Tattletales

I wasn't old enough to appreciate the show during its original run, but I'm surely enjoying the re-runs on BUZZR in 2023. To the reviewer who wrote the guests were barely "C" list celebs. NOT TRUE! Ann-Margret, Buddy Ebsen, Lynn Anderson, William Shatner, Patty Duke, Redd Foxx, Dionne Warwick, Milton Berle, etc. Would have hardly be considered "C" list celebs in the '70s. I'm thankful BUZZR is re-running these gems, as well as Match Game.

Each week, there's usually a BIG name celeb guest/their spouse, and the other two celeb guests may be "B'' list celebs ... but still fun to watch. I'm actually surprised some of the racy answers were allowed to air back then. This was an era when people (even celebs) had some decorum and, unlike today, you actually knew the celebs - be they "A" or "B" list.

The late Burt Convy hosted this pitiful 'game show' where no actual 'every day contestants' are featured. Three panelists comprised of 'has-been' celebrities would sit behind a podium with a television set built into it that would screen their spouse's face from a room off to the side of the set. Their spouse would wear a set of headphones as Burt Convy would ask the panelists ridiculous questions regarding their personal lives, such as their likes, dislikes and of course their sex life.

The object of the game was to have the panelist match their spouse's response to the question, much like the format in "THE NEWLYWED GAME". While that show pitted everyday strangers against one another in the hope of making a 'love connection', "TATTLETALES" relies on its washed-up celebrities to make the most of their time on the show to make fools out of themselves by asking them ludicrous questions followed by some sort of claptrap response. Regular panelists would include Zsa Zsa Gabor, Joan Collins and Phyllis Diller - ALL of whom would go on to divorce their 'spouses' featured on the show.

The audience members were split into three separate colors - red, yellow and blue. Whichever panelist and spouse answered the most correct questions would ultimately win a small amount of money which would be distributed among members of the audience, depending on what color they happened to be wearing.

Overall, of the rare times I did happen to catch this show, the panelists always appeared to look quite bored or angry at themselves for agreeing to participate in the antics of this muddled game show (think of Richard Dawson on "MATCH GAME PM"). I was quite surprised that "TATTLETALES" lasted four seasons... but then again, it WAS the 70's.

Funny, I had forgotten about this little gem from my early adult years when it appeared again recently on one of the oldies TV cable channels which have sprouted up. Hosted by Bert Convy, the perfect man for this job, the show featured three celebrity couples competing on behalf of their slice of the studio audience. There were two types of questions used, in retrospect the ones that worked best were asked to each couple. The guys might answer while the wives off stage were turned off, then the wives came in on little TVs below their husbands and answered - if they matched they won money for their audience. It plays better than it sounds, I mean, where else can you find out whether Abe Vigoda thinks that the attractiveness of your partner adds to your romantic pleasure? (So bizarre and traumatic a TV moment that I recall it vividly some 40 years later) The review here that talks about washed up stars is off, at the time these were generally legit celebrities, including Stiller & Meara, always great. It probably won't work for someone under 40 but I have enjoyed tuning in.

The description of the show has already been written about so I'm not going to repeat it here.

I used to watch Tattletales when it was first on but not everyday - I was a kid. A few months ago, our cable company added the BUZZR channel which is all old game shows from "What's my Line?" to "Let's Make a Deal" to "Tattletales", etc.

For the first few days, I didn't change the channel - watching the game shows brought back so many good memories.

Tattletales is one of my favorite shows on the channel. (It seems every other game show was hosted by Bert Convy!) The people on the show looked so loose, everyone there seemed to be having fun - I just love it.

Way back, I took all of the shows for granted. Now, while I am thankful for what is on BUZZR, I've noticed many of the shows that I watch are one year only such as "Match Game '78" so there are a lot of reruns already for most of the shows, if not all. I hope other years of these game shows are added plus adding other shows to their network such as Tic Tac Dough. (Yes, I'm greedy!)

Back to "Tattletales" - From the tacky green fake grass look on the set to the outfits worn then to hearing a bit about the celebrities lives, I love it all now. (One thing I do is look up the celebrities to see if they stayed married to their spouse from the show).

It's kind of bittersweet, though, to watch all of the old game shows. I look at the celebrities and so many are gone or very old. On shows such as Tattletales, they were young and vibrant. Even the hosts such as Bert Convy - gone... but, on the other hand, we're lucky to have them on video. And Tattletales was/is funny.

I believe there was something in the credits that, while the contestants didn't have the questions, they were interviewed about certain subjects in general so I think that's why the celebrities were so quick at the buzzer.

I love the 70's I can't say enough about it. I am a 1975 baby and I started watching these at a young age with my mom. I was excited to see they are on stream. I just love how you get to know the actors life and what they looked like back then and now most of them sadly have gotten divorced but they sure appear so happy and I love that.