This month our blog series is “Life is Just a Game,” and we are looking back at some of the game shows that debuted in the fifties and sixties. Concentration was broadcast beginning in 1958. It was on the air in one form or another until 1991. One of the tough things about these game shows is that many of them had different versions that occurred off and on for decades and some created nighttime series as well.

Concentration combined the memory game where kids match up pairs with a rebus puzzle that was revealed underneath when game pieces were matched. It was created by Jack Barry and Dan Enright. Barry had a few credits for writing and acting (he played a reporter on both Batman and The Addams Family). He met Dan Enright at WOR radio in New York, and they formed a partnership in 1947 producing The Joe DiMaggio Show. In 1953, the pair began creating game shows and that is where most of their career was spent.

Norm Blumenthal created the rebus puzzles for the original game. He ended up preparing 7300 television puzzles and all the puzzles used in the home game sold by Milton Bradley. (MB developed 24 different editions of the home game during its run beginning in 1958 and ending in 1982.) Norm’s first puzzle was “It Happened One Night,” and his last puzzle was “You’ve Been More Than Kind.” Blumenthal is also the author of When Game Shows Ruled Daytime TV and Picture Puzzle Pandemonium.

At that time, most game shows were produced in New York, and Concentration was filmed at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

The original version was on NBC for fourteen and a half years. Hugh Downs was the host, and Bob Clayton was the announcer. When Hugh left the show in 1969 to concentrate more on The Today Show, Clayton took over duties except for a brief six-month period when Ed McMahon took the lead. The hosts all wore navy blue blazers with the Concentration logo embroidered on the breast pocket.

Hugh Downs did a bit of everything during his career. He was an actor, broadcaster, announcer, tv host, news anchor, producer, author, game show host, and music composer. He is best known for being Jack Paar’s sidekick on The Tonight Show from 1957-1962, hosting Concentration from 1958-1969, being part of the cast of The Today Show from 1962-1971 (1239 episodes), and hosting Live from Lincoln Center for PBS from 1990-96. He was also one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in 2007.

Bob Clayton became a vaudeville singer at age 15 and after high school studied drama. After graduation, he became a radio announcer and continued as an announcer for most of his career except for a brief foray into acting when he appeared in Jerry Lewis’ The Bellboy.

In addition to the original show, there were two nighttime versions and a syndicated version that was on from 1973-78. In 1987 it was revived again as Classic Concentration hosted by Alex Trebek until 1991.

While the different versions featured slightly different concepts, rules, and prizes, we’ll just look at the original. Two contestants competed against each other. The first contestant called out two numbers; there were 30 numbers on the board. If they matched, the contestant had that prize added to their board. If they didn’t match, the other person got their turn. Matched numbers revealed part of the puzzle. The winner was the first person to figure out the puzzle. In addition to prizes, there were Wild Cards which matched any card, Take One Gift from your opponent, and Forfeit a Gift. The contestant who solved the puzzle received all the prizes on their board. Champions could return until they lost or won 20 games.

The show was on every weekday. It moved around from 11:30 to 11 to 10:30. In 1966, the show was filmed and broadcast in color. The series easily beat its competition in the mornings until 1972 when The New Price is Right debuted on CBS at the same time. It took away 50% of Concentration’s viewers and the show was canceled in early 1973.

The Concentration theme was composed by Paul Taubman. Taubman owned a club overlooking Central Park called The Penthouse Club. He played quintessential lounge music on the organ and piano. He provided background music for many game shows and was the musical director and musician for 5053 episodes of the soap opera The Edge of Night.

I always enjoyed watching this show growing up. When I was in upper grade school, one of our neighbors appeared on the show and won a mink coat among other prizes. With all the game shows that have been resurrected in nighttime versions the past two years, I wonder why this one has never returned to the air.