I LOVE this show! I'm only 24 years old but I've seen the PDQ pilot and hear and only seen photos of Baffle but glad to see how the game was actually played! Thank you so much Wink! It's such a shame that hardly anymore episodes of the show is in existence!
Very underrated fun and awesome Heatter-Quigley show! I've heard the audio clips and seen a very pics of this show but now it's an even more awesome treat to see how it's played in action! A perfect '70s update of the show PDQ and the set and visuals look pretty cool and (IMO) ahead of its time for 1973 standards.
I remember Baffle. It was a revival of PDQ that replaced NBC's long running game show Concentration. It was also one of the first games under the regime of new network VP of daytime television Lin Bolen. She wanted to change the look of NBC's game shows by purging most of the New York based shows such as Sale of the Century and The Who, What or Where Game. Jeopardy would also get the ax. I also remember Kenny Williams intoning "We'll be back with more of Baffle after these message as a graphic calling the game "The fastest show in the West" appeared on the screen.
I was on Baffle. I practiced with Barbara Feldon and McLean Stevenson, but didn't get selected to play that week. The next week I was selected and played with Bill Bixby and Nanette Fabray. I did well with Bill Bixby (don't remember the phrase) but stumbled when Nanette Fabray couldn't get "ball gown." I left with a lot of parting gifts on which I had to pay taxes!!
I loved this show when I was a kid. I loved the lights & music and would've loved the colors if we'd had a color tv then. It's unusual to see the male celebrity introduced first and on the left side of the screen, but maybe H-Q were trying to avoid being sued by G-T, who followed that pattern for Password. I vaguely remember a 3-point bonus game (maybe it's what we saw here w/ the 5 words near the end) which was later changed to a 10-point bonus game.
Would be interesting to watch the full episode with the "In Living Color on NBC" not cut out, as well as the celebrities playing the words up on the boards and fee plugs, etc.
I have been wanting to see this for a long time! The gameplay is just like the original, PDQ, but definitely made for the 70s. Tricky game and even tougher solo bonus round. Love the occasional flailing of arms and pantomime. :) Thank you for posting this, Wink!
...and even did tennis including quite a few Wimbledons and U.S. Opens on both NBC and CBS and tons of Major League Baseball telecasts for the California Angels (on KTLA channel 5, Los Angeles) and now for the San Diego Padres on Fox Sports San Diego. TOUCH 'EM ALL!!!
And while he hosted this show and Three For the Money on NBC, he hosted the sports trivia game show Sports Challenge in both 1st-run syndication from early 1971 thru 1979 as well as a brief weekly Saturday edition for CBS in the Spring of 1973 thru the Fall of 1973. Sports Challenge was considered by many as the granddaddy of all sports themed game shows.
This show was started with PDQ, carried on with BAFFLE, elements went into ALL-STAR BLITZ and finally Wink's LAST WORD (which was more like SUPER BAFFLE).
Another interesting thing I noticed: The glass on the soundproof booths definitely gave off reflections. You could see the player's letter rack clearing (it was a horizontal trilon), as well as the rail table holding the letters being rotated into place.
How this rare gem could be unearthed? I guess it could only "BFL" the mind! Now, there's only one more game show rarity I'm hoping to see video of soon. A show which, like this one, was produced by Heatter & Quigley. A show that premiered the year after this did. And a show which, 13 years later, Wink would host a revival of.
Well it seemed that Wink hosted a variation of BAFFLE called Last Word, seemed like Baffle to me on that show as well as the All-Star Blitz, guess a word or phrase with as few letters as possible.
Winning Streak appeared on NBC in 1974, hosted by Bill Cullen, who hosted another NBC game show, Three on a Match, which had just been cancelled. Three on a Match & Winning Streak were both Bob Stewart productions, taped at 30 Rock in NYC and announced by NBC legend Don Pardo.
I thought a contestant was brought off to another section of the stage to play the bonus round, with neon lights flashing like crazy when the round is won.
Jason, I think this was so in the later episodes of what became "All-Star Baffle", when the winning side chose a player from the audience [or so I think] to play a bonus round whose stakes were higher: 10 words in 60 seconds; less than 8 correct won a hidden prize depending on how many they got right; 9 correct won a car; all 10 won $5000 + a trip in addition to that car.
Say, Wink, any chance you might be able to "unearth" a videotaped episode of the original NBC run of "Concentration?" Really appreciate the syndicated Concentration episode that you posted.
NEPatriot yes John Davidson(The Girl With Something Extra) got his record answer with just 4 seconds with just the basic 3 letters K,S & M with the answer being KISS ME :)
I LOVE this show! I'm only 24 years old but I've seen the PDQ pilot and hear and only seen photos of Baffle but glad to see how the game was actually played! Thank you so much Wink! It's such a shame that hardly anymore episodes of the show is in existence!
Very underrated fun and awesome Heatter-Quigley show! I've heard the audio clips and seen a very pics of this show but now it's an even more awesome treat to see how it's played in action! A perfect '70s update of the show PDQ and the set and visuals look pretty cool and (IMO) ahead of its time for 1973 standards.
It BAFFLES me how you have this clip!
Thanks for showing Baffle, Wink! I remembered it. It brought back memories! Keep up the great work!
Thanks for adding this!!! I've been wanting to see "Baffle" since UA-cam started!
"Don't you have any encouragement for me?" Rose-Marie's a true crack-up!
RIP Peter Marshall, Rose Marie, Dick Enberg, Kenny Williams, Merrill Heatter & Bob Quigley
That jacket Dick Enberg...OH MY! If he knew this tape existed, his pals at the Padres will give him what 4...and 5,6 ,7.
What's the joke?
I remember Baffle. It was a revival of PDQ that replaced NBC's long running game show Concentration. It was also one of the first games under the regime of new network VP of daytime television Lin Bolen. She wanted to change the look of NBC's game shows by purging most of the New York based shows such as Sale of the Century and The Who, What or Where Game. Jeopardy would also get the ax.
I also remember Kenny Williams intoning "We'll be back with more of Baffle after these message as a graphic calling the game "The fastest show in the West" appeared on the screen.
Heatter Quigley Productions used electronic music in many of their shows such as GAMBIT, The Magnificent Marble Machine, and BAFFLE.
Love the Mort Garson music used throughout the show.
And don't forget the short-lived Amateur's Guide to Love in 1972
@@paulculler3800 And also "Runaround" with Paul Winchell.
Baffle was a super awesome 1973 game show!!
When this show was aired on NBC daytime Tuesday, April 10, 1973, I was in my mother's tummy (eight months minus three days before I was born).
Cool set and visual effects for a show in 1973.
i'll tell ya the prize descriptions in this game look psychedelic perfect for a game show in the early 70s
I was on Baffle. I practiced with Barbara Feldon and McLean Stevenson, but didn't get selected to play that week. The next week I was selected and played with Bill Bixby and Nanette Fabray. I did well with Bill Bixby (don't remember the phrase) but stumbled when Nanette Fabray couldn't get "ball gown." I left with a lot of parting gifts on which I had to pay taxes!!
The music that plays under the prize plugs sounds similar to music used on The Magnificent Marble Machine.
Love this! Please show us more (hopefully full) eps :)
Peter Marshall is currently 90 years young, and Rose Marie is still alive & kickin' at the great age of 92!!!
Ray Jackson cool.
But unfortunately, we've recently lost Dick Enberg
Rose Marie has passed.
I loved this show when I was a kid. I loved the lights & music and would've loved the colors if we'd had a color tv then. It's unusual to see the male celebrity introduced first and on the left side of the screen, but maybe H-Q were trying to avoid being sued by G-T, who followed that pattern for Password. I vaguely remember a 3-point bonus game (maybe it's what we saw here w/ the 5 words near the end) which was later changed to a 10-point bonus game.
Would be interesting to watch the full episode with the "In Living Color on NBC" not cut out, as well as the celebrities playing the words up on the boards and fee plugs, etc.
I have been wanting to see this for a long time! The gameplay is just like the original, PDQ, but definitely made for the 70s. Tricky game and even tougher solo bonus round. Love the occasional flailing of arms and pantomime. :) Thank you for posting this, Wink!
RIP Dick Enberg 1935-2017
You WILL be missed.
Always thought him and Jim Lange was related me lol
I did not know Dick Enberg passed away seven years ago
Dick Enberg's first NBC gig, wo years later before he went over to NBC Sports & did 8 Super Bowls.
...and even did tennis including quite a few Wimbledons and U.S. Opens on both NBC and CBS and tons of Major League Baseball telecasts for the California Angels (on KTLA channel 5, Los Angeles) and now for the San Diego Padres on Fox Sports San Diego. TOUCH 'EM ALL!!!
And while he hosted this show and Three For the Money on NBC, he hosted the sports trivia game show Sports Challenge in both 1st-run syndication from early 1971 thru 1979 as well as a brief weekly Saturday edition for CBS in the Spring of 1973 thru the Fall of 1973.
Sports Challenge was considered by many as the granddaddy of all sports themed game shows.
This is what PDQ became. Awesome concept.
And what All-Star Blitz and (later on after) The Last Word would become.
Dick Enberg's both game shows for NBC were cancelled, but stayed with the network as a play-by-play sportscaster for many years.
I remember when they changed the format to 60 seconds 9 words. 8 you get the car 9 was the cash jackpot. 1 to 7 revealed a prize
This show was started with PDQ, carried on with BAFFLE, elements went into ALL-STAR BLITZ and finally Wink's LAST WORD (which was more like SUPER BAFFLE).
This show was at its best here. It lost its zing when it became an all celebrity format.
Another Heatter/Quigley classic.
Prize music sounded a little bit like the Gambit theme (another H-Q show).
Another interesting thing I noticed:
The glass on the soundproof booths definitely gave off reflections. You could see the player's letter rack clearing (it was a horizontal trilon), as well as the rail table holding the letters being rotated into place.
OH MY GOD!! HOW AM I JUST SEEING THIS IN 2022? I LOVED THIS SHOW!!
Peter and stalwart Square Rose Marie are a perfect combo!
How this rare gem could be unearthed?
I guess it could only "BFL" the mind!
Now, there's only one more game show rarity I'm hoping to see video of soon.
A show which, like this one, was produced by Heatter & Quigley.
A show that premiered the year after this did.
And a show which, 13 years later, Wink would host a revival of.
the 1st NBC run of High Rollers with Alex Trebek & Ruta Lee?
Well it seemed that Wink hosted a variation of BAFFLE called Last Word, seemed like Baffle to me on that show as well as the All-Star Blitz, guess a word or phrase with as few letters as possible.
agreed. an amazing show from begining to end :D
thejazzenigma Also like that was "$1M Chance of a Lifetime"-guess the word or phrase revealed a letter at a time.
both amazing shows :D
The show that replaced Concentration. It had HUGE shoes to fill.
Why do I get the feeling that Mort Garson's theme for "Baffle" reminds me of the 1971 PBS jingle?
No, that was composed by Paul Alan Levi.
Ian Sherman That downward Moog synth might have something to do with it... :D
Wink, I hope you can post the full episode. Baffle was a really good game that deserved a better fate.
How did that first puzzle with the letters for the second player get by NBC Standards and Practices
Thanks, Wink...This was what I was looking for...I heard that WINNING STREAK, another letter game came after Baffle on NBC back in '73 as well, right?
Winning Streak appeared on NBC in 1974, hosted by Bill Cullen, who hosted another NBC game show, Three on a Match, which had just been cancelled. Three on a Match & Winning Streak were both Bob Stewart productions, taped at 30 Rock in NYC and announced by NBC legend Don Pardo.
@@jehobden And when "Winning Streak" was cancelled, it was replaced by a little effort you probably have heard of called "Wheel of Fortune".
All of I have to say about Dick's sports jacket is -- "OH MY !!!"
I thought a contestant was brought off to another section of the stage to play the bonus round, with neon lights flashing like crazy when the round is won.
Jason, I think this was so in the later episodes of what became "All-Star Baffle", when the winning side chose a player from the audience [or so I think] to play a bonus round whose stakes were higher: 10 words in 60 seconds; less than 8 correct won a hidden prize depending on how many they got right; 9 correct won a car; all 10 won $5000 + a trip in addition to that car.
Steve Byrd
Steve is correct Jason.
it is like pre PDQ i wish ill see the full episode
What a find!
Dick Enberg was a good game show host wonder why he quit.
That is the greatest sportscoat of all time.
I actually remember this game show. I would have just turned 11 when this was recorded.
Please Air The Full Episodes Of Baffle In The Future
The prize reveals were so WEIRD. Greenscreening and rotating bars and who knows what else.
Do you think you could post the full episode of this sometime?
Say, Wink, any chance you might be able to "unearth" a videotaped episode of the original NBC run of "Concentration?" Really appreciate the syndicated Concentration episode that you posted.
Peter's record would last until a future master of the Hollywood Squares would break it by a second.
You mean John Davidson?
NEPatriot yes John Davidson(The Girl With Something Extra) got his record answer with just 4 seconds with just the basic 3 letters K,S & M with the answer being KISS ME :)
Toward the end, the phrases got ridiculously easy, and one celebrity got an answer in 0 seconds. It was not long before the show was gone.
R. I. P. Peter Marshall
I'm wondering...was the opening title animation done with a Scanimate? It kinda has that Scanimate look and feel to it.
One day all the episodes of Baffle will be found. 😀👍
Baffle was the very first Game Show to use Neon Lights as well as a Sound Proof Booth.
When game shows didn't have everyone winning and when there wasn't hellion culture screaming WHOOWHOO!!!! all the damn time
Peter Marshall just passed away on the weekend aged 98
Who won the electrophonic stereo on baffle
I think this clip shows that James took that prize.
Dick Enberg...game show host?
I Saw The Chevy Vega On Other Game Shows
And It Was The Worst Car Ever Made.It’s The Kind Of Car That Can Never Be Restored In Any Way
Afterwards Enberg gave the jacket to Don Cherry
"Ken Williams" is in the credits as a producer. Is that Kenny, the great HQ announcer?
Yes! Kenny produced the show from his podium and was also the judge.
How does waving your hands in the air help the person get it? lol
Must have been charades-like; they might have had a rule where the player putting up the letters couldn't verbally coach the guesser.
This is a real classic can you find a full episode or an all star episode
Dood. This is awesome
Too bad Dick Enberg didn't host many game shows, he did good as an emcee, BTA, he liked sports.
4:00 - what in the world is that?
@5:54, that was a tough word right there
John Davidson(The Girl With Something Extra) holds the record of 4 seconds with the phrase "KISS ME" on September 21, 1973