Concentration (game show)

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Concentration
Concentration logo.
Genre	Game show
Creator(s)	Jack Barry Dan Enright Robert Noah Buddy Piper
Starring	Hugh Downs (1958-69) Bob Clayton (1969-73) Ed McMahon Jack Narz (1973-78) Alex Trebek (1987-1991)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	3,796
Production
Executive producer(s)	Norman Blumenthal
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	24 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	Black-and-white until November 7, 1966; NTSC afterward
Original run	August 28, 1958 – March 23, 1973
Chronology
Followed by	Classic Concentration (1987-91)
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Concentration was a TV game show based on the children's memory game of the same name.

The property has been seen in several different versions:

The original network daytime series, Concentration, aired on NBC for 14 years, 7 months and 3,796 telecasts (August 25, 1958 - March 23, 1973), the longest run of any game show on that network (Wheel of Fortune was a month shy of tying that record when the initial NBC run ended in June 1989). This series was hosted by Hugh Downs and later by Bob Clayton. For a brief period in 1969, Ed McMahon hosted the series. The series began in the 11:30 a.m. (Eastern) time slot, then moved to 11 a.m., and finally to 10:30 a.m. Nearly all episodes were produced at NBC's studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City.

A once-a-week nighttime version of the show appeared in two separate broadcast runs on NBC. The first edition appeared only for four weeks, from October 30, 1958 to November 20, 1958, with Jack Barry as the host. The second edition was on the air from April 24, 1961 to September 18, 1961, with Hugh Downs as the host.

The second version of Concentration was syndicated, with Jack Narz as host. It ran from September 10, 1973 through September 8, 1978.

A third version of "Concentration" was first piloted in 1985. The pilot was hosted by Orson Bean, but no network or syndicator bought the show. However, after some reformatting, a remake of the game called Classic Concentration, hosted by Alex Trebek, aired on NBC from May 4, 1987 to September 20, 1991 (with reruns airing through the end of 1993).

Despite numerous attempts to develop a new version in recent years, NBC (the rights holder) has not authorized a new version of the program.

Contents 1 Development 2 What's a rebus? 3 Rules of the game 4 Original Series (1958-1973) 5 Syndicated run (1973-1978) 6 Classic Concentration 6.1 Bonus round 7 Catch phrase 8 Trivia 9 Commercial versions 10 Episode status 11 British versions 12 External links

[edit] Development

Barry and game show-partner Dan Enright, along with Robert Noah and Buddy Piper, created Concentration, but others working at Barry & Enright Productions also contributed to the show's development. The creation involved the combination of two key creative concepts: the children's game of matching cards, and the use of a rebus puzzle that was revealed as matching cards were removed from the board. In place of the playing cards, the gameboard featured numbered boxes (30 in all) on one side of each card, and prizes, that were to be matched, on the other. The gradual matching of card pairs slowly revealed elements of the rebus, a picture puzzle described below.

[edit] What's a rebus?

The rebus form is centuries old, and has been used in various forms. The most popular contemporary form, prior to "Concentration," involved pictures, letters and numbers, as well as plus and minus signs to add or delete parts of a phrase. For example, wick + e + pea + d + uh, or, with minus signs, wick + elephant - lephant + pie - ie + d + uh.

The member of the Barry & Enright development team responsible for the development and art direction of the puzzles was Norm Blumenthal, who later became the original series' producer. He simplified the rebus form for television, allowing only plus symbols, and subsequently devised all of the puzzles seen on the original series. In his version of a rebus puzzle, which became "Concentration"'s standard, a rebus is a puzzle made up of a combination of pictures, letters, words and numbers connected by plus signs. When solved, it is either the title of something or a well-known phrase. For instance:

• A picture of a convict (CON)
• A plus sign
• A picture of a penny (CENT)
• A plus sign
• A picture of a serving tray (TRAY)
• A plus sign
• A picture of a human leg, shin highlighted (SHIN)

Put it together CON + CENT + TRAY + SHIN (CONCENTRATION)

In all versions, two contestants competed to solve a rebus behind doors of numbers, similar to the brain bender on the later Nickelodeon game show Think Fast!.

Since his departure from "Concentration", Blumenthal has continued to experiment with sophisticated picture puzzles. He has published several books filled with rebus puzzle games, including "Picture Puzzle Pandemonium."

[edit] Rules of the game

Two contestants (one a returning champion) sat before a board of 30 squares, which concealed the rebus, names of prizes and special squares (see below).

One at a time, the contestants called out two numbers. If the prizes or special action didn't match, the opponent took a turn. However, if the player did match, whatever prize was printed on the card was placed on a board behind the contestant; or, he/she could perform an action.

More importantly, a match also revealed two pieces of the rebus, which identified a person, phrase, place, thing, etc. The player could try to solve the rebus or choose two more numbers, but even if he/she was wrong, he/she kept control. Usually, a player waited to solve the puzzle until they had exposed a good portion of the rebus through several matches.

In addition to the prize cards, there were the following action cards:

• WILD CARD - Self-explanatory; provided an automatic match. In the original game this left the natural match "orphaned", matchable only by the other wild card (there were only two). In Classic Concentration, the other half of the natural match was also given at that point, allowing three pieces of the rebus to be revealed at once.

Players uncovering two WILD cards also won a bonus. In the original game, players uncovering two WILD cards won a $500 bonus and chose two additional numbers; the prizes went on that contestant's side and four pieces of the rebus were revealed. Late in the run, getting two WILD cards in the same turn won the player a new car –– which he/she kept, regardless of the game's outcome.

If each wild card matched a "car" prize, a player could win three cars in one game: one for matching the two wild cards, and the two "car" card matches. (It only happened twice.)

• Take One Gift - There were two of these cards in each game. If a player matched them, he/she could take their choice of any of the prizes listed on their opponent's prize board. Of course, the game had to be won to receive all prizes listed on their prize board.

• Forfeit One Gift - There were six of these in each game. If a player matched two of them, they had to forfeit one prize to their opponent. Naturally, they would give up the least expensive -- but sometimes had to give up something very valuable (if that was the only one on their board).

Also included were two or three joke prizes (such as a banana peel or torn teddy bear). These actually served as insurance markers against opponents' Take cards and the Forfeit cards he/she might stumble upon. During a panel discussion of the series at the 2005 Game Show Congress, producer Blumenthal revealed the cash value of the gag gifts to be $1!

A player who offered a correct guess won his/her gifts; he/she also earned $100 if there were no prizes in the rack. The loser forfeits all his/her gifts.

Champions continued until they either were defeated or won 20 games. Reportedly, this happened just once (in 1966, by Ruth Horowitz).

[edit] Original Series (1958-1973)

Concentration remains the longest-running game show on NBC and held the record for longest continuous daytime run on network television until it was eclipsed in April 1987 by Bob Barker's version of The Price is Right. Concentration now ranks fourth on the long-run list of long-running daytime/syndicated game shows, behind TPiR and the syndicated runs of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!.

As a result of the quiz scandals, NBC eventually acquired the rights to Concentration. Apart from the first episodes, Concentration was an NBC in-house production.

When Concentration started, it was hosted by Hugh Downs, was produced and broadcast live at 11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:30 a.m. Central weekdays in black-and-white, and quickly became the most-watched daytime series in NBC's lineup. The announcer was Art James, who sometimes served as a substitute host and later became a game show host in his own right. The series was produced in NBC's Studio 3A.

The series then moved to 11/10 a.m., and slowly introduced color broadcasts. For a picture puzzle game whose rebuses were designed and painted in monochrome, this required some design changes: The colors of the numbered cards might otherwise interfere with the colors used on the rebus, a critical issue for contestants playing in the studio and for viewers who played along at home. During this period, the series was produced in NBC's Studio 6A. Hugh Downs (by this time also an anchor on NBC's Today Show) remained host, and the announcer became Jim Lucas, who also worked on NBC's local New York radio station, WNBC-AM.

By the late 1960s, the series moved to 10:30/9:30 a.m., now broadcast in color, and taped in NBC's Studio 8G.

In early 1969, Downs stepped down to devote his entire attention to Today, with Bob Clayton (who had succeeded Jim Lucas as announcer) taking the reins. Briefly, NBC set Clayton aside in favor of Ed McMahon (due to advertiser pressure), but Clayton returned and remained host until the series ended. On the Monday following Concentration's demise on NBC, he became the announcer for The $10,000 Pyramid on CBS. Interestingly, CBS placed Pyramid in the very same time slot where Concentration aired. NBC staffer Wayne Howell replaced Clayton in the announcer's booth.

The first puzzle was titled "It Happened One Night," and the last puzzle read "You've Been More Than Kind".

Some 30 years later after the cancellation, Blumenthal visited all-time "Concentration" champion Ruth Horowitz at her home. She showed him a publicity photo he had autographed, a few years before the show left the NBC lineup, with the comment, "You've Been Most Kind."

Seen daily for nearly 15 years, and consistently one of the most popular series on NBC, the original series included many special features. These included special salutes to individual nations around the world, annual specials saluting the Boy Scouts, annual Christmas shows featuring "Secret Santas" (celebrities who played the game in Santa Claus suits and revealed their identities at the end of the show), and the Challenge of Champions (so successful that it was subsequently mimicked by another popular NBC daytime game, Jeopardy!). Among the series' popular special features:

• The Envelope and its Mysterious Contents - The winning contestant opened a sealed envelope and read its message aloud (as if he/she were the show announcer). Generally, it mentioned an inexpensive prize and further reading proved it to be an expensive prize, such as large amount of cash or a new car.

• The Cash Wheel - A player spun a carnival-type wheel, containing various dollar amounts. The top prize was $2000.

• Christmas shows featured children from United Nations countries; Secret Santas included Joe Garagiola, Victor Borge and other celebrities. Proceeds went to C.A.R.E., which built two schools in Africa from funds raised by the series. (Blumenthal and Downs received awards from C.A.R.E.)

• International Salutes: All prizes in these games were from the specific country saluted. In a salute to Mexico, for example, contestants wore sombreros, Downs would be dressed as a matador, and model Paola Diva would play a colorfully costumed señorita, driving a mule-driven cart.

• An annual Boy Scout Show. It saluted famous Americans who were scouts. Den Mothers and scouts played the game and won prizes for themselves and their troops. Girl Scout shows also became an annual event.

• Beginning in 1963, the top four players of the previous 12 months returned to play a best-of-seven tournament (styled à la the World Series). The grand prize was $1,000, a trip around the world and a special trophy dubbed "The Connie", modeled after Auguste Rodin's The Thinker.

Throughout the competition, participants, including Downs, Clayton, and Blumenthal, wore blue blazers, with the show logo embroidered in gold on the breast pocket.

Through nearly all of the original series' run, the program was produced by Norm Blumenthal. He also created every one of the 7,300 puzzles used on the show (with no repeated puzzles). He also created all puzzles used in the 24 editions of the Milton Bradley home game.

One retrospective of the original series reported the following prize tally:

• 512 cars.
• 397 boats.
• 1287 domestic and foreign trips and cruises.
• 12 trips around the world.
• 857 fur coats.
• Numerous diamonds.

Additionally, there were countless gift certificates, travel trailers, airplanes, swimming pools, furniture, kitchen appliances (large and small), rooms of furniture, clothing, stereos and televisions, fantastic nights out on the town and virtually any other item seen in any mail-order catalog. One history of the 1958-1973 series reported the total prize giveaway at $10 million.

Speaking of prizes, the prize values on the original series were deliberately much smaller than those of the big-money games implicated as part of the quiz show scandals of the late 1950s. Barry and Enright kept the winnings low-value on purpose, to avoid any suggestion that it, too, was tainted; NBC maintained that policy when it took over production. Usually, there was at least one prize worth more than $1,000; however, nearly all the other prizes were worth less than $500, with many in the $10-$100 range. A board of prizes rarely totaled more than $2,000-$3,000 and champions rarely took home more than that in merchandise during their stay (though some longer-lived winners approached $10,000).

During most of the network version's run, it faced situation comedy reruns on CBS and local programming on ABC affiliates, easily dominating them in the ratings. However, in late 1972, CBS launched the new version of The Price is Right at 10:30/9:30, which drained off more than half of the Concentration audience. NBC concluded that the game had reached the end of its natural life cycle, and cancelled it seven months after Price began. A Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley production, Baffle, hosted by Dick Enberg, replaced it at that time slot.

[edit] Syndicated run (1973-1978)

After NBC cancelled Concentration, Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions (ironically, the packager of "Price") produced a daily five-times-a-week (a practice known as "stripping" in the TV trade) version for syndication, but there were some television stations in different cities that aired the program only once a week ("checkerboarding" with similar games and other syndicated features on different nights of the week). The project was a joint venture of syndicator Jim Victory and NBC, which retained the rights to the show. The show premiered in September 1973 and ran for five years. Jack Narz was the host, with Johnny Olson as announcer. This version of Concentration was produced at Metromedia Square in Hollywood. (An interesting irony was that a taped "live" commercial for Beltone hearing aids on the original New York Concentration set with Bob Clayton continued to air, as Beltone remained a major sponsor of Concentration during its first syndicated season.)

This time, two new contestants competed each day (no returning champions, because some stations only carried the show one evening a week); games did not straddle episodes as on the network version. For the first two seasons, the basic game was identical to the NBC version with the addition of 4 "head starts" that revealed the locations of four prizes on the board. The "gag prizes" were gone and only one pair of Forfeit One Gift cards remained, with three pairs of Take One Gift cards this time. Concentration's board had become very colorful, with the 30 larger numbers in red with yellow backgrounds and red frames. Many prize, Forfeit, Take, and Wild Card! cards had actually come from New York with the original board and were reverse printed (white lettering on a dark background). The rebus was in full color on a sky blue background.

The prize budget had clearly taken a nosedive from the NBC's aging version (although the set and theme were necessary major production upgrades that, conceivably, could have saved the NBC series). A step up was the $250 cash prize when a contestant solved the puzzle with no prizes on his/her side of the board instead of the original $100. A step down was the $500 for matching the two Wild Cards regardless of winning the game instead of the new car last offered by NBC. Also, the contestant no longer received the opportunity to match the Wild Cards and reveal 4 parts of the puzzle. Prizes that were once only consolation prizes on the NBC series and other game shows became the prizes on the board. Fun additions like the Cash Wheel, The Envelope (containing an unknown prize) and the International games did not appear on this version, as the game became somewhat utilitarian in nature. If the board had no more matches and no one solved the puzzle, the remaining parts would be revealed and a contestant could ring an electric "buzzer" to give his/her solution.

The winner of the game played a new bonus round called "Double Play," with a new car as the prize for solving two fully revealed rebuses within 10 seconds, with the first puzzle earning the player $100. Solving both rebuses won the car. (The first car offered was a yellow 1973 Chevrolet Vega hatchback.)

If there was time for a third game, a "money game" was played, which was plain, old Concentration with no head starts. On the board were matched amounts of foreign currency with the Take, Forfeit and Wild Card cards on the board. If the puzzle was solved, the winner received the money in American currency; if the game could not be completed, the contestant with the most money on his/her side of the board was declared the winner.

Although the "mystery logo" and unusual animated opening were gone, a giant backlit "Concentration" logo in the style retained from the latter years on NBC framed the center of the set from above. Another change was the reversal of the contestant and board locations (oddly common among game shows originally produced in New York and moved to the West Coast). The contestants now sat on the right side of the studio, with the board positioned on the left. There was no emcee's podium and for the first three seasons, Jack Narz was mainly off-camera during the game, standing in the center of the stage. He eventually stood between the two contestants. The prize tote board consisted of the two doors that were originally on the NBC New York set, but cut down and made permanently set boards in the new set. A single bell chime sounded whenever a match was made.

The old board did not suffer the trip to the West Coast well. By the end of the 1974-1975 season, the trilons were "grinding" so badly they could barely turn. A few weeks into the 1975-1976 season, the mechanism was completely rebuilt with a smooth high-speed mechanism that made the trilons almost fly around. The first of many changes to come in the game arrived with the four Bonus Number cards and the elimination of one prize pair and one of the Take One Gift pairs. A contestant matching the Bonus Number cards could call a third number if their next two picks didn't match.

During the 1975-1976 season, more rules were changed to speed up gameplay. The Forfeit One Gift cards were scrapped entirely. The board also hid 2 Free Look spaces. Revealing one instantly uncovered that particular portion of the rebus and allowed the contestant who selected the space to take a guess at the puzzle. Two more Wild cards were added to the board and the prize for matching them was reduced to $250. In the first game, contestants could call a third number if the first two did not match. All of the original trilon cards were scrapped and replaced with new graphics. The rebuses were also made shorter and easier, all trends that later made up Classic Concentration.

These changes did not sit well at all with longtime Concentration play-along viewers, who preferred game play over speed. Most of them had continued to follow the show, as it was syndicated to many NBC affiliates. Ratings fell and many stations (including former flagship WNBC in New York) moved the show to pre-dawn hours (or other non-prime-time access slots) and then dropped it. Some independent stations then picked it up for what would be its last two seasons.

During the 1977-1978 season, the "Double Play" bonus game added a step: players determined their Double Play prize package by choosing squares from a 9-space board and competing for the first prize package matched (the car was also a prize on this board). One space, if chosen, allowed the player to play for all of the prizes revealed up to that point.

This version of Concentration also used several prize music cues also used on Price including what fans call "Splendido", which is used for furniture showcases on Price.

[edit] Classic Concentration

NBC and Mark Goodson Productions brought the show back as Classic Concentration on May 4, 1987, at 10:30 a.m. EST, replacing Bill Rafferty's Blockbusters. It ran between Jim Perry's Sale of the Century and Pat Sajak's later Rolf Bernischke's Wheel of Fortune, while competing against a few other CBS daytime game shows such as Bob Eubanks's Card Sharks, for a couple of seasons, Chuck Henry's Now You See It, and Bob Goen's Wheel of Fortune, which aired in the time slot before this show on NBC early in 1991. Like the original version, it was an American game show in which contestants matched cash/prizes in order to solve the rebus puzzle, consisting of a landmark, occupation, person, place, phrase, event, title or a thing, to win all the accumulative cash/prizes offered. Alex Trebek was the new host, and Gene Wood was the regular announcer. Marjorie Goodson-Cutt, daughter of Mark Goodson and wife of associate director Tim Cutt, was the prize model for most of the show's run, though Diana Taylor was the original prize model for the first few weeks. The final episode of Classic Concentration aired on September 20, 1991 (the very same day that the daytime Wheel of Fortune finally ended), but NBC broadcast reruns of this show from October 28, 1991 to December 31, 1993. Classic Concentration was produced in Studio 3 at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. Classic Concentration's puzzles were developed and created by Steve Ryan, who also created Blockbusters, wrote all the answers and questions on Trivia Trap, and who wrote all the puzzles on both Password Plus and Body Language. He also co-authored the Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows with David Schwartz and Fred Wostbrock. In 2005, Ryan released the best-selling paperback book, The Ultimate TV Game Show Book.

While previous versions featured a mechanically operated game board with 30 trilons, Classic Concentration used a computer-generated board with 25 squares. Gameplay, however, was similar to its predecessors. This version featured nine pairs of prizes, three "WILD" cards (although some games had just one "WILD" card) and two (later four) "TAKE" cards (originally just two red; later two green were added, but only matching color pairs counted [red to red or green to green]), which were similar to the "Take One Gift" squares in the original version but could be used by the contestant any time after making a match. Contestants won $500 for picking two "WILD" cards and $1000 for picking all three in one go.

Unlike the syndicated Concentration of the 1970s, Classic Concentration offered a bigger prize budget. While most of the prizes were worth $500 or less (including those worth under $100), each game featured a trip (often with such creative names as "Jamacian Getaway") and at least one featured prize worth $1,000 or more. Often, Wood would describe the prize (and the model show it off) and state its value prior to the start of that game. Many games featured a piece of jewelry as well.

Wood usually opened each episode with the following spiel:

"Behind these numbers is a puzzle. Can you solve it? [insert puzzle here] If you could do that, you could win one of these eight fabulous cars, as we play...CLASSIC CONCENTRATION! And here's the host of CONCENTRATION, Alex Trebek!" In later episodes, Wood substitutes "one of these eight fabulous cars" with "a brand new car", and the audience would shout out "CLASSIC CONCENTRATION" with him, on cue. In those later episodes, Trebek would come out from behind one of the cars on the left side of the stairway; previously, he entered from the top of the stairway.

Once, when Wood took ill in July 1991, Art James, the announcer from the original Concentration, filled in.

Throughout the progression of the series, the set of Classic Concentration gained a motley-looking tropical motif, complete with fake palm trees, flowers, grass and even snow (during the winter months). Additionally, Trebek traded his usually dapper suit-and-tie wardrobe for cardigan sweaters before the series' end.

[edit] Bonus round

The winner of the main game had a chance to win one of eight cars in the bonus round. The contestant had 15 numbered squares to choose from. Seven pairs of matching car names were hidden behind the squares, as well as one car name that had no match. If the contestant matched all seven pairs of cars within the allotted time, he/she won the last car that was matched. The clock started at 35 seconds and increased by five seconds for each time that the contestant did not win a car. During the run, a pair of "Five Bonus Car Seconds" cards were added in the second game of each show, awarding five extra seconds in the car round to the contestant who matched it and solved the rebus.

Originally, the contestant who correctly solved the rebus puzzle in the main game played the bonus round while the opponent was eliminated. Starting on July 4, 1988, the main game became a best-of-three match where the first player to solve two rebus puzzles played the bonus round. For the remainder of the final season on air, beginning on June 30, 1990, the winner played the bonus round after solving one rebus, but players were eliminated after two losses instead of one. Originally, returning champions could win a maximum of five games (up to five cars), but were later retired the moment they won a car.

Like the original series, Classic Concentration conducted an annual "Tournament of Champions," which invited the best players from the previous season to compete for a grand prize. The first tourney took place in 1988, with the grand prize a trip around the world. The winners of subsequent tourneys took home an upscale car.

[edit] Catch phrase

During the original NBC run, Downs or Clayton would often say, "Not a match, the board goes back," after a contestant's selections didn't match. In recent years, talk show host David Letterman — himself a frequent celebrity guest on game shows during his early career — has taken to using the phrase as well, sometimes after a comedy bit has fallen flat and other times for no apparent reason at all.

During the early days of the show, after Hugh Downs' introduction, he'd greet the home viewers by saying, "Welcome to CONCENTRATION, the show where the ability to concentrate pays off. The object is to solve the puzzle..."

When matches were made, and the puzzle was slowly revealed, Downs would say," look at these two parts of the puzzle (or puzzle parts)...can you tell us what it says?"

After the "times-up buzzer" sounded, he'd say "...(it's) still your turn. Two more numbers..."

When the contestant successfully solved the puzzle, Downs would happily shout, "..IS RIGHT!" This trait was also used later by game show host Jim Peck on several of his programs.

When it came time for the contestant to find out about their prizes, Downs would say to them, "...here's (announcer's name) to tell you EXACTLY what you have won..."

Whenever saying good-bye to a contestant, at the end of each day's show, the host would say, "... and thanks for playing Concentration."

[edit] Trivia

• During part of the original run of Concentration (circa 1970), home viewers could win a prize based on the initial of their last name corresponding to a number on the board. On one episode, a viewer from Oklahoma won a motor boat. Host Bob Clayton made the mistake of asking, "What could he possibly do with a boat in Oklahoma?" The show was then inundated with brochures on Oklahoma lakes. Most Oklahoma lakes are man-made, in response to the Dust Bowl.^{[citation needed]}

• Another noted contestant, who was mentioned in Norm Blumenthal's book, "The TV Game Shows," was Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca. He won 17 straight games and appeared in the 1963 Challenge Of Champions" (the show's first such tournament).

• The closing theme for Classic Concentration was a funkier, groovier remake of the contestant/ticket plug music used on the Goodson show Body Language, which aired on CBS for two seasons. The opening theme used the same melody, but featured a slightly different arrangement.

• The color drawing moving design that flashed when a contestant won the car round on Classic Concentration looked virtually identical to that of Card Sharks (Eubanks/Rafferty edition), the difference being that instead of the word CAR (as on Card Sharks), outlines of cars were used.

• Some of the prize cues for the syndicated version of Concentration were taken from the same package (composed by Score Productions) as those used on The Price is Right. The most notable cue was the one that TPiR fans call "Splendido", which is used for furniture showcases on Price.

• The dramatic sound effect when a contestant lost the car round was used as the losing horn (accompanied by the dreaded NBC Claxon buzzer). This was later reused in the 1989 version of Now You See It, on CBS.

• The bell used when time ran out was the sound effect taken from The Price is Right.

• The speed round buzz-in noise was used as the sound effect for: Family Feud and Child's Play.

• The clock ticking sound effect was used for most of the Mark Goodson-Bill Todman game shows: Password Plus, Blockbusters (Both Cullen and Rafferty versions), Super Password, Child's Play, Body Language, the 1989 version of Now You See It, and the 1994 syndicated version of The New Price Is Right.

• The sound effect used when a door is opened (in the main game) was the sound taken from: Trivia Trap and the 1989 revamp version of Now You See It.

[edit] Commercial versions

• The Milton Bradley Company introduced the first commercial version of Concentration in 1958 and subsequently released 24 editions of the game until 1982. (Owing to common superstition, these releases were numbered 1-12 and 14-25, skipping 13.) It was tied with Password as the most prolific of Milton Bradley's home versions of popular game shows, and was produced well after the Jack Narz-era ended in 1978. Pressman Games also published two editions of the Classic Concentration home game in 1988. More recently, Endless Games has released two versions of Concentration since 1998. The Endless version were modeled similar to Classic Concentration home game with the rebuses designed by Steve Ryan, who created puzzles for Classic Concentration.

• Two computer versions of Classic Concentration was released by Softie for MS-DOS systems, as well as the Apple II and Commodore 64; a Nintendo Entertainment System version was also released by Gametek. Tiger Electronics also marketed a hand-held version of the game in the late 1990s.

• There were also books based on the TV shows. Three issues for the original were released in 1971, written and designed by Norman Blumenthal. Each issue of this collection featured 36 rebus puzzles, 30 standard and six "super" puzzles.

• In 1991 the book "CLASSIC CONCENTRATION: The Game, The Show, the Puzzles" was created by puzzle designer Steve Ryan. This book showcased 152 full color rebuses designed from the Classic Concentration TV show with the first 48 of them simply show the entire, exposed rebus and the other 104 showed a partially revealed game board, followed on the next page by the entire rebus. All answers are in the back and, curiously, indexed alphabetically. The book also showcased a lengthy Concentration history and an introduction by executive producer Mark Goodson.

[edit] Episode status

Nearly all of the 1958-73 episodes were rumored to have been destroyed by NBC, but some were said to be found in the Library of Congress. Only a few remain on the trading block; Shokus Video is known to have a tournament episode from the late 1960s, and 12 Downs/Clayton episodes and a syndicated Narz episode have been found in the UCLA broadcasting archive. The status of the Narz episodes is uncertain. The 1985 pilot hosted by Orson Bean also exists in private collections. All episodes of Classic Concentration still exist, but this version has yet to be aired anywhere (not even on GSN) due to NBC still holding the rights to the show, and has, so far, been unwilling to agree to a syndication deal. The tapes were converted from analog to digibeta tape.

At least one or two Narz episodes have been found on the trading circuit, one from the early seasons and another from the final season with the Double Play bonus round pick-a-prize package board.

[edit] British versions

A British version of the show was produced from 1959 to 1960 by Granada Television, hosted by Barry McQueen, Chris Howland and David Gell. It was later revived by TVS in the late 1980s and early 1990s, hosted by Nick Jackson and Bob Carolgees. Both versions were shown on ITV.

[edit] External links

• Game Show Galaxy: Concentration
• The Unofficial Concentration Home Page
• James Vipond’s Concentration Site
• Concentration... Through the Decades
• Another Classic Concentration site