Concentration


Aired
Syndicated, September 10, 1973 – September 8, 1978
Run time
30 Minutes
Host
Jack Narz
Announcer
Johnny Olson
Origination
Metromedia Studios, Los Angeles, California

Concentration was a game show where two contestants match prizes and solve rebus puzzles to win them. It was the first revival of the classic 50s puzzle show.

Game format[]

Main Game[]

Two contestants faced a game board consisting of 30 numbered squares. Behind those numbers were matching pairs of prizes worth tens of dollars to hundreds of dollars. The hidden prizes cover up a rebus puzzle which the contestants try to solve. To start the game show and as head starts, four squares revealed prizes that were offered in that game. On a player's turn he/she picked off numbers. When the show started, the contestant chose two numbers in both games; it was later changed to having contestants picked three numbers in the first game and later both games. If the numbers he/she picked uncovered a match, he/she won the prize and revealed pieces of a puzzle. If he/she doesn't match, control of the board goes to the opponent.

Special Squares[]

Also hidden on the board were special squares that affected game play.

Wild Card - This was a very special square which if uncovered, caused a automatic match. When the show started, there were two on the board and if they were both found, the contestant won $500 cash bonus which was his/hers to keep win or lose. Later shows had four Wild cards on the board in the second game and the bonus was reduced to $250.
Take One Gift - When matched, that gave the contestant in control the right to steal one of his/her opponents' prizes if he/she had any.
Forfeit One Gift - When matched, that forced the contestant in control to give away one of his/her own prizes if he/she had any. That square was later done away with entirely.
Free Look - When uncovered, that square revealed a puzzle part immediately and of course the contestant got to guess.
Bonus Number - Originally shown in both games and later only shown in the second game, when if matched, the contestant in control can pick a third number if the first two don't match.

The first player to solve the puzzle kept all the prizes and went on to play the Double Play game for a new car.

If the puzzle was fully revealed and both players had yet to offer a correct solution, each player -- starting with the one who made the last match -- was given one guess. If neither player gave a correct answer, the game ended in a draw, nobody won any of their prizes and the Double Play bonus round was not played for that round. (Based on currently circulating episodes, it is unknown what happened if both games ended in a double-loss.)

Should time run out in the middle of the second game, the puzzle was revealed and the first player to buzz-in with the correct solution was declared the winner. The time limit was 20 seconds; if neither contestant rang in during the time, the game was considered a double-loss.

Double Play[]

In the Double Play game, the winning contestant had 10 seconds to solve two more rebuses. The first one was worth $100 and the second was worth a new car.

Later playings starting in Fall 1977 had contestants pick off numbers from a 9-square board which hide four matching pairs of prizes (one of them being a new car). The first prize matched became the grand prize for solving the second puzzle. But there was also a "Wild Card!" square that allowed the winning contestant to play for all prizes revealed up to that point.

Extra Time[]

When there was extra time left on the show, a third main game puzzle came into play but with foreign currency instead of regular prizes and no head starts. Winning the game won the American cash equivalent.
Also on occasion when there was extra time left on the show, a two player Double Play game was instituted. The rules were the same as before, only this time each player gets a puzzle and the full 10 seconds to solve it for an additional $50.

Personnel[]

Host: Jack Narz
Announcer: Johnny Olson
Producers: Howard Felsher, Buck D’Amore, Allen Koss
Director: Ira Skutch
Set Designer: Ted Cooper

Trivia[]

The original Concentration was created by Jack Barry & Dan Enright and ran on NBC Daytime from August 25, 1958 until March 23, 1973 and briefly in Primetime twice from October 30, 1958 until November 20, 1958 then again from April 24, 1961 until September 18, 1961. The hosts were Hugh Downs (1958-1969), Jack Barry (1958, nighttime), Bob Clayton (Jan-Mar 1969; Sep 1969-1973) and Ed McMahon (Mar-Sep 1969).

This version of Concentration was the first time Goodson-Todman was asked to produce a format owned by another production company (i.e. Barry & Enright) as each of their previous productions were conceived by people on their own staff.

At the time Jack Narz was hosting Now You See It for CBS while hosting this show.

Stations[]

Stations that aired this included:

Albany, NY – WTEN (1973-1977)

Amarillo - KVII

Atlanta - WXIA-TV

Baltimore - WMAR-TV

Birmingham - WBMG-TV (now WIAT)

Boston – WBZ-TV (1973-78), WCVB (1978-79)

Buffalo – WBEN-TV (now WIVB-TV)

Charlotte - WCCB

Chattanooga - WTVC-TV

Cheyenne - KGWN-TV

Cincinnati – WKRC-TV

Cleveland – WEWS-TV

Colorado Springs - KOAA-TV

Denver - KMGH-TV

Detroit – WWJ-TV (now WDIV-TV)

Elmira - WETM-TV

Fort Wayne – WANE-TV

Grand Rapids, MI – WOTV

Greenville, SC - WFBC-TV (now WYFF-TV)

Harrisburg - WHP-TV

Hartford - WTNH-TV

Houston – KHOU-TV

Huntsville, AL - WYUR

Indianapolis - WRTV

Jackson, TN - WBBJ-TV

Kansas City – WDAF-TV

Las Vegas - KORK-TV (now KSNV)

Lincoln, NE - KHAS

Los Angeles – KHJ-TV (now KCAL, 1973-78), KNXT (now KCBS-TV) for reruns in late 1978

Louisville – WLKY-TV

Miami – WPLG-TV

Milwaukee – WISN-TV

Minneapolis - KMSP-TV

Montgomery, AL - WHOA

Nashville - WNGE-TV (now WKRN)

New York – WNBC-TV (1973-78), WOR-TV (1978-79)

Oklahoma City - KOCO-TV

Orlando – WDBO (now WKMG)

Phoenix - KTAR (now KPNX)

Philadelphia – WCAU-TV

Pittsburgh – WTAE-TV

Portland, ME - WCSH-TV

Portland, OR - KATU-TV

Providence – WJAR-TV

Sacramento – KXTV

Saint Louis – KTVI

Salt Lake City – KTVX

San Antonio – KSAT-TV

San Diego – KFMB-TV

San Francisco – KPIX

Scranton - WDAU-TV (now WYOU)

Seattle - KIRO-TV

Springfield, MO - KOLR

St. Louis - KTVI

Syracuse - WNYS-TV (WSYR-TV)

Tampa/Saint Petersburg – WFLA-TV

Washington, D.C. – WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV)

Winston-Salem - WXII

Youngstown - WFMJ-TV

Merchandise[]

Main Article: Concentration/Merchandise

Photos[]

Main Article: Concentration/Photos

Episode Status[]

All episodes exist.

After being off the air for no longer than 46 years, on March 6, 2020, Buzzr announced on their Facebook page that episodes of the Narz run (starting with fall 1976 episodes) would begin airing on March 30, 2020.