Dream House (game show)

Dream House
Logo for the NBC version of Dream House.
Format	Game Show
Created by	Don Reid Richard Reid (1983–1984)
Directed by	Alan Mifelow (1968–1970) Dick Schneider (1968–1970) Jeff Goldstein (1983–1984)
Creative director(s)	Charles Colarusso (Creative Consultant, 1983) Richard Reid (Creative Consultant, 1983–1984)
Presented by	Mike Darrow (1968–1970) Bob Eubanks (1983–1984)
Narrated by	Chet Gould (1968–1970) Johnny Gilbert (1983–1984)
Composer(s)	Don Reid (1968–1970) Edd Kalehoff (1983–1984)
Country of origin	United States
Production
Executive producer(s)	Don Reid Bob Ruben (1983) Bob Synes (1984)
Producer(s)	Ron Greenberg (1968–1970) Ron Kweskin (1968–1970) George Vosburgh (1968–1970) Bob Synes (1983) Lee Goldstein (1983) Peter Noah (1983)
Location(s)	NBC Studios Burbank, California (1983–1984)
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Don Reid Productions (1968–1970, 1983–1984) ABC Productions (1968–1970) Lorimar Television (1983–1984)
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC Daytime (1968–1970)[1] ABC Primetime (1968)[1] NBC (1983–1984)[1]
Original run	March 27, 1968 – June 29, 1984

Dream House was an American game show whose grand prize was a brand-new house.^[1] The show had two versions on network television – from 1968–1970 on ABC^[1] and on NBC from 1983–1984.^[1]

The first version was hosted by Mike Darrow^[1] with Chet Gould^[1] providing the voiceover, while the 1980s version was hosted by Bob Eubanks^[1] with Johnny Gilbert^[1] as announcer. The ABC version was recorded in New York City,^[1] while the NBC run was staged at the network's studios in Burbank, California.^[1]

1968–1970

The first version aired in daytime on ABC from April 1, 1968 to January 2, 1970^[1] and in nighttime from March 27 to September 19, 1968.^[1] The first format involved two couples competing in a game of quick recall. The first player to buzz in got to answer first, with a correct answer scoring five points. If s/he was wrong, however, the other couple could try to answer for ten points. When a player gave a correct answer, s/he was locked out of the next question.^[1]

Two minutes before the end of the game, which lasted from four to five minutes, the point values doubled,^[1] and at the end was the "Catch-Up Round" in which the team that was trailing could choose one last question from 10 to 50 points (if they answered correctly, the other couple got one last shot).^[1] The winning couple won a room of furniture.

Couples who won seven rooms of furniture on the daytime version (four on the 1968 primetime version) won their choice of either a new house (worth over $40,000, plus $7,000 to purchase land)^[1] or $20,000 in cash.

Beginning in 1969, three couples competed in the first round in which the first couple to buzz in with a correct answer scored five points. A wrong answer, however, gave the other couples a chance to score ten points. Only during that first round would all players be allowed to buzz in on all questions. The points were doubled during the last two minutes of the round. The two highest-scoring couples advanced to the next round, played exactly the same as the previous two-couple format. Five-time champions were offered an airplane in lieu of attempting to win two more games.

1983–1984

Main Game

Two teams of two (usually married couples), one of them a returning champion, competed to win a house worth approximately $100,000.

The host read a true-false toss-up question, with a correct answer giving that couple $50 and control of a question board of four categories. Each category had a multiple-choice question. After the couple gave their answer, the opposing team could challenge and give their own answer. The couple with the right answer won $100, or $150 in the event of an unsuccessful challenge. Each team could challenge twice during the game. Once a category had been played, it was removed from the board and a new toss-up was asked. The round continued until all four categories had been used.

The game was played in two rounds, with the leader after the first round winning a prize. The second round was played the same as round one, except that each team had a one-time opportunity to double the value of the question before the question was asked. The couple leading after two rounds won the game, received a room of furniture, and advanced to the bonus round. Couples kept whatever they earned, win or lose. Should the game end in a tie, one more true or false question was played to break the tie.

During the show's 15-month NBC run, special weeks were set aside for siblings, single couples with children and engaged couples. There was also a week in November 1983 where the cast of Diff'rent Strokes played for a designated couple, as well as one from May 1984 in which two different celebrity teams played for charity each day.

Rule changes

In early 1984, the rules changed somewhat with the couple having to hit their plunger to determine the value of the question via a "Money Machine", a random light which stopped at $50, $100, or $150. The amount could also be accompanied with "Prize", a "Turnover" space, which gave control to the other team, or "Number Off", which upon a correct answer eliminated an extra number in the bonus round. Also, if the winning team led by $500–$950 after two rounds, they originally received a prize, but this was later changed to a $500 bonus. Winning by $1,000 or more was worth a new car.

Bonus round

In the bonus round, the couple tried to open a set of "Golden Doors" on the stage by correctly solving an "Electronic Lock." The lock displayed three rows of four digits each, similar to the example below:

2459
1823
5170

The combination to the lock was a three-digit sequence consisting of one digit from each row. Eubanks kept this combination in a sealed packet on his person.

Originally, every day that a couple reached the bonus round, one incorrect number was automatically removed from the lock (starting with one from the top row, then one on the middle row, and finally one in the bottom row). Later on, the rules were altered to remove a number for every return trip, so no numbers were eliminated at the start of a couple's first trip to this round. When the second main game format began in 1984, a number could also be removed at the start if a couple correctly answered a question when the "Money Machine" landed on "Number Off."

After choosing one of three categories, the couple answered three questions with two choices apiece. Each correct answer eliminated one more incorrect digit from a row: top (first question), middle (second), bottom (third). The couple then entered their guess at the combination from the remaining digits; once the code was entered, it could not be changed. They then pressed a time-release bar to activate the Golden Doors, whose frames gradually lit from the bottom up to suspenseful music. If the combination was correct, the couple won the house (designated by the top light bar lighting, the Golden Doors opening, and siren fanfare as the back walls of the set slid away). If the combination was incorrect, a long buzzer sounded and Eubanks revealed the correct combination; the couple returned to play again on the next show.

If a couple remained undefeated for a certain number of days, they automatically won the house. Whenever such a win was at stake, Eubanks raised a plunger on his podium, alternately called a "Golden Circuit Breaker" and a "Hotline Switch," at the start of the second round. If the couple won the game, they or Eubanks would push the plunger, automatically opening the Golden Doors. The requirement was originally seven wins, later reduced to five, and then increased to six.

Any couple that won the house, either by guessing the combination or by winning the requisite number of games, retired undefeated, and the following show presented two new couples.

Broadcast history

ABC

Replacing reruns of the cult crime drama The Fugitive (an unusual offering on daytime television), Dream House began on April 1, 1968 at 1:00 PM (12:00 Central); its competition depended on each local market, as both NBC and CBS went down for a half-hour in order for their affiliates to run newscasts, homemakers' or farm shows, or syndicated programming.

ABC used the show as a promotional device – questions were frequently about the network's shows and stars, and Monty Hall appeared in December 1968 to promote the move of his Let's Make a Deal from NBC to ABC.^[1]

The show did not end due to its competition (or at least not directly), however – in a Summer 1969 article, TV Guide reported that none of the houses given away on the series at that point had been completed; further, the article revealed that some winning couples had to borrow considerably more than the $7,000 the show awarded for the purchase of land. Shortly after this article was published, Dream House began offering the option of $20,000 in lieu of the house, but the damage had already been done and the ratings began to decline.

The controversies and bad publicity resulting from houses that remained unbuilt or half-finished for various reasons may have caused ABC to view the whole situation as a headache. The network pulled Dream House two days into 1970, replacing it with a soap opera entitled All My Children, which aired until September 2011.

NBC

With memories of the somewhat-minor scandal having faded away after 13 years, Don Reid, with the backing of Westinghouse's Group W division, approached NBC about a revival. The network, stimulated by the success of another old game it had recently revived, Sale of the Century, agreed and gave Dream House the 11:30 AM (10:30 Central) slot on April 4, 1983, replacing the 13-week Peter Tomarken game Hit Man.

Even with the eight-year-old Wheel of Fortune as a lead-in, CBS' The Price Is Right ruled, then as now, the 11:00-12:00 hour; Dream House only managed to run even with the new ABC soap Loving.

The series ran for over a year despite its disadvantage (being up against the second half-hour of Price), and ended on June 29, 1984. The following Monday, NBC introduced a television adaptation of the board game Scrabble, which ran for nearly six years.

Episode status

The ABC versions are believed to have been destroyed as per network practices of the time, with one daytime episode existing from August 1968. The NBC version, although intact, has not been seen since cancellation.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s} Schwartz, David; Steve Ryan, and Fred Wostbrock (1999). "Dream House". The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (3rd edition ed.). Facts on File. pp. 64. ISBN 0-8160-3847-3.