The Newlywed Game
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| The Newlywed Game | |
 The Newlywed Game title logo |
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| Also known as | The New Newlywed Game |
|---|---|
| Format | Game Show |
| Created by | Nick Nicholson E. Roger Muir (credited on-screen as Roger E. Muir) |
| Directed by | Bill Carruthers (1966-1974) John Dorsey (aka "The Fox"; 1966-1974; 1977-1980; 1985-1988) Jeff Goldstein (1988-1989) Paul Casey (1996-1997; 1998-1999) Rob Fiedler (1997-1998) |
| Presented by | Bob Eubanks (1966-1974; 1977-1980; 1985-1988; 1997-1999) Jim Lange (1984) Paul Rodriguez (1988-1989) Gary Kroeger (1996-1997) Carnie Wilson (2009-present) |
| Narrated by | Johnny Jacobs (1966-1980) Tony McClay (1980) Rod Roddy (1984) Bob Hilton (1985-1987) Charlie O'Donnell (1988-1989) Ellen K. (1996-1997) John Cramer (1997-1999) Brad Sherwood (2009- ) |
| Theme music composer | Chuck Barris (1966-1974; 1977-1980; 1985-1988; 1997-1998) |
| Composer(s) | Lynn Barris (music coordinator 1966-1974) Frank Jaffe (music coordinator 1966-1974) Lee Ringuette (music coordinator 1977-1980; 1984-1988) Milton DeLugg (music director 1984-1988) Jim Latham (1996-1997) Steve Kaplan (1997-1998) Barry Coffing (1998-1999) John Blaylock (1998-1999) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Chuck Barris (1966-1974; 1977-1980; 1985-1987) Jeff Wald (1987-1989) Michael Canter (1996-1997) Stephen Brown (1997-1999) Michael Davies (2009-present) |
| Producer(s) | Bill Carruthers (1966-1974) Walt Case (1966-1974; 1984-1988; supervising producer 1997-1998) Mike Metzger (1977-1980) Scott Sternberg (1988-1989) Bruce Starin (1988-1989) April Benimowitz (supervising producer 1996-1997) Rikk Greengrass (supervising producer 1996-1997) Linda Lea (coordinating producer 1997-1999) |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Production company(s) | Chuck Barris Productions (1966-1974; 1977-1980; 1985-1987) Barris Enterprises (1987-1989) Columbia TriStar Television (1996-1999) Embassy Row (2009-present) Sony Pictures Television (2009-present) GSN (2009-Present) |
| Distributor | Firestone Syndication Sales (1977-1980) Bel-Air Syndication Sales (1985-1987) Barris Enterprises (1987-1989) Columbia TriStar Television (1996-1999) Sony Pictures Television (2001-present) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC (1966-1974; 1984) Daily Syndication (1977-1980; 1985-1989; 1996-1999) GSN (2009-present) |
| Original airing | 1966-1999, 2009-current |
The Newlywed Game is an American television game show that pits newly-married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know (or don't know) each other. The program, originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir[1] and produced by Chuck Barris, has appeared in many different versions since its 1966 debut. The show became famous for some of the arguments that couples had over incorrect answers and even led to some divorces.[2]
Many of The Newlywed Game's questions dealt with "making whoopee", the euphemism that producers used for sexual intercourse in order to get around network censors. However, it became such a catchphrase of the show that Bob Eubanks continued to use the word throughout the show's many runs, even in the 1980s and 1990s episodes, when he could easily have said "make love" or "have sex" without censorship.
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[edit] Hosts
Bob Eubanks is the host that is most often associated with The Newlywed Game. Eubanks was, at the time the show signed on in 1966, the youngest M.C. to host a game show at age 28. He hosted all versions except the 1984 ABC version, a special Valentine's Day week of specials hosted by Jim Lange; the last season of the 1980s version, which Paul Rodriguez hosted; and the first season of the 1990s version, which Gary Kroeger hosted. The 1997 revival featured a different format than the best known format of the show; after one season of disappointing ratings, Eubanks was brought back to the show as host and the classic format was revived.
Johnny Jacobs was the announcer of The Newlywed Game during its entire 1966-74 and 1977-80 runs, however Tony McClay subbed on occasion; very early in the show's run (as evidenced on the July 26, 1966 episode), the announcer was originally Scott Beach - Barris' original choice as host prior to Eubanks' audition.
Jacobs died in 1982, and when the 1980s version surfaced and renamed The New Newlywed Game Rod Roddy was the announcer on the Jim Lange version, Bob Hilton announced from 1985-1987, then Charlie O'Donnell took over from 1987 until its cancellation in 1989. John Cramer announced in the 1990s.
A new version began production for GSN in 2009 and began airing in April, hosted by Carnie Wilson with announcer Brad Sherwood.
[edit] Rules of the game
For the first round, the wives were taken off the stage while the husbands were asked four questions. The wives were then brought back on stage and were asked for their answers for the same four questions. Once the wife gave her answer, the husband revealed the answer that he previously gave, which was written on a blue card. A match for that question was worth 5 points for the couple.
The roles were reversed in the second round, where the husbands were taken off the stage and the wives were asked four questions before the husbands were brought back on stage to give their answers. The first three questions in this round were worth 10 points each, and the final question was worth 25 points. The number of questions in each round was reduced to three and two (excluding the final question) in 1987.
Originally, in the first year of the first ABC version, the husbands went off-stage first while the wives had to predict what their husbands would say. Each correct match was worth 5 points. Then the wives would go off-stage as the husbands would be asked 10-point questions with a bonus question worth 25 points, which usually decided the game. The maximum possible score was 75 points.
The couple with the highest score at the end of the second round won a prize that was "chosen just for you" (in actuality, the couples had requested a certain prize and competed with other couples that had requested the same prize). By 1987, this practice was eliminated.
The grand prize was never a car or cash, but it could include just about anything else: appliances, furniture, home entertainment systems, a trailer or motorcycles, trips (complete with luggage and camera), etc. In the 1997 remake, the grand prize was always a trip (dubbed "a second honeymoon").
Prior to taping the show, each couple was asked to predict the total points they would earn. In the event of a tie, the tied couples would reveal a card showing this predicted score. The couple that had the closest guess without going over their actual total, won. If all the tied couples went over, the couple who had the closest guess would win. An exact guess awarded a additional prize to the winners.
For the first half of the 1988-1989 season, the scoring system was changed: correct answers paid off in cash ($25 to start with, three questions worth $25 in round one, two worth $50 in round two), and during the final question the couples could wager any part of their earnings up to that point. All couples kept their money (maximum of $450), but only the winners took home the grand prize.
This scoring format was dropped, and the old one reinstated, when Paul Rodriguez took over as host in December 1988, although the number of couples competing was then reduced to three.
[edit] 1997 version
When Gary Kroeger took over in Fall 1996 the show was overhauled with a new format. Like the 1988-1989 season of The New Newlywed Game, three couples competed in a series of rounds.
[edit] Round 1
Each spouse was shown a videotape of their mates who gave a statement mostly about their spouse. The tape was paused near the end which gave the spouse in control a chance predict how his/her mate completed the statement. Then the tape played again, and a correct answer earned 10 points. First the husbands tapes were shown & the wives took a guess, then it went the opposite direction.
[edit] Round 2
Host Kroeger asked the couples a multiple-choice question in which one half of the couples had given answers in advance, and the other must guess what they chose. Each match again earns 10 points. First the wives predicted what their husbands said, then the process was reversed.
[edit] Round 3
In this round before the show, either the wives or the husbands gave some very weird facts about themselves. Host Kroeger gave the facts to the other half of the couple, whom were equipped with heart-shaped signs that say "That's My Wife/Man!" If they recognized that fact, all they had to do was to raise the sign and yell out "THAT'S MY WIFE/MAN!" If correct, they win 10 points for their team, but if wrong they lose 10 points for the team. Only the first person to raise the sign can win or lose.
[edit] Round 4
In this final round of the game, host Kroeger read a series of choices (ex: Candy or Potato Chips, Rocket Scientist or Space Cadet, Ketchup or Mustard, etc.) and the wives held cards with one of the choices on it. Then the husbands chose one of the two things that most applies to them. Each match earns points, they were seven questions and each question was worth 10 points more than the previous question with the last question worth even more.
- Question 1 - 10 points
- Question 2 - 20 points
- Question 3 - 30 points
- Question 4 - 40 points
- Question 5 - 50 points
- Question 6 - 60 points
- Question 7 - 100 points
The couple with the most points wins the game and wins a second honeymoon trip.
This format was mostly disliked by fans of the original show so the next year they switched it back to its original format and theme with original host Bob Eubanks back at the helm.
[edit] 2009 Version
The current version retains the classic format, only with three couples and the addition of a new endgame featuring a couple from a previous version, referred to as "Goldyweds".
In Round 1, three questions are asked, the husbands try to match the wives for 5 points apiece. Values are doubled, and roles are reversed for Round 2. The final question of Round 2 is worth 20 points and is called the eHarmony.com Dimension Question, except for some episodes which have couples that first met on eHarmony.com. The couple with the highest score after this question wins a second honeymoon.
The winners play against the Goldyweds. In this round, the wives are asked 5 questions during the commercial break. The husbands will go to the podiums in the front of the stage as their wives sit on chairs in the back. The questions are worth increasing values from 1-5 points, most points wins a bonus prize.
In the event of a tie during either the main game or the endgame, standard Newlywed Game tiebreaker rules apply.
[edit] "In the butt"
The Newlywed Game was the subject of an urban legend for many years. The story, which had several variations, had Bob Eubanks asking a contestant "Where is the weirdest place where you have ever had the urge to make whoopee?" in one episode. The contestant supposedly responded "In the butt", implying anal intercourse. Eubanks denied that the incident occurred for many years.[1]
However, on a 2002 NBC special, The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments, Eubanks reluctantly presented a clip from a 1977 episode where he asked a wife named Olga where the weirdest place that she and her husband Hank had the urge to "make whoopee" was. After drawing a blank, and prodded by Eubanks to give an answer, the wife responded "In the ass" (with "ass" bleeped out). As everyone in the studio laughed uproariously, Eubanks clarified the question, asking for the weirdest location.
Hank's answer was "In the car", one that had drawn laughter and applause during the husbands-only segment with Eubanks quipping "I'm going to take the side streets hereafter."
The clip was later requested by fans and aired numerous times in future Most Outrageous Game Show Moments specials until the fourth episode in which Bob explained the clip was being "retired".
The clip also appeared (uncensored) in the 2002 film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, about the life of producer Barris.
[edit] Theme songs
The theme music originally started off as a vocal song called "Summertime Guy". The song was written by Chuck Barris for singer Eddie Rambeau, who performed and released the song on a Swan label 45 rpm SP record. Minutes before the song was to be presented on American Bandstand in 1962, ABC informed Rambeau that he couldn't sing the song (because Chuck Barris was an ABC employee at the time) and a new song was needed.
Not wanting the song to go to waste, Barris commissioned Milton DeLugg a few years later to arrange an instrumental version of "Summertime Guy" for use as the first theme to The Newlywed Game. The theme music was performed by the Trumpets Olé in a style similar to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and was released as the last track on the LP album "The Trumpets Olé Play Instrumentals". To better fit the show's spirit, DeLugg preceded the pop song's melody with a sample of Mendelssohn's Wedding March.
The theme was re-recorded around 1973 by Frank Jaffe and Michael Stewart. Featured as the third track on the LP album "Chuck Barris Presents Theme From TV Game Shows", it was used on The Newlywed Game beginning with the syndicated version in 1977. Then, Milton DeLugg, who was by this time Barris' house musical director, created a new, updated theme based on the existing melody for The New Newlywed Game beginning with Jim Lange's 1984 series of specials, and then for the first several years of the Bob Eubanks-hosted revival.
When Paul Rodriguez took over in 1988, the theme song was changed to the 1950s doo wop classic "Book of Love" by the Monotones. The Gary Kroeger version featured an entirely new theme; when Eubanks returned, a new recording of the classic theme was used for his first season (arranged by Steve Kaplan & Jim Latham), but dropped in favor of a new theme for the third season by Barry Coffing and John Blaylock.
The current Carnie Wilson-hosted version uses an updated looping version of the classic theme.
[edit] Episode status
Most episodes of the original ABC daytime version are presumed to be wiped, and many of those that do exist are said to be un-airable due to color deterioration. However, a handful have been shown on GSN, most notably the 1974 finale. The ABC nighttime version's status is also unknown for similar reasons, although a few of the evening shows have been shown on GSN's former block "Game Show Saturday Night".
All later versions are intact and have rerun on GSN, except for the seasons hosted by Rodriguez and Kroeger.
[edit] Production Companies
Chuck Barris Productions produced all versions from 1966-1989, with the 1987-1989 versions credited to Barris Enterprises. Columbia TriStar Television, who owns the Chuck Barris game show library,[2], produced the 1996-1999 revivals. Embassy Row, a New York-based television production company, produces the Wilson-hosted version for Sony Pictures Television and GSN.[3]
[edit] Licensed merchandise
Classic board games creator Endless Games, which specializes in board games based on several widely popular, long-running television game shows, including The Price is Right and Million Dollar Password, distributes home versions of The Newlywed Game, including a DVD edition and a Quick Picks travel-size edition.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Mike's Classic TV Games Site: The Newlywed Game
- Additional info on the urban legend (from snopes.com)
- Funny Newlywed Game answers
- E. Roger Muir discusses creating The Newlywed Game from the "Archive of American Television" on YouTube.
