Mindreaders
Mindreaders is an American game show produced by Goodson-Todman Productions which aired on NBC from August 13, 1979 through January 11, 1980. Although NBC originally agreed to a 26-week run, the network canceled Mindreaders after 22 weeks. The host was Dick Martin and the announcer was Johnny Olson,[1] with Jack Narz subbing. The program was taped at Studio 4 at NBC in Burbank.
| Mindreaders | |
|---|---|
 Mindreaders title logo. | |
| Created by | Mark Goodson Bill Todman |
| Directed by | Ira Skutch[1] |
| Presented by | Dick Martin |
| Narrated by | Johnny Olson |
| Theme music composer | Score Productions |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 109[2] |
| Production | |
| Producer | Mimi O'Brien |
| Production locations | Studio 4, NBC Studios, Burbank, California |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | August 13, 1979 – January 11, 1980 |
Mindreaders was also the last new Goodson-Todman game to be developed under the supervision of co-producer Bill Todman, who died a few weeks before its premiere.
Gameplay
Main game
A team of four men played against a team of four women, each consisting of three civilian contestants and a celebrity captain. Host Martin read a question to the three civilian contestants on one team. Each player locked in an answer. One by one, the celebrity captain predicted how each of his/her teammates answered. A correct prediction kept that team in control and play moved to the next player in line. If the celebrity was incorrect, the celebrity captain of the opposing team predicted the controlling teammates' responses. Each correct answer was worth $50, with the money going to the other team if incorrect, and the first team to reach $300 won the game and went on to play the end game. Both teams kept their money.[1]
Bonus round
The bonus round was played in two parts.
Judge the Jury
A "jury" of 10 randomly selected audience members participated in this round. The host read a question, for which the jury members secretly locked in their answers, and one civilian member of the winning team had to predict how many of them gave a specified response. The team won $500 for an exact guess, and $200 for being within two either way. Each civilian had one turn in this round; if none of them won any money on their turn, the bonus game ended immediately.
This mini-game of ten audience members (designed by producer Mimi O'Brien) answering a question was later instituted for the 1986 revival of Card Sharks.
Celebrity Turnabout
The civilian players predicted how their celebrity captain answered one last question, with each civilian making a separate guess. If at least two of them guessed correctly, the team's "Judge the Jury" winnings were multiplied by 10, for a potential maximum of $15,000.
Returning champions
Unlike most game shows, Mindreaders did not use the typical "returning champions" carry-over; instead, the same two teams competed against each other for three consecutive games, after which they both retired.
Music
The show's theme was composed by Score Productions, and was later used for the unsold Goodson-Todman pilot Puzzlers in 1980 and was also used as a re-arranged version of a commercial cue for Celebrity Charades in 1979. In addition, the win cue from the show was also used for later Goodson-Todman pilots including Puzzlers in 1980, as well as the 1983 pilots for Star Words and Body Language.
Broadcast history
NBC placed Mindreaders in a problematic timeslot, 12:00 Noon (11:00 AM Central), where it faced ABC's The $20,000 Pyramid and CBS' The Young and the Restless as well as low clearances by NBC affiliates for local news. Despite NBC's hopes that Martin's legacy from Laugh-In and his guest appearances on Match Game (a show still in syndication at the time and which had a very similar presence) would translate into instant audience appeal, the ratings were flat, as were those of the shows preceding it in that time slot since the network moved Jeopardy! from there in January 1974.
Unusual for a Goodson-Todman series, especially one in production as late as 1980, most of the Mindreaders archive was destroyed to recycle videotape. NBC was the last major network still recycling some of its videotapes, mostly restricted to game shows by this point, at the time.
References
- Schwartz, David; Ryan, Steve; Wostbrock, Fred (1999). The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (3 ed.). Facts on File, Inc. p. 141. ISBN 0-8160-3846-5.
- Preempted on January 1, 1980 by the 91st Annual Tournament of Roses Parade. "TV Listings". Daily News. New York City, New York. January 1, 1980.