"Password", A Great Game Show Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What legendary presenter was the original host of "Password" starting in 1961?

Answer: Allen Ludden

Allen Ludden (1917-1981), a native of Wisconsin, hosted many game shows during his career, but is best known for "Password". He hosted almost 3000 episodes of the game show. Ludden was married to actress Betty White from 1963 until his death. Ludden won an Emmy Award as "Outstanding Game Show Host" in 1976.
Ralph Edwards hosted "Truth or Consequences" on radio and/or TV for 38 years; he died in 2005. Bill Cullen hosted many shows over his career, including the original "Price is Right"; Cullen died in 1990. Art Fleming hosted "Jeopardy" between 1964 and 1979; he died in 1995.

2. In the original version of "Password" (1961-1967), what was the maximum number of clues that could be given?

Answer: 10

There were ten possible clues per round, and the scoring worked so that a contestant received 10 points if they guessed correctly on the first clue, and subtract one point for each subsequent clue.
The first contestant to score 25 points won the round.

3. On the original "Password" (1961-1967), how much did a contestant win if they earned 25 points in a round?

Answer: $100

Yes, you only won $100 if you won the round in "Password." Even factoring in inflation, it would still be worth around only $700 to $800. Future versions of "Password" were more generous - on "Super Password" (1984-89) the bonus round was worth a minimum of $5000, and on "Million Dollar Password" (2008-2009) the potential top prize was, no surprise, $1 million.

4. In the original version of Password (1961-1967), how many words were used in the bonus or "Lightning Round"?

Answer: 5

In the 1961-67 version, players tried to guess five words. They received $50 for each word guessed correctly. The "Lightning Round" amounts were doubled to $100 during the 1973-1974 season. In the ABC version (1971-75), contestants had the option of trying to double their money by getting their partner to guess a "Betting Word" in 15 seconds.

5. What company produced the different versions of "Password" between 1961 and 1989?

Answer: Goodson-Todman Productions

Goodson-Todman (later Mark Goodson Productions) produced the original "Password" from 1961 to 1975, "Password Plus" from 1979 to 1982, and "Super Password" from 1984 to 1989. The company was founded by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman in the late 1940s, and over the next forty years produced some of the most successful games shows in television history. Todman died in 1979; Goodman died in 1992.

6. What celebrity made the most appearances on the original version of "Password" between 1962 and 1975?

Answer: Elizabeth Montgomery

Elizabeth Montgomery, the star of "Bewitched" (1964-72), made at least 95 appearances on "Password". She was one of the first two celebrity contestants when ABC brought the show back in 1971. She was also one of the first two celebrities (with husband Robert Foxworth) when "Password Plus" came back in 1979. Carol Burnett was a frequent guest, making 29 appearances; Burnett made many of her appearances either against or teamed with Montgomery. Betty White, despite being married to the host, made only 24 appearances. Kitty Carlisle, a game show regular, does have the distinction of being on the very first episode of "Password" in October 1961.

7. What celebrity has the distinction of being on the first episode of "Password" in 1961 and also of being on the most episodes of "Super Password" (1984-89)?

Answer: Tom Poston

Bert Convy did 750 episodes of "Super Password" over the course of five years. The celebrity guest who showed up the most was Tom Poston, with at least 66 episodes. Poston was an up and coming comedian in 1961, who had appeared on "Steve Allen's Plymouth Show" (1957-60) several times.

8. What was the highest amount of money ever won during the "Alphabetic" Round on "Super Password"? (Hint: April 1986 and January 1988)

Answer: $55,000

Two contestants won $55,000 during the bonus round on "Super Password". The more notorious one is Patrick Quinn, AKA Kerry Lee Ketchum. After his record win, a viewer in Alaska notified the Secret Service that "Quinn" was a fugitive wanted for fraud charges. When Ketchum showed up to pick up his winnings, the police were there to pick him up. The Goodson Company didn't pay Ketchum the prize money, because he had lied about his identity when he signed the contestant agreement.

9. Of these four game show hosts, which one NEVER hosted a version of "Password" between 1980 and 2010?

Answer: Peter Marshall

Peter Marshall was a celebrity on "Password Plus" but was never the host of a version of "Password". Convy hosted 750 episodes of "Super Password" (1984-1989); Convy was also a celebrity guest on the original "Password" and "Password Plus". Regis Philbin was the host of the short lived "Million Dollar Password" (2008-09); he was also a contestant on "Password Plus". Tom Kennedy took over as host of "Password Plus" (1980-82) after Allen Ludden left for health reasons; Kennedy was a celebrity guest on both the original "Password" and "Super Password".

10. Allen Ludden hosted versions of "Password" on all three major networks of the time: ABC, CBS and NBC.

Answer: True

Ludden started "Password" on CBS, hosting 1,555 daytime episodes and 201 prime time episodes of the show between 1961 and 1967. The show then switched to ABC between 1971 and 1975, when Ludden did 1099 episodes. Ludden hosted 140 episodes of "Password Plus" on NBC between January 1979 and April 1980.

Source: Author parrotman2006

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor guitargoddess before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Password is... from this simple premise grew over 4000 episodes of television. This quiz focuses mostly on the early years, with a few questions on later versions.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>