 introduced, very little of the show's half-hour format was left for actual gameplay.
"The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour" (1983–1984).
In 1983, several years after Orion Pictures acquired "Hollywood Squares" rights owner Filmways, NBC decided to attempt a revival of the series. What resulted was an effort produced by Mark Goodson Productions that combined the "Hollywood Squares" program, under license from Orion, with a revival of the Goodson-produced "Match Game". The 60-minute program was dubbed "The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour" and debuted on October 31, 1983, at 3 p.m. Eastern, replacing the Peter Marshall-hosted series "Fantasy". Jon Bauman (appearing as himself without his "Bowzer" persona from "Sha Na Na") hosted the "Hollywood Squares" portion of the show. The only regular panelist on this version was Gene Rayburn, who reprised his role as host of "Match Game"; he always occupied the lower left square during "Hollywood Squares", which Bauman also occupied during "Match Game" segments. Most of the semi-regulars were previously better known for "Match Game" (only on two weeks of episodes did a regular from the previous "Hollywood Squares", George Gobel, appear on the panel). The announcer for this version was Gene Wood but was also sub-announced by either Rich Jefferies or Johnny Olson.
"Hollywood Squares" was always played as the second (middle) segment of the show, and featured the winner of the "Match Game" match played in the first half of the program facing off with the show's returning champion. This version of "Hollywood Squares" saw several different variations on the gameplay. First, the panelists were not given bluff answers or briefed. Second, the questions followed either a multiple-choice or true/false format. Third, for each square a contestant claimed $25 was added to his/her score with each game win starting at $100 for the first and increasing by that amount for subsequent games until time ran out and a winner was declared. In contrast to the original version of the show, players could win games by default if the opposing player incorrectly agreed/disagreed with a celebrity whose square gave the other player a completed row or five-square win. On all other versions of "Squares", the player had to earn the winning celebrity's square on their own. The winner played the Super Match from "Match Game" for a cash prize.
The "Match Game" segment featured six panelists, as it had from 1973 to 1982; for the "Hollywood Squares" portion, a third tier was added to the panel seating area, with three more celebrities being introduced to the proceedings at the show's midpoint. All nine celebrities could play the Super Match.
"The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour" was not a success and NBC announced its cancellation in the spring of 1984, with the final episode airing on July 27, 1984. It was replaced the following Monday with the soap opera "Santa Barbara", which ran for nine years.
1986–1989.
Two years after the cancellation of "The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour", a new "Hollywood Squares" series was put into production. Referred to throughout its run as "The New Hollywood Squares", the program debuted on September 15, 1986, and was produced by Century Towers Productions with Rick Rosner serving as executive producer, Ernie De Massa as producer, Paul Ruffino as Location Manager for remote productions, and Orion Television as distributor (Century Towers was a subdivision of Orion formed to produce game shows, specifically this series and the 1987–88 syndicated revival of "High Rollers"; the name was in reference to the street that Orion was headquartered at the time).
John Davidson, who was a semi-regular panelist on the original "Hollywood Squares", hosted the series. Shadoe Stevens was the announcer for the series and, beginning late in the first season, he also became a regular panelist occupying the bottom center square. Starting with episode #100, Stevens temporary left the show to film the movie "Traxx", and his brother Richard took over as announcer; Stevens returned for the final two weeks of the first season and remained until the series' end. After one season of rotating center squares, former "Hollywood Squares" panelist Joan Rivers joined the series as the permanent center square. Comic actor Jim J. Bullock also became the series' third regular panelist, usually in the upper-left square. All three took turns as guest hosts for Davidson; Howard Stern replaced Stevens as announcer/panelist during his week as host. All music for the program was composed by Stormy Sacks.
The game used the original version's rule that games could not be won due to an opponent's error. For the first season, each game was worth $500 with a bonus of $100 per square if time ran out in the middle of a game. Beginning in season two, the third and subsequent games were worth $1,000 (or $200 per square). If time had run out with the contestants tied, one more question was asked to one celebrity; if the contestant agreed or disagreed correctly, they won the money for one square and the match. If not, their opponent automatically won. The single-question format was also used on occasions where there was not enough time remaining for a proper third round. The contestant who finished with the most money won the match and went on to the bonus round. Contestants wore name tags on all episodes of this version except for the premiere.
This version lasted three seasons, ending on June 16, 1989. At the end of the final episode, a video clip from the first week of shows was run, introducing the celebrities who had appeared that week. Davidson, the panelists, the audience, and the crew then sang "Happy Trails" under the credits, with the crew members sitting in the squares and holding up signs that displayed their names and titles. The song continued under a montage of audio clips from the show's run as everyone faded away and the lights gradually went out, leaving only the squares illuminated, and the credits sequence ended on a freeze frame of balloons being showered onto the stage.
Secret Square.
The second game of each show was a Secret Square game. As with the original version, the Secret Square was revealed to the home audience at the start of this game; if a contestant chose that square, a school bell sounded and if the contestant agreed or disagreed correctly, he/she won a prize (usually a trip). The prize did not increase in value from one show to the next if it was not collected.
Bonus round.
The first two seasons of this version of the series employed a bonus round that was similar to the one used on the 1970s game show "Split Second". Five cars, each of the same brand/make, were displayed on the stage for the entire week. The champion chose one of five keys and then chose the car they thought the key would start. The contestant also chose at least one celebrity to stand beside the car or sit in it with them for good luck; at times the entire panel congregated near the car, especially on Friday shows or when a champion reached a fifth win and automatically retired with the car.
If the chosen key started the car, the contestant won it and retired; otherwise, the contestant returned the next day with that car eliminated should he or she return to the bonus game. After a fifth victory, the contestant automatically won the only car still in play at that point and retired. Every broadcast week started with a new set of five cars; if a champion's reign carried over from the preceding week, one car was eliminated for each of his/her victories to that point, in ascending order of price.
For the final season, the champion first chose a car, then one of the nine celebrities. Each held a key; five of them had the correct keys, while the other four had keys that would not start any car. If the champion failed to win the chosen car, it remained available after subsequent victories instead of being eliminated. The five-day limit was removed, allowing champions to remain on this show until they either won a car or were defeated.
1998–2004.
In 1991, King World Productions acquired the rights to the entire worldwide "Hollywood Squares" format from Orion Pictures Corporation as that company was going through its bankruptcy phase. King World only acquired format rights and owns copyrights for episodes produced since 1998; Orion retained copyrights to pre-1991 episodes. Six years later, King World decided to bring the series back to television and a revival was put in the works. Whoopi Goldberg was brought in to be the executive producer, and John Moffitt and Pat Tourk Lee were hired as producers. Goldberg's One Ho Productions and Moffitt-Lee Productions joined Columbia TriStar Television as co-production companies with King World, who handled distribution by themselves. This differed from the other two King World/Columbia TriStar collaborations on television at the time, "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune", as King World had no role in the production of those two series.
On September 14, 1998, the revival debuted with Tom Bergeron as its host; former Nickelodeon host Marc Summers was also considered. In addition to her production duties, Whoopi Goldberg served as the permanent center square, with series head writer Bruce Vilanch, Gilbert Gottfried, Martin Mull and Caroline Rhea as regular panelists and Brad Garrett, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jeffrey Tambor, George Wallace, Kathy Griffin and various others as semi