Aired | |
CBS Daytime, October 2, 1961 – Friday September 15, 1967 CBS Nighttime & Sunday Afternoon, Tuesday January 2, 1962 – Monday May 22, 1967 | |
Run time | |
30 Minutes | |
Host | |
Allen Ludden | |
Announcers | |
Bob Marcato Jack Clark (1961-1965) Frank Wayne Bern Bennett Lee Vines (1966-1967) Gene Wood (1965-1966) Bob Kennedy | |
Origination | |
CBS Studios 50 and 52, New York City, New York Studio 33 & Studio 43, CBS Television City, Los Angeles, California |
Password is a game show where one player teams up with one celebrity to try to guess a secret password using one-word clues.
Game format
Two teams of two (consisting of one celebrity & one contestant) played Password for points. One player from each team (both celebrities or both contestants) is given the password while the home viewers saw the word on their screens (by letting the announcer saying, "The Password is..."). Then the clue givers gave a one-word clue to get their partners to say the password. Teams alternated turns until one guesser said the password which gave the team points according to how many clues given, starting at 10 and finishing with 1. Should the guesser on the team in control say a form of the password, the guesser got one last chance to say the exact word. Whenever an illegal clue is given, a buzzer sounded and the guesser lost a chance to guess the password and giving away the password by the clue givers ended the word. The decisions as to whether the clues were good or bad were made by a word authority. The word authorities are Professor David H. Greene, a professor from New York University (1961) and The World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary editor Dr. Reason A.Goodwin (1961-1967). Partners on both teams alternated between giving & receiving, starting with the stars, then to the contestants; plus, the team that trailed or lost the last password in case of a tie started a new password. The first team to reach 25 points wins the game ($100 to the contestant in the CBS daytime version and $250 in the CBS nighttime version) and they go on the play the Lightning Round.
The Lightning Round
In the Lightning Round, the celebrity on the winning team had 60 seconds (1 minute) to get his/her partner to say 5 passwords. If the contestant can't guess the password, the celebrity can pass. Each password guessed is worth $50 meaning that the contestant can win up to $250.
Returning Champions
On the CBS daytime version, contestants played 2 games, win or lose with each game worth $100. Originally on the nighttime version, 2 players stayed for the entire show. Starting that November, two new contestants played one game each, with winners receiving $250 and losers receiving $50.
Personnel
- Host: Allen Ludden (1961-1967)
- Substitute Host: Jack Clark (1961-1965)
- Announcer: Bob Marcato, Jack Clark (1961-1965), Frank Wayne, Bern Bennett, Gene Wood (1965-1966), Lee Vines (1966-1967) & Bob Kennedy
- Executive Producer: Bob Stewart
- Producer: Frank Wayne
- Directors: Lou Tedesco & Mike Gargiulo
- Set Designers: Ted Cooper & Bill Bohnert
- Word Authorities: Professor David H. Greene of New York University (1961) & Dr. Reason A. Goodwin, Editor of The World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary (1961-1967)
- Music: Bob Cobert
Trivia
Theme Song
1. "Holiday Jaunt (You Know The Password)" is Written & Performed by The Kurtis "Kurt" Rehnfeld Orchestra from 1961 to 1963.
2. "You Know The Password (The Password Theme)" is Composed by The Robert Cobert Orchestra from 1963 to 1967.
International Versions
Main Article: Password/International
Merchandise
Main Article: Password/Merchandise
Photos
Main Article: Password/Photos
Episode Status
See Also: Password/Episode Guide
Video
See Also
Password (1971)
Password Plus
Super Password
Password (1997 proposed revival)
Million Dollar Password
Subconscious Password