History Series / Password

The ABC revival did not pan out, but in 2021, NBC ordered a revival produced by Jimmy Fallon and hosted by Creator/KekePalmer, which premiered in August 2022. It is a modernized take on the original CBS version with some elements of ''Plus''; namely, games are played as a best-of-three match, with the first two games played to 15 points, and a ''Password'' Puzzle as the third round if necessary. The first episode was dedicated to Betty White, who had died on December 31, 2021.

*** ''NBC 2022'': The top prize is a flat $25,000. If the contestant does not get all 10 words in 60 seconds, they receive $1,000 per-word, and then play a bonus word for a chance to double their pot. The contestant plays for 30 seconds with each of the celebrity partners; words lost to illegal clues in the first half are replaced for the second.

Two more daytime revivals appeared on Creator/{{NBC}} — ''Password Plus'' from 1979-82, and ''Super Password'' from 1984-89. Both used ''Password Puzzles'', wherein each round consisted of five passwords that described another person, place, or thing; for instance, "Wiki", "Lampshade", "Hanging", "Topics", and "JustForFun/{{Egregious}}" might be used to describe Wiki/TVTropes. These versions also featured a BonusRound ("Alphabetics" on ''Plus'', "Super Password" on ''Super'') where the celebrity had to describe ten passwords, beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet, within 60 seconds for a bonus of at least $5,000.

In May 2016, news surfaced that ABC (which aired the 1971-75 edition) was interested in potentially reviving the series; this came on the heels of their summer lineup being populated by several game show reboots, including fellow Goodson-Todman properties ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'', ''Series/MatchGame'', the returning ''[[Series/FamilyFeud Celebrity Family Feud]]'', and a reboot of ''Password'''s close cousin, ''[[Series/{{Pyramid}} The $100,000 Pyramid]]''. In 2021, however, NBC ordered a revival executive produced bt Jimmy Fallon and hosted by Creator/KekePalmer as host. It is a modernized take on the original CBS version, but with some elements of ''Plus''; namely, games are played as a best-of-three match, the tiebreaker is a puzzle round a la ''Plus'', and Alphabetics is used as the bonus round.

*** ''NBC 2022'': The top prize is a flat $25,000. If the contestant does not get all 10 words in 60 seconds, they receive $1,000 per-word, and then play a bonus word for a chance to double their pot. The contestant plays for 30 seconds with each of the celebrity partners; words lost to illegal clues by the first celebrity are replaced with fresh ones at halftime.

In May 2016, news surfaced that ABC (which aired the 1971-75 edition) was interested in potentially reviving the series; this came on the heels of their summer lineup being populated by several game show reboots, including fellow Goodson-Todman properties ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'', ''Series/MatchGame'', the returning ''[[Series/FamilyFeud Celebrity Family Feud]]'', and a reboot of ''Password'''s close cousin, ''[[Series/{{Pyramid}} The $100,000 Pyramid]]''. In 2022, NBC premiered a revival with Fallon as executive producer, and Creator/KekePalmer as host, which is based primarily on the original CBS version, but with some elements of ''Plus'' (namely, games are played as a best-of-three match with the tiebreaker being a round of ''Plus'', and the bonus round is based on that of ''Plus'')

*** '''NBC 2022''': The top prize is a flat $25,000; if the contestant does not get all 10 words, they receive $1,000 per-word, and play a bonus word for a chance to double their winnings. The contestant plays with both celebrity partners, switching at the halfway point. If a word is lost in the first half of the round due to an illegal clue, that particular letter is also replaced with a new word during the second half.

In May 2016, news surfaced that ABC (which aired the 1971-75 edition) was interested in potentially reviving the series; this came on the heels of their summer lineup being populated by several game show reboots, including fellow Goodson-Todman properties ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'', ''Series/MatchGame'', the returning ''[[Series/FamilyFeud Celebrity Family Feud]]'', and a reboot of ''Password'''s close cousin, ''[[Series/{{Pyramid}} The $100,000 Pyramid]]''. In 2021, NBC ordered a revival with Fallon as executive producer.

* EpicFail: One ''Plus'' episode had a contestant getting ''none'' of the words in Alphabetics. Several episodes of the original ''Password'' have had contestants whiff on all five passwords (or stumble so long on one of them) in the Lightning Round, thereby netting $0.

** ''Million-Dollar'': Six levels, each involving five words in 1:30. First level had ten total, then nine and so forth down to five for the final level. The money is progressive ($10K/$25K/$50K/$100K/$250K/$1M), with $25K (and later $250K) as safe levels. The giver is only allowed three clues per word, and once reaching $250K, is shown the words for that level in order to help the player decide whether to go for it or not. Most won was $100,000.

** The time limits and/or word difficulty on ''Million-Dollar'', coupled with the inane "clue-response-clue" rule (see below) and forcing each half-hour to be self-contained, meant there was no way anybody was going to win the Million.

** Some things were different in the earliest episodes of 'Super'' too; aside from Rich Jeffries announcing, the show's logo concealing the puzzle solution wasn't there (instead it had a larger version of the "X" design seen on the covers for the puzzle clues), the Ca$hword wasn't signaled by a noise (with the logo being small and not flipping onto the screen) and the "Magic Toaster" was not present (the Ca$hword was revealed to the celebrity by the same device used for the main-game Passwords, while actual money, or perhaps stage money, was given to the winner instead of a check).

In May 2016, news surfaced that ABC (which aired the 1971-75 edition) was interested in potentially reviving the series; this came on the heels of their summer lineup being populated by several game show reboots, including fellow Goodson-Todman properties ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'', ''Series/MatchGame'', the returning ''[[Series/FamilyFeud Celebrity Family Feud]]'', and a reboot of ''Password'''s close cousin, ''[[Series/{{Pyramid}} The $100,000 Pyramid]]''.

Interestingly, the show returned as a segment on ''Series/LateNight with Creator/JimmyFallon'' on January 18, 2011, hosted by Steve Higgins. The segment is, essentially, a simpler version of the later-era CBS style: the game now has words beginning at six points and no Lightning Round, and there's no stated prizes. Its first celebs were Fallon and ''Password'' stalwart Creator/BettyWhite. The game was also played during White's ''90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl'' on NBC in January 2012; that edition was hosted by [[Series/TheSoup Joel]] [[Series/{{Community}} [=McHale=]]]. An edition of ''Plus'' with [[Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos Tom]] [[Series/TheHollywoodSquares Bergeron]] hosting was a part of the 2015 Daytime Emmy Awards, to introduce Betty White's Lifetime Achievement Award.

** ''Plus'' had two of these moments: George Peppard's rant about NBC Standards & Practices and the "France/French" incident. NBC did not air the former episode, and Peppard did not appear on another game show in his lifetime.

* [[TitleDrop Opening Narration Drop]]: As seen in one of the early GSN ads for ''Plus'', while talking with Allen, Creator/DavidLetterman slips in the Opening Narration while Allen describes the new gameplay.
-->'''David Letterman''' "Well, (of course), it's more than just ''Password''...
-->'''Allen Ludden''' "It's ''Password Plus''!"
-->'''David Letterman''' "Well...yeah..."

** ''CBS'' went from one pair of contestants playing only one round, to the same pair playing two rounds after switching partners, to the whole half-hour featuring just those two players switching partners after every round.

* GameShowAppearance:
** A famous 1972 episode of ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'' featured Felix and Oscar on a New York-based version of ''ABC'', with the duo {{Lampshading}} the obvious difference in sets. Allen Ludden and Creator/BettyWhite, naturally, played themselves.
** The ''Late Night'' segment mentioned above, as well as ''Betty White's 90th Birthday''.
* HomeGame: About a billion- Creator/MiltonBradley released one annually from 1962 all the way to 1986; there were a few variants, including an ''Educational'' edition and a ''Fine'' edition, which had better quality materials and included materials for the Lightning Round (which began to be included in the normal version starting in 1982). ''Plus'' received three from 1979-81, and ''Super'' received a computer game from [=GameTek=] in 1988 (an adaptation with speech abilities was planned for release on the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] in 1990, but got cancelled along with the show); starting in 1997 and continuing to 2003 Endless Games released their own adaptation based on the classic MB version, along with an adaptation of ''Million-Dollar'' in 2008.
* Personnel:
** TheAnnouncer: Jack Clark announced on ''CBS'', and John Harlan filled these duties on ''ABC''/''All-Stars''. Gene Wood announced most of ''Plus'' with occasional substitutes. Rich Jefferies announced the first few weeks of ''Super'' until Gene took over on that show as well (Jefferies moved to helping Gene as an audience warm-up).
** GameShowHost: Allen Ludden was the first and most popular, holding the position from 1961-80. Creator/BillCullen filled in for four weeks in 1980, and Tom Kennedy hosted from late 1980 to 1982. Bert Convy hosted ''Super'', and Regis Philbin hosted ''Million-Dollar''.
** StudioAudience
** Creator/BettyWhite: Frequently appeared on both ''Plus'' and ''Super''; she and Ludden were married from 1963 until his death in 1981.
* ShowTheFolksAtHome: "The Password is..."
* WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire: ''Million-Dollar'', natch, with the Money Ladder and the overall rapid-fire restructuring of the main game. (And, of course, Regis.)
----
!!The Password is Examples. *Ding*:
* AndTheAdventureContinues: During the goodbyes on the final episode of ''Super'', Betty White compared the show to a Phoenix that will surely rise again.
* AscendedExtra: Tom Kennedy on ''Plus'', having been a celebrity partner before becoming host. Similarly, Bert Convy was a partner on ''Plus'' before hosting ''Super''. Regis has appeared as a celebrity partner in ''Plus'' before hosting ''Million Dollar'' thirty years later.
* BerserkButton: If anyone used a sound-alike rhyming word as a clue in the original version, Allen would lightly scold them, saying that while such words ''are'' legal to use, in his opinion they go against the spirit of the game and hence discourages their use. By ''Plus'', such words were regularly used without comment from Allen.
* CatchPhrase:
** "The password is...", whispered by TheAnnouncer on all versions except ''All-Stars'' (and the following ''ABC'' revamp), ''Plus'', the first two years of ''Super'', and ''Million-Dollar''. This was originated by the announcer of the original version, Jack Clark. Jack's parents watched the show, but they could not read the password on screen due to their poor eyesight, so he came up with this device just for them. It proved so popular that it stuck for many variants of the show.
** "Hey, doll..." was Allen's greeting to Creator/BettyWhite's mother Tess at the beginning of nearly every show. Tess appeared on ''ABC'' as a celebrity challenger during the aforementioned gimmickfest (week of September 23-27, 1974).
** "Next word, (IF you) please," regularly used by Bert Convy on ''Super''.

** ''Plus'' had two of these moments: George Peppard's rant about NBC Standards & Practices and the "France/French" incident. NBC did not air the former episode, and Peppard was not invited to play again.

** ''Plus'' had two of these moments: George Peppard's rant about NBC Standards & Practices and the "France/French" incident. NBC did not air the former episode and Peppard was not invited to play again.

** ''Plus'' had two of these moments: George Peppard's rant about NBC Standards & Practices and the "France/French" incident. NBC [[BannedEpisode did not air the former episode]] and Peppard was not invited back.

* OffTheRails: The "testimony" incident.

* NonStandardGameOver:
** The end game of ''Password Plus'' & ''Super Password'' (Alphabetics on ''Plus'' and the eponymous segment on ''Super'', but both were the same format) could finish before the time expires without the grand prize being won. If an illegal clue (or a password or part of one) is given, the password is put out of play and the jackpot is forfeited. The round does go on if any passwords are left at $100 apiece, leading to this if the remaining are guessed. The standard game over is either getting all ten words or time running out.
** For the '''Cashword''', giving an illegal clue or any part of the word itself immediately ended the in-game bonus round in a failure, even if the contestant still has guesses left. This happened at least twice.

** Similarly, ''Plus'' changed its Alphabetics jackpot in 1981 to increase by $5,000 until claimed, with illegal clues deducting $1,000 (later 20% of the current total being played for).

** Bert Convy {{defied|Trope}} one on August 1, 1985. A contestant says the final word in the end game after the buzzer, [[SoreLoser and she demands that the tape be checked]]. Bert, under the green light of the judges and Standards, gives it to her anyway. She loses her next game so Bert's call becomes {{bittersweet|Ending}} for the next end game winner who missed out on an extra $20,000.

** A contestant playing for $50,000 on a 1986 episode says a password a split second after his celebrity partner passes... and by the time they get back to it, it's too late. [[EarnYourHappyEnding However]], he more than made up for that on ''Series/WheelofFortune'' a few years later.

** A more blatant example is Goodson-Todman's ''Snap Judgment'' (one of the only Goodson-Todman games that has been entirely wiped), which debuted on April 11, 1967. For most of its run, ''Snap'' was a contrived word-association game of its own, but for the last three months (December 23, 1968 to March 28, 1969) it was {{retool}}ed as a 100% clone of original-recipe ''Password''...complete with the same exact desk.

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: A winner on ''Super'' walked away with $58,600 (including a record-setting $55,000 jackpot in the BonusRound)...but it was later revealed that he was a convict who had entered the show with a pseudonym. More info [[http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1988-01-16/news/0010150272_1_super-password-ketchem-patrick-quinn here.]]

* SyndicationTitle: Ludden explained to the folks at home that the answer "Jim Rockford" was accepted for one "Plus" puzzle with the answer ''Series/TheRockfordFiles''because the series had just entered syndication under the new title "Jim Rockford,Private Investigator"

-->''"Allen Ludden saying the Password for today is "Wiki/TVTropes". TV Tropes collects and expands on conventions and devices in creative works, such as '''Password''', and we think it's a pretty nice place. See you next time, I hope.Think about it."''

** "The password is...", whispered by TheAnnouncer on all versions except ''All-Stars'' (and the following ''ABC'' revamp), ''Plus'', the first year or so of ''Super'', and ''Million-Dollar''. This was originated by the announcer of the original version, Jack Clark. Jack's parents watched the show, but they could not read the password on screen due to their poor eyesight, so he came up with this device just for them. It proved so popular that it stuck for many variants of the show.

** "The password is...", whispered by TheAnnouncer on all versions except ''All-Stars'' (and the following ''ABC'' revamp), ''Plus'', the first year or so of ''Super'', and ''Million-Dollar''.

* SyndicationTitle: Ludden explained to the folks at home,that the answer "Jim Rockford" was accepted for one "Plus" puzzle with the answer ''Series/TheRockfordFiles''because the series had just entered syndication under the new title "Jim Rockford,Private Investigator"

-->''"Allen Ludden saying the Password for today is "Wiki/TVTropes". TV Tropes collects and expands on conventions and devices in creative works, such as '''Password''', and we think it's a pretty nice place. See you next time, I hope."''