Audacia es el juego

I saw most of the episodes in the late '60s and in syndication the following decade. Ambitious and not bad on the whole, especially in view of the 90 minute mini-movie running time. One was supposed to get, and at least I did at times, a "bigger than TV" fell from THE NAME OF THE GAME. I recall especially a fine early episode inspired by the "Prague Spring." Some of the camera work was so good that I recall discussing it with a photography buff friend at the time.

That said, I did get tired of Gene Barry playing himself. Far worse, the series seemed to come apart after the second season perhaps from writing, perhaps from budget cuts. Robert Culp added nothing, and I think his coming on board signified deeper problems.

Anyway, THE NAME OF THE GAME was American television at its most studiously spectacular thirty years ago.

"The Name Of The Game" was, as I recall, a very interesting and well-done "rotating" series that portrayed various and sundry well-known actors such as Gene Barry and Tony Franciosa as personnel connected with a well-known magazine. The peculiar thing was that this "fictional" magazine later became the real thing in life as we know it. It was a fascinating show to watch -- especially if you'd not seen it before and had caught it in passing later in syndication. It also had a very cool theme song, quite an accomplishment in itself.

I had just visited Universal Studies, Hollywood in 1968, when I was 15 and saw sets where they filmed The Name of The Game. Growing up with Bat Masterson and The Untouchables, I was a big fan of two of the stars, Gene Barry and Robert Stack. Susan St. James was just a young lady as Peggy Maxwell at 22 years of age. Tony Franciosa was fine too though I think he got into some type of dispute with the studio and disappeared from the show.

The 90 minute show ran on Friday nights and I remember enjoying it quite a bit. I have not seen it in some time and really hope it will be available on DVD sometime soon. It was shot in color and I think ran for about three years. Though the show is now almost 40 years old, I know I would still have fun watching it. My kids would laugh at the rotary dial telephones and lack of computers but to me it would still be a blast. They would recognize Robert Stack from Airplane though! Tony Franciosa was good but my favorites were Barry and Stack. The action, cars, outfits and setting were all classy. Please bring it back on DVD!

Here's a great series that really should be released on DVD. Each 90 minute episode was a self-contained movie with one of three stars: Gene Barry played Glenn Howard, the self- made man who built his publishing empire from the ground up; Robert Stack played Dan Farrell, an ex-FBI agent who became the editor of "Crime" Magazine to better pursue and expose criminals; and Tony Franciosa as Jeff Dillon, who played the impetuous reporter for "People" Magazine (yes, and this was way before the actual "People" Magazine we now know). Many now well-known directors shot these episodes, including Steven Spielberg. And Billy Goldenberg's score for each show was always melodic and cutting edge. Hey Universal Home Video, PLEASE release a boxed DVD set of this series! As one of the first (if not THE first) rotating series of shows, it was both groundbreaking and entertaining. It should be enjoyed by a new generation of viewers... THANK YOU!

This series was brilliant. Few shows have reached this level of quality. From musical scores to well thought story lines. Great chemistry between actors. What I enjoyed was it revealed American dynamics and world events through the magazine journalist. We saw what makes an interesting story and how it is brought to the pages. We also saw why a story is valuable. Not because it would sell magazines but because it was just interesting. This series was interesting. It had a particular feel about it that set it apart from any other show. Yes this is what television was ment to communicate.