Password is an American television game show. Two teams, each composed of a celebrity and contestant, attempt to convey mystery words to each other using single-word clues, in order to win cash prizes. There have been various incarnations of the show have aired on television since the 1960s.
The show was created by Bob Stewart and originally produced by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. It aired on CBS from 1961 to 1967, and ABC from 1971 to 1975. Versions of the show in the 1970s added a number of gameplay variations, among them a switch to a format with celebrities playing for charity. Allen Ludden was the host of every version aired between 1961 and 1975. Two revivals later aired on NBC: Password Plus from 1979 to 1982, and Super Password from 1984 to 1989. CBS aired a primetime version, Million Dollar Password, from 2008 to 2009. All three of these versions introduced new variations in gameplay. In 2022, NBC premiered another primetime revival of Password hosted by Keke Palmer, with Jimmy Fallon serving as one of the celebrity partners as well as executive producer.
Gameplay
Two teams, each primarily consisting of one celebrity player and one civilian contestant, compete. A mystery word, known as a "password", is given to one player on each team and shown onscreen to viewers; on most incarnations, the announcer also whispers the password to the audience. Gameplay alternates between the two teams. On each team, the player who is given the password must attempt to convey it to their partner using a singular word clue. Invalid clues include using the word or any part of it; using hand gestures; using more than one word or a hyphenated word; using a made-up word; or failing to give a clue. Proper nouns and non-English words may be used as clues, and words that have already been given as clues may be repeated. If the teammate fails to guess the correct password, it is then passed to the opposing team unless the password or part of it was given as a clue, at which point the password is discarded and a new one is selected. Guessing the password on the first attempt awards the most possible points, with each successive attempt being worth one point less than the one before it. Gameplay continues until the password is correctly guessed and points awarded, or all possible turns have been exhausted, and a new password is selected.
Originally, the maximum value of a password was 10 points, with a cash prize awarded to the first team to reach 25 points. With the 2022 version, the standard maximum value of the first guess is just 6 points, with a goal of 15 points. On the 2022 version, once per game, a team may also choose to "shoot the moon" or play the password for eight points if it is guessed on the first attempt. Games are played to a best of three format, with the celebrities switching teams after the first round, and the winning team proceeding to the bonus round.
Bonus round The original version of the show featured one of the first bonus rounds for a television game show, known as the "Lightning Round". The celebrity of the winning team was given five passwords, and attempted to convey each one to his or her teammate within 60 seconds. Each correctly guessed word was worth $50.
On the 2022 version, the bonus round is played with 10 passwords, each starting with consecutive letters of the alphabet. The winning contestant is given a combined 60 seconds to attempt conveying all ten passwords to the celebrities. During the first 30 seconds, the contestant plays with one of the two celebrity partners, after which point the other celebrity takes over, and the round continues from the remaining letters including any that were passed earlier by the contestant. If an illegal clue is given with the first celebrity guesser, that password is discarded and replaced with another one beginning with the same letter. If an illegal clue is given with the second celebrity guesser, the player is forfeited from winning the grand prize but still get money for how many of the remaining unpenalized passwords guessed correctly. Each correctly guessed password is worth $1,000, with a grand prize of $25,000 if they all are correctly guessed.
If the contestant fails to get all 10, they are given a final password and will convey a clue to the two celebrities. The celebrities deliberate and give the host what they think is the answer. A correct answer doubles the money earned by the contestant.
Contestants On the CBS daytime version, contestants played two matches, win or lose, with each game awarding $100 to the winner. For most of the CBS nighttime version's first year, the same two players stayed for the entire show, playing as many matches as time allowed with each player guaranteed at least $100. However, after three contestants managed to break the $1,000 mark, this practice was changed in November 1962 to having two new contestants play each game (generally, three pairs of contestants competed in the course of each show), with winning contestants receiving $250 and losers receiving a consolation prize (usually $50).
Early on in the ABC version the contestants played a single-elimination game with the winning contestants could stay until they were either defeated or won a maximum of 10 games, thus retiring them as undefeated champions. Later on, the limit was dropped, and champions stayed on the show until defeated. From 1973 onward, games are played to a best of three format.
Format changes From November 18, 1974, to February 21, 1975, Password became Password All-Stars, where teams of celebrities played for charity in a tournament-style format. At the end of each week, the highest scorer would win $5,000 and advance to the Grandmasters' Championship, which would award the winner another $25,000. This version included a number of gameplay changes, with some being retained by the format throughout the 1970s even after the show reverted to standard contestants playing with celebrities. Among these was an elimination round in which four contestants (two new players and the two players from the previous game) competed with the help of the two celebrities in the first round. In the qualifying round, one of the two celebrities used a one-word clue to a password (with both celebrities alternating turns on giving clues), and the four contestants would ring in with the password. If no contestant identified the password after four clues, the word would be discarded. A correct response earned that contestant one point, with three points needed to qualify for the regular game. An incorrect response locked that player out of the word in play. The first two contestants to reach three points went on to play the regular game.
In the regular game, an addition to the rules was the "double" option, in which the first clue giver could ask to increase the word value to 20 points by giving only one clue; if that word was missed, the other team could score the 20 points with a second clue. The first team to reach 50 points or more could win thousands of dollars in the Big Money Lightning Round, using a three-step structure in which the winning team attempted to guess three passwords within 30 seconds per step:
Part One: Each password paid $25. Guessing all three passwords in 30 seconds further netted $5 for each second left on the clock. The round ended if the contestant was unable to guess at least one of the three passwords. Part Two: The money earned in part one would be multiplied by the number of passwords guessed here. (e.g.: If a contestant guessed all three words in part one and there was 7 seconds left, each word would be worth $110) Naming all three passwords this time added $10 for each second left. If the receiver failed to identify at least one of the passwords here, the round ended and the contestant still kept all part-one winnings; he or she then returned to the elimination panel to compete for the right to play the main game again. Part Three: Naming all three passwords in 30 seconds multiplied the contestant's part-two winnings tenfold (meaning if a player accumulated $500 after two parts, guessing all three passwords in this part would earn $5,000).
Champions were retired upon reaching or exceeding ABC's winnings limit of $20,000.
Personnel Each version of Password airing from 1961 until 1975 was hosted by Allen Ludden. A number of announcers alternated, including Jack Clark, Lee Vines, Bern Bennett, and John Harlan. In each episode from 1961 to 1975, Ludden would caution the players about unacceptable clues by informing the players and the viewing audience of the show's judge or "word authority", who would determine the validity of each clue. Word authorities on the CBS version included New York University professor David H. Greene and World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary editor Dr. Reason A. Goodwin. Robert Stockwell from UCLA and Carolyn Duncan served as word authorities during the ABC version.
Broadcast history CBS: 1961–1967
Password originally aired on CBS in the 2:00 PM (1:00 Central) time slot, replacing the courtroom-themed game Face the Facts. A concurrent prime-time version debuted in January 1962.
Over the next year, The Newlywed Game and Days of Our Lives got higher ratings than Password. CBS daytime head Fred Silverman canceled Password in early 1967. Silverman wanted the show permanently moved to CBS Television City, where it was moved for part of the 1966–1967 season for taping in color because CBS's New York studios had not made the full switch to color. Mark Goodson, however, opposed permanently moving the show to Hollywood.
Password was most often taped in New York at CBS-TV Studio 52 (later converted to the Studio 54 discothèque) and CBS-TV Studio 50 (the Ed Sullivan Theater) until the end of the daytime run in 1967. The original CBS version made annual trips to CBS Television City during the 1960s, including once when the CBS New York studios were upgraded for color TV. During its run, Password was taped in all four of the studios at different times (31, 33, 41 and 43).
ABC: 1971–1975
Goodson-Todman sold reruns of the CBS version to local stations via syndication in the late 1960s, and in some markets, they performed quite well in mid-morning or late-afternoon slots. This prompted ABC to contact Mark Goodson about reviving the game; this time around, Goodson agreed to have the show tape in Hollywood per ABC's wishes. Password would become Goodson-Todman's first show to be staged in Los Angeles full-time rather than New York City. The company eventually moved almost all production to southern California during the 1970s. The show was taped at ABC Studio TV-10, "The Vine Street Theater," in Hollywood and the ABC Television Center.
The network slated Password to replace soap opera Dark Shadows at 4:00 PM (3:00 Central) on April 5, 1971. It managed strong results against NBC's Somerset and reruns of Gomer Pyle – USMC on CBS.
ABC promoted the show to 12:30 PM (11:30 AM Central) on September 6, swapping timeslot with reruns of Love, American Style, where it faced stronger challenges in the form of CBS' Search for Tomorrow and NBC's The Who, What, or Where Game. Password held up well there for six months until the network moved it up a half-hour to 12:00 PM (11:00 AM Central) on March 20, 1972, for the new Hatos-Hall game Split Second. Password came in a solid second to NBC's Jeopardy! and out-performed the CBS soap Where the Heart Is. CBS replaced Heart on March 26, 1973, with the youth-oriented The Young and the Restless, causing Password to hit ratings trouble over the next couple of years.
Even though NBC moved Jeopardy! on January 7, 1974, from 12:00 PM to 10:30 AM (9:30 Central) in favor of Jackpot!, the ABC Password was sliding into third place. In May, the show won the first-ever Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show. A large Emmy statue then became part of the set's backdrop until the overhaul in November.