Classic Television - Weekdays

Name That Tune

Original channel

NBC (1952–1954, 1974–1975, 1977)

CBS (1954–1959)

Syndicated (1970–1971, 1974–1981, 1984–1985)

Original run

December 20, 1952 – September, 1985

Presented by

Red Benson (1952–1954)

Bill Cullen (1954–1955)

George DeWitt (1955–1959)

Richard Hayes (1970–1971)

Dennis James (1974–1975 daytime)

Tom Kennedy (1974–1981 nighttime, 1977 daytime)

Jim Lange (1984–1985)

Name That Tune is an American television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. Premiering in the United States on NBC Radio in 1952, the show was created and produced by Harry Salter and his wife Roberta.

Name That Tune ran from 1953–1959 on NBC and CBS in prime time. The first hosts were Red Benson and later Bill Cullen, but George DeWitt became most identified with the show.

Richard Hayes also emceed a local edition from 1970–1971, which ran for 26 weeks in a small number of markets. However, the best-remembered syndicated Name That Tune aired once a week (expanded to twice a week for its final season) from 1974–1981 with host Tom Kennedy. The series was revived for daily syndication in 1984, and its lone season was hosted by Jim Lange. For the last two of these series, John Harlan served as announcer.

The centerpiece of each Name That Tune series was an orchestra, which would play the songs for the contestants to guess. The syndicated series' orchestras were conducted by Bob Alberti (1974–1975), Tommy Oliver (1975–1978, 1984–1985), and Stan Worth (1978–1981). A second band, Dan Sawyer and the Sound System, was also featured from 1978–1981. Beginning in 1976 and continuing for the remainder of the weekly syndicated series, as well as for the entire 1984 run, the show's title became The $100,000 Name That Tune.

Featured vocalists during the 1970s run of the show were Kathie Lee Gifford (then going by the name Kathie Lee Johnson), Monica Burruss (also known as Monica Francine Pege), and Steve March-Tormé. The show also featured choreographers Jerri Fiala and Dennon Rawles during the 1978–1979 season. The 1980s syndicated series did not feature any singers.

Two daytime Name That Tune series were broadcast by NBC in the 1970s. The first ran from July 29, 1974 to January 3, 1975 with Dennis James hosting; while the second was broadcast from January 3 to June 10, 1977 and was hosted by Tom Kennedy. Both series were lower-paying editions of the concurrent syndicated series.

Ralph Edwards produced the 1974–81 series, including the daytime episodes. His syndicator, Sandy Frank, produced and staged the 1984 series by himself.