The Name of the Game (TV series)

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Television series
Original title The name of the game
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1968-1971
Production
company		 Universal Television
length 75 minutes
Episodes 76 in 3 seasons ( list )
genre Crime , mystery
First broadcast September 20, 1968 (USA) on NBC
occupation

The Name of the Game is an American television series that ran from 1968 to 1971. The main roles were played by Gene Barry , Robert Stack and Anthony Franciosa . These three did not appear together, however; they took turns in the sole leading role. The Name of the Game is thus a wheel series .

content

Howard Publications is a large publishing house in Los Angeles . The owner, Glenn Howard, founded it and now runs it. The magazines published by the company include People Magazine , for which investigative journalist Jeff Dillon works. Even the Crime Magazine is of Howard Publications issued. This magazine is directed by former FBI agent Dan Farrell. Howard, Dillon and Farrell, but occasionally other employees, have been shown investigating criminal, corruption and the like.

David Thorburn classified in his article in the Encyclopedia of Television appeared, The Name of the Game as an adventure / mystery series. He writes that it was one of the first television series to regularly deal with the growing social and political unrest of the late 1960s, topics such as countercultures, racial conflicts, the sexual revolution, political corruption and environmental pollution.

background

In the mid-1960s, various television stations began producing television films. When it became apparent in 1966 that television films could generate higher profits than the broadcast of older feature films, NBC broadcast the television film Fame Is the Name of the Game as a world premiere on November 26, 1966 . In the remake of the movie deaths of Chicago from 1949 led Stuart Rosenberg Director. The main roles were played by Anthony Franciosa , Jill St. John and Jack Klugman . The actress Susan Saint James had her first film role in it. The film became a surprise success with almost 35 million viewers.

Almost two years later, on September 20, 1968, the series The Name of the Game , based on the film, started . Anthony Franciosa and Susan Saint James continued their roles, Gene Barry replacing George Macready in the role of Glenn Howard . The episodes were about 75 (with advertising 90) minutes long, which until then was only known from anthology series . The series was also lavishly produced and had a budget of $ 400,000 per episode. This made The Name of the Game the most expensive series of its time. For a long time it was called the most expensive series ever, now it is compared to Game of Thrones in this regard .

From the beginning, the series was oriented more towards movies than other television series. Because each episode was a self-contained film, a particularly large number of film actors could be engaged for The Name of the Game . The three main actors, Anthony Franciosa , Gene Barry and Robert Stack , completed their episodes individually. In fact, there hasn't been a single episode in the entire series that featured both Anthony Franciosa and Robert Stack. Therefore, it is also said that The Name of the Game were actually three series under one title. Peggy Maxwell, played by Susan Saint James , served as a link between the three part series . Soon each of the three sub-series developed its own character.

The Name of the Game was successful, but did not make it into the thirty most successful series in any of the three seasons.

The result I Love You, Billy Baker was in the summer of 1970 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas turned. In addition to Sammy Davis, Jr. in the title role of Billy Baker, several stars such as Ray Charles , Peter Lawford , Frank Sinatra , Ike & Tina Turner and Dionne Warwick appeared as themselves. The main role was played by Anthony Franciosa, who had often caused unrest with his extravaganzas and especially angered producers and directors, but also guest stars. In this episode, he took it to extremes and eventually became violent, which led to a scandal. Anthony Franciosa was fired while filming was still in progress.

Those responsible hoped for his return, after all, the episodes with Anthony Franciosa were the most successful. But he didn't come back. The Name of the Game had lost the draft and ended shortly thereafter with the third season.

occupation

actor Role name consequences Years
H N G
Gene Barry Glenn Howard 27 14th - 1968-1971
Robert Stack Dan Farrell 26th - - 1968-1971
Anthony Franciosa Jeff Dillon 16 1 - 1968-1970
Robert Culp Paul Tyler 2 - - 1970
Cliff Potts Andy Hill 1 6th - 1968-1969
Darren McGavin Sam Hardy 1 - 2 1968-1970
Vera Miles Hilary Vanderman 1 - 2 1968-1970
Robert Wagner Dave Corey 1 - 1 1970-1971
Peter Falk Lewis Corbett 1 - - 1971
Susan Saint James Peggy Maxwell - 36 - 1968-1971
Ben Murphy Joe Sample - 13 - 1968-1970

Episodes

Broadcasts

The Name of the Game premiered on NBC between September 20, 1968 and March 19, 1971 . The series was later shown on other channels in the United States. In German-speaking countries, the series never seems to have been shown on television.

On DVD is The Name of the Game is not available. In 2014, Shout! Factory to launch the first season. However, this did not materialize.

Awards

The Name of the Game was nominated a total of nine times for an Emmy in 1969 , 1970 and 1971 and was able to win it twice. In 1969 and 1970 the series was nominated in the drama series category, but lost to the NET Playhouse and Dr. med. Marcus Welby . Susan Saint James was nominated for all three years. In 1969 she won in the supporting actress category in a series . In the other two years she was nominated in the category supporting actress in a drama , but lost to Gail Fisher in 1970 and Margaret Leighton in 1971 . In 1969 Anne Baxter also lost in the leading actress category (individual performance) to Geraldine Page . In 1971 Jack A. Marta received an Emmy in the camera category . There were also two other nominations.

At the Golden Globes 1969 , The Name of the Game was nominated for Best TV Series, but lost to Laugh-In .

In 1972 the episode LA 2017 was nominated for a Hugo Award in the category Best Dramatic Presentation , but lost to Uhrwerk Orange .

Web links

Commons : The Name of the Game  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Gunzerath: The The NBC Mystery Movie. In: Museum of Broadcast Communication. Archived from the original on 20141101 ; accessed on October 7, 2019 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f David Thorburn: Encyclopedia of Television . Ed .: Horace Newcomb. 2nd Edition. Routledge, New York 2013, ISBN 978-1-135-19479-6 , The Name of the Game, pp. 1589–1591 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed October 7, 2019]).
  3. ^ A b Gary R. Edgerton: The Columbia History of American Television . Columbia University Press, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-231-12164-4 , pp. 253-254 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed October 7, 2019]).
  4. ↑ a b Hal Erickson : Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966). In: Allmovie . Retrieved October 7, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Hal Erickson : Susan Saint James. In: Allmovie . Retrieved October 7, 2019 .
  6. ^ A b c Tim Brooks, Earle F. Marsh: The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present . 9th edition. Ballantyne Books, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4 , pp. 957 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed October 7, 2019]).
  7. ↑ a b c d e f Michael Callahan: When Steven Spielberg and Steven Bochco Worked on the Same TV Show (With Sean Penn's Dad and Noam Chomsky's Cousin). In: The Hollywood Reporter , online. September 1, 2018, accessed October 7, 2019 .
  8. ^ Robert Jay: The Name of the Game, Run for Your Life Coming to Cozi TV. In: Television Obsurities. August 1, 2013, accessed October 7, 2019 .
  9. ↑ The Name of the Game CBS. In: Emmys. Television Academy, accessed October 7, 2019 .
  10. ^ Television Series. In: Golden Globe Award. Retrieved October 7, 2019 .
  11. ↑ 1972 Hugo Awards. In: The Hugo Awards. Retrieved October 7, 2019 .