‘Concentration’…NBC, August 25, 1958 – March 23, 1973
‘Concentration’…NBC, August 25, 1958 – March 23, 1973
The original network daytime series, ‘Concentration’, appeared on NBC for 14 years, 7 months. With 3,796 telecasts, this was NBC’s longest running game show. Hugh Downs was the original host and served from ’58 till ’69. During this time, Hugh was also Jack Paar’s side kick on ‘Tonight’ and in ’62, he was the new anchor on ‘Today’ when Dave Garroway left. In ’85, The Guinness Book Of Records recognized Hugh Downs for holding the record for the greatest number of hours on network television.
It’s anybody’s guess as to where this photo was taken because ‘Concentration’ had a lot of homes, but the daytime version was always inside 30 Rock. From ’58 till ’65 Studio 3A was home. 1965 till 1967, it was 3B, and 8G from ’67 till ’73. This was the last show on the NBC roster to go color and that happened November 7, 1966.
There were two short lived night time versions…one was hosted by Jack Barry in 1958 for four weeks from Studio A at NBC’s 67th Street location, which was where the ‘Home’ show was done. The second primetime version was April to September of ’61 from the Ziegfeld Theater on Monday nights with Bob Clayton as host.
When Downs left in ’69, Bob Clayton took over, but three months later Ed Mcmahon hosted for six months during Clayton’s leave of absence for an illness.
The Barry – Enright produced shows ended in ’73, but six months later, the show was back on NBC as a Goodson – Todman syndicated production from the west coast with Jack Narz as host and ran till ’78. Art James was the original announcer. Enjoy and share!
My favorite game show. This photo is an absolute gem. Just one question though . . . can you tell us what the puzzle says?
This was my favorite, as a kid. I’m hungry for any episodes and pics that might be available.
This also came back as “Classic Concentration” on NBC in 1987. This was the classic version, however.
NBC had apparently wanted most of their productions on the west coast in the early ’70s. A large part of that I believe was the area around 30 Rock had badly deteriorated in the late 1960’s and early ’70s, especially as the drug trade escalated (The New York Post in fact noted when Johnny Carson died in fact that one reason he moved his show west permanently in 1972 was that celebrities were refusing to appear on the show in New York because of the area surrounding 30 Rock being too dangerous at night).
Chancellor always said he hated doing the Today show. He had no interest in all the fluffy features and detested the idea of doing commercials. He considered it the low point of his career at NBC.
The story I heard about Ed McMahon, was prior to Hugh Downs’ departure form the show, he (diplomatically but in no uncertain terms) wanted Bob Clayton to succeed him; made sense, since he substituted many times, and understood the dynamics of the show. The NBC “suits,” on the other hand, preferred McMahon. Once it became apparent that Carson’s sidekick didn’t quite “get it,” Clayton was brought back before the cameras for the rest of the show’s run.
And Hugh was a staff announcer at WBLY/WLOK which became WLIO later. Loved the show.
My favorite game show as a kid. Hugh Downs is the most underrated great broadcaster in television history. Began his career in his hometown of Lima, Ohio, where I owned radio stations for 11 years. He is revered there, and for many years always returned for his high school reunion. I think I saw this set on my first NBC studio tour when I was about 9. Great photo
I believe Ted Nathanson directed Concentration prior to moving to the sports department.
Hugh Downs is still on TV doing commercials for the Hospice Of The Valley in Phoenix, AZ
I can still hear the noise those boxes made when they turned….
I always watched Concentration…I even had the “Home Version of our game”
Looks like this is from the 1960’s before the show went to color.