Password Plus

Aired

NBC Daytime, January 8, 1979 – March 26, 1982

Run time

30 Minutes

Host

Allen Ludden 1979-1980 Bill Cullen (sub) 1980 Tom Kennedy 1980-1982

Announcers

Gene Wood Rich Jefferies Johnny Olson

Origination

NBC Studio 3, Burbank, California

This is chronicling the Password Plus era. 

Game format

In the main game, contestants & celebrities solved puzzles with five clues each. They earned a chance to solve the puzzle by playing Password, and the passwords were the clues to the puzzles.

A password was given to the clue givers, and had a limited number of chances to get their partners to say the word. The words literally appeared on the playing desk in the form of slides rather than being superimposed. When the word was given to the clue givers, the first clue giver had the same pass/play option from the ABC version. Not making the decision in time gave the opposing clue giver two clues instead of one. The teams had six chances (three clues for each giver) to get their partners to say the clue. Forms of the word were always accepted. Each time the guesser said the password, the password became a clue and it appeared on a puzzle board; plus the guesser had a chance to solve the puzzle. If the password was given away by the clue giver, the right to solve the puzzle automatically went to the opposing guesser. Failure to solve the puzzle meant that another password/clue was played. If the guesser who won the last password did not solve the puzzle after the fifth clue, the clue giver was given a chance to solve the puzzle. If he/she failed, the puzzle was discarded (but not before the audience was given a chance to solve it), then another puzzle was played for the same amount. In later episodes certain changes were made: both teams had two chances each for a total of four, the pass/play option went to the team that won the last password, and opposites were now considered illegal clues. The first team to solve the puzzle won money, and meeting a certain goal won the game and a chance to win more money.

The first two rounds were worth $100, and the next two were worth $200, with $300 needed to win the game. For the final five months, a third $100 puzzle was added, after which the contestants did what host Tom Kennedy called “the crossover”: they traded celebrity partners (a nod to the original Password); that's when the $200 puzzles started, and the first team to reach $500 won the game.

Alphabetics

In the bonus round called Alphabetics in Password Plus, the winning contestant was shown 10 letters which were all initials to 10 passwords and in alphabetical order. The celebrity's job was to give a series of one word clues to the contestant, and if the contestant guessed the word, he/she won $100 and advanced to the next word beginning with the next letter. If the contestant can't guess the word, the celebrity can pass that word and may return to it with time left. If the contestant got all ten in 60 seconds, he/she won $5,000 minus $1,000 for each illegal clue. Also for the final five months, the jackpot was progressive: it started at $5,000 and grew by that much every time it was not won, with a maximum of $50,000 (which was never achieved). The biggest jackpot was $35,000; $30,000 was won twice. Illegal clues reduced the jackpot by 20% ($2,500 for a brief period).

When the show started, the Alphabetics board was suspended from the ceiling and located at the entrance; after seven weeks, it moved to a wall behind a set of doors. People kept hitting their heads on it and it was also in the way of the show's logo that closed the entrance. When the board moved, Allen Ludden called it "The Alphabetics Wall." After each Alphabetics, the champion played a new game with the other celebrity; later, the champion stayed with the current celebrity until the third $100 puzzle was played, after which he/she would do the crossover.

Champions stayed on the show until they lost or until they won seven times, after which they retired undefeated.

Personnel

• Host: Allen Ludden (1979-1980); Tom Kennedy (1980-1982)
• Substitute Host: Bill Cullen (1980)
• Announcer: Gene Wood
• Substitute Announcers: John Harlan, Bob Hilton, Johnny Olson, Rich Jeffries
• Executive Producer: Howard Felsher
• Producer: Robert Sherman
• Director: George Choderker
• Set Designer: Bente Christensen

Trivia

The show was originally going to be called Password '79.
former panelists, Regis Philbin would later become host of the short-lived CBS primetime game show Million Dollar Password from 2008 until 2009.
the Main gameplay element would later be inspired for the unsold 1986 Mark Goodson produced game show pilot On a Roll hosted by David Sparks.

Merchandise

Board Games

In 1978, Milton Bradley released board games based on the series in three editions.

Electronic Game

In 1981, an electronic version was released for its short-lived Omni Entertainment System, in an "8-track tape"-like cartridge.

Video

Password Plus Omni

GSN/Game Show Network

An online interactive version where you can play along with the show on their website was released by them at one time.

Unreleased game

The Great Game Company (1983)

A video game version of Password Plus was going to be released for the Atari 2600 and Intellivision in 1983. However, due to the video game crash at the time, plans for it were scrapped later on.

Photos

Set Pics

Tickets

TV Guide Ads

Bumper

Contestant Plugs

Episode Status

See Also: Password Plus/Episode Guide

This series exists in its entirety, and repeats have aired on GSN at various times. Only the July 4, 1980 episode has aired on Buzzr in the past, and was the first episode of the show to air on Buzzr.

Video

Password Plus "French" Episode Open and Act 1

See Also

Password (1961)
Password (1971)
Super Password
Password (1997 proposed revival)
Million Dollar Password

Links

Password Plus (Cullen) @ Game Show Utopia
Password Plus @ Game Show Galaxy (via internet Archive)
Password Plus (Ludden) @ Jay Anton
Password Plus (Kennedy/Cullen) @ Jay Anton