Missing Links

Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Game Show from 1963-64 which had a panel of three celebrities assisting in winning money for a contestant guest. The contestant read a story about a feat s/he had performed, with the story in four segments. At the end of each segment, the last word(s) were left out. The celebrity panel had to identify said last word(s); successfully doing so won $50 for the contestant. If the panel didn't identify the word(s), the last initial(s) were disclosed and the panel made another guess for $25. A celebrity guest was used for the final round.

The show premiered September 9, 1963 on NBC at 11:30 AM Eastern, a slot previously occupied by Concentration. On March 30, 1964, it moved to ABC and was replaced by Jeopardy...which Links now ran against in the east (in the west, it aired against Your First Impression on NBC and the Search For Tomorrow/Guiding Light half-hour on CBS). The fact that Links ended on Christmas Day should tell you that it didn't work.

Game Show Tropes in use:

 * Personnel:
 * Game Show Host: Ed McMahon on NBC, Dick Clark on ABC.
 * Show the Folks At Home: If the panel didn't guess the word(s) correctly the first time around, the first initial (s) were shown and the correct answer was shown to the home audience.

This show provides examples of:

 * Channel Hop: NBC to ABC.
 * Hey Its That Guy: McMahon and Clark, certainly, but a frequent panelist was Nipsey Russell. Indeed, this is where his penchant for poems began.