Skip to Navigation
TV Video Library: Interviews and Video Clips – Archive of American Television
  • A program of the Television Academy Foundation

Capturing Television History, One Voice At A Time

Home › Shows

Hollywood Squares

Game Shows

About This Show

From Wikipedia:

The Hollywood Squares is an American television comedy and game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money (cash) and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by an entertainer (or "star") seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions and the contestants judge the veracity of their answers in order to win the game.

Although The Hollywood Squares was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy in the form of the "zingers", or joke answers, often given by the stars prior to their "real" answer. The show's writers usually supplied the zingers; in addition, the stars were given question subjects and plausible incorrect ("bluff") answers prior to the show. (The show was scripted in this sense, but the gameplay was not, as a contestant's success was based upon knowing whether the celebrity's "real" answer was correct.) In any case, as host Peter Marshall explains at the beginning of the "Secret Square" game, the celebrities are briefed prior to show to help them with bluff answers, but they are otherwise hearing the actual questions as they are asked on air.

Created by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley
Presented by Peter Marshall
(1966-1981)
Jon Bauman
(1983-1984)
John Davidson
(1986-1989)
Tom Bergeron
(1998-2004)
Narrated by Kenny Williams
(1966-1981)
Gene Wood
(1983-1984)
Shadoe Stevens
(1986-1989 & 1998-2002)
Jeffrey Tambor
(2002-2003)
John Moschitta
(2003-2004)
Country of origin USA
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 25
No. of episodes 3536 (NBC daytime)
16 (Storybook Squares)
191 (Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour)
585 (Davidson)

People Who Talked About This Show

  • Carroll Spinney
  • Dawn Wells
  • Della Reese
  • Ernest Borgnine
  • Fred Silverman
  • Henry Winkler
  • John Moffitt
  • Mary Lynn Gottfried
  • Melissa Gilbert
  • Monty Hall
  • Nanette Fabray
  • Rose Marie

Featured Content

Video clip: 1967 intro of Hollywood Squares (poor video quality) including Rose Marie, Wally Cox, Eva Gabor, Charley Weaver and more.

You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.

People Talking About This Show

  • Ernest Borgnine
    • Ernest Borgnine on being "Center Square" on Hollywood Squares
      (01m 57s)
  • Nanette Fabray
    • Nanette Fabray on being a celebrity guest on  Hollywood Squares (00m 56s)
  • Melissa Gilbert
    • Melissa Gilbert on appearing on Hollywood Squares and dining with Paul Lynde
      (02m 14s)
  • Mary Lynn Gottfried
    • Mary Lynn Gottfried on booking talent for Hollywood Squares (03m 08s)
  • Monty Hall
    • Monty Hall on scripted jokes on Hollywood Squares (00m 28s)
  • Rose Marie
    • Rose Marie on her long tenure as a panelist on The Hollywood Squares (09m 56s)
  • John Moffitt
    • John Moffitt on producing the relaunched Hollywood Squares (04m 42s)
  • Della Reese
    • Della Reese on appearing on Hollywood Squares
      (01m 50s)
  • Fred Silverman
    • Fred Silverman on creating The Hollywood Squares with Heatter-Quigley and Bob Stewart while head of daytime CBS, and on making the "one of [his] worst calls" by giving it up to Larry Phillips, head of daytime at NBC (01m 43s)
  • Carroll Spinney
    • Carroll Spinney on appearing on Hollywood Squares
      (00m 11s)
  • Dawn Wells
    • Dawn Wells on being on Hollywood Squares (00m 46s)
  • Henry Winkler
    • Henry Winkler on producing  Hollywood Squares and popular "square" Paul Lynde (02m 57s)
SHARE THIS PAGE Bookmark and Share
Tweet

From the Collection

  • Game Show Genres

    For more on TV GAME SHOWS, visit the Archive's Game Show Series reference page.

     

Be the first to comment!

Post new comment

  • Home
  • Interviews
    • People
    • Shows
    • Topics
    • Professions
    • All Interviewees
    • Featured Playlists
  • About The Archive
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Search
Academy of American Television
  • Home
  • The Interviews
  • Advanced Search
  • Blog
  • License Our Clips
  • Terms of Service
  • Transcripts
  • Copyright Policy
  • Emmys.com
  • Emmysfoundation.org
  • About The Archive
© 1995-2012 Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation All Rights Reserved Emmy and The Emmy Statuette are the trademark property of ATAS/NATAS
Site developed by FivePaths