US Daytime Terrestrial TV 8th September 1977

Match Game FTW

Can't remember if this was when Luke and Laura were controlling the weather (? I think) on General Hospital, so voted Hollywood Squares for eternal Charles Nelson Reilly and Paul Lynde. Possibly Charo and Joanne Worley too.

The Gong Show aired during the day? I remember it as strictly evening fare.

It was late morning iirc, 11 or 1130 am

The newspaper I got the data from had The Gong Show at 1pm and then again on a different station at 7:30 (I used a 6pm start as the cutoff here).

Btw the only one of these I drew a complete blank on was It's Anybody's Guess, which as it turns out was a game show hosted by Monty Hall of Let's Make a Deal fame that only lasted three months.

I was 5 in 1977 so my vote would have to be Sesame Street if we are keeping it to those criteria. I certainly watched my share of Days of Our Lives from about 79-1992 or so. I have always resented Zoom because I sent away for something from that show and it never came.

In 1977 I was not able to engage with daytime tv, but I have no hesitation voting for Sesame Street. It started when I was already in high school, but I still loved that show. It had panache.

I would have been not yet 4 years old so I don’t remember but it’s most likely Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers.

Whoa, you randomly chose the day after I was born. Wasn't watching much tv that day iirc but I will do my best to contribute nonetheless.

https://thatoneday.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/charles-nelson-reilly.jpg

As a little kid, I loved the iconography of those game shows - the theme music, the sets, the rules, but not so much I'd sit and watch a whole show. If I wanted to see a kids' show, I would probably watch some of the quieter, low-key shows on PBS or TVOntario. I'll vote for Match Game.

Then (age 9): I would've watched any of the game shows. Match Game, Tattletales, and the $20,000 Pyramid were particular favorites - Dick Clark helped me stave off hours of boredom when staying home from school sick. Seeing that pyramid almost makes me feel sick. Also enjoyed the very daffy Gong Show. I admit I watched the New Mickey Mouse Club; I assume it was dumb, can't remember anything about it. I might have a look at Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, or Dinah Shore but my attention would eventually wander. Was too old for the kids shows, though I was an Electric Company fan a few years prior. No to the soaps, although in years to come I had roommates who were into The Guiding Light and One Life to Live so I became familiar with those shows.

Now: Would eagerly watch any of those talk shows. A handful of Merv Griffin shows were preserved and can be streamed, so you can see fascinating segments like Merv interviewing Hedy Lamarr when she was about 50. You can see Merv on location at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973 ask Richard Pryor what he's gonna do with his casino winnings and Pryor says, "buy a bunch of dope!" (really).

I bet Dinah Shore's show was great - 1977 was the year she had on Iggy Pop with David Bowie! Promoting The Idiot!

Yeah, Iggy on Dinah Shore is still pretty stunning. I think she was actually pretty cool and open-mined, from what I've read.

Dating Sly Stone will open your mind pretty well.

She came from '40s swing jazz so she was probably naturally hip and I'm sure had some stories to tell. Like Doris Day in that regard, surely much more interesting than the wholesome surface image.

Zoom was great - I've mentioned that to a bunch of Gen-Xers and it seems I alone remember actually watching it.

While I'm at least familiar with most of these shows, it was a rare treat to see daytime TV at that stage in life - either you're home sick, or it's like president's day or something. I do remember having a fever and watching the Egypt–Israel treaty being signed by Sadat & Menachem Begin, though the significance was probably lost on me at the time

I remember thinking the early Zoom kids had pretty cool uniforms, the claret & blue-striped pullovers and the jeans

Gong Show for me. I guess I never watched Hollywood Squares enough to appreciate it, and I suspect the clips I see now are the highlights, but the Gong Show was guaranteed to have at least one good thing it per episode.

As funny as Hollywood Squares could be - and Peter Marshall was undeniably a great host - I feel like the fact that the jokes are scripted is a demerit, compared to other shows that had spontaneous humor

The Gong Show may have given me my first taste of absurdist humor - performers such as Gene Gene the Dancing Machine, the Unknown Comic, Bill Saluga ("ya doesn't have to call me Johnson")

I remember one nugget from Hollywood Squares that seems almost impossible for the time:

"You're American's most popular fruit - what are you?"

Paul Lynde: "Humbled!"

Thanks for the shout out, Josefa. I’m going to abstain as there’s not much I’ve seen. Though a few of the game shows which made it across to the UK, with Hollywood Squares becoming the rather more prosaic Celebrity Squares here.

Lol at there being another show called The Doctors. I guess medical drama is universal.

I've been making Zoom jokes since this whole damn sickness began – Will we have to wear matching sweaters on these calls, hyuk? – and no one has had an inkling what I was going on about.

I remember a Zoom episode where this kid made these giant styrofoam glider shoes, and he walked across a pond.. I was mesmerized

It's rad.. the kids are so normal; no Britneys, Timberlakes, Arianas, just weird young shaggy kids

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLnAOcOZTVE

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