I want to locate a nightime version of hollywood squares dating back
to springtime 1976 on which I was a contestant. can you help me locate
a copy of that video? My name is ed leighton and my email is
edwardleig@aol.com.

Thanks

Hi edleig,

Well, this has been a most interesting search, filled with lies,
spies, and intrigue! (or at least missing tapes  - shades of
Watergate!) All for the sake of a game show.

Your search may in fact be futile, but I'll do what I can here to get
you a close as possible to your Hollywood Squares episode.

First of all, it had been widely held that in the late 1970's or early
1980's, NBC employees, either by direction or on their own, due to
limited storage facilities, destroyed a large portion of the original
Hollywood Squares tapes from the 1970's.  The story changed blame over
the years, depending on who owned the company and who may or may not
have been responsible, but the essence remained the same:

"It was widely assumed (and still may be true) that the originals were
destroyed back in the 1970s ... likely because storage of the old and
very large tape reels had become cost-prohibitive.  ...  In any event,
it was thought the original Squares was a goner, existing only in the
odd episode that may turn up in a VHS stash, a broadcasting museum or
on the trading circuit."

"When Peter Marshall appeared on ET recently (in an interview taped
last summer [2001]) he repeated a belief many of us held: that the
original Hollywood Squares was gone forever, the victim of a mass
master tape destruction."

http://www.classicsquares.com/reruns.html

However, he and everyone else were wrong. Yes, secret tapes were
found!

On April 15, 2002, Peter Marshall, in an online USA Today Chat says:
"I thought I'd done 6000 shows and they were all gone. They were
searching for soap called Dark Shadows in a warehouse, and they came
across 3500 episodes of Hollywood Squares, and they're going on the
air April 15 on the Game Show Channel."

http://usatoday.com/community/chat/2002-04-05-oldfaces.htm

Sure enough, on March 27, 2002, The Game Show Network announced in a
press release:  Game Show Network Acquires Original “The Hollywood
Squares”And “Win Lose Or Draw”

"CULVER CITY, CA  March 27, 2002)  Game Show Network, the 24-hour
cable network devoted exclusively to game shows and interactive game
play, has acquired the Emmy-Award winning classic The Hollywood
Squares ...will launch on Game Show Network beginning April 15: The
Hollywood Squares will appear seven days a week at 8:30 p.m. ET/ 5:30
p.m. PT ..... The Hollywood Squares will repeat Monday/Friday at 3:30
a.m. ET/ 12:30 a.m. PT and again at 2:30 p.m. ET/ 11:30 a.m. PT. "

http://www.gameshownetwork.com/gsn_press_article.php?press_id=53

So, that means, IF your episode is still in existence, it may be in
the hands of the Game Show Network. And if that's true, they may
actually run it. Those are big ifs because, as you can see, 2500
episodes from that time period are still unaccounted for.

Unfortunately, adding to your dilemma is the fact that VCR's weren't
in widespread use in 1976. So the chances of someone taping it from TV
are low.

So, all that said, here's what I would do if I were you. Write to all
of the following places and tell them what you are looking for, and I
am sure, if the episode is available, one of these sources should be
able to get it for you.

Game Show Network - Programming
You might also ask these people for a schedule of episodes to be aired
so maybe you can tape it yourself if yours is scheduled.

programming@gameshownetwork.com
http://www.gameshownetwork.com/


Dixon Hayes - owner of the above Classic Squares website.
He seems to have a collection of videos and contact with other people
who collect Hollywood Squares trivia and tapes. He might be a good
contact who, if he can't help you himself, may be able to advise you
on who to contact.

dixonhayes@aol.com
http://www.classicsquares.com/

Hollywood Squares is co-produced by King World Productions, Inc. and
Columbia TriStar Television in association with Moffitt-Lee
Productions and Goldberg’s One Ho Productions. It is distributed in
the U.S. by King World, airing primarily in early evening or late
afternoon on stations representing more than 96 percent of the U.S. It
is distributed worldwide by CBS Broadcast International.

http://www.kingworld.com/contacts.htm
http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/info_faq_contact_us.shtml

So, I hope this gets you closer to your quest. As you can see, you run
less than a 50% chance that your tape still exists, but if it does,
these leads should get you there.

Best of luck to you!  

--K~

PS:  did you win? :-)

Search terms: 
"Hollywood Squares" combined with reruns, original episodes, old
episodes

It might sound a bit naive ... but have you already asked NBC? Surely
they have all shows on tape in their archives. Maybe they would make a
copy of that special one for a fee?

Regards,
Scriptor

This is a long shot, but you might try posting a request in the
alt.video.tape-trading newsgroup. Although there were very few home
videotaping enthusiasts in 1976, there were some. I have old
reel-to-reel videos of TV shows that I taped on a secondhand Sony in
the mid-70s, and they still look mighty good. Long ago I copied them
to VHS, of course, for ease of viewing.

The alt.tv.game-shows and alt.culture.us.1970s newsgroups might also
be worth your while.

If you decide to post in a newsgroup, you may want to consider using a
"throwaway" Web-based email address, so that you will not attract
spammage.

Good luck. This would be a great memento for you to own, since you
were actually a contestant! Hope you're in the center square with this
one! ;-)

I'm an infrequent poster to alt.tv.game-shows, and my understanding
was taht most of the 6,000 episodes were gone and more like 350 (not
3500) were found.  But luckily, these episodes that have been showing
on game show network since April are the nighttime episodes.  I have
seen some from 1976, so perhaps you're in luck.  Starting Aug. 6, Game
Show Network is changing their evening schedule and will show 4
episodes of Hollywood Squares on a weeknight each week, I believe
Tuesday.  Perhaps if you could give some details on your show, the
people at alt.tv.game-shows may recall seeing it.  many of them also
religiously tape Game Show Network shows, and if it's already aired,
somebody probably has it.  Also, on the Game Show Network website
mentioned above, there's a very active message board that you could
post on or search through.  So, if I were you, I'd be cautiously
optomistic.  Let us know if you track it down.

There is a salt mine which contains old NBC shows.  I believe the
price to make a copy is $99.  They are attempting to digitize the
database now.  Just read (in the NY Times) about a woman who made a
copy of the Tonight Show for the evening her husband died (while
watching Betty White).  The abandoned salt mine is 650-feet deep.

I wonder if NBC would store my ex-wife down there for $99?

;-)