Classic Television - Weekdays

Concentration

Original channel

NBC (1958–1973, 1987–1991)

Syndicated (daily, 1973–1978)

Original run

August 25, 1958 - March 23, 1973

September 10, 1973 – September 8, 1978

May 4, 1987–September 20, 1991

Presented by

Hugh Downs (1958–1969)

Jack Barry (1958, nighttime)

Bob Clayton (January–March 1969, September 1969–1973)

Ed McMahon (March–September 1969)

Jack Narz (1973–1978)

Alex Trebek (1987–1991)

Narrated by

Bill McCord (1958)

Art James (1958–1961)

Jim Lucas (1961–1963)

Bob Clayton (1963–1969)

Wayne Howell (1969–1973)

Johnny Olson (1973–1978)

Gene Wood (1985–1991)

Art James (substitute, 1991)

Concentration is an American television game show based on the children's memory game of the same name. Matching cards represented prizes that contestants could win. As matching pairs of cards were gradually removed from the board, it would slowly reveal elements of a rebus puzzle that contestants had to solve to win a match.

The show was broadcast on and off from 1958 to 1991, presented by various hosts, and has been made in several different versions. The original network daytime series, Concentration, appeared on NBC for 14 years, 7 months, and 3,770 telecasts (August 25, 1958–March 23, 1973), the longest run of any game show on that network (Wheel of Fortune was a month shy of tying that record when the initial NBC run ended on June 30, 1989). This series was hosted by Hugh Downs and later by Bob Clayton, but for a six-month period in 1969, Ed McMahon hosted the series. The series began at 11:30 AM Eastern, then moved to 11:00 and finally to 10:30. Nearly all episodes of the NBC daytime version were produced at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City.

A weekly nighttime version appeared in two separate broadcast runs: the first aired from October 30 to November 20, 1958 with Jack Barry as host, while the second ran from April 24 to September 18, 1961 with Downs as host.

The second version of Concentration, the first to be made in southern California, ran in syndication from September 10, 1973 to September 8, 1978 with Jack Narz as host.

A pilot for a third version was attempted in 1985, hosted by Orson Bean, but did not sell. After some reformatting, a remake called Classic Concentration, hosted by Alex Trebek, ran on NBC from May 4, 1987 to September 20, 1991 (with reruns broadcast to December 31, 1993).

Despite numerous attempts to develop a new version in recent years, NBC-Universal Studios, owners of the Concentration copyright, have not yet authorized a new version of the program.