Concentration Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1958

Taped in New York City, "Concentration" debuted on Aug. 25, 1958 on NBC at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with the warm & easygoing Hugh Downs as host. He hosted the show from 1958 to 1969, and he also was a host of NBC's "Today" from 1962-1971. Downs went on to become a respected journalist with ABC's "20/20" from 1978 to 1999.

"Concentration" would become NBC's longest-running game show, running until 1973. NBC also had 2 prime time editions that ran in 1958 and 1961. The 1958 one was hosted by Jack Barry, whose previous show--the controversial "Twenty-One"--had just been cancelled.

Answer: Gene Rayburn

A short time later, Rayburn did become host of other shows, like "Dough Re Mi" and the show he's best remembered for--"Match Game".

Answer: Connie

The champion also won $1,000 cash, and a trip for 2 around the world!

Answer: Ed McMahon

Bob Clayton, formerly an announcer for "Concentration", became its host in January of 1969 upon Hugh Downs' departure. McMahon hosted the show from March to September of that year; then Clayton returned to host the show until its 1973 cancellation. Clayton went on to announce several more shows, including the "$10,000" & "$20,000 Pyramid". He died in 1979.

Answer: Jack Narz

Tom Kennedy (born Jim Narz) is Jack's younger brother.

Jack previously hosted "Video Village" and "Dotto", a show that became heavily involved in the 1950's quiz show scandals. In the 1970's, he hosted "Now You See It" and "Beat the Clock". He was a likeable and witty host with "Concentration". This version taped in Hollywood and was produced by Goodson & Todman. Its announcer was the beloved Johnny Olson. Before each game, contestants were assisted by the "4 Head Starts", where Olson would point out 4 numbers, and describe the prizes hidden there.

Answer: Double Play

Before each puzzle was revealed, the answer was shown on-screen to the home viewers and the studio audience.

Answer: Alex Trebek

This version ran from 1987 to 1991; in June of '91, I auditioned in L.A. for the show, and I thought I did great, and was never told if I was in the contestant pool. But by summer's end, its cancellation was announced. Repeats were aired on NBC until Dec. 1993. The set is best remembered for displaying its 8 cars on a large lit-up staircase.

From 1990-1991, Alex was busy hosting 3 shows! "Classic Concentration", "To Tell the Truth", and of course, "Jeopardy". On "Classic Concentration" Alex was, refreshingly, not as stern as he was on other shows. He kept the game moving, but also joked around with the players often. Once, he even wore a hippie outfit with beads for a "20th Anniversary of Woodstock" week! He would also allow winners to point out step by step how they solved a puzzle, using a ChromaKey screen. Unlike previous versions, where the puzzle board was run mechanically, the new board was computerized and shown on a large TV monitor in front of Alex & the players.

Answer: 25

The previous 2 versions of "Concentration" used 30 squares. "Classic Concentration" used 25 squares, and sometimes had 2 or 4 pieces of the puzzle already revealed at the start of a game, to speed up play a bit.

Answer: 35

The bonus round had a board of 15 squares, each hiding the name of a car; 7 names matched, 1 didn't. The winner from the regular game would have 35 seconds to match 7 cars (40 seconds on his 2nd try, 45 seconds on his 3rd try, and so on). The last car matched would be the car he won.

On several occasions, a player would unwisely try to save the one car he so badly wanted to win as the final match, esp. a Jeep. More often than not, he/she would run out of time.

Answer: Pokey

Some of Pokey's adorable scenes included him being rocked in a cradle and "playing" a keyboard!