Get the Message (game show)

Infobox Television
show_name = Get The Message


caption =
format = Game show
camera =
picture_format =
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Mark Goodson and Bill Todman
developer = Jack Farren
executive_producer = Robert Noah
starring = Frank Buxton Robert Q. Lewis
narrated = Chet Gould
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = United States
network = ABC
first_aired = March 30, 1964
last_aired = December 25, 1964
num_episodes =
website =
imdb_id = 0198128
tv_com_id =

Get The Message was a television game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. It aired on ABC in 1964, last airing on Christmas Day. The show was first hosted by Frank Buxton who was replaced by Robert Q. Lewis.

Main Game

There are two teams of three people, including one contestant and two celebrity guests. One team is all females and one all males. On each turn, the celebrities are shown a message (persons, places, things, common phrases, etc.) on the screens in front of them. All four celebrities write down a one-word clue on index cards without any discussion, raising their hand when they have completed their clue. Both celebrities on the team which plays first show and read their clues to their teammate, who must then guess the message. If incorrect, play then passes to the opposing team who do the same. If the opposing contestant fails to guess the message, one more round of clue-writing and -reading is performed, and then the message is thrown out if not guessed. A correct answer is worth one point. The first team to reach three points wins the game, and a $100 prize.

The game was similar in principle to "Password", other than the answers being messages instead of necessarily single words. One of the main differences in the gameplay, as sometimes explained by the host, was that the celebrities had to anticipate what their teammates and opponents would give as clues and hope not to give the same clue as their partner.

Bonus Round

The winning team in each game plays the "Turnabout game" bonus round. The bonus round is similar to the main game: The contestant is shown a message and must orally give one-word clues to each celebrity in turn. The celebrity responds by guessing the message. Each word provided decreased the value of the message, from $100 to $50, $25, and finally $10. The contestant gets three messages in the bonus round for a potential winning of $300 more.

The contestants from both the winning and losing teams play only one game and do not return.

Episode Status

Most of this series is destroyed. GSN aired an episode on March 26, 2007, as part of their rare 3:30 A.M. programming block. The episode was a Buxton episode. The celebrity guests that appeared on this episode were Peggy Cass, Phyllis Newman, Orson Bean, and Howard Keel.

GSN has also aired the series finale hosted by Robert Q. Lewis.

Notes

Some of the celebrities on the last episode of Get The Message were Arlene Francis, Barbara Cook, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Marty Ingels, Joan Fontaine, Mitch Miller, Julia Meade, and Orson Bean (Arlene Francis, Barbara Cook, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Marty Ingels were the clue givers).

The series was taped at Elysee Theater in New York.