Substitute announcers included Lee Vines, Bob Sheppard, Hal Simms, and Dick Noel.Ĭontestants were chosen from the studio audience and usually were married couples. When Beat the Clock moved to ABC, Dirk Fredericks became the announcer. Over 20,000 viewers participated, and winner Edward Darnell, of Columbus, Indiana, was flown in to appear with Bennett on the December 2, 1957, show. In October 1957, Beat the Clock ran a contest inviting viewers to submit drawings of what Bennett, who was never shown on camera, might look like. The announcer for the show's run on CBS was Bernard ('Bern') Bennett until 1958. She reappeared as one of the models on the original version of The Price Is Right for its entire run. Bentley's departure in 1956 coincided with Hazel Bishop's sponsorship and a period of having no main assistant (see production changes below). Roxanne was replaced by Beverly Bentley in August 1955. The original hostess was Roxanne (née Delores Evelyn Rosedale).

The show had several female on-air assistants. Collyer was referred to in the introductions as 'America's number one clockwatcher', and the fill-in hosts were each named 'America's number two clockwatcher'. Substitute hosts on the original version included Bill Hart (1951), John Reed King (1952), stunt creator Frank Wayne (1953), Bob Kennedy (1954), Win Elliot (1955), Chuck Lafille (1956) and Sonny Fox, who became Collyer's permanent substitute from 1957 to 1960. The show had several sponsors over its run, with the most longstanding being the electronics company Sylvania. If they succeeded, they were said to have 'beaten the clock'-otherwise, 'the clock beat them'. Bud Collyer emceed the original series.Ĭontestants were required to perform tasks (called 'problems' by Collyer) within a certain time limit which was counted down on a large 60-second clock. The show then moved to American Broadcasting Company where it stayed until 1961. The first edition of Beat the Clock was a production of CBS and aired there until 1958. The most recent revival aired on Universal Kids from Februto July 8, 2019. In 2006, the show made up the third segment of Game$how Marathon, a seven-part summer series that aired on CBS, with Ricki Lake as host and Rich Fields as announcer.

A brief revival aired on CBS from Septemto February 1, 1980. Soon, the show moved to ABC's daytime schedule, and ran from Octoto January 27, 1961. The nighttime show was cancelled on February 16, 1958, and the afternoon program followed on September 12, 1958. On September 16, 1957, CBS premiered an afternoon version of the show as well, which ran for a year. The show moved to television on the CBS nighttime schedule starting on March 23, 1950. The show began on radio as Time's A-Wastin' in 1948, hosted by Bud Collyer, and changed its name to Beat the Time on January 5, 1949. The show was a creation of Mark Goodson- Bill Todman Productions. Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions (1950–1961, 1969–1974, 1979–1980)īeat the Clock is an American television game show that involves people trying to complete challenges to win prizes while faced with a time limit. American TV series or program Beat the Clock

Beat the clock gameshow