Bill Cullen
Read the January 23, 1980 Chain
Reaction review in Variety!
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The NBC publicity machine didn't
exactly work overtime in coming up with promotional material for this series.
Here's the best they could do for a press release:
"Bill Cullen has such a love
for words, he is frequently a celebrity guest on other word related shows."
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Here's an odd little news item
found in a 3/17/80 issue of People Magazine:
LOX STEP
When Barry Manilow closed the
set of his upcoming ABC-TV special to anyone not wearing a Bagel button
(a security badge he devised, named for his dog, Bagel), the crew members
on Bill Cullen's neighboring Chain Reaction game show retaliated.
Since they couldn't
watch Manilow at work during
their breaks, they made up their own security stickers with the words "Cream
Cheese" and banned the Bagel brigade from catching THEIR act.
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 Two
teams of three players (two celebrities and a contestant) score points
by identifying words connected thematically in a chain. In the bonus round,
the celebrities construct questions adding a word at a time, and the contestant
tries to come up with the answer to the frequently awkward query. The bonus
round went through no less than three different scoring variations in the
six months the series was seen.
Despite cheap production values,
this was a fun game with a bonus round so good it was later spun off into
its own game (the equally short-lived GO). A noon time slot
hurt, since a great many local stations in the Eastern Time Zone were airing
their own newscasts at that hour.
For the two weeks of shows that aired
April 7-18, Geoff Edwards replaced Bill as host. Bill was filling
in for an ailing Allen Ludden on Password Plus. See our Guest
Appearances page for details about Bill's visit to the Password
Plus podium.
The pilot for this series was recorded
on October 28, 1979, and it had several minor differences to the show which
eventually aired. In the pilot, teams consisted of a celebrity (Joyce
Bulifant and Nipsey Russell) teamed with a husband & wife pair.
Either the husband or the wife played alongside the celebrity partner for
each game board, so only four of the six players were active at any one
time. The bonus round scoring was different than ANY of the variations
seen on the air. In the pilot, the winning team started with a penny,
and added a zero to their total for each correct answer. Seven correct
answers in sixty seconds would have been worth a then staggering $100,000.
It's not surprising that this bonus version was never used. As game
play improved, the top prize would have been hit far too often.
EPISODE GUIDE
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PILOT
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Joyce Bulifant
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Nipsey Russell
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January 14-18
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Joyce Bulifant
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Nipsey Russell
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Patty Duke Astin
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Fred Grandy
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January 21-25
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Joyce Bulifant
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Robert Mandan
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Didi Conn
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Jay Johnson
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Jan 28-Feb 1
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Elaine Joyce
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Nipsey Russell
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Vicki Lawrence
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Richard Paul
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February 4-8
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Jo Anne Worley
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Michael McKean
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Joanna Gleason
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Richard Paul
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February 11-15
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Peggy Cass
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Robert Mandan
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Shelley Smith
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Fred Grandy
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February 18-22
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Debralee Scott
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Soupy Sales
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Lois Nettleton
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Jay Johnson
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February 25-29
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Anita Gillette
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Soupy Sales
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Lois Nettleton
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Bart Braverman
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March 3-7
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Debralee Scott
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Robert Mandan
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Joanna Gleason
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Robert Walden
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March 10-14
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Anita Gillette
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Allen Ludden
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Betty White
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Brian Patrick Clarke
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March 17-21
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Anita Gillette
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Nipsey Russell
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Gina Hecht
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Fred Grandy
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March 24-28
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Patty Duke Astin
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Nipsey Russell
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Joanna Gleason
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Brian Patrick Clarke
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Mar 31-Apr 4
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Joyce Bulifant
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Robert Pine
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Judy Norton-Taylor
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Jay Johnson
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April 7-11*
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Vicki Lawrence
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Jack Carter
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Gina Hecht
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Wesley Eure
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April 14-18*
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Jo Anne Worley
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Robert Walden
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Constance McCashin
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Richard Paul
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April 21-25
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Elaine Joyce
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Robert Mandan
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Didi Conn
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Ken Kercheval
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Apr 28-May 2
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Susan Richardson
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Daryl Anderson
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Betty White
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Jay Johnson
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May 5-9
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Jo Anne Worley
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Steve Kanaly
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Sharon Spelman
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Sal Viscuso
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May 12-16
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Anita Gillette
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Ken Kercheval
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Judy Norton-Taylor
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Brian Patrick Clarke
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May 19-23
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Anita Gillette
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Ron Silver
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Vicki Lawrence
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Wesley Eure
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May 26-30
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Laurie Walters
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Nipsey Russell
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Sharon Spelman
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Brian Patrick Clarke
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June 2-6
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Alison Arngrim
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Nipsey Russell
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Gina Hecht
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Daryl Anderson
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June 9-13
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Vicki Lawrence
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Robert Mandan
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Judy Norton-Taylor
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Richard Paul
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June 16-20
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Joyce Bulifant
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Ron Silver
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Betty White
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Jay Johnson
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| *Geoff Edwards fills
in as host |
For those of you curious enough
to ask but not curious enough to count, Nipsey Russell appeared during
six weeks (not including the pilot), more than any other celebrity.
Anita Gillette, Robert Mandan and Jay Johnson each made five appearances.
Richard Paul, Joyce Bulifant and Vicki Lawrence appeared four times each.
VIDEO
All episodes appear to have survived.
Many (but not all) of the episodes have been seen on Game Show Network.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Nearly a dozen links are available
at our own Game
Show Compendium |
