Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares (originally The Hollywood Squares) is an American game show[1][2][3][4] in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the same network. The board for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions by the host and the contestants judge the truth of their answers to gain squares in the right pattern to win the game.
This article is about the TV game show. For the band, see The Hollywood Squares (band).Hollywood Squares
- Merrill Heatter
- Bob Quigley
United States
English
- 14 (NBC)
- 3 (Syndication; 1986–89)
- 6 (Syndication; 1998–2004)
- 3,536 (NBC)
- 585 (Syndication; 1986–89)
- 1,050 (Syndication; 1998–2004)
22–24 minutes
- Heatter-Quigley Productions (1966–81)
- Century Towers Productions (1986–89)
- Moffitt/Lee Productions (1998–2002)
- One Ho Productions (1998–2002)
- Henry Winkler-Michael Levitt Productions (2002–04)
- Columbia TriStar (Domestic) Television (1998–2003)
- Sony Pictures Television (2003–04)
- King World (1998–2004)
- NBC (1966–80)
- Syndication (1971–81, 1986–89, 1998–2004)
- CBS (2025)
October 17, 1966 –
June 4, 2004
Though Hollywood Squares was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy in the form of joke answers (commonly called "zingers" by the production staff),[5] often given by the stars prior to their real answer. The show's writers usually supplied the jokes. In addition, the stars were given the questions' subjects and bluff (plausible, but incorrect) answers prior to the show. The show was scripted in this sense, but the gameplay was not. In any case, as original host Peter Marshall explained at the beginning of the Secret Square game, the celebrities were briefed prior to the show to help them with bluff answers, but they heard the actual questions for the first time as they were asked on air.
Marshall hosted the original version of Hollywood Squares that aired on NBC from 1966 to 1980, as well as a nighttime syndicated version that ran from 1971 to 1981. It then returned to NBC in 1983 as part of a 60-minute hybrid series with Match Game, featuring Jon Bauman hosting the Hollywood Squares portion of that show. Following Marshall's retirement, the show has since been revived twice in syndication: a version hosted by John Davidson from 1986 to 1989, and another hosted by Tom Bergeron from 1998 to 2004. Three revivals were run in the 2010's with a different title all on Paramount cable channels; in 2012, Hip Hop Squares on MTV2 with Peter Rosenberg, and from 2017-19 on VH1 with DeRay Davis, in 2019, Nashville Squares on CMT with Bob Saget, and in 2023, Celebrity Squares on VH1 with John "DC Young Fly" Whitfield.
In May 2024, it was announced that the show would be revived in 2025 on CBS, with Drew Barrymore serving as the center square.[6][7] When combined with two spinoffs of the franchise, the show has been produced for seven different decades.
In 2013, TV Guide ranked it at No. 7 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.[8] Internationally, there have been multiple versions produced under a variety of names (see International versions below).
Basic rules[edit]
Though there have been variations in the rules and prizes of the game, certain aspects have remained fairly consistent. Two contestants competed in every match, one playing X and the other O. Traditionally, the matches were male vs. female with the male playing the X position and referred to informally as Mr. X, with the female playing the O position and referred to informally as Ms. Circle. One of the contestants was usually a returning champion. In later iterations with a returning champion, the X spot is reserved for the returning champion and the O spot is the challenger.
Taking turns, each contestant selected a square. The star in that square was asked a question and gave an answer, which was usually preceded by a zinger. The contestants had the choice of agreeing with the star's answer or disagreeing if they thought the star was bluffing. On rare occasions, a star did not know the correct answer to a question and was unable to come up with a plausible bluff. In such instances, the contestant was offered the chance to answer the question and earned or lost the square based on how they answered. Usually, the contestants declined, in which case they incurred no penalty, and the same star was asked another question for that contestant to agree or disagree.
The objective was to complete a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of three squares all earned for either X or O, or to earn as many squares as possible, as contestants could also win by capturing five squares (early in the Marshall run, a player was required to get enough squares to make it mathematically impossible for the opponent to get three in a row; it is possible to capture as many as six squares without blocking the opponent from getting a diagonal three in a row, which did occur in an early episode). Correctly agreeing or disagreeing with a star's answer captured the square. If the contestant failed to agree or disagree correctly, the square went to his/her opponent, unless this would have resulted in a win for the opponent, which was not allowed; in that case, the square remained unclaimed and the opponent got a chance to capture it themselves on his or her turn.
The West Virginia Squares (2014)[edit]
From June 23–24, 2014 as part of an event called FestivAll; a one-off limited live stage version dubbed The West Virginia Squares[21][22] streamed on local television station WVPB's official YouTube channel and on wvpublic.org in West Virginia only. Hosted by the original Hollywood Squares host (and local native) Peter Marshall reprising his role while the announcer was Bob Brunner. The trivia questions were mainly focused on the music and history of its state, for only four episodes were taped at the Clay Center. The celebrities that were seen in this version were: Larry Groce, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., Bil Lepp, Donnie Davidson, Charlie McCoy, Autumn Blair, Joyce DeWitt, Charisse Hailsop, Danny Jones, Steve Bishop, Billy Edd Wheeler, and Michael Cerveris. DeWitt was also a panelist on the original version and (like Marshall) was a West Virginia native. No bonus round was played.
Nashville Squares (2019)[edit]
A country music themed version called Nashville Squares hosted by Bob Saget aired on CMT from November 1 until November 29, 2019. Similarly to Hip Hop Squares (2017 version), celebrities played for a member of the studio audience.[23]
Hollywood Museum Squares (2021)[edit]
In 2021, The Hollywood Museum announced a limited-run revival of the series as a fundraiser for the organization. Dubbed Hollywood Museum Squares, each episode is introduced by Marshall and announced by Shadoe Stevens and Harvey (One Episode), with Davidson, Bergeron, Vilanch, Pat Finn and Marc Summers each hosting one of the episodes. The panelists for the game included Loni Anderson, Alison Arngrim, Rico E. Anderson, Gilbert Gottfried, Rich Little, Glenn Scarpelli, Jerry Mathers, Donna Mills, Judy Tenuta and Lindsay Wagner, among others.[24]
All participants appeared via videoconferencing over a 3D computer simulation of the 1986-89 set designed by Dustin James.
Writers included Louis Virtel from Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Jason Antoniewicz, a writer from Match Game, College Bowl and Tug of Words, to name a few.
The programs were directed by Steve Grant and Bob Loudin, who directed many television programs including the Davidson Squares.
John Ricci, Jr. and Philip Berman served as the executive producers.
Celebrity Squares (2023)[edit]
On September 25, 2023, it was announced that a Black culture-themed version called Celebrity Squares, hosted by DC Young Fly, would premiere on VH1 on October 17, 2023.[25]
Upcoming CBS revival (2025)[edit]
On May 2, 2024, CBS announced that they had greenlit a new version of the show that will premiere in January 2025 with Drew Barrymore as the "center square".[26]
Home versions and merchandise[edit]
Watkins-Strathmore produced the first two home versions of the show in 1967. Both versions featured a game board that allowed for writing in the celebrities' names under each square (using crayon, soft lead pencil, or a similar wipe-off medium). Each version included four decks of 45 question cards, one of which was marked with asterisks as the "Secret Square" question, which earned the player an extra $100 if answered correctly. Rules allowed for a 3-game match to be played, with $200 awarded for each game (just as the daytime rules specified).
Ideal issued a version of the game in 1974 with a picture of Peter Marshall on the box. Marshall was the original host of the television version throughout its entire first run.[28] This was the first of the adaptations to feature humorous names for the celebrities. A similar board game based on the UK version under the title Celebrity Squares was released by Buckingham Toys five years later in 1979 with a picture of host Bob Monkhouse on the cover. It did not specify a "Secret Square" rule. Matches were best two-out-of-three with no money awards specified.
Also in 1974, Event Records released a compilation album entitled Zingers from The Hollywood Squares (along with two companion books) on vinyl LP and cassette, containing the audio of what were considered to be some of the show's funniest moments. A CD of the album was included in Peter Marshall's 2002 book Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square.
Milton Bradley produced two home versions, first in 1980 with a game loosely based on the Marshall version, then in 1986 for the Davidson version, with a 3-D board and twelve "celebrities" to insert into the board. Both versions specified that there was no "Secret Square" rule, and like the Ideal version, matches were best two-out-of-three with no money awards specified.
Parker Brothers released a similar 3-D board/12 celebrity inserts version in 1999, based on the Bergeron version. Early printings did not specify a "Secret Square" rule, but this was later revised so that every question card with a number ending in "5" was a "Secret Square" question worth $1,000 in bonus cash. Games were played until one player/team won $5,000. Alternate rules allowed for timed play (suggesting a 30-minute "as if you were on TV" game), with the player/team ahead once time expired being declared the winner.
GameTek released a version of Hollywood Squares in 1988 for MS-DOS, Commodore 64, and Apple II computers and later for the Nintendo Entertainment System based on the Davidson version. In 1999, Tiger Electronics released an electronic LCD handheld game based on the Bergeron version. In 2002, the official Hollywood Squares website had an online version of the show using the celebrities that were on that week. In 2010, Ludia released their version of Hollywood Squares for the PC, Wii, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and on PlayStation 3's PSN downloadable service from November 15, 2011; the games were based upon the 2002–2004 format and featured the voice of host Tom Bergeron and video clips of celebrities Brad Garrett, Kathy Griffin, Jeffrey Tambor and Martin Mull as the center square.[29]
Episode status and reruns[edit]
Of the over 3,000 episodes of the original series, "no one has an exact count" of how many still exist. A substantial number, mostly from the daytime run, may have been destroyed in accordance with NBC policy of the era.[30]
Game Show Network previously reran a package of 130 episodes from Marshall's hosting run, the majority of which came from the syndication run during the 1970s.[30] At least 13 episodes from the 1968 NBC primetime run are also known to have been part of the Game Show Network rerun package. It was noted at the time that substantially more Marshall episodes than the 130 that GSN aired are believed to exist, but for a number of reasons (including political correctness concerns and personality rights clearance issues) have never been rerun.[30] UCLA has a handful of NBC daytime episodes in their film and television archive.
The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour episodes exist in their entirety and have been airing on the digital television network Buzzr, which is owned by Fremantle (the successor in interest to Mark Goodson Productions) since 2019.[31]
The 1986–1989 syndicated series aired as part of USA Network's afternoon game show rerun package from September 11, 1989, to June 25, 1993. This version has not been seen on television since USA stopped airing them.
The 1998 syndicated series has been rerun on Game Show Network in the past, and every season except one (including the final season) has been carried by the network over the years. Episodes were also rerun on GameTV in Canada. In July 2023, a Hollywood Squares channel was added to Pluto TV, featuring episodes from the final two Bergeron seasons.[32]