History Trivia / Concentration

* [[LastOfHisKind/RealLife|Last Of Its Kind]]: Long after most of NBC's programming, even the daytime game shows, had switched to color, producer Norman Blumenthal had resisted switching ''Concentration'' from black and white. One story had it that he believed coloring the pictures in the rebus would make the game too easy and refused to allow the show to make the switch. Finally, at the end of October 1966, a deal was worked out to keep the rebuses monochrome but the set would be remodeled and the show finally make the switch from black and white to color. In doing so, ''Concentration'' became the last NBC series to switch from black and white to color.

** The 1958-73 episodes that survive and circulate include October 15, 1958; February 9, 1959 (hosted by Art James); September 12, 13 and 16, 1963; a 12-minute clip from 1966 (which may be from a video on [=YouTube=]--it starts with the resumption of a game from May 1966 then has the game's start from the day before spliced in after); a September 1967 episode; October 2 and 3, 1967; December 24, 1968; a September 1969 episode; December 24, 1969; March 23, 1973 (the finale, and the only one known to survive in color). A few shows from spring 1971 are at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, paired up with that day's ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'', and a few others are held at the Library of Congress. Of the rest, a lot is likely to be lost forever due to the poor preservation practices of the era. [[note]]An unsourced claim on the show's Wikipedia page says that this version is now owned by [[Creator/{{CBS}} CBS Television Distribution]] due to fin-syn rules, which may or may not explain NBC's reluctance towards allowing reruns.[[/note]]

** The 1958-73 episodes that survive and circulate include October 15, 1958; February 9, 1959 (hosted by Art James); September 12, 13 and 16, 1963; a 12-minute clip from 1966 (which may be from a video on YouTube--it starts with the resumption of a game from May 1966 then has the game's start from the day before spliced in after); a September 1967 episode; October 2 and 3, 1967; December 24, 1968; a September 1969 episode; December 24, 1969; March 23, 1973 (the finale, and the only one known to survive in color). A few shows from spring 1971 are at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, paired up with that day's ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'', and a few others are held at the Library of Congress. Of the rest, a lot is likely to be lost forever due to the poor preservation practices of the era. [[note]]An unsourced claim on the show's Wikipedia page says that this version is now owned by [[Creator/{{CBS}} CBS Television Distribution]] due to fin-syn rules, which may or may not explain NBC's reluctance towards allowing reruns.[[/note]]

** Before the 2018 Buzzr airings, ''Classic Concentration'' had been previously rerun on NBC (1991-93) and on Sky One in the U.K.

** [[https://vimeo.com/121515834 This documentary]], ''Thanks For Playing Concentration'', has Norm discussing his beginnings, his tenure under Barry-Enright and his ''Concentration'' story. It was produced by his son, Howard Blumenthal.

** The abundance of Neon lights and palm trees on the set and the presence of a younger, mustachioed Alex Trebek unquestionably date ''Classic Concentration'' to the 1980s.

** The 1958-73 episodes that survive and circulate include October 15, 1958; February 9, 1959 (hosted by Art James); September 12, 13 and 16, 1963; a 12-minute clip from 1966; a September 1967 episode; October 2 and 3, 1967; December 24, 1968; a September 1969 episode; December 24, 1969; March 23, 1973 (the finale, and the only one known to survive in color). A few shows from spring 1971 are at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, paired up with that day's ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'', and a few others are held at the Library of Congress. Of the rest, a lot is likely to be lost forever due to the poor preservation practices of the era. [[note]]An unsourced claim on the show's Wikipedia page says that this version is now owned by [[Creator/{{CBS}} CBS Television Distribution]] due to fin-syn rules, which may or may not explain NBC's reluctance towards allowing reruns.[[/note]]

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to May 30, 1989. Episodes with popular music replacing the standard theme in the opening are skipped due to rights issues.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to May 16, 1989. Episodes with popular music replacing the standard theme in the opening are skipped due to rights issues.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to January 9, 1989. Episodes with popular music replacing the standard theme in the opening are skipped due to rights issues.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to November 4, 1988.

** Apparently, the Creator/USANetwork [[http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php?topic=18015.15 had the rights to rerun]] ''Classic'', but it never did before they eliminated their game shows in 1995. However, Fremantle Media's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzr Buzzr]], which reruns many shows from the Goodson-Todman library, started airing reruns of ''Classic'' in October of 2018.

** For the longest time, only ''one'' Narz episode in its entirety circulated: an early 1978 episode. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD7sKVErfTo The last five minutes of a 1974 episode]] and the last two minutes of a 1976 show (since taken down from Website/YouTube) were also posted online. Game show legend Wink Martindale has uploaded on his channel episodes 344 (taped June 27, 1974), 572 (taped December 5, 1974), 1534, 1535 and 1541 (all taped December 2, 1977); none of which were previously available. Starting on March 30, 2020, Buzzr will add the this version to its schedule, marking the first time these episodes will be seen on TV since their original airings 40+ years ago.

** For the longest time, only ''one'' Narz episode in its entirety was circulated: an early 1978 episode. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD7sKVErfTo The last five minutes of a 1974 episode]] and the last two minutes of a 1976 show (since taken down from Website/YouTube) were also posted online. Game show legend Wink Martindale has uploaded on his channel episodes 344 (taped June 27, 1974), 572 (taped December 5, 1974), 1534, 1535 and 1541 (all taped December 2, 1977); none of which were previously available. Starting on March 30, 2020, Buzzr will add the this version to its schedule, marking the first time these episodes will be seen on TV since their original airings 40+ years ago.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to June 28, 1988.

** The 1973-78 episodes that circulate include March 23, 1973; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD7sKVErfTo the last five minutes of a 1974 episode]]; the last two minutes of a 1976 show (since taken down from Website/YouTube); a early 1978 episode. Game show legend Wink Martindale has updated on his channel episodes 344 (taped June 27, 1974), 572 (taped December 5, 1974), 1534, 1535 and 1541 (all taped December 2, 1977); none of which were previously available.

** Starting on March 30, 2020, Buzzr will add the 1973-78 version to its schedule, marking the first time these episodes will be seen on TV since their original airings 40+ years ago.

** Starting on March 30, 2019, Buzzr will add the 1973-78 version to its schedule, marking the first time these episodes will be seen on TV since their original airings 40+ years ago.

** To this day, Creator/{{NBC}} owns the rights to the show and refuses to allow reruns of existing episodes. The show ''is'' listed on the network's formats Web site (alongside ''Series/TwentyOne'' and ''Series/MinuteToWinIt''), though. Finally averted when NBC gave the rights for ''Classic'' to Buzzr which will start airing October 1, 2018.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to May 31, 1988.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to May 16, 1988.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to April 1, 1988.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to February 29, 1988.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to February 15, 1988.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to January 6, 1988.

*** The ''Classic'' computer board "malfunctioned" in an oddly similar way. Near the end of the run, the last four squares in a game were one prize and two Wild Cards. The contestant matched the prize with one Wild Card, revealing those three spaces...however, a glitch in the program wouldn't allow the last Wild Card to be removed, and it kept flipping back to the number square. Alex commented that "In the four years we've been presenting this show, that's the first time that ever happened!" (Luckily, the contestant was able to solve the puzzle without that one square.)

** Apparently, the Creator/USANetwork [[http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php?topic=18015.15 had the rights to rerun]] ''Classic'', but it never did before they eliminated their game shows in 1995.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Very little circulates from the 1958-73 Creator/{{NBC}} run and the 1973-78 syndicated run, and no clips have been seen in blooper specials. [=NBCUniversal=], the current owner of the format, had until recently no interest in reviving the format or allowing reruns of it on GSN or anywhere, but their attitude may be changing, with Buzzr adding the 1987-91 ''Classic'' run to their schedule on October 1, 2018; whether the earlier runs will also escape tape-trading limbo will remain to be seen. At present, they have played episodes from the May 4, 1987 premiere to January 4, 1988.