Name That
Tune
1950s
version
The contestants stood
across the stage from two large ship's bells as the band started
playing tunes. When a contestant knew the tune, s/he ran across the
stage to "ring the bell and name that tune!" Four tunes were played
every game.
Each tune was worth
increasing dollar amounts:
Tune #1 -
$5
Tune #2 -
$10
Tune #3 -
$20
Tune #4 -
$40
In the George DeWitt era,
there were only three tunes paying $10, $20, and $30
respectively.
The player with the
most money after four tunes wins the game and goes on to the bonus
game called "The Golden Medley." In the DeWitt era, when there was
a tie (not possible under the first scoring scheme, except at 0-0),
both players played as a team.
[edit] 1970s and 1980s
versions
These two versions allow
contestants, usually one male and one female, who were selected
from the studio audience, to score points as well as cash and
prizes by winning music-related games.
Games
Regularly played sub-games
on the show included:
Ring That Bell: Seen
only on the Dennis James version, this was a throwback to the
original 1950s series; two bells were suspended from the ceiling,
with each contestant about 20 feet away. The first contestant to
correctly "ring the bell and name that tune" scored. Five tunes
were played, and the player who correctly guessed three (or the
most) tunes won the round and 10
points.
Pick A Tune: Featured
early in the first season of the Kennedy version; each tune would
feature a list of words which included the words in the tune's
title. Players eliminated words so that only the words in the title
remained.
Cassette Roulette: This
was played during the first few months of Kennedy's version. Eight
over-sized 8-track tapes were displayed, each containing a
category, with a corresponding tune played (the contestants
alternated in choosing). Four of the "cassettes" also contained a
bonus prize, which would be awarded to the contestant who named the
tune. Seven tunes were played, and the first player to name four
(or the most) tunes won the round and 10
points.
Money Tree: Featured in
the Kennedy run from 1975-1977, this game had both players given
their own "tree" with 100 $1 bills on it. While one player tried to
guess a tune (up to three were played), his/her opponent would
remove bills as fast as possible from the first player's tree until
that player guessed correctly or ran out of time; the player with
the most money left on his/her tree at the end of the round won
(though it wasn't uncommon to see both trees stripped clean). The
game was retired because Kennedy didn't like its greedy nature, not
to mention contestants having a tendency to cut their fingers on
the metal clips that held the bills in
place.
Melody Roulette: This
was played in both versions (replacing Cassette Roulette during the
first season of Kennedy's). A two-level wheel (originally just a
one-level wheel) was spun onstage to determine a cash prize for
identifying the tune. Early in the Kennedy run (as well as the
daytime show with Dennis James), the wheel contained categories,
with the contestants selecting one before each spin and receiving
$100 if theirs was landed on. However, the categories were later
replaced by money amounts ranging from $20–$1,000 (later
$100–$1,000) in the Kennedy version ($50–$500 on the
1977 daytime version). Also, in the early days of the Kennedy run,
each player selected a $200 space on the wheel, and if it landed on
one of those spaces the player would win $200 right there in
addition to the tune's value.
In 1976, an outer wheel
was added, which held a space or spaces marked "Double" and was
spun in the opposite direction of the inner; in the '70s version,
it also featured a space offering a new car, but it could be won
only once (in 1979, this was replaced by a more generic "prize"
space, which worked the same way). In the Lange version, the dollar
amounts initially ranged from $100–$500, with money being
awarded after every tune and the wheel spun again for the next
tune. This rule was changed about halfway through the Lange run
– the spaces on the wheel were now worth between $250 and
$1,000, but the wheel was spun only once and the money was awarded
to whomever won the round. Five tunes were played (seven in the
first half of the Lange version), and the first player to name
three out of the five tunes (or 4 of 7) won 10 points. If this
amount had not been reached after all tunes were played, the points
were awarded to the player who had named more tunes
correctly.
In case of a tie, five
points were given to each contestant on the Kennedy version, while
the Lange version (later) had a final tiebreaker tune played. In
the Kennedy version, all contestants – win or lose –
got to keep the cash in this round, but only the winner of Melody
Roulette got to keep the cash in the Lange
version.
Sing-a-Tune: This was
played in the Kennedy version. Contestants wrote down the names of
tunes sung by the show's vocalist, a then-unknown Kathie Lee
Johnson (later Gifford), who would famously and humorously replace
the titles in the lyrics with 'la-la-las'. Five tunes were played;
the first to name three tunes or the player whom named the most
tunes wins 10 points and a prize package (splitting the points in
case of a tie, and they each received the prize package). Kathie
Lee left the show around 1978, and was replaced by the team of
Monica Burrus (also known as Monica Francine Pege) and Steve March
Tormé, the son of legendary crooner Mel Tormé and stepson of
$64,000 Question emcee Hal March.
Build-a-Tune: This was
played only on the short-lived 1977 daytime version; the orchestra
would play a tune, starting with minimal instrumentation and more
gradually added until it became a typical full orchestral
arrangement. Five tunes were played; as usual, the winner received
10 points and a prize package, and a tie saw the points being
split, and the 2 players each received the prize
package.
Tune Countdown: This
round was used in the pilot episodes for the Lange version, and was
the replacement for Sing-a-Tune until it was finally scrapped for
Tune Topics. Players simply buzzed in and named tunes for the
duration of 20 seconds, with the clock stopping as soon as someone
rang in. At the end of 20 seconds, the contestant who had named the
most tunes correctly won 10 points and a prize (a variant of this
format was used as the final round on Kennedy's version from
1978-81, only the contestants were given 30
seconds).
Tune Topics: This was
the mainstay second round during the Lange version. All of the song
titles fit into a given category. Initially, one topic was
presented at the beginning of the round – later, five topics
were displayed with one of them being chosen by a randomizer. Five
tunes were played; the first to name three or the most tunes won 10
points and a prize.
Bid-A-Note: This was
the show's signature game played as the third and final round of
the main game in both versions (the next-to-last round on the
Kennedy version from 1978-1981 and during the tournament in the
Lange version). Here, the host would read a clue to a song, and the
players would alternate bidding as to how few notes they needed to
identify the song (as in "I can name that tune in six notes").
Bidding ended when one contestant finally challenged the other to
"Name That Tune", or when one player bid one note (in one pilot
episode of the Lange version, the male contestant actually bid zero
notes twice, and then correctly identified the tune both times).
After bidding, the pianist's hand would show up on split screen to
play the notes, after which the player had to name that tune. If
the player was correct, he/she scored the tune, but if the player
could not name it, the tune went to his/her opponent. The first
player to score three tunes (two in the '70s versions) won 20
points (10 in the non-finals of the tournament in the Lange
version) and a prize (most often a
trip).
The player with the most
points at the end of the three rounds proceeded to the "Golden
Medley" bonus round. If there was a tie at the end of the game, one
last tune was played; the first player to buzz-in and name that
tune then went to the Golden Medley.
Golden
Medley
The Golden Medley was a
bonus round where the day's winner attempted to identify seven
tunes in 30 seconds or less.
1950s
version
In the original series,
all the tunes played here were selected by home viewers. Each
correct tune won money for the winning contestant as well as the
home viewers. The first correct answer was worth $25 and every
subsequent correct answer doubles the money. Naming all seven won
$1,600 and gave a home viewer a chance to come to the New York
studio where the show was taped at that time, and play along with
the studio contestant in a special round called the "Golden Medley
Marathon".
The Golden Medley
Marathon
In the Golden Medley
Marathon, the winning home viewer and the winning studio contestant
worked as a team. They had 30 seconds to name five tunes, and doing
so won $5,000 each. They come back for up to four more weeks,
meaning that five successful Golden Medley Marathons won them each
$25,000.
1970s & 1980s
versions
In these versions, prizes
were awarded for each correctly identified song. If the contestant
gave an incorrect answer at any time during this round, the game
ended immediately. However, the player could pass on a tune by
buzzing in and saying "pass". If time remained on the clock after
all tunes were played, the contestant could attempt the passed
tune(s) again. Naming all seven tunes in 30 seconds won the entire
prize package, plus the chance to return to the show in a later
episode (or episodes) in an attempt to win the $100,000 grand
prize.
Daytime
version
On the NBC daily version
from 1974-1975, the Golden Medley consisted of six tunes; each one
was worth $200, and naming all six in 30 seconds was worth $2,000.
Whether or not a contestant won the Golden Medley, that contestant
returned the next day; five-time winners received a car and retired
undefeated. At the end of the show's run, it was changed to five
tunes per day, and only four wins needed for the car, but a
contestant had to win the Golden Medley in order to return the next
day.
Syndicated
version
In the 1970s weekly
version, each tune was worth $500 in cash and/or prizes (usually, a
contestant who got six won a car on the nighttime version), and any
contestant who named all seven tunes won a $15,000 prize package
($10,000 on the 1977 daytime version). Starting in 1976, a $15,000
winner would return at the end of the next week's show and try to
identify one more "Mystery Tune" for a $100,000 cash
prize.
The $100,000 Mystery
Tune
The contestant entered
into a Gold Room backstage, where security guard Jeff Addis opened
a safe to reveal a wheel with manila envelopes on it. After
selecting an envelope, the contestant was escorted the onstage into
an isolation booth (which was wired so that he/she could only hear
Tom and the piano). Then Addis opened the selected envelope, handed
"The $100,000 Pianist" (depending on the version, either Michel
Mencien or Joe Harnell) the sheet music for the song, and handed
Tom a sealed business-size envelope. The pianist then played the
song while a 30-second timer counted down; once the timer reached
10 seconds, the piano player stopped, and the contestant in the
booth had to guess the song's exact title before the timer expired;
the contestant was only allowed to give one answer. After the
contestant exited the booth, Tom then opened the envelope and read
the background information and copyright for the song. An audio
recording of the contestant's guess was played, and Tom announced
the song's title. If the contestant guessed correctly, he/she won
$10,000 a year for a decade; this was also a feature of the
short-lived 1977 NBC daytime version and played exactly the same,
only the payoff was a lump sum of $25,000.
The tunes were usually
songs featuring music that contestants and viewers are familiar
with, but whose titles were either unknown or not easily
discernible (for example, one of the songs was "Fugue for Tinhorns"
from Guys and Dolls, but the contestant answered "Can Do", which
was part of the lyrics).
Two contestants won
$100,000 in 1976, and three in 1977, including one that had been
told at first that his answer was incorrect (he said "If You Will
Marry Me", and the answer Tom had was "The Bus Stop Song"), only to
be brought back when the show's musicologists discovered that a
song called "If You Will Marry Me" existed with the same music.
(Two of the tunes were Someday My Prince Will Come from Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs and Entry (or Entrance) of the Gladiators, the
song most people associate with the circus).
$100,000
Tournaments
In 1977, eleven of the
twelve Golden Medley winners who did not win $100,000 returned for
a three-week tournament (the twelfth was taking a 52-day
Mediterranean cruise, which was one of the Golden Medley prizes, at
the time). In the first two weeks, there were five or six players;
it was played like a normal game, except that in Melody Roulette,
only the first two players to answer two tunes continued, and the
Golden Medley was turned into a competitive game called Golden
Medley Showdown (the clock stopped when either player buzzed in or
five seconds elapsed) worth 20 points, while Sing a Tune and Bid a
Note each scored 10 points. The two winners came back on the third
week, playing Melody Roulette, Sing a Tune, and Bid a Note for 10
points each, and Golden Medley Showdown for 30, to determine the
$100,000 winner. Unlike the mystery tune prize, this $100,000 was
in cash and prizes. Runners-up won $2,500.
In 1978, the mystery
tunes were removed, and the show (which had switched to a disco set
and theme) consisted entirely of nine-week "blocks". The first six
weeks consisted of two-player games, consisting of Melody Roulette,
Bid a Note, and Golden Medley Showdown; the six winners returned
for a three-week tournament, played like the 1977 tournament except
that as Sing a Tune was no longer played and a second round of
Melody Roulette was played after one of the three players was
eliminated. After six episodes played in this fashion, the six
winners return to play, three at a time, over two episodes. Every
ninth episode would be a tournament final; the winner of each
tournament won $10,000 a year for the next ten years, while the
runner-up won a car. A number of celebrity specials filled out the
season.
1984-1985
version
Each tune was worth at
least $250 in prizes. If the player correctly named all 7 tunes in
30 seconds, they also won a trip and the right to compete in a
monthly Tournament of Champions. The rules were modified for this
version, with each episode featuring anywhere from two to four
contestants. "Melody Roulette" was not played in semi-final games
unless there were only two contestants competing. In most
semi-final games, Melody Roulette was replaced with a round where
three or four of the month's winners competed for two spots in the
main game, with contestants needing to guess two tunes correctly to
move on. Following the qualifying round, "Tune Topics" and
"Bid-a-Note" were then played for 10 points each, and "Golden
Medley Showdown" was then played for 20 points. Whoever had more
points (or won a single-tune tiebreaker, if needed) advanced to the
finals.
During two-player
semi-final games and the finals contestants played "Melody
Roulette", "Tune Topics", and "Bid-a-Note" with their regular point
values followed by "Golden Medley Showdown" for 40
points.
The winner at the end
of the tournament won $10,000 in cash, a new Pontiac Fiero, an
emerald and diamond necklace, a Schaefer and Sons grand piano, a
Hitachi home entertainment center, a pair of Jules Jurgensen
watches, a spa from Polynesian Spas, a Caribbean vacation, and one
week a year in perpetuity at a timeshare resort in Palm Springs.
The runner up won a trip (usually to Hong Kong) worth about $2,000
to $3,000. For several weeks of non-tournament shows in late 1984,
a "Home Viewer Sweepstakes" was held; the day's winner picked a
name out of a drum, then randomly selected one of the above prizes.
A Golden Medley win earned that prize for the home
viewer.
The Lange version
premiered with a "Super Champions" tournament, featuring fourteen
$100,000 winners from the Kennedy version competing for a second
$100,000. The tournament was won by Elena
Cervantes.
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