Get the Message


Aired
ABC Daytime, Monday, March 30, 1964 – Friday, December 25, 1964
Number of episodes
195
Run time
30 Minutes
Host
Frank Buxton March-September Robert Q. Lewis September-December
Announcer
Johnny Olson Chet Gould
Origination
Elysee Theater, New York City, New York

Get the Message was a short-lived game show where two teams of three people competed in a battle of the sexes word game. In other words, it was a different version of Password mixed in with Match Game.

Game format[]

Two teams of three (consisting of two celebrities & one civilian contestant) competed in a battle of the sexes word game (i.e. three men vs. three women). The object of the game for the celebrities was to get their civilian partners to say the "message" which was a either a familiar word, phrase or name by virtue of giving one-word clues. The celebrities were given the secret message and had their clues written on index cards by the celebrities themselves. When they were finished, they raised their hands to confirm that they're done. After that, one team of celebrity partners show their clues to their contestant partner after which he/she must take a guess. If the first contestant got it wrong, the opposing team took a chance. Both teams had two chances on the same message with different clues on the second chance. Each correct answer was worth one point, and the first team to score three points won the game, $100 for the winning contestant, and went on to the bonus game.

Turnabout (Bonus Game #1)[]

The winning team went on to play the bonus game, called "Turnabout". The winning contestant was now shown a new message and verbally gave one-word clues to each celebrity partner. Each incorrect guess decreased the value of the message. Three messages were played and up to four clues were given for each. The first clue was worth $100, the second was worth $50, then $25, and finally $10. The highest the winning contestant could win was $300.

Open Round (Bonus Game #2)[]

In this new bonus game called "Open Round", the contestant could earn up to an additional $150 by guessing up to three $50 messages. The celebrities gave only one word clues each and the contestant took only one guess at each message.

New contestants played each game.

Personnel[]

Host: Frank Buxton, Robert Q. Lewis
Announcer: Johnny Olson, Chet Gould
Authority: Dr. William Barnes
Executive Producer: Robert Noah
Producer: Jack Farren
Director: Mike Garguilo
Set Designer: Romain Johnston

Trivia[]

Celebrity guests included Bill Cullen, Art James and Gene Rayburn, who were all hosting Goodson-Todman shows at the time. The debut guests were Abe Burrows, Orson Bean, Peggy Cass, and Betty White.

Another short-lived Goodson game show that also had a bonus round called "Turnabout" was Child's Play with Bill Cullen in 1983.

In 1986, a remake of this show was made as an unsold pilot for NBC called Oddball hosted by Jamie Farr of M*A*S*H fame. (Go to the "See Also" page for details)

Merchandise[]

Main Article: Get the Message/Merchandise

Photos[]

Main Article: Get the Message/Photos

Episode Status[]

Get the Message is believed to have been mostly destroyed as per the network practices at the time. Game Show Network/GSN has aired two episodes in the past, the finale and an episode hosted by the late Buxton. An episode (hosted by the late Buxton) has also aired on Buzzr as part of their 5th Annual "Lost & Found" week on September 27, 2020.

Get the Message

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