Talk:The Name of the Game (TV series)

June 2011 article expansion
Additions to this article by user Grella are welcome and appreciated. It may be suggested that the user be mindful of punctuation (e.g. quotes, italics), consider including Wikilinks, and perhaps avoid overly detailed lists of production personnel and guest stars. Comments welcome! The News Hound 18:10, 10 June 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by The News Hound (talk • contribs)

ratings
I've read that this series was cancelled after it was badly beaten in the ratings by "Gomer Pyle." Oh, the shame. Any documentation that could be considered RS on this issue? HammerFilmFan (talk) 23:02, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

The show had some 76 episodes over three seasons and was one of the most expensive budgeted TV series at the time, with an ambitious 70-75 minute episode length giving a 'feature film' feel to each story. The show had many top International guest stars so it's very likely it was never intended to go beyond the three seasons run - the fact that after Tony Franciosa's abrupt exit during season three (after filming three episodes) producers replaced Franciosa with several 'subbing' guest stars doing his contracted four remaining segment stories - Robert Culp twice as 'Paul Tyler', plus Peter Falk as 'Lewis Corbett' & Robert Wagner as 'Dave Corey' (once each) and left Franciosa's face depicted on the 'opening graphic' suggests it was known beforehand that season three would be the final season of the show.

TNOTG had some notable episode points:

Boris Karloff made his final acting appearance in; 'The White Birch'

Orson Welles narrated the episode; 'The Enemy Before Us'

Steven Spielberg directed the episode; 'LA 2017'

brothers Pete Duel and Geoffrey Deuel appeared together for the only time in the episode; 'The Savage Eye'

NBC Universal's digital channel Cozi TV are at last repeating in the USA this long almost 'forgotten' classic and ground breaking show - which directly inspired Universal's following 'Mystery Movie' 'wheel' show of; 'Columbo','McCloud', 'Banacek',& 'McMillan and Wife' (Susan Saint James got her starring role on that thanks to her award winning supporting role in TNOTG).

Hopefully NBC Universal will now release the TV series plus the original 1966 pilot TV Movie; 'Fame is The Name of The Game' starring Tony Franciosa & Susan Saint James, on DVD ? - Grella
 * I don't think the producers originally intended that the series would end after only three seasons, thus stopping before amassing the standard hundred episodes necessary to get the top price for syndication. George Raft Has Risen From the Grave (talk) 20:07, 18 September 2020 (UTC)

Budd Albright addition
On 29 September 2012, user Snowysusan added stunt performer Budd Albright's name to the info box as a regular cast member. As crucial as this person's contributions may have been, he did not portray any continuing character nor were any of his roles given a name in the credits. The Name of the Game is just one of several TV series Albright worked on in the '60s and '70s. I suggest eliminating his name from the cast list here, and I encourage the user to add the info to their article on Mr. Albright. The News Hound 17:15, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Reversed this edit for reason stated above. The News Hound 20:37, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

Tony or Anthony?
Franciosa was billed as Tony rather than Anthony for practically the entire peak of his career. It would be good for clarity if his name title could be changed for the Wikipedia article about him. George Raft Has Risen From the Grave (talk) 20:11, 18 September 2020 (UTC)

Interesting Trivia
I believe that the unusual format of having equal headline stars that are not seen together in an episode but rather take turns rotating in the episodes, is modeled after the 1959 series The Four Just Men. In that series you only see them together in the first episode, and after that each of the Four Just Men leads each episode individually, rotating among them, though one or two of the others may have a quick scene on the phone or something. To add to the trivia, Honor Blackman, who is in an episode of TNOTG, had a recurring role in TFJM as one of the Four Men's secretary (Peggy Maxwell-like character). TFJM can be seen (streamed for free) at Uncle Earl's Classic TV Channel, solie.org (along with many other obscure shows). 2600:1700:DCE0:C50:65C2:2CDB:ADCE:89AE (talk) 11:09, 21 September 2020 (UTC)