The Newlywed Game
Encyclopedia
The Newlywed Game is an American
television game show
that pits newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know (or don't know) each other. The program, originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir
(credited on-screen as Roger E. Muir) and produced by Chuck Barris
, has appeared in many different versions since its 1966 debut. The show became famous for some of the arguments that couples had over incorrect answers and even led to some divorces.
Many of The Newlywed Games questions dealt with "making whoopee", the euphemism
that producers used for sexual intercourse
to circumvent network censorship. However, it became such a catchphrase of the show that Bob Eubanks continued to use the word throughout the show's many runs, even in the 1980s and 1990s episodes and beyond, when he could easily have said "make love" or "have sex
" without censorship.
television network on July 11, 1966. It was the last U.S. commercial network series to premiere in black and white, although it converted to color, as did virtually all other network series, that coming September. On the day it debuted, CBS pre-empted Password to cover a news conference held by Robert McNamara
. ABC opted not to air the press conference, and as a result The Newlywed Game was able to get a slight head start in the head-to-head ratings battle with the long-running Password. Over the next few months more and more viewers were tuning into The Newlywed Game and it became a hit, while Password's ratings began to fall and eventually led to the series' cancellation fourteen months later. On December 20, 1974, The Newlywed Game concluded its run as the second-longest running game show on ABC (only Family Feud lasted longer). A special week-long series for Valentine's Day aired on ABC in February 1984 and was the last time the show aired on a broadcast network; the set for the week of specials would later be used for Bob Eubanks's return to The New Newlywed Game in syndication a year later.
Up until the Game Show Network (GSN) series' 2009 premiere, all subsequent editions of The Newlywed Game were seen in syndication. The first production aired from 1977 until 1980. The second, which was referred to as The New Newlywed Game for the first three and a half years of its run, aired from 1985 until 1989. The last and most recent syndicated Newlywed Game aired new episodes from 1996 until 1999, continued in reruns for an additional season, and was sold to stations as part of an hour-long block with a revival of The Dating Game
is the host that is most often associated with The Newlywed Game. Just 28 years old at the time the show debuted in 1966, he was the youngest emcee to host a game show. Eubanks hosted the ABC and first syndicated series, then returned to host The New Newlywed Game from September 1985 until December 1988. Jim Lange
hosted the aforementioned week of specials in 1984 and comedian Paul Rodriguez
took over for Eubanks on the 1980s series, which was simply retitled The Newlywed Game Starring Paul Rodriguez upon his takeover, and remained with the show until its cancellation in September 1989.
Gary Kroeger
hosted the first season of the revival of The Newlywed Game in 1996, which was conducted under a much different format than the previous series. After a year of struggling ratings Eubanks returned to host and the format was changed back to the classic Newlywed Game format. He has also hosted several special episodes of the current Newlywed Game, which has made Eubanks the only host to preside over an episode of the same series in six different decades.
The current GSN edition was hosted by Carnie Wilson
from its debut on April 6, 2009 until the end of its third season in late 2010 when Wilson elected not to return. As noted above, Eubanks hosted two special episodes of this version - one featured Wilson and her husband as well as her sister Wendy
, her mother Marilyn, and their husbands; the second featured game show hosts Monty Hall
, Peter Marshall, and Wink Martindale
and their wives. On August 18, 2010, it was announced that The View co-host Sherri Shepherd
would take over as host for the fourth season of the show which premiered November 1, 2010. The fifth season premiered on April 18, 2011 with a new current logo and with the host of Sherri Shepherd also as a narrator.
Scott Beach
, who was Barris' first choice for host, was the announcer in the very early episodes of The Newlywed Game. After that Barris staff announcer Johnny Jacobs
took over and remained announcer for the series until the first syndicated version was canceled in 1980. Tony McClay, who was a frequent Jacobs substitute, would take over from time to time on the syndicated Newlywed Game. Rod Roddy
was the announcer for the ABC specials. When The New Newlywed Game premiered in 1985, Bob Hilton
was its announcer. He was replaced by Charlie O'Donnell
, who Barris had signed away from Barry & Enright Productions
, in 1986. O'Donnell continued to announce through the end of the Paul Rodriguez-hosted season, then left Barris to return to his position at Wheel of Fortune
.
Los Angeles radio DJ Ellen K provided the announcing for the first season of the 1996 revival, with John Cramer taking over upon Eubanks' return. For the first season of the 2009 revival Brad Aldous served as the announcer. Randy West
took over for the next two seasons, and former host Gary Kroeger took over for West for the fourth season. As of the fifth season, host Shepherd doubles as announcer for the couple introductions and the voice-overs for the prize descriptions.
The roles were reversed in the second round, where the husbands were taken off the stage and the wives were asked four questions before the husbands were brought back on stage to give their answers. The first three questions in this round were worth 10 points each, and the final question was worth 25 points (Referred to by Bob Eubanks as a "25 point bonus question"). The maximum possible score for any couple was 70 points. The number of questions in the second round was reduced from three to two (excluding the final question) in 1987 and also in 1997.
Originally (in the first year of the first ABC version), the husbands went off-stage first while the wives had to predict what their husbands would say. The first four questions in this round were worth 5 points apiece. Then the wives would go off-stage as the husbands would be asked four 10-point questions and a 35-point bonus question, which usually decided the game. The maximum possible score was 95 points.
The couple with the highest score at the end of the second round won a prize that was "chosen just for you" (in actuality, the couples had requested a certain prize and competed with other couples that had requested the same prize). By 1987, this practice was eliminated.
The grand prize was never a car or cash, but it could include just about anything else: appliances, furniture, home entertainment systems, a trailer or motorcycles, trips (complete with luggage and camera), etc. In the 1997 remake, the grand prize was always a trip (dubbed "a second honeymoon").
Prior to taping the show, each couple was asked to predict the total points they would earn. In the event of a tie for first place, the tied such couples would reveal a card showing this predicted score. The couple that had the closest guess without going over their actual total, won. If all the tied couples went over, the couple who had the closest guess would win. An exact guess awarded an additional prize to the winners.
For the first half of the 1988-1989 season, the scoring system was changed: correct answers paid off in cash ($25 to start with, three questions each worth $25 in round one, followed by two each worth $50 in round two), and during the final question the couples could wager any part of their earnings up to that point. All couples kept any money won (maximum of $400), but only the winners took home the grand prize.
This scoring format was dropped, and the old one reinstated, when Paul Rodriguez took over as host in December 1988, although the number of couples competing was then reduced to three.
The couple with the most points wins the game and wins a second honeymoon trip. If there was a tie, a tie-breaker question will be played until only one couple correctly answers the question and wins. If two couples answered correctly or incorrectly, this tie-breaker will be repeated with a new question. This also applies to all three couples who answer right or wrong, or two of the three couples in the tie-breaker who answered correctly.
This format was mostly disliked by fans of the original show, so for the second season of this version, it reverted to its original format and theme, with original host Bob Eubanks back at the helm.
In Round 1, three questions were asked of the wives, and the husbands try to match the wives' responses for 5 points apiece. The roles were reversed for Round 2, with the first two questions worth 10 points. The third and final question, worth 20 points, was called the "eHarmony.com Dimension Question" and was based on one of the "29 dimensions" used by the site to match up couples. (In some episodes which had couples that first met on eHarmony.com, no mention of eHarmony or a specific "dimension" was mentioned for this last question). The maximum possible score for any couple for the first season was 55 points. The couple with the highest score won a second honeymoon vacation.
The winners then played a Bonus Round against the Goldyweds, who were a couple that had appeared on a previous version of the show (usually, one of the Bob Eubanks-hosted versions). In this round, the wives were taken off-stage and asked 5 questions during the commercial break. The husbands would take positions in the front of the stage as their wives sit on chairs in the back. The questions were worth increasing values from 1-5 points (for a maximum possible score of 15 points for either couple). The couple with the most points won a bonus prize, usually a piece of Sony
technology.
In the show's second season, several changes were made in the gameplay. The game was still played with only three couples, but the husbands were first to give responses to three questions for the wives to guess at 5 points each. (Some episodes featured "Maybelline
Beauty Questions", quizzing the husbands on their wives' beauty routines; or "Ladies' Home Journal
'Can This Marriage Be Saved?' Questions", focusing on some of the tougher aspects of married life as based on the magazine's trademark column.) Then the wives would respond to FOUR questions; the first three worth 10 points each (on occasion, the third was still a "eHarmony.com Dimension Question"), and the fourth being a two-response bonus question, with each part worth 15 points (couples would receive 15 points for getting one of the two responses right, or 30 points for both), making for a maximum score of 75 points per couple. As before, the highest-scoring couple won a second honeymoon trip, but no Goldywed Bonus Round was played (although the "Goldywed" concept lives on in the form of occasional special shows featuring couples that appeared on one of the earlier versions).
In the event of a tie during either the main game (in either season) or the endgame (in the first season), standard Newlywed Game "prediction" tiebreaker rules apply.
for many years. The story, which had several variations, had Bob Eubanks asking a contestant "Where is the weirdest place where you have ever had the urge to make whoopee
?" in one episode. The contestant supposedly responded "in the ass", implying anal intercourse. Eubanks denied that the incident occurred for many years.
However, on a 2002 NBC
special, The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments, Eubanks reluctantly presented a clip from a 1977 episode where he asked a wife named Olga where the weirdest place that she and her husband Hank had the urge to "make whoopee" was. After drawing a blank, and prodded by Eubanks to give an answer, the wife responded "In the ass?" with "ass" bleeped out. As everyone in the studio laughed uproariously, Eubanks clarified the question, asking for the weirdest location.
Hank's answer was "In the car", one that had drawn laughter and applause during the husbands-only segment with Eubanks quipping "I'm going to take the side streets hereafter."
The clip was later requested by fans and aired numerous times in future Most Outrageous Game Show Moments specials until the fourth episode in which Bob explained the clip was being "retired".
The clip also appeared (uncensored) in the 2002 film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
, about the life of producer Barris.
actor George Takei
and his husband, Brad Altman, playing in a special Celebrity Edition of the game against The Biggest Loser couple Damien Gurganius
& Nicole Brewer
, and My Fair Brady
stars Christopher Knight & Adrienne Curry. This episode was the second to air for the new season on October 13, 2009, and had Takei & Altman winning the game and $10,000 for their charity, the Japanese American National Museum
. The following 2010-11 season, episode air date June 17, 2010, marked the second appearance by a same-sex couple; Cameron and Garrett Jackson were the first non-celebrity same sex couple to appear on the 44 year-old game show, winning the game's honeymoon grand prize
". The song was written by Chuck Barris for singer Eddie Rambeau
, who performed and released the song on a Swan label 45 rpm SP record. Minutes before the song was to be presented on American Bandstand
in 1962, ABC informed Rambeau that he couldn't sing the song (because Chuck Barris was an ABC employee at the time), and he performed the B-side of the record instead.
Not wanting the song to go to waste, Barris commissioned Milton DeLugg
a few years later to arrange an instrumental version of "Summertime Guy" for use as the first theme to The Newlywed Game. The theme music was performed by the Trumpets Olé in a style similar to Herb Alpert
and the Tijuana Brass, and was released as the last track on the LP album "The Trumpets Olé Play Instrumentals". To better fit the show's spirit, DeLugg preceded the pop song's melody with a sample of Mendelssohn's Wedding March
.
The theme was re-recorded around 1973 by Frank Jaffe and Michael Stewart. Featured as the third track on the LP album Chuck Barris Presents Themes from TV Game Shows, it was used on The Newlywed Game beginning with the syndicated version in 1977. Then, Milton DeLugg, who was by this time Barris' house musical director, created a new, updated theme based on the existing melody for The New Newlywed Game beginning with Jim Lange's 1984 series of specials, and then for the first several years of the Bob Eubanks-hosted revival.
When Paul Rodriguez took over in 1988, the theme song was changed to the 1950s doo wop classic "Book of Love
" by the Monotones
, making this the only theme song of the show with lyrics . The Gary Kroeger version featured an entirely new theme; when Eubanks returned, a new recording of the classic theme was used for his first season (arranged by Steve Kaplan & Jim Latham), but dropped in favor of a new theme for the third season by Barry Coffing and John Blaylock.
The Carnie Wilson (and more currently, Sherri Shepherd)-hosted version uses an updated looping version of the classic theme composed by Lewis Flinn. For Shepherd's second season, the show's logo, intro, and set was changed, dropping the classic theme.
, and many of those that do exist are said to be un-airable due to color deterioration. However, a handful have been shown on GSN
, most notably the 1974 finale. The ABC nighttime version's status is also unknown for similar reasons, although a few of the evening shows have been shown on GSN's former block "Game Show Saturday Night".
All later versions are intact and have rerun on GSN, except for the episodes hosted by Paul Rodriguez and Gary Kroeger.
(CTT), who owns the Chuck Barris game show library, produced the 1996-1999 revivals. Embassy Row, a New York-based television production company, produces the Wilson and Shepherd-hosted version for CTT's successor Sony Pictures Television
(who owns the formatting rights and, as of January 14, 2009, Embassy Row) and GSN
.
produced three home editions of The Newlywed Game during its 1960s/70s run on ABC. Pressman
Games produced a version based on the 1980s New Newlywed Game. Currently, classic board games creator Endless Games
, which specializes in board games based on several widely popular, long-running television game shows, including The Price is Right
and Million Dollar Password
, distributes home versions of The Newlywed Game, including three standard editions (the third titled "Classic" to differentiate itself from the current GSN version), a DVD edition, a "Quick Picks" travel-size edition, and a "Deluxe Edition" which combines the first standard edition game with the DVD edition.
In 1971, Pocket Books
published a beginners' cookbook entitled The Newlywed Game Cook Book. It was compiled by Jody Cameron Malis and featured Bob Eubanks' picture on the cover.
The show's original theme music has been released several times on LP and CD, most notably as part of the GSN-approved Classic TV Game Show Themes
CD from Varèse Sarabande
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
that pits newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know (or don't know) each other. The program, originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir
E. Roger Muir
E. Roger Muir was a television producer who created several television programs and game shows. He was the creator and executive producer of children's program The Howdy Doody Show which ran from 1947 until 1960....
(credited on-screen as Roger E. Muir) and produced by Chuck Barris
Chuck Barris
Charles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris is an American game show producer, film director and presenter best known for hosting The Gong Show and creating The Dating Game. Barris, a survivor of lung cancer, is also an author and claims to have worked for the CIA.-Early career:Barris was born in Oakland, New...
, has appeared in many different versions since its 1966 debut. The show became famous for some of the arguments that couples had over incorrect answers and even led to some divorces.
Many of The Newlywed Games questions dealt with "making whoopee", the euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
that producers used for sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
to circumvent network censorship. However, it became such a catchphrase of the show that Bob Eubanks continued to use the word throughout the show's many runs, even in the 1980s and 1990s episodes and beyond, when he could easily have said "make love" or "have sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
" without censorship.
Broadcast history
The Newlywed Game debuted on the ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network on July 11, 1966. It was the last U.S. commercial network series to premiere in black and white, although it converted to color, as did virtually all other network series, that coming September. On the day it debuted, CBS pre-empted Password to cover a news conference held by Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
. ABC opted not to air the press conference, and as a result The Newlywed Game was able to get a slight head start in the head-to-head ratings battle with the long-running Password. Over the next few months more and more viewers were tuning into The Newlywed Game and it became a hit, while Password's ratings began to fall and eventually led to the series' cancellation fourteen months later. On December 20, 1974, The Newlywed Game concluded its run as the second-longest running game show on ABC (only Family Feud lasted longer). A special week-long series for Valentine's Day aired on ABC in February 1984 and was the last time the show aired on a broadcast network; the set for the week of specials would later be used for Bob Eubanks's return to The New Newlywed Game in syndication a year later.
Up until the Game Show Network (GSN) series' 2009 premiere, all subsequent editions of The Newlywed Game were seen in syndication. The first production aired from 1977 until 1980. The second, which was referred to as The New Newlywed Game for the first three and a half years of its run, aired from 1985 until 1989. The last and most recent syndicated Newlywed Game aired new episodes from 1996 until 1999, continued in reruns for an additional season, and was sold to stations as part of an hour-long block with a revival of The Dating Game
The Dating Game
The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...
Hosts and announcers
Bob EubanksBob Eubanks
Robert Leland "Bob" Eubanks is an American television/radio personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show The Newlywed Game on and off since 1966, where he was known for using the catchphrase, "Makin' Whoopee"...
is the host that is most often associated with The Newlywed Game. Just 28 years old at the time the show debuted in 1966, he was the youngest emcee to host a game show. Eubanks hosted the ABC and first syndicated series, then returned to host The New Newlywed Game from September 1985 until December 1988. Jim Lange
Jim Lange
Jim Lange is a former American game show host and disc jockey. He was particularly well known to listeners in the San Francisco and Los Angeles radio markets with stints at several stations in both markets, racking up over 45 years on the air...
hosted the aforementioned week of specials in 1984 and comedian Paul Rodriguez
Paul Rodríguez
Paul Rodriguez is a Mexican-American stand-up comedian and actor.-Personal life:Rodriguez was born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, México to Mexican agriculture ranchers.. His family migrated to East Los Angeles, where he enlisted in the military; he was stationed in Iceland and Duluth, Minnesota...
took over for Eubanks on the 1980s series, which was simply retitled The Newlywed Game Starring Paul Rodriguez upon his takeover, and remained with the show until its cancellation in September 1989.
Gary Kroeger
Gary Kroeger
Gary Kroeger is an American actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985.Born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Kroeger attended Northern University High School and graduated from Northwestern University in 1981. He joined the cast of Saturday Night Live during Lorne Michaels' hiatus...
hosted the first season of the revival of The Newlywed Game in 1996, which was conducted under a much different format than the previous series. After a year of struggling ratings Eubanks returned to host and the format was changed back to the classic Newlywed Game format. He has also hosted several special episodes of the current Newlywed Game, which has made Eubanks the only host to preside over an episode of the same series in six different decades.
The current GSN edition was hosted by Carnie Wilson
Carnie Wilson
Carnie Wilson is an American singer and television hostess, perhaps best known as a member of the pop music group Wilson Phillips.-Early life and musical career:...
from its debut on April 6, 2009 until the end of its third season in late 2010 when Wilson elected not to return. As noted above, Eubanks hosted two special episodes of this version - one featured Wilson and her husband as well as her sister Wendy
Wendy Wilson
Wendy Wilson is an American singer and member of the pop singing trio Wilson Phillips. She is the daughter of Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson and his first wife Marilyn, who was a member of girl group The Honeys; and she is the younger sister of Carnie Wilson.Wilson was born in Los Angeles,...
, her mother Marilyn, and their husbands; the second featured game show hosts Monty Hall
Monty Hall
Monte Halperin, OC, OM , better known by the stage name Monty Hall, is a Canadian-born MC, producer, actor, singer and sportscaster, best known as host of the television game show Let's Make a Deal.-Early life:...
, Peter Marshall, and Wink Martindale
Wink Martindale
Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...
and their wives. On August 18, 2010, it was announced that The View co-host Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Evonne Shepherd is an American comedienne, actress, and television personality. She is one of five co-hosts on the ABC daytime talkshow, The View, as well as being the current host of the Newlywed Game and having a recurring role as Angie Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock...
would take over as host for the fourth season of the show which premiered November 1, 2010. The fifth season premiered on April 18, 2011 with a new current logo and with the host of Sherri Shepherd also as a narrator.
Scott Beach
Scott Beach
Scott Beach was a popular actor, writer, and disc jockey.-Biography:Born Alvin Scott Beach, he appeared in numerous motion pictures, most notably as a German scientist patterned after Wernher von Braun in The Right Stuff.Beach's deep, resonant voice was often heard in films...
, who was Barris' first choice for host, was the announcer in the very early episodes of The Newlywed Game. After that Barris staff announcer Johnny Jacobs
Johnny Jacobs
John Byron Jacobs was an American television announcer, often for Chuck Barris productions...
took over and remained announcer for the series until the first syndicated version was canceled in 1980. Tony McClay, who was a frequent Jacobs substitute, would take over from time to time on the syndicated Newlywed Game. Rod Roddy
Rod Roddy
Robert Ray "Rod" Roddy was an American radio and television announcer. He is primarily known for his role as an offstage announcer on game shows. Among the shows that he announced are the CBS game shows Whew!, Press Your Luck and The Price Is Right. On the latter two, Roddy appeared on camera on...
was the announcer for the ABC specials. When The New Newlywed Game premiered in 1985, Bob Hilton
Bob Hilton
Robert "Bob" Wesley Hilton is an American television game show personality. He hosted The Guinness Game, a revival of Truth or Consequences and the 1990 revival of Let's Make a Deal, and announced on several other shows....
was its announcer. He was replaced by Charlie O'Donnell
Charlie O'Donnell
Charles John "Charlie" O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows...
, who Barris had signed away from Barry & Enright Productions
Barry & Enright Productions
Barry & Enright Productions , was a United States television production company that was formed in 1947 by Jack Barry and Dan Enright.-History:Jack Barry and Dan Enright first met at radio station WOR in New York, where...
, in 1986. O'Donnell continued to announce through the end of the Paul Rodriguez-hosted season, then left Barris to return to his position at Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
.
Los Angeles radio DJ Ellen K provided the announcing for the first season of the 1996 revival, with John Cramer taking over upon Eubanks' return. For the first season of the 2009 revival Brad Aldous served as the announcer. Randy West
Randy West
Randy West is an American television personality who is best known for his work on game shows. He has been an announcer on American television game shows since 1990, with credits including Supermarket Sweep, Trivial Pursuit, Hollywood Showdown, and a substitute role on The Price Is Right.West's...
took over for the next two seasons, and former host Gary Kroeger took over for West for the fourth season. As of the fifth season, host Shepherd doubles as announcer for the couple introductions and the voice-overs for the prize descriptions.
Rules of the game
For the first round, the wives were taken off the stage while the husbands were asked three questions. The wives were then brought back on stage and were asked for their answers for the same three questions. Once the wife gave her answer, the husband revealed the answer that he previously gave, which was written on a blue card. A match for that question was worth 5 points for the couple.The roles were reversed in the second round, where the husbands were taken off the stage and the wives were asked four questions before the husbands were brought back on stage to give their answers. The first three questions in this round were worth 10 points each, and the final question was worth 25 points (Referred to by Bob Eubanks as a "25 point bonus question"). The maximum possible score for any couple was 70 points. The number of questions in the second round was reduced from three to two (excluding the final question) in 1987 and also in 1997.
Originally (in the first year of the first ABC version), the husbands went off-stage first while the wives had to predict what their husbands would say. The first four questions in this round were worth 5 points apiece. Then the wives would go off-stage as the husbands would be asked four 10-point questions and a 35-point bonus question, which usually decided the game. The maximum possible score was 95 points.
The couple with the highest score at the end of the second round won a prize that was "chosen just for you" (in actuality, the couples had requested a certain prize and competed with other couples that had requested the same prize). By 1987, this practice was eliminated.
The grand prize was never a car or cash, but it could include just about anything else: appliances, furniture, home entertainment systems, a trailer or motorcycles, trips (complete with luggage and camera), etc. In the 1997 remake, the grand prize was always a trip (dubbed "a second honeymoon").
Prior to taping the show, each couple was asked to predict the total points they would earn. In the event of a tie for first place, the tied such couples would reveal a card showing this predicted score. The couple that had the closest guess without going over their actual total, won. If all the tied couples went over, the couple who had the closest guess would win. An exact guess awarded an additional prize to the winners.
For the first half of the 1988-1989 season, the scoring system was changed: correct answers paid off in cash ($25 to start with, three questions each worth $25 in round one, followed by two each worth $50 in round two), and during the final question the couples could wager any part of their earnings up to that point. All couples kept any money won (maximum of $400), but only the winners took home the grand prize.
This scoring format was dropped, and the old one reinstated, when Paul Rodriguez took over as host in December 1988, although the number of couples competing was then reduced to three.
1996-1997 version
When Gary Kroeger took over in Fall 1996 the show was overhauled with a new format. Like the 1988-1989 season of The New Newlywed Game, three couples competed in a series of rounds.Round 1
Each spouse was shown a videotape of their mates who gave a statement mostly about their spouse. The tape was paused near the end which gave the spouse in control a chance predict how his/her mate completed the statement. Then the tape played again, and a correct answer earned 10 points. First the husbands' tapes were shown and the wives took a guess, and then it went the opposite direction.Round 2
Host Kroeger asked the couples a multiple-choice question in which one half of the couples had given answers in advance, and the other must guess what they chose. Each match again earns 10 points. First the wives predicted what their husbands said, then the process was reversed.Round 3
In this round before the show, either the wives or the husbands gave some very weird facts about themselves. Host Kroeger gave the facts to the other half of the couple, who were equipped with heart-shaped signs that say "That's My Wife/Man!" If they recognized that fact, all they had to do was to raise the sign and yell out "THAT'S MY WIFE/MAN!" If correct, they win 10 points for their team, but if wrong they lose 10 points for the team. Only the first person to raise the sign can win or lose. Seven facts were played.Round 4
In this final round of the game, host Kroeger read a series of choices (ex: Candy or Potato Chips, Rocket Scientist or Space Cadet, Ketchup or Mustard, etc.) and the wives held cards with one of the choices on it. Then the husbands chose one of the two things that most applies to them. Each match earns points, they were seven questions and each question was worth 10 points more than the previous question with the last question worth even more. So 310 points were possible for any couple who answer all seven questions correctly in this round.- Question 1 - 10 points
- Question 2 - 20 points
- Question 3 - 30 points
- Question 4 - 40 points
- Question 5 - 50 points
- Question 6 - 60 points
- Question 7 - 100 points
The couple with the most points wins the game and wins a second honeymoon trip. If there was a tie, a tie-breaker question will be played until only one couple correctly answers the question and wins. If two couples answered correctly or incorrectly, this tie-breaker will be repeated with a new question. This also applies to all three couples who answer right or wrong, or two of the three couples in the tie-breaker who answered correctly.
This format was mostly disliked by fans of the original show, so for the second season of this version, it reverted to its original format and theme, with original host Bob Eubanks back at the helm.
2009-Current version
The first season of the current GSN version retained the classic format, but only used three couples (just like the 1988-1989 season) and the addition of a new endgame featuring a couple from a previous version, referred to as "Goldyweds".In Round 1, three questions were asked of the wives, and the husbands try to match the wives' responses for 5 points apiece. The roles were reversed for Round 2, with the first two questions worth 10 points. The third and final question, worth 20 points, was called the "eHarmony.com Dimension Question" and was based on one of the "29 dimensions" used by the site to match up couples. (In some episodes which had couples that first met on eHarmony.com, no mention of eHarmony or a specific "dimension" was mentioned for this last question). The maximum possible score for any couple for the first season was 55 points. The couple with the highest score won a second honeymoon vacation.
The winners then played a Bonus Round against the Goldyweds, who were a couple that had appeared on a previous version of the show (usually, one of the Bob Eubanks-hosted versions). In this round, the wives were taken off-stage and asked 5 questions during the commercial break. The husbands would take positions in the front of the stage as their wives sit on chairs in the back. The questions were worth increasing values from 1-5 points (for a maximum possible score of 15 points for either couple). The couple with the most points won a bonus prize, usually a piece of Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
technology.
In the show's second season, several changes were made in the gameplay. The game was still played with only three couples, but the husbands were first to give responses to three questions for the wives to guess at 5 points each. (Some episodes featured "Maybelline
Maybelline
Maybelline is an American makeup brand sold worldwide and owned by L'Oréal. Their motto is Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.-History:...
Beauty Questions", quizzing the husbands on their wives' beauty routines; or "Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
'Can This Marriage Be Saved?' Questions", focusing on some of the tougher aspects of married life as based on the magazine's trademark column.) Then the wives would respond to FOUR questions; the first three worth 10 points each (on occasion, the third was still a "eHarmony.com Dimension Question"), and the fourth being a two-response bonus question, with each part worth 15 points (couples would receive 15 points for getting one of the two responses right, or 30 points for both), making for a maximum score of 75 points per couple. As before, the highest-scoring couple won a second honeymoon trip, but no Goldywed Bonus Round was played (although the "Goldywed" concept lives on in the form of occasional special shows featuring couples that appeared on one of the earlier versions).
In the event of a tie during either the main game (in either season) or the endgame (in the first season), standard Newlywed Game "prediction" tiebreaker rules apply.
"In the ass"
The Newlywed Game was the subject of an urban legendUrban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
for many years. The story, which had several variations, had Bob Eubanks asking a contestant "Where is the weirdest place where you have ever had the urge to make whoopee
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
?" in one episode. The contestant supposedly responded "in the ass", implying anal intercourse. Eubanks denied that the incident occurred for many years.
However, on a 2002 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
special, The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments, Eubanks reluctantly presented a clip from a 1977 episode where he asked a wife named Olga where the weirdest place that she and her husband Hank had the urge to "make whoopee" was. After drawing a blank, and prodded by Eubanks to give an answer, the wife responded "In the ass?" with "ass" bleeped out. As everyone in the studio laughed uproariously, Eubanks clarified the question, asking for the weirdest location.
Hank's answer was "In the car", one that had drawn laughter and applause during the husbands-only segment with Eubanks quipping "I'm going to take the side streets hereafter."
The clip was later requested by fans and aired numerous times in future Most Outrageous Game Show Moments specials until the fourth episode in which Bob explained the clip was being "retired".
The clip also appeared (uncensored) in the 2002 film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a 2002 biographical spy film depicting the life of popular game show host and producer Chuck Barris, who claimed to have also been an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency...
, about the life of producer Barris.
Same sex couples
In the 2009-10 season, The Newlywed Game allowed same-sex married couples to appear on the show. The first such couple was Star TrekStar Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
actor George Takei
George Takei
George Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, author, social activist and former civil politician. He is best known for his role in the television series Star Trek and its film spinoffs, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the...
and his husband, Brad Altman, playing in a special Celebrity Edition of the game against The Biggest Loser couple Damien Gurganius
The Biggest Loser: Couples 2
The Biggest Loser: Couples 2 is the seventh season of the NBC reality television series The Biggest Loser. The season premiered on January 6, 2009, with eleven overweight couples competing for a cash prize of $250,000. Alison Sweeney is featured as the host, with trainers Bob Harper and Jillian...
& Nicole Brewer
The Biggest Loser: Couples 2
The Biggest Loser: Couples 2 is the seventh season of the NBC reality television series The Biggest Loser. The season premiered on January 6, 2009, with eleven overweight couples competing for a cash prize of $250,000. Alison Sweeney is featured as the host, with trainers Bob Harper and Jillian...
, and My Fair Brady
My Fair Brady
My Fair Brady is a celebrity reality television show on VH1 that follows Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch, and Adrianne Curry, who won the first season of America's Next Top Model, a year after they met and fell in love on the reality show The Surreal Life.The show...
stars Christopher Knight & Adrienne Curry. This episode was the second to air for the new season on October 13, 2009, and had Takei & Altman winning the game and $10,000 for their charity, the Japanese American National Museum
Japanese American National Museum
The opened its doors in 1992. The idea for the museum was originally thought up by Bruce Kaji with help from other notable Japanese American people at the time. The museum is located in the Little Tokyo an area near downtown Los Angeles, California. It is devoted to preserving the history and...
. The following 2010-11 season, episode air date June 17, 2010, marked the second appearance by a same-sex couple; Cameron and Garrett Jackson were the first non-celebrity same sex couple to appear on the 44 year-old game show, winning the game's honeymoon grand prize
Theme songs
The theme music originally started off as a vocal song called "Summertime GuySummertime Guy
Summertime Guy is a song by Eddie Rambeau issued by Swan Records, written by game show pioneer Chuck Barris. Rambeau was to originally debut the song on American Bandstand in 1962, but mere minutes before Rambeau was to perform, he was told the song couldn't be sung, due to Barris being an ABC...
". The song was written by Chuck Barris for singer Eddie Rambeau
Eddie Rambeau
Eddie Rambeau is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.-Career:While performing in a high-school musical he had written, Rambeau met songwriter and musician Bud Rehak, who went on to become his manager...
, who performed and released the song on a Swan label 45 rpm SP record. Minutes before the song was to be presented on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
in 1962, ABC informed Rambeau that he couldn't sing the song (because Chuck Barris was an ABC employee at the time), and he performed the B-side of the record instead.
Not wanting the song to go to waste, Barris commissioned Milton DeLugg
Milton DeLugg
Milton DeLugg is an American composer and arranger.-Biography:A talented accordionist, he appeared in short Soundies musicals and occasional movies . He quickly became a successful arranger and composer...
a few years later to arrange an instrumental version of "Summertime Guy" for use as the first theme to The Newlywed Game. The theme music was performed by the Trumpets Olé in a style similar to Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert
Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
and the Tijuana Brass, and was released as the last track on the LP album "The Trumpets Olé Play Instrumentals". To better fit the show's spirit, DeLugg preceded the pop song's melody with a sample of Mendelssohn's Wedding March
Wedding March (Mendelssohn)
Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" in C major, written in 1842, is one of the best known of the pieces from his suite of incidental music to Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream...
.
The theme was re-recorded around 1973 by Frank Jaffe and Michael Stewart. Featured as the third track on the LP album Chuck Barris Presents Themes from TV Game Shows, it was used on The Newlywed Game beginning with the syndicated version in 1977. Then, Milton DeLugg, who was by this time Barris' house musical director, created a new, updated theme based on the existing melody for The New Newlywed Game beginning with Jim Lange's 1984 series of specials, and then for the first several years of the Bob Eubanks-hosted revival.
When Paul Rodriguez took over in 1988, the theme song was changed to the 1950s doo wop classic "Book of Love
The Book of Love (song)
"The Book of Love" is a rock and roll song, originally by The Monotones. It was written by three members of the group, Warren Davis, George Malone and Charles Patrick, and it peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.Lead singer Charles Patrick heard a Pepsodent toothpaste commercial with the line...
" by the Monotones
The Monotones
The Monotones were a six-member African American doo-wop vocal group in the 1950s. They are considered a one-hit wonder, as their only hit single was "The Book of Love", which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1958....
, making this the only theme song of the show with lyrics . The Gary Kroeger version featured an entirely new theme; when Eubanks returned, a new recording of the classic theme was used for his first season (arranged by Steve Kaplan & Jim Latham), but dropped in favor of a new theme for the third season by Barry Coffing and John Blaylock.
The Carnie Wilson (and more currently, Sherri Shepherd)-hosted version uses an updated looping version of the classic theme composed by Lewis Flinn. For Shepherd's second season, the show's logo, intro, and set was changed, dropping the classic theme.
Episode status
Most episodes of the original ABC daytime version are presumed to be wipedWiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
, and many of those that do exist are said to be un-airable due to color deterioration. However, a handful have been shown on GSN
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
, most notably the 1974 finale. The ABC nighttime version's status is also unknown for similar reasons, although a few of the evening shows have been shown on GSN's former block "Game Show Saturday Night".
All later versions are intact and have rerun on GSN, except for the episodes hosted by Paul Rodriguez and Gary Kroeger.
Production companies
Chuck Barris Productions produced all versions from 1966–1986, with the 1986-1989 versions credited to Barris Productions. Columbia TriStar TelevisionColumbia TriStar Television
Columbia TriStar Television was the third name of the television studio Screen Gems, named after its then-current 1991 home video division....
(CTT), who owns the Chuck Barris game show library, produced the 1996-1999 revivals. Embassy Row, a New York-based television production company, produces the Wilson and Shepherd-hosted version for CTT's successor Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
(who owns the formatting rights and, as of January 14, 2009, Embassy Row) and GSN
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
.
Licensed merchandise
HasbroHasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
produced three home editions of The Newlywed Game during its 1960s/70s run on ABC. Pressman
Pressman Toy Corporation
Pressman Toy Corporation is a toy manufacturer based in New York City which was founded in 1922 by Jack Pressman. It currently focuses on family games and licensed products. Its slogan is "Games people play...
Games produced a version based on the 1980s New Newlywed Game. Currently, classic board games creator Endless Games
Endless Games
Endless Games is a games manufacturer based in South Amboy, New Jersey and founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mike Gasser, Kevin McNulty and game inventor Brian Turtle....
, which specializes in board games based on several widely popular, long-running television game shows, including The Price is Right
The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
and Million Dollar Password
Million Dollar Password
Million Dollar Password is an updated version of the game show Password on CBS, which was hosted by Regis Philbin and ran from June 1, 2008 to June 14, 2009. Based upon a format created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman, FremantleMedia produced the program.-Production and broadcast history:Million...
, distributes home versions of The Newlywed Game, including three standard editions (the third titled "Classic" to differentiate itself from the current GSN version), a DVD edition, a "Quick Picks" travel-size edition, and a "Deluxe Edition" which combines the first standard edition game with the DVD edition.
In 1971, Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
published a beginners' cookbook entitled The Newlywed Game Cook Book. It was compiled by Jody Cameron Malis and featured Bob Eubanks' picture on the cover.
The show's original theme music has been released several times on LP and CD, most notably as part of the GSN-approved Classic TV Game Show Themes
Classic TV Game Show Themes
Classic TV Game Show Themes is a compilation CD released by Varèse Sarabande in 1998. The CD contains 20 tracks, each the theme to a current or classic game show...
CD from Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
.