Unlike
most TV game shows, the classic version of Password was never really geared
to the home player. In its original form—and in most of its later
variations—Password had a famous person trying to get a commoner to guess a word by giving
a series of one-word clues. Every time the team failed, their potential points
dropped. Throughout the round, the answer hung on the bottom of the TV screen,
and a deep-voiced announcer whispered it before each round began. So in order
to play along, devoted Password-watchers would've had to
close their ears at the start of each round, and then their eyes throughout.
But
doing that would've cost them the chance to see celebrities sweat, which is a
major part of the show's pleasure. On the Best Of Password: The CBS Years
(1962-1967) DVD set, Password fans can rate the
clue-giving skills of a young Woody Allen or Nancy Sinatra, or marvel at the
aplomb of Betty White as she tries
to get a hulking football player to say "chest" from the clue "bosom," then
gently lowers his hands when he idly raises them. The stakes were low on Password—the most a winning
contestant stood to take home was a couple hundred dollars—but all
concerned took the game seriously, and tried to come up with the perfect clue
for the impossible answer.
Presiding
over it all was Allen Ludden, with his thick glasses, buzz-cut, and affable
demeanor, like everyone's favorite 10th-grade trigonometry teacher. Ludden took
great interest in whatever regional-theater engagement his guest stars were
about to commence, yet while he gave them the room to be a little silly, he
always made sure they played fairly, threatening them with the approbation of
Dr. Reason A. Goodwin, editor of The World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary. Ludden, like the viewers
at home, appreciated a good clue-giving gimmick, like using a rising tone to
indicate an antonym. ("Blaaaaack…" "White!") He understood the rarely tapped
entertainment value in watching people think.
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