Newlywed Game, The

1 9 6 6 – 1 9 7 4 (USA)
1 9 8 6 (Australia)

The Newlywed Game, hosted by Bob Eubanks, first aired on 11 July 1966 and ended its eight-year run in December 1974. Johnny Jacobs was the announcer and Chuck Barris the producer. There was also a daytime version of the program on ABC from July 1966 to December 1974.

Each show featured four married couples who would happily fracture their relationships on national television for a washing machine.

After each pair were introduced with such trivia as “Couple number one forgot their marriage license and spent the first night of their honeymoon in the back seat of their car,” Jacobs introduced host Bob Eubanks, a likeable chap who looked more like the deacon of a suburban Mississippi Baptist church than a TV game show host.

The husbands appeared onstage (with their wives isolated backstage) and were asked questions about their personal lives.

After the questioning – and a break for commercials – the couples were reunited on stage, and the questions were restated, with the wives having to predict how their husbands answered. Each correct match scored a point.

Round two was played in reverse, with the ante doubled to ten points for each correct answer.

Questions were usually designed to provoke embarrassing situations and disagreements between husbands and wives, much to the audience’s delight. For example, “What animal would you compare your mother-in-law to?” or “Would your wife say she sleeps with her toes pointing toward the wall, the ceiling, or the floor?”

Finally, it was time for the big 25-point bonus question. Here’s where they separated the dolts from the dumbbells. With a newly discovered sincerity, Eubanks asked such questions as, “How many large rocks are there on your property?”

Whichever couple had the most points was awarded a “prize selected especially for you,” usually a stove. or stereo, or sofa.

Eubanks returned in 1984 with The New Newlywed Game – which ran until 1989 – and in 1996 with a new version of the show in syndication, looking pretty much the same a quarter of a century later.

An Australian rehash was produced in 1986 by Channel 9, with compère Ian Turpie. A short-lived British version aired on ITV in 1987 with Gloria Hunniford hosting. It lasted just one series.