Q:  Why are the ABC Password shows never shown on Game Show Network?

A:  This is one of our most perpetually asked questions and it is frustrating that those shows are apparently gone.  The ABC version is one of the few shows of any kind in which Mark Goodson did not insist on archived copies.  The cost would still have been expensive to save them all because television was still using bulky, two-inch videotape in those years and kinescopes were virtually dead.

Yet, Goodson managed to save the color editions of the CBS daytime version of Password and nearly all of the nighttime shows.

ABC, largely a bare-bones network until it became number one in prime time in 1976, archived almost nothing because of those costly $300-a-tape spindles.

Sadly, so many of television's top names of that era played on that version before the level of celebrity players declined.  Elizabeth Montgomery, Bill Bixby, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Martin Milner, Greg Morris, Kate Jackson, Tony Randall, Robert Young and Mary Tyler Moore all appeared on the ABC version of Password.  Betty White became the first female substitute game show host in more than a dozen years on a week when Allen played the game.  Monty Hall hosted for a week when Allen and Betty challenged the other ABC game show hosts.

The only thing we're glad they don't have:  Password All-Stars, one of the worst mistakes in daytime history.

Q:  I seem to remember Video Village as a child but some people I work with think I'm crazy.  What was the game like?

A:  After seeing Merrill Heatter, its co-creator, at Game Show Congress, I will tell you he is pleased you aren't crazy.  Video Village made his company.  

The show, which aired from 1960-62, was a living board game as contestants traveled down three "city streets" in the "village."  They advanced via the roll of a dice in a chuck-a-luck cage.  The object was to amass money and prizes as one traveled along the village in a race to reach the finish line first.

One of the most inspired moves of jeopardy in the game was Exchange Place, the last square before the finish.  Hit that and you were forced to trade places with an opponent who may be way behind and often blow the game.  You did keep all of your loot, even if you lost.

Only two kinescopes and one clean copy of a videotape appear to have survived, one with Jack Narz, one with substitute host Red Rowe and one with Monty Hall.

Q:  The recent A&E Biography on game shows did not mention a word about Bill Cullen.  Why?

A:  Nor did it mention a thing about Allen Ludden.  You had a couple of stills of Allen but no discussion of him.  

We're pleased they used Tom Kennedy, Monty Hall, Wink Martindale, Peter Marshall, Alex Trebek, Bob Eubanks, Betty White----so many of the great classic hosts.  

Yet, at Game Show Congress, Peter himself called it "a travesty" that Bill, arguably the greatest emcee ever, was ignored.

Our guess is that this special was produced by a documentary company run by young producers who don't have a clue who Bill was.  Often, the surmisal is:  "If we don't know who he is, the audience surely won't."  

That was an embarrassing oversight and A&E should be ashamed.  However, that mistake will likely not be repeated on one of the upcoming GSN documentaries on game shows.  We were told by two of the producers the unanimous consensus was of Bill as the best of all time and we're virtually assured a generous focus on Cullen will be on one of those specials.

Q:  When is the change going to happen with Richard Karn on Family Feud?

A:  In mid-September, when the show returns for an eighth season.  That's when John O'Hurley will replace Karn.

Q:  Do you think with its renewed emphasis on game shows that GSN will ever run Groucho's You Bet Your Life as you have suggested?

A:  Sadly, no.  We still think it would be a solid alternative for weekend late night and it would not be terribly expensive.  Paul Brownstein Productions holds the syndication rights.

Yet, our surmisal is GSN would not buy anything in black-and-white (and probably wouldn't air the late night monochrome shows it has now, were it not for their celebrity nostalgia value).  Seeing Groucho again, in our view, would be an outstanding exception but I'm not optimistic Rich Cronin would even look in that direction.

Q:  Was that the Rich Cronin of GSN we saw last week on Password Plus?

A:  It absolutely was.  Rich was a college student at the time, hoping to earn a little extra money.  He had no idea at the time his future would include originating TV Land and guiding the fortunes of Fox Family Channel and Game Show Network.

Q:  Do you think GSN will ever go back to calling itself Game Show Network?

A:  Probably not and it's a shame.  The decision on a name change was made when GSN appeared to be headed diametrically opposite from the game show business and was commissioning everything from casino shows to game operas and buying recent network offerings from The Mole to The Next Action Star to Star Search to the dreadfully juvenile Kenny vs. Spenny.  

Our question, and we have shared this with some of GSN's marketing personnel:  do you know of 10 people who really and truly go around calling that channel GSN---The Network for Games?  To most people, it's still Game Show Network and it always will be, no matter how they try to market it.

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This week, viewers who have pined for GSN to again be Game Show Network have a genuine chance to visit their video ballot box.

The premieres of Chain Reaction and Starface, along with the announcement of the forthcoming word game What's That Question (with experienced emcee Bob Goen), are turning GSN back toward its roots. Whether this is a short-term flirtation with its core audience or a significant committment may well be determined by how viewers respond at the Nielsen meter and the online interactive playsite.

I've had a chance to view both openers in advance. The shows are contrasting in style and texture as are their emcees. Chain Reaction has name recognition with the hardcore fans, even though its original version was short-lived. Starface, the edgier of the two, may well rise or fall on how well viewers can accept the sometimes-coarse but ever-unpredictable Danny Bonaduce as host.

A lot of the advance publicity for Chain has focused on two elements: one, Michael Davies as executive producer in his first offering from his new Sony Pictures Television/GSN deal. Davies has free rein to create whatever he believes will sell in the cable, syndicated and new media marketplace. Interestingly, he chose a quarter-century old game from the Bob Stewart library of GSN properties for his maiden voyage. Two, the roots of the game with its creator Bob Stewart and original host Bill Cullen, whose name is the symbol of excellence of one of Game Show Congress's two Legends awards.

For a brief period in the '90s, Game Show Network aired the original Chain Reaction. The game, one of many variations on Stewart's original word classic Password, was fast-paced and employed four celebrities and two civilian contestants. The bonus game offered nerve-wracking excitement. Stewart, Cullen, good celebrity game players and a lively format: all top-flight components. The show was a failure on NBC.

Don't get me wrong. The game was not bad. Chain Reaction suffered the misfortune of being one among dozens of games, soaps and alternate formats which ended up in a litter box of fizzlers served up by NBC and ABC in the noon hour for nearly 20 years opposite The Young & the Restless. More 13-week and 26-week wonders came and went between the time Jackpot! was moved by NBC and Password died on ABC and the virtual end of game shows as a daytime network staple. The $20,000 Pyramid, Let's Make a Deal, Name That Tune, a Jeopardy! revival, The Doctors, a Match Game remake and Password Plus were among the bigger-name shows which served as midday sacrificial lambs against Y&R. Super Password did survive for five years but only because NBC's daytime programmers decided they had nothing better to develop. Often, SP was the lowest-rated show on daytime television. Among the here-and-gone variety: Hot Seat, Showoffs, Second Chance, 50 Grand Slam, The Don Ho Show, America Alive, The Fun Factory, To Say the Least, The Magnificent Marble Machine, The Better Sex,........and Chain Reaction.

Davies has crafted this version of Chain, 20 years after it was last remounted for USA Network, as a battle of the sexes game. In one respect, that aspect bears a resemblance to Cullen's Hot Potato. The show is as lively as the original. Davies has added a Speed Chain round which subtly adds to the pacing and builds the money for the contestants. The premiere show players offer plenty of energy. The one complaint: give the players last names. That may be my cliche annoyance but I wish showrunners would understand how last names complete an identity for contestants and give us a finished product. Otherwise, they become nameless and forgettable.

In our Cover Story interview this week, host Dylan Lane was refreshing when he told us: "Don't judge us completely by our first show. I think you'll see by the third or fourth week, we really get into it more and I think I loosen up more." On the debut outing, Lane is pleasant but---as any rookie emcee would---appears to be a bit too glued to getting the rules and format down. Personally, I want him to smile a bit more in transition to the breaks. I'm wagering by the time we see shows 15 through 20, he'll be far more comfortable and do just that. Lane keeps the game moving well and genuinely appears to like the contestants. One additional thing I'd like to see: give him a shade more time at the end of the show to interact with the final team, win or lose in the bonus round. On the preview DVD, he was rushed to say goodnight and go to the credits. Afford him an extra 30 to 40 seconds to congratulate the players and allow more of his personality to wrap the package at the end.

Overall, Chain Reaction was always a fun and challenging game. If anything, Davies has tweaked it, not remade it---an excellent decision. The game is true to its roots and offers an entertaining half-hour and solid playalong values. This is another of these shows which, if successful, ought to spawn a hand-held electronic home version---the kind I've been clamoring for with Lingo for five years.

Starface is what it is and when you have Bonaduce on board, you know what you're getting. If you read his interview in The Los Angeles Times Monday, you saw the former Partridge Family scene-stealer's assessment as "really weird" that he is hosting a game show.

In one respect, that may be what makes this edgier show work. Bonaduce carries on the mechanics of the game but makes no pretense of being a game show host. He is what he is. His voice sounds like what may happen to someone who gargles razor blades. He has anything but matinee idol looks. No one will come away suggesting he'll be added to a short list of potential Bob Barker replacements on The Price Is Right. Yet, Bonaduce being himself is what appears to succeed on this Pat Finn-produced half-hour.

The game is a mix of celebrity identification and trivia about the pictured faces. Candidly, GSN better hope its intended younger audience samples Starface and stays with it during the broadcast network rerun season. The older traditional game show audience is not likely to recognize a number of the faces at first glance. The game is youth-driven.

Some of the things we liked: we know who the contestants are. They actually have first and last names, are allowed to say them during Bonaduce's walkdown interviews and even tell us what they do for a living. Refreshingly, we have a short resume on each player which gives them more than a nameless identity.

As in Chain Reaction, the pacing is fast and the questions are fired in a rapid-fire fashion. The basic game does not lose one's interest.

Some of the question content in the speed round, in the episode we viewed, is definitely not for the entire family. Yet, you know what you're getting when you have a game with Bonaduce as host. Those items do not dominate the show, thankfully, and do not cross over into the offensive.

The weakest part of the show may be the bonus round. Potentially, the segment appears to be too easy to win (the grand prize is a luxury vacation trip). From our perspective, contestants could rely on pure guessing too frequently in negotiating correct answers.

Bonaduce brings a name, albeit a rollercoaster ride of a name to the show. That, in itself, will probably draw curiosity samplers. Some will stay away because they've long since made up their minds they just don't like him. We suggest you at least give him a couple of tries. Starface may, in fact, rise or fall based on viewers' willingness to tolerate Bonaduce as an emcee. Yet, as we see it, what may well work is Bonaduce not framing himself as a game show host. That worked well for Chuck Barris 30 years ago. Perhaps it will succeed for Bonaduce and Starface.