Video Village
Video Village is an American television game show produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions, which aired on the CBS network in daytime from July 11, 1960, to June 15, 1962, and in primetime from July 1 to September 16, 1960. It was notable for the use of its unique "living board game" concept and for premiering soon after the quiz show scandals.
Personnel
served as the host from the show's premiere until September 9, 1960, after which he departed for personal reasons. Red Rowe filled in as Mayor for the week of September 16 ; the following Monday, Monty Hall replaced Narz and hosted through the remainder of the show's run.Kenny Williams served as the announcer throughout the show's run. Joanne Copeland served as the show's original hostess during the time it originated from New York City. Shortly after Hall joined the show and Heatter-Quigley moved it to CBS Television City in Hollywood, California, Copeland was replaced by Eileen Barton.
Rules
Two contestants played the role of tokens on a human-sized game board with three streets: Money Street, Bridge Street, and Magic Mile. Players advanced according to the roll of a large six-sided die in a chuck-a-luck, rolled on the sidelines by a partner and called out by announcer Williams. After Video Village moved to California, the die was replaced by an electric randomizer. Any time players landed on the space their opponent was on, they could either take an extra turn or force their opponent to return to the beginning of that street.The squares changed throughout the show's run, but some of the more notable ones included:
- Money squares: Located on Money Street, these spaces awarded their marked value to any contestant who landed on them.
- Bus Stop, Do It Yourself and Take A Chance: Players landing on any one of these spaces drew a card and followed its instructions.
- Jail: Located between Money Street and Bridge Street. Contestants could be sent here either by landing on a "Go to Jail" space or drawing a card that instructed them to do so. In order to get out, they had to correctly predict whether their next roll would be even or odd.
- Ask the Council: Located on Money Street and Magic Mile, the contestant was asked a humorous, open-ended question. He/she won cash if the audience — acting as the "council" — was judged to agree.
- Finders Keepers: The first player to land on this space won a prize that was tangentially connected to a joke item placed on the path.
- Shops: Located on the Magic Mile, these were five themed "stores", which each contained a prize. The first contestant to land on the store's space won that prize.
- Safety Zone: Any players landing here are safe from any penalty imposed by their opponent.
- 1-2-3 Go: Any player landing on this space remained on it until getting a 1, 2, or 3.
- Exchange Places: The last square on the board before the two Finish spaces at the end of Magic Mile. Any contestant landing here had to trade places with his/her opponent.
Spin-offs
A spin-off, Video Village Junior aired on Saturday mornings from September 30, 1961, to June 16, 1962; it was essentially the same game, except with children participating as the contestants. Its last episode aired the day after Video Village concluded its run.Two years following Village's cancellation, a new Saturday-morning kids' show, Shenanigans, premiered with game play similar to that of Village. It aired on ABC in 1964 and 1965, and was also a Heatter-Quigley production. The host was Stubby Kaye and the announcer was Kenny Williams, who had also been the announcer on Village. Like Village, a board game based on the show was manufactured by Milton-Bradley.
Episode status
The series is believed to have been destroyed as per network practices of the era. Four episodes are known to survive – the second nighttime episode, an episode guest-hosted by Rowe, the 500th daytime episode, and the third-to-last episode of Video Village Junior.Foreign versions
An Australian version, based on Video Village Junior, was in production from 1962 to 1966, made by Crawford Productions for HSV-7. It was hosted by Danny Webb with Elizabeth Harris and Chris Christensen. Each episode of the show ended with children singing a song.A similar concept was later used in the Canadian game show The Mad Dash, which aired on CTV from 1978 to 1985. Also similar have been Italian and Spanish language game shows named for and in imitation of the game of the goose.