Baffle (game show)
| PDQ | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Heatter-Quigley Productions |
| Presented by | Dennis James |
| Narrated by | Kenny Williams |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 826+ |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Syndicated |
| Original release | September 6, 1965 – September 26, 1969 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Baffle and All-Star Baffle (1973-74) |
| Related shows |
All-Star Blitz The Last Word |
| (All-Star) Baffle | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Heatter-Quigley Productions |
| Presented by | Dick Enberg |
| Narrated by | Kenny Williams |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 100+ |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | March 26, 1973 – March 29, 1974 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | PDQ (1965-69) |
| Related shows |
All-Star Blitz The Last Word |
PDQ and Baffle are American television game shows created by Heatter-Quigley Productions. Both shows' objective was to guess a given word or phrase in the shortest amount of time with the fewest letters given as possible.
PDQ was syndicated by Four Star Television which aired from September 6, 1965 to September 26, 1969, primarily on NBC-owned stations but syndicated in markets where NBC didn't own a station. PDQ was named after its original sponsor, a flavored drink mix. The show and product shared logos, although on the show the initials stood for "Please Draw Quickly".
Baffle was a revival that aired on NBC from March 26, 1973 to March 29, 1974 without a specific sponsor.
Dennis James was the original host, with Monty Hall filling in on at least one occasion in James' absence before Let's Make a Deal moved to ABC. Kenny Williams was the announcer, and Arlo Hults provided the music.
For many years, rumors circulated that Bill Cullen replaced James later in the show's run; however, only one source has ever stated this (Alex McNeill's Total Television) and the existence of an episode taped October 3, 1968 with James as host has effectively debunked this. Further, Cullen was at the time based in New York City, while PDQ was taped in Hollywood.
The contestants consisted of three celebrities and one civilian. Two celebrities were paired as the "Home Team"; the third celebrity and the civilian contestant made up the opposing team, which was known as "The Challengers".
These two teams played a word game in which a player seated in an isolation booth attempted to guess a famous name, title, or phrase posed by their teammate who displayed letters as clues (one at a time, starting with three letters, with one of them being the first letter in the subject) on their own individual game board. A musical tone every few seconds served as a signal to add another letter. If the guessing player guessed the name after the time signal sounded, the team was still charged for the letter that should have been used. Each team took a turn at the same puzzle, with the team using fewer letters winning the game. A tie was considered a win for the contestant and the challengers. Prizes were awarded to the contestant for every game won by the challengers. A prize "for just being on the show", in the words of Kenny Williams, was always included, so that even if the challengers lost every game, the contestant would not leave empty-handed.
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