Get the Message

Get the Message is a television game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman which aired on ABC's daytime schedule for nine months in 1964. Frank Buxton was the original host and was replaced by Robert Q. Lewis on September 28. The announcers were Chet Gould and Johnny Olson. Main game Two teams of three people—men versus women—competed, each featuring one contestant and two celebrities. On each turn, the celebrities were shown a message (e.g., person, place, thing, common phrase, etc.) on the screens in front of them. All four celebrities wrote down a one-word clue on index cards without any discussion among them. Both celebrities on the team playing first showed and read their clues to their teammate, who then attempted to guess the message. If incorrect, play passed to the opposing team who followed the same process. If the opposing contestant failed to guess the message, one more round of clue-writing and reading took place. The message was discarded if neither team guessed correctly. Correct answers were worth one point, and the first team to reach three points won the game and a $100 prize. Originally contestants from both teams played only one game and did not return. Later, all players competed for the entire half-hour.