by ''
Pass the Buck''. A weekly nighttime version,
syndicated by Firestone aired during the 1977–78 season, but was not renewed.
In 1981, CBS asked Mark Goodson to bring ''Tattletales'' back, and it returned on January 18, 1982. It aired at 4:00/3:00 PM until June 1, 1984, when it was replaced by another Goodson show, ''
Body Language
Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Th ...
''.
On March 12, 2021, the streaming service
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
announced that it had ordered a reboot of ''Tattletales'', which would be produced by
Ayesha and
Stephen "Steph" Curry, and feature celebrity couples playing for charity.
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
stated that the reboot would also feature physical challenges and viewer-submitted questions. However, on August 23, 2021, it was announced that the show would be retitled to ''About Last Night'', with an initial premiere set for fall 2021. In January 2022, it was announced that it would premiere on February 10, 2022. In August 2022, the series was removed from HBO Max.
Episode status
Both versions of ''Tattletales'' remain intact, but only a portion have been seen on
Game Show Network
Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...
: episodes of the CBS run from 1974 to 1977, selected episodes from the CBS run from 1977 to 1978, and several months of the 1982–84 run. GSN never reran the nighttime syndicated version. Episodes of the 1974–1977 daytime version of Tattletales can currently be seen on
Buzzr
Buzzr is an American digital broadcast television network owned by Fremantle North America, a unit of the Fremantle subsidiary of RTL Group. The network serves as an outlet for the extensive library of classic game shows owned by Fremantle. Buzz ...
.
Two episodes of the nighttime syndicated version aired on
Buzzr
Buzzr is an American digital broadcast television network owned by Fremantle North America, a unit of the Fremantle subsidiary of RTL Group. The network serves as an outlet for the extensive library of classic game shows owned by Fremantle. Buzz ...
on February 9, 2020, as part of their "Love at First Sight" marathon.
International versions
An Australian version of ''Tattletales'' aired on the
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
as ''Celebrity Tattle Tales'', hosted by
Ugly Dave Gray
Graham David Taylor (born 26 December 1933), known better as Ugly Dave Gray, is an English Australian actor, television personality, comedian, game show host, and radio host.
Early life
Born Graham David Taylor, he transposed his first and mid ...
for a brief time in 1980, and was produced by
Reg Grundy
Reginald Roy Grundy (4 August 1923 – 6 May 2016) was an Australian entrepreneur and media mogul, best known for his numerous television productions. He was the producer of various Australian game shows, such as '' Blankety Blanks'' (based on ...
. The show was cancelled after being on the air for only three months.
Each of the first five questions was worth $60 with one $120 question to follow.
A Brazilian version of ''Tattletales'' ran on
Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão
The Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (; SBT ; "Brazilian Television System") is a Brazilian television network founded on Wednesday, 19 August 1981, by the businessman and television personality Silvio Santos. The company was established after ...
from 1975 to 1986 under the name ''Ela Disse, Ele Disse'' ("She said, He said") hosted by
Silvio Santos
Senor Abravanel, known professionally as Silvio Santos (Portuguese: /ˈsiwvju ˈsɐ̃tus/) (born December 12, 1930), is a Brazilian entrepreneur, media tycoon and television host. He is the owner of holdings that include SBT, the second largest ...
.
External links
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References
{{Reflist
CBS original programming
First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
American game shows
1970s American game shows
1974 American television series debuts
1978 American television series endings
1980s American game shows
1982 American television series debuts
1984 American television series endings
Television series by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions
Television series by Fremantle (company)
American television series revived after cancellation
1980s Australian game shows