Tattletales

Infobox_television
show_name = Tattletales


caption = Tattletales title logo.
format = Game Show
runtime = 30 Minutes
creator = Mark Goodson and Bill Todman
starring = "Host:" Bert Convy
"Announcers:"
Jack Clark (1974-1975)
Gene Wood (1975-1978)
Johnny Olson (1982-1984)
country = USA
rating=TV-G (GSN airings)
network = CBS (1974-1978; 1982-1984)
Syndication (1977-1978)
first_aired =1974
last_aired =1984|

"Tattletales" was a game show which first aired on the CBS daytime schedule on February 18, 1974. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with several announcers Jack Clark (for the first several weeks), Gene Wood (who served as main announcer, beginning in late 1974 onwards), Johnny Olson (who also served as main announcer on the 1982 version) and John Harlan providing the voiceover at various times. The show was based on a syndicated Goodson-Todman show aired during the 1969-1970 season, "He Said, She Said".

The show's premise was based on questions asked about celebrity couples' personal and/or love lives.

Host

Bert Convy was awarded a Daytime Emmy for hosting the show 1977. However, occasionally during the 1970s run, Bert Convy and his wife, Anne, would play the game. Most often they both played during weeks in which the panel was comprised entirely of other game show hosts and their spouses. Among the hosts who filled in for Convy during these episodes were Gene Rayburn, Bob Barker, Bobby Van, Jack Narz and Richard Dawson. All five hosts also participated in playing the game along with current and future hosts such as Allen Ludden, Bill Cullen and Chuck Woolery.

Gameplay

The show went through two formats during its two stints on CBS, with the first featured only during the first month of the original run.

Format 1

In round one, while the husbands (sometimes the wives) are isolated in an enclosed room behind the main set, Convy asked their spouses two questions (usually they started with "It happened at..." and then Convy would complete the question). After each question was read, a wife/husband would buzz in to answer the question. Then after answering the question, the spouse who had buzzed in would then give a one- or two-word clue that her husband/his wife would recognize. Then the isolated spouses appeared on monitors in front of their wives/husbands. Host Convy would then ask the question to the husbands/wives, followed by the clue, after which the husband/wife who buzzed in first (with buzzers of their own in the isolation room) got the right to answer. Then if the husband's/wife's answer matched his wife's/her husband's, the couple won money for their rooting section, based on the length of the clue ($100 for a one-word clue and $50 for a two-word). After the questions, host Convy would then ask another question to the couples called a "Tattletale Quickie" (it was usually multiple-choice) in which all couples participated. On his/her turn, each wife/husband would answer the question, and then his/her spouse appeared and answered the same question. Each match on the quickie was worth $100. The roles were reversed in round two.

Format 2

By spring, "Tattletales" dropped the first part of the round in favor of all "Tattletale Quickies" for the entire half hour, thus no longer referring to them by that name. In addition, the scoring format changed; each question had a pot of $150. If two or all three couples matched, they split the pot ($75 for two couples & $50 for all three); but if only one couple matched, they got the whole pot. If nobody matched, the money was carried over to the next question, making the next question worth $300 (or $450). Again, the roles were reversed in round two. The final question was worth double, meaning $300 went to any one couple who matched, $150 to two and $100 to all three.

Money for Rooting Sections

In all versions, all three "rooting sections" (one-third of the studio audience, divided into the colors of red, "banana" (yellow), and blue) divided the money their respective couples won for them. The couple with the most money at the end of the show won the game, earning their rooting section a bonus of $1,000. If the game ended in a tie between two or among all three couples, the bonus was split ($500 for two rooting sections, $334 for all three).

Cash prizes on game shows are typically awarded to contestants in the form of a check, mailed weeks after a show has been taped. Because of the impracticality (e.g., postal costs) of doing this for an entire studio audience, "Tattletales" kept a check-cutting machine in the studio, and distributed the money to the audience members on their way out immediately after the show.

Celebrities

Among the celebrities that played the game were Jay Leno and his wife, Michael J. Fox and his girlfriend, Leslie Nielsen and his wife, Tommy Lasorda and "As the World Turns" co-stars Meg Ryan and Frank Runyeon. The 1980s version did not always use married couples, occasionally featuring special weeks with teams consisting of TV couples, best friends, parent-child, and other combinations. Actor Dick Sargent and comedian/author Fannie Flagg appeared on the show as a couple, though both were gay. Flagg was not introduced as Sargent's wife or girlfriend, or even friend, but rather "his lady." When Orson Bean played, he had the habit of dubbing the red section the pimento section and the blue section the blueberry section to go along with the yellow banana section. Often on weeks he wasn't on Burt would say, "Winning money for the red - or as our friend Orson Bean says - the pimento section is...."

cheduling History

CBS placed "Tattletales" at 4 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. Central on February 18, 1974, replacing the long-running serial "The Secret Storm." It formed the last third of an afternoon game show block that also included "The Price Is Right" and the ratings-leading "Match Game '74." cite web
last = Alliaume
first = Curt
title = Game Shows '75
url = http://www.curtalliaume.com/gameshow.html
accessdate = 2008-06-18]

CBS later moved "Tattletales" to the 11/10 a.m. slot on June 16, 1975, and then to 3:30/2:30 p.m. on August 18, 1975, filling a gap left by "Price's" return to mornings. However, by Thanksgiving, "TT" had returned to its original timeslot. cite web
last = Alliaume
first = Curt
title = Game Shows '75
url = http://www.curtalliaume.com/gameshow.html
accessdate = 2008-06-18]

In November 1977, CBS once again tried "Tattletales" in the 11/10 a.m. slot. Up against NBC's hit "Wheel of Fortune," "Tattletales" gradually began to lose viewers and ran its 1,075th and final show on March 31, 1978, giving way to "Pass the Buck (Pass the Buck took over the 10:00/9:00 central slot, while The Price is Right was shifted to 11:00/10:00 central to fill the void of Tattletales' slot.)" Goodson-Todman contracted with Viacom to distribute a weekly syndicated version beginning in September 1977. Few stations were interested in a nighttime "Tattletales," however, and it only lasted one season. cite web
last = Alliaume
first = Curt
title = Game Shows '75
url = http://www.curtalliaume.com/gameshow.html
accessdate = 2008-06-18]

In 1982, programmers decided to ask Mark Goodson to bring "Tattletales" back, and it returned with host Convy on January 18. This time, the network left the game alone, allowing it to hold the 4/3 p.m. slot until June 1, 1984, when Goodson tried another format, "Body Language." Despite rumors that a proposed revival was in the works to accompany the 1998 version of "Match Game," current G-T rights holder FremantleMedia has kept "Tattletales" on the shelf for over two decades.

Pilot

In 1972, a TV pilot was produced for what eventually become "Tattletales." The pilot was named "Celebrity Matchmates" and was emceed by Gene Rayburn, who at the time was hosting CBS's "Amateur's Guide to Love". By the time the pilot was successfully sold to the network in early 1974, Rayburn was already hosting "Match Game," which in the mid-1970s usually preceded "Tattletales" on the CBS afternoon lineup; Bert Convy got the job instead (although Rayburn and his wife were frequent guests on the show, and he even filled in as host during a 1974 week when Convy and his wife played the game).

Episode Status

All episodes of "Tattletales" exist but only a subset of them have been seen on GSN - episodes of the CBS run from 1974 and 1975 , and several months of the 1982 CBS run.

External links

* [http://www.curtalliaume.com/tattleta.html Curt Alliaume's "Tattletales" Page]
*imdb title|id=0071063|title=Tattletales (1974)
*imdb title|id=0083489|title=Tattletales (1982)

References