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An Extensive Tribute To A Long Departed TV Game Show Host
There is, it appears, something on the Internet for everyone. When I was a kid, I used to watch a ton of game shows, many of them hosted by the late great Bill Cullen, who got his start in radio. The guy was your typical everyman, a genuinely likeable type, who was personable on air and wound up hosting a ton of quiz shows - including the original Price Is Right way back in the 50s.
I mention all this because I stumbled on a very bizarre website that has so much info about the guy, it's almost creepy. The Bill Cullen Archive features a list of the shows he hosted, info on his start in radio, timelines of his career, old photos from public school and beyond, his TV work, covers of magazines he was on, other people's game shows he appeared on as a panelist, the pilots he shot that never turned into actual shows, and more.
Someone went to an awful lot of trouble to memorialize this great talent, who passed away of lung cancer in 1990.
My memory of Bill Cullen was from a game show called "Eye Guess" that aired on NBC in the mid 60s. There are few if any copies of it in existence, but I actually had the home game (and knowing my pack rat-tedness for anything media related, probably still do somewhere in a closet upstairs.)
If you remember one of the best TV hosts, whose main talent seemed to be his likeability, then this site is for you. It's the last thing I expected to find on the web. But then, nothing surprises me anymore!
The Bill Cullen Archive
- RadioActive
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Re: An Extensive Tribute To A Long Departed TV Game Show Host
I should have known this would turn up - the only colour episode of "Eye Guess" known to exist. Amazing what you can find on the web.
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Thread Starter- RadioActive
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Re: An Extensive Tribute To A Long Departed TV Game Show Host
RadioActive wrote:
My memory of Bill Cullen was from a game show called "Eye Guess" that aired on NBC in the mid 60s. There are few if any copies of it in existence, but I actually had the home game (and knowing my pack rat-tedness for anything media related, probably still do somewhere in a closet upstairs.)
Sure enough, it was in an upstairs closet. First time I've looked at it in decades.
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Thread Starter- mace
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Re: An Extensive Tribute To A Long Departed TV Game Show Host
Eye Guess ran on NBC from 1966-69, in the 10AM slot 1966-67. It moved to 12:30PM 1967-69. According to Wikipedia, a second episode exists from November 1967.
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Re: An Extensive Tribute To A Long Departed TV Game Show Host
Bill Cullen was a survivor of childhood polio and also a motorcycle accident and had a pronounced lifelong limp as a result - something that was usually concealed on camera by having him already sitting or behind a podium when a show started (rather than walk on to the set) and with camera cutaways and tight shots, and creative set design.
Mel Brooks tells the story of how one time when he was a guest on Eye Guess he saw Cullen walking jerkily towards the podium - and thinking that Cullen was just doing some shtick - imitated him when it was Brooks' turn to walk on - only to be absolutely mortified later when he learned that Cullen's walk was the result of a disability. Cullen wasn't offended though, he was grateful for being mimicked rather than pitied which was the usual response to his walk.
Last edited by Hansa (August 5, 2022 9:11 am)