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Storybook Squares

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Storybook Squares
Title card for the 1976–1977 version.
Based on
Hollywood Squares
by
Presented byPeter Marshall
AnnouncerKenny Williams
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes16 (1969 version)
30 (1976–1977 version)
Production
Production locationsNBC Studios
Burbank, California
Running time30 minutes
Production companyHeatter-Quigley Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseJanuary 4, 1969 (1969-01-04) –
December 30, 1977 (1977-12-30)

Storybook Squares is an American game show. It is a spin-off of Hollywood Squares.[1][2][3] The series featured celebrities dressed up as famous people and characters from history and various forms of media.[4]

Peter Marshall served as host of these episodes. The panelists were introduced by "The Guardian of the Gate", who announced their characters' presence by reading their names from a scroll. The Guardian was played by regular Hollywood Squares announcer Kenny Williams, and the character was similar to his "Town Crier" character from Video Village.

The series ran on NBC on Saturday mornings from January 4 to April 19, 1969, with repeats airing until August 30. The concept was revived during the 1976-1977 season as a series of special theme weeks on the daytime Hollywood Squares.

Format

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On the original edition of Storybook Squares, the game was played in the same manner as the regular game, with celebrities in the squares dressed as storybook and nursery rhyme characters.[5] Two children competed, always boy vs. girl. Like on the regular Hollywood Squares, boys played X and girls played circle. Instead of playing for money, each game was played for a prize.

The first two games on each episode of Storybook Squares were, as on Hollywood Squares, Secret Square games. Each game was played for a different prize, and if the first prize was unclaimed it could be won along with the second prize in the second game.

Panelists (1969)

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Host Peter Marshall with contestants on Storybook Squares in 1969
Ted Cassidy, best known as Lurch on The Addams Family as Tarzan with Cheeta was a 1969 panelist.

The only panelist from the adult show who played as he normally would was Cliff Arquette, who carried his "Charley Weaver" persona over to Storybook Squares. The other panelists played characters from fairy tales and books, historical figures, or in some cases the characters they played on television.

Unlike the parent series, on Storybook Squares each panelist/character was given an elaborate introduction as they entered the set and took their place on the board, allowing for a brief comic interaction with host Marshall as they did so. Some of the celebrities who appeared were:

1976-1977 return

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When the daytime series brought back Storybook Squares, its format was changed slightly. Instead of a two-player match featuring boys playing girls, the matches used a team format with the boys playing with their fathers and grandfathers and the girls with their mothers and grandmothers.

The children played the first game of the match, with the parents playing the second and the grandparents each subsequent game as time permitted. $300 was awarded for each game won, with $50 awarded per square if time was called during a game.

The team with the most money at the end of the game won a large prize, such as a car or exotic vacation.

Panelists (1976–1977)

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Set

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The 1969 set was decked out in a medieval theme for the host and players' podiums, while the gameboard remained the same as on the adult version. The 1970s sets extended the medieval theme to the entire set, with a sweeping castle facade built around and behind the "Squares".

References

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  1. ^ Emmytvlegends.org
  2. ^ Film Threat
  3. ^ Sharetv.org
  4. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 411–412. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  5. ^ Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. p. 483. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
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