Concentration/Funny
Concentration may have been simple, but it was by no means without humor.
Original Series (1958-73)
- During one episode, Hugh Downs noticed that there were more "Forfeit One Gift" squares than usual and that they turned around to show a blank space with no clues whatsoever. At his insistence, all the trilons turned to show their "prize sides" — all "Forfeit One Gift" — followed by their "puzzle sides". The "puzzle side" of the board was completely blank.
- 1971: After the first match of a game in Squares 17 and 19, those two trilons turned to show...two eyes, giving the impression that the board was staring at everyone! Here's a re-creation of what it looked like.
Syndicated (1973-78)
- (Nothing as of yet, but here just in case.)
The Bastardized Pilots (1985)
- The point of matching related words appears to have been like Eye Guess (1966–69), in that humor was supposed to come from mismatching...but unlike Eye Guess, which used a straight Q&A and got humor from obviously wrong answers, these attempts at reviving Concentration used a potential Standards & Practices nightmare of predetermined word connections, trying to glean humor from mismatches that a knowledgeable contestant could reasonably link.
- Using words backfired immensely during one taping — according to a YouTube comment from a contestant on one of the pilots, two predetermined connections were "mother-father" and "kiss-pucker". Sounds simple, until you realize the words this player blindly picked off. As for what happened next...
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Contestant: The live audience roared in laughter. Bean and I looked at each other in stunned awkward silence, and moved on. |
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Classic Concentration (1987-91)
- Marjorie Goodson-Cutt once appeared on-camera with a fake mustache. Alex Trebek commented that she now had her own soup strainer.
Other Versions
- (Nothing as of yet, but here just in case.)