Retro TV Friday

On a recent episode of ABC's To Tell The Truth 2016, Alex Trebek became the second former regular host of the Goodson-Todman franchise to serve as a panelist; previously, Bill Cullen, who hosted the 1969-78 version of the show on occasion when Garry Moore was absent, and hosted much of the 1976-77 season after Moore's retirement, was moved back to panelist for the final season. Trebek was the third host of the 1990-91 NBC series that was short-lived because it faced a notorious CBS ratings juggernaut in daytime that still holds its own today.

When I learned Mr. Trebek was appearing on the 2016 version of the classic, ABC made a slight blunder because they did not want to viewer to know the history of the show; the 1969 version's theme song, complete with vocals, was to have been used in the 1990 version. In fact, Score Productions went to Nashville for Take 6 (a black gospel group originally) to record the vocals of the 1969 theme for use in 1990. For some reason, NBC did not approve of Take 6's vocals, and for the broadcast version, it was removed. The 1969-78 theme would have been a nice touch for Mr. Trebek's appearance. Let's enjoy the Take 6 version of the 1969-78 To Tell the Truth theme, and note how that version also used many principles of the classic logo and an updated version of the crossed-finger logo.