Added no less than 28 new zingers to the bottom of the Paul Lynde page...thanks to John Beldon! Also did a big rewrite of the Dixon's Wish List page to update it with newer informaton.
9/29/01
Freshened up the pics on the Square Sequels page, of the John Davidson version, to include a few from an actual episode. BTW, we now have a winner in the "all four versions" sweepstakes: Jimmie Walker. Thanks to Chris Kane for ferreting out that documentation!
9/25/2001
Sorry about the delay in getting up some links to help out the victims of September 11th's dreadful terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I had (still have, in fact) some HTML issues with Geocities.
I have added two great new pics of Kenny Williams to his biography page, to replace the lame one that was there for so long. Also replaced a picture at the top of the Square Facts page, with one in color. Added a new zinger to the Guest Stars page and several to the bottom of the Paul Lynde page (look for the gem from the beginning of the Vegas season).
Mystic Girl (a/k/a Stephanie) is doing this on her site, so I thought I would join...I am adding a special page for viewer memories. October 17, 2001 will be the 35th anniversary of the original Squares debut on NBC-TV, and this is the most special way I could think of to celebrate. Feel free to email yours!
Also added new pics on the Contestant Memories and Paul Lynde pages, and new zingers to the bottom of the Lynde, George Gobel and Charley Weaver pages. Enjoy!
Fixed the Guestbook problem...apparently Geocities has a new system now. I still have the old one accessible if you want to see some of the early entries...Also updated the FAQ for any latecomers to the guestbook problem...
Added a new page to answer all those questions I keep getting...the Square FAQ. If you have a question that is not there, feel free to email me. If enough of you have that same question, it'll probably get there.
Also added several new pictures to the Square Photo Gallery II page...all are TV Guide ads. I also added 16 Charley Weaver and five new Paul Lynde zingers (the one about the sheep still has me rolling in the floor), on the bottom of their respective pages.
One of the most long-awaited and most heavily requested pages on the site has finally been added: the page devoted to the sequels that went on in 1983, '86 and the current one. Of course this site will always remain focused on the first and best version of the Squares, but I thought it was interesting to compare the three to the original, and that is the focus of the page. Also, you may notice a list of stars who appeared on the Marshall version and others...if you know of any additions that need to be made, don't be shy about letting me know (and many of you haven't been!) Special thanks to Roland Taylor Jr. for supplying many of the Davidson-era zingers.
Updated Peter Marshall and Rose Marie pages, to include the Old Faces revue in which the two will soon take part. Did you know Peter Marshall has written a book about his days with the Squares? Stay tuned for details!
Coming soon (as soon as I get my vid capture device fixed): pages devoted to the infamous "party" episodes from 1978, and to the three Square revivals. Also, a FAQ for questions I get a lot ("Who fell asleep in their square?").
My hard-working frierd Brendan (Beat Master1) has taken the initiative and slavishly and graciously devoted a lot of time and hard work to compiling an archive listing all the celebrities that have appeared on the original Hollywood Squares. While we are working out the technical bugs to get that part up and running (he has actually finished the list for the 1966-80 NBC version), I've listed some tidbits of info that he unearthed in his research. They are on the Square Facts page.
Added a new page of "Contestant Memories," featuring a rare behind the scenes glimpse from a 1974 contestant named Eileen Mintz. Thank you Eileen for sharing your memories with us! I will add more when/if they become available.
Quite a few of you have found us thanks to the two recent cable biographies of Paul Lynde, and thanks to that we now have 30 new zingers from Mr. Center Square on his page. Thanks especially to Mary L. Wallace, Phil Darrah and David Dubin (who found many of them on an old cassette tape that came off the air). Thank you, guys!
Took down the Christmas page, put it in the attic along with the artificial Christmas tree, until next year. Thanks for your response and help with it!
Updated the Paul Lynde page with information and zingers from the E! Mysteries and Scandals special. The new zingers are the last four at the bottom of the page...
First, check the Dixon's Wish List page for the latest on the "Do they or don't they exist?" scenario. Sorry, gang, wish it was better news.
Thanks to Randy Amasia, I have a slew of Heatter-Quigley tickets for you to download. Randy was more than generous to share those considering he didn't get them off eBay like I did...he collected those directly from the networks as a kid, hanging around game shows and sets!
With those two biographies of Paul Lynde coming soon to cable TV, I thought I would add some more Lynde zingers to the Sounds Page. (Listen for the one where he takes a shot at another certain celebrity-laden game show.) Also included a clip of Milton Berle being surprisingly nasty to a contestant and a part of the William Loose theme that appears on the new Game Show theme CD.
God bless you Paul Lynde! God bless you everyone!!!
I have put up my own Christmas card for you folks who have made my site what it is in just five short months! We will likely reach the 15,000 mark sometime this month and I couldn't do it without ya! (Oh, if you have any Square Christmas memories to add, feel free to email them to me and I'll add them...the Yuletide page will remain linked at least through New Year's.)
A programming note: two biographies of Paul Lynde will air within the next month. Christmas Day (why then I haven't a clue) you can look for a "Mysteries and Scandals" special on E! at 8:30 p.m. EST. On January 17, 2001, our favorite center square will pop up as the subject of "A & E's Biography" at 8 p.m. and midnight EST. Set those VCR's now!! (Thanks to Joe Florenski and Dan Brooks for getting that information to me.)
Got a significant update on the existence of the Marshall episodes, something that could very well result in the shows turning up again on the Game Show Network (no kidding!). It's on the Dixon's Wish List page.
I hope to have some big updates soon, perhaps several entire new pages. It hinges on this: I have a trade in the works that is supposed to yield me several memorable episodes (most notably the 1965 pilot) but the trader has not sent them to me yet. I got on his case about it today but still want to give him some time to send them to me and redeem himself. I also heard recently from a former contestant and hope to have something to share there too!
Added a vintage 1960s picture to the Second Photo Gallery page (thank you, Paul Castel). Last update I added a sound with Redd Foxx. Some people say they couldn't understand what he said, so I scripted it out on the page devoted to Guest Stars.
On the 34th anniversary of the first Squares broadcast (October 17), I got a new tape in the mail...the audio to a couple of 1975 episodes, one of which was an hour long! (And thank you Eric Paddon!) Clips of this tape will soon pop up on the website, as well as updated information on the Squares' experiment with the hour-long format (there's now a heavy dispute on exactly when they actually did that). There are already four more sounds now on the Sounds page--two each from Paul Lynde and Redd Foxx.
Not one, but two new pages to add today! I'm finally adding a profile of executive producers Heatter and Quigley. My only holdup had been getting pics of at least two or three of their other shows and now I have them. The other page...Square Sights II. More pics, but with a different format this time--links, instead of pictures that have to load every time. I may eventually switch the first pics page to that format too.
I have some new sounds on the Sounds page...most notably, three clips from the June 20, 1980 NBC finale. More goodies on the way, as I get them. (Traders--what do I have to do to get those two Storybook Squares episodes??? Or the pilot, or a better copy of the NBC finale??? How about that audio-only episode from 1972??? Hmmmmm?)
Added a whole new page, another "Behind the Scenes" article...this time from a 1979 fanzine. While not as intimate as the TV Guide article I added awhile back, it does offer a few tidbits, like what the studio audience saw when the show was being taped.
Over the last few days I added some other things too...like a picture of William Loose, composer of the second version of the theme song, as well as the story of the three songs, on the Facts page. And oh yes, I added a few new sounds.
My updates may slow down a bit for awhile so please be patient. Part of the reason is that I have some personal things going on in my life right now--some good (I'm dating again and she's very nice) and some not so good (I just lost a friend in a car accident). Plus, the material I have to pull from is slowing down to a trickle. But be assured this site will be updated as frequently as possible, and will always remain a permanent way to remember the once great Hollywood Squares---the real ones.
Added several other sounds--eight or nine, in fact--to the Square Sounds page. They include a couple of classics each from George Gobel and Rose Marie. This goes with a few others I added over the last few days, including the NBC Peacock sounder. And for those of you wondering about that 1980-81 Vegas opening...I fixed the link.
Garbo Talks!!! (or at least Paul Lynde does.)
About two weeks of fussing with cords, adapters, my old stereo, my VCR, recorders, file storage, corrupted files and all kinds of stuff, I finally have the first batch of audio files on my site. You'll need Real Audio G2 or better to hear them. Big surprise to me (I'm still figuring this stuff out, remember) was that Real Audio files are actually fairly small, so I can store a bunch. Keep checking back for more audio files in the days to come...
Also updated Rose Marie's biography in light of information that she shared in an interview used in the Inside TV Land special profiling The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Thanks to the "Hollywood Squares Contest and Quiz Book" I now have more info on the Quake of 1971 (yes I do have a year now). I also have statistics as well, all on the Facts Page. I have added four zingers to the bottom of Lynde's page and six zingers to the bottom of Gobel's page (along with information about George's tenure on the Tom Mix radio show). Look for this rare fan mag to yield more goodies for this site in the weeks to come!
Nothing new to the page, but I did want to share a couple of things with you that have been going on.
First, there's word of a new Volume II CD of Game Show Themes that will be released as early as Halloween. Those themes are expected to include the William Loose Hollywood Squares theme most of us remember and love, the one used from 1970 to '79. (There were three versions overall.) As soon as the CD becomes available I promise I will make the ordering information known to you.
Second, a lot of you are wondering when you will hear music, or any other sounds on this site. Please be assured I am working very hard on that very project and hope to have something for you by the end of the week...
On this 25th anniversary week of the first hour Price is Right, I've added to the History page, info on the Squares' brief foray into this experiment. I also clarified the issue on exactly when The Hollywood Squares became a color show (day one, although some sources disagree for some reason). On the Paul Lynde page I added information on Lynde's tenure as a regular. Did you know his first appearance on the show was during its second week in 1966?
Rewrote Peter Marshall's biography, based on information I received from a May 1972 TV Guide article. Also threw in a couple more quotes on his page.
Added a whole new page devoted to the 1964 Carl Reiner hosted Celebrity Game, the show that evolved into the Squares. Also added new lines to the Politically Incorrect and Guests pages; they're at the bottom as always.
Added one image from the show's last NBC episode from June 20, 1980. (Thank you again, Aaron Handy.) It's on the History page. Otherwise, just did some straightening up...fixed a few images, where some of them won't take so long to load anymore...
What timing. Not only is my screen capture thing working beautifully now, but I got three more episodes in the mail Saturday. So I've been throwing captures around like crazy. Look for new images on the History, Guests (near the bottom, a classic exchange with Carol Channing and Big Bird), and even the new Rules page already has a few extra. On the Marshall page, I included Pete's bubbly 1967 intro for his sister, actress Joanne Dru, along with a picture of her (she was in the grid that week).
Well, I finally got my screen capture thing-a-ma-bob fixed and I'm capturing 'em like crazy. It means I finally have enough pics to release the Rules page, and I've put one or two pics here and there, on the Marshall, Square Roots and Politically Incorrect pages (yep, finally got one of Phyllis Diller modeling a fur) and will probably put more on before the weekend's out.
Oh yeah, I finally fixed the broken link on the Game Show Top 100, so if you click it to vote for me (hint hint) it will go through this time...
Added a new page featuring a 1970 TV Guide article that gives us a rare behind the scenes peek at the show. I found out all kinds of things from TV Guide back issues...like, for instance, Charley Weaver owned a Civil War museum in Gettysburg, and the NBC prime time Squares from 1968 was pre-empted several times...once during the week Robert Kennedy was assassinated, but more often due to baseball....and oh yeah, did you know Gene Hackman was a Square while "The French Connection" was in theaters? I didn't!
Which brings me to another change...my thoughts on the often-held notion that game show celebrities are "nobodies" or "down and outers" have just been added to the Guests page.
Added some really cool pics to the Square Facts page. Aaron Handy was kind enough to contribute an actual photo of the three Monkees sitting in their square (Peter Tork had left the group at this point). And Mike Rogers chipped in two truly awesome "Behind the Squares" shots from a 50th anniversary book NBC put out in 1976.
Thanks, guys!!!
Added about seven zingers to the guest stars page and a couple each to the Weaver, Marie and Lynde pages. The new ones are always at the bottom. Added a more detailed version of possibly the show's most famous blooper...the one in which Marshall and Charo discuss "riding abreast". And oh yeah, if you see a mistake don't be shy about letting me know, okay? Memories and books can be fallible...thanks.
Added a page detailing the story of the squares...from idea to Whoopi. Also added what's bound to be the more controversial part of this site, Politically Incorrect Squares. This is devoted to moments that would likely send up the red PC flag if these episodes were to be rerun today.
Added a new page for announcer Kenny Williams along with the one picture I've been able to find of him...from his Video Village days.
Well, I stayed up all night but I finally did it...I finally figured out how to set up the title page with all HTML code. I'm so proud...now if I can figure out the margin thing.
Now, if you ever put together a Geocities page or site, and you're using Pagebuilder, and you find your stuff scattered all over the place when you add an HTML fragment...email me, I will be glad to tell you how I finally figured it out. I didn't even have help from the tech support guys, either! (I did take some shortcuts but the important thing is, it got done...)
Added the "Square Facts" page, an assortment of odd tidbits you may or may not know about our beloved Squares. Like what does O.J. Simpson have to do with all of this? Read on...
Added three grid shots to the photo gallery. Oh yeah, I also added a guestbook so feel free to enter and sign in please. (Yeah, yeah, I know, wrong game show.)
Added a couple more zingers and some info on the Gobel page; a few more choice moments on the Lynde, Marshall and guests pages; and a couple of new photos for the photo gallery. One shows a 1967 home game, the other is a 1972 audience ticket I bought from eBay. (This is the eBay scan, the actual ticket hasn't arrived in the mail yet. When it does I will scan it and re-upload.)
Finally added some decent pictures to the Weaver, Lynde and Marie pages and added the Gobel and guest pages.. Added a zinger to the Rose Marie page and about 12 or so to the Paul Lynde page. They're at the bottom as always.
Added a couple more zingers to Paul Lynde's page and a classic Peter Marshall exchange with Big Bird to Marshall's page. (They're both at the bottom, as always.) Also went into some more detail about the "lost episodes" and theories thereof, at the bottom of the Dixon's Wish List page.