1950's Earliest Game Shows

Jackpot! & The New Treasure Hunt

Jackpot! opened with the announcer saying - "Today 16 players are here trying to win $50,000. Every one of them holds a different riddle, but only one of them holds the Jackpot riddle. At any moment someone in the game could stand up and yell - JACKPOT!"

Geoff Edwards was the MC as a gang of players competed on one crowded stage. $50,000 was the possible final prize - big money for a game show, even now.

Edwards (who started as a game show host in 1973 on CBS' Hollywood's Talking) also had a popular series in nighttime syndication in 1974 called The New Treasure Hunt.

Based on a game show from the fifties (Treasure Hunt), this Chuck Barris production is my favorite game show of all time. This was Geoff Edwards' shining moment - emotionally torturing his overly-excited contestants for laughs.

No skill or knowledge was needed on The New Treasure Hunt, it was a lot like Deal or No Deal - two contestants on each episode got to choose from thirty wrapped packages displayed centerstage. They had a shot at the usual game show prizes (washer-dryers and Turtle Wax), or a chance at the grand prize - a check for $25,000 (that's about $125,000 in today's dough). Quite a few people found the check, as I recall. There were also booby prizes called "clunks" interspersed with the prizes.

To heighten the suspense, Edwards would peek into the box before the contestant got a look and go through a number of fake-outs before he sprung the actual prize on them. Often silly skits involving the contestant were performed before the prize was revealed.

In so many cases, the contestant was a large black woman who went absolutely berserk at the prospect of winning a big prize, jumping up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs and pummeling the poor host. This was part game show, part wrestling match - Geoff Edwards often ended the show on the floor or off to the side of the stage!

Very funny and incredibly exciting, The New Treasure Hunt ran for four years but received a lot of criticism for being too exploitative (?!?).

The announcer on The New Treasure Hunt was Johnny Jacobs. Chuck Barris wrote the show's lovely, melodic end theme (this clip from the original music master).