Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Game Time: Shenanigans (1964)

Shenanigans was one of three game shows that Merrill Heatter & Bob Quigley co-produced with Four Star (PDQ & The Celebrity Game, the latter a forerunner of the more familiar Hollywood Squares, were the others). Shenanigans, which launched in 1964, aired on ABC and looked like a reboot of an earlier H-Q game, Video Village, and its Saturday sister series, Video Village Junior, which aired on CBS a few years earlier. Broadway vet Stubby Kaye ("Guys & Dolls") served as host for Shenanigans, with announcer Kenny Williams appearing on camera as "Kenny the Cop". Here, compliments of OldWorldTelevision and YouTube, is a clip from the show:

Here's a sample clip:



Milton Bradley invested quite a bit of money and advertising in the show, but, unfortunately, it didn't last very long, cancelled after 1 season. ABC would get back into the Saturday game show business a few years later with shows like Junior Almost Anything Goes and Animal Crack-Ups, but it's doubtful we'll ever see the likes of Shenanigans revived, unless Hasbro, which bought out Milton Bradley a few years back, gives it a shot for their new kids' network, The Hub, debuting next month.

Rating: B.

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