Shenanigans

In 1964, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley revived their first game show Video Village by changing the title to Shenanigans and putting the show in ABC's Saturday morning kids line up.

Sponsored by Milton Bradley, the show featured two kids playing the role of pieces on a game board as the played versions of the sponsor's games and collected shenanaganzas to be redeemed for prizes.

I saw the show for the very first time on youtube.com and i thought it was a fun kids game show. Stubby Kaye, best known for his roles in the musical comedies Guys and Dolls and L'il Abner, did an outstanding job in hosting what would turn out to be his only game show. He brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the proceeding and more important, he had very good rapport with the young contestants. He also sang the show's theme song. It's a shame that any game show producer never offered him another hosting job. He would have also done well hosting an adult game show.

It was also one of the few times veteran Heatter-Quigley announcer Kenny Williams appeared on camera. He portrayed "Kenny the Cop" and added a lot to the show.

If you never seen or heard the show, view it on youtube. You'll have a shenanaganza.

I LOVED this show (I was 5, nearly 6) and made my own home board version when I couldn't get it soon enough. It aired on ABC. Some of the major stops/spaces were Pie in the Eye, where you tried to cream a pie in between the opening/closing eyelids/lashes of a giant eye; Punchboard, where you punched in a large button to pick your question; and Haunted House, where you had to run inside and get something scary that turned out to be a prize. There were several other major spaces like that. Prizes were also Milton Bradley games, the sponsor (mostly); MB also had a home version of the game, of course. There were lots of spaces to land on along the (I think) squared-U shaped live board; all the events took places on a horizontal wall along the outer edge, something like an old-style midway wall. The theme song (didn't think about it at the time, but I bet Stubby sang it (not live)) began something like: *Shenanigans--Come on along and play Shenanigans--...* (??) For the life of me, tho, I donÔt recall how the players/tokens moved around the board (dice, spinner, etc.)

Shenanigans debuted with little fanfare on Saturday morning September 26, 1964. Two players, a girl and a boy, traversed a studio sized gameboard in a race to the finish line. Players moved the number of spaces designated by a flashing display that was stopped by yet another child whenever the host declared, "Ready, presser press!" Along the way, the children would be subject to random event and carnival-like stunts. Success was rewarded with prizes, such as harmonicas and record players, and play money called Shenaniganzas. Shenaniganzas could be redeemed for prizes in the first season but in the second season they could be redeemed for trading stamps when S&H became a sponsor.

The show was sponsored by Milton Bradley, the makers of the home version of the game. Each time the home game was mentioned, it was noted that the home game was "an exact duplicate" of the television show. That was a lie. The home game had fewer spaces and many of the activities from the series such as "Touch & Go" were missing.

After a successful first season, the show was renewed for a second season and the gameboard changed to add "Operation" and "Where's Willie?", two games added to Milton Bradley's catalog. To make sure these games received their due, the players were stopped in their tracks to play these new games.

The novelty had worn off and Shenanigans had its last broadcast on December 18, 1965. For the last time Stubby Kaye would lip synch, "...funny how the minutes seem to fly. Until next week it's time to say goodbye."

Shenanigans S H E N A N I G A N S Shenanigans

say the word then spell it out then repeat the word again

Stubby Kaye... when the game show, "Shenanigans" first aired, it seemed like everyone knew who he was, but couldn't remember what he played in. It seems most today remember him as "Marryin' Sam" from "Little Abner," however, the performance that sticks out in my mind is, the guy who stole the show in "Guys and Dolls" who sang, "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat." Speaking of singing, Kaye had a wonderful voice and began and ended the show each week with a song about the game show - "Shenanigans." It was catchy and got you to watch the show.

I owned the Milton Bradley board game of the show.

My recollection of the show includes a different boy and girl each week who would act as the playing pieces of a board game. How you got to advance, I'm not sure... spinning a wheel perhaps? They would advance through the squares performing various actions - one I remember in particular was called "Pie in the Eye" where they threw a pie into a big plastic eye that would open and close. You had to time it just right to get it into the hole, which was the eye's pupil. Also, there was something about reaching into a hole in the wall or something and identifying an item just by feeling it(?).

The game, 'Operation' came out of this show. The players played a life-size version of the game before the scaled down version was released.

The announcer, playing a role as a Keystone Cops-styled "Kenny the Cop," participated in the game, running commentary on the game action.

The last action that needed to be performed actually scared the bejeebers out of me. It seems to me (and correct me if I'm wrong) there was a haunted house at the end of the game and the players had to take something that was guarded by THE SHENANIGHOUL! (a guy in a suit, but a very SCARY suit to little kids like me). The Shenanighoul would protect the item that was sitting on a table or tree stump or something, while the kids would try to get it. It would hover around lurching, lunging and trying to nab the kids while they, in turn, tried to grab the item and run away. The show was over when they grabbed the object - they'd won, in other words.

For the time, this was a VERY creative show and it kept me coming back week after week.