This is the battlefield for our game of speed and strategy.

These are the letters that lead to victory onnnnn...

And here's the star of Blockbusters, Bill Cullen!

Thank you very much, and welcome to Blockbusters. On Blockbusters, we pit a solo player against a family pair to see if two heads are better than one.

Broadcast history: NBC: 10-27-80 to 4-23-82; 1-5-87 to 5-1-87

This daytime game show was another one of the many game shows hosted by Bill Cullen.  Here, a solo player competed against two related people, to find out if "two heads are better than one."  Each side tried to connect a chain of boxes on a grid by answering questions.  The board was made up of 20 hexagons, each one represented by a letter of the alphabet.  Whatever block was being used had a question with a one-word answer that started with the corresponding letter. (Example: N: "What 'N' is the name of the group that the Vikings belonged to?")  Whoever got it right (answer: Norse) got control of the board.  The family pair tried to connect the white to the white, from side to side.  It was possible in as few as five moves.  The solo player tried to connect the red to the red, from top to bottom.  That was possible in as few as four moves.  The winner(s) of the best-two-out-of-three match then played the "Gold Run" for an extra $5000.  Here, the player tried to connect the gold to the gold, from side to side, by answering questions whose answers had each word starting with the corresponding initials.  The player had to make the connection within 60 seconds to obtain the cash; otherwise, $100 per correct answer was awarded.  The all-time winner among solo players was John Hatten, who went the distance when the limit was 10 matches, winning $60,000 in 1980, and won another $60,000 in 1982, less than a year after the limit was upped to 20 matches, therefore winning $120,000 total.  The all-time winners among family pairs were Pat and Liz McCarthy, who went the distance by winning $120,000 in 1981, and doing it after the limit was upped to 20 matches.  During its 18-month run, there were 37 solo champions and 45 family pair champions, going to 175 Gold Runs apiece, and winning a total of $1,573,000; $806K won by solo players, $767K by family pairs, proving that two heads were actually just as good as one.  Bill Rafferty hosted the 1987 revival, with two solo players facing each other.

The theme music from the 1980 version, composed by Bob Cobert, reminds me of the 1961 instrumental hit, "Last Night".  His theme is one of my favorites.  BTW, "Last Night" was performed by the Mar-Keys, and it peaked at #3 on the Billboard chart in 1961. The 1987 theme, composed by Stanley Blits for Music Design Group, was later used in 6-Twelve Convenience Store commercials, in the Washington, D.C. area. The opening to the Rafferty version goes like this: "Get ready for our game of skill and strategy... Blockbusters! And here's the star of Blockbusters, Billlllll Rafferty!"

Both Blockbusters series have aired on GSN.  To find out if it's airing on GSN, check GSN Online. For more info on the man from Pittsburgh, go to The Bill Cullen Homepage, run by Matt Ottinger and mentioned on his Jeopardy appearance.  Special thanks goes to Dan Brooks for notifying Mr. Ottinger that my web page existed. Other Blockbuster Links: Blockbusters @ classicgameshows.com Caleb Nelson's Blockbusters (Rafferty) Page

Both versions had final episodes that had their moments.  On the Cullen finale, the final match was between a pre-20 limit champion, Gene Vissich, and the winning family pair.  Since time was of the essence, it became a one-game match with the winner receiving $5000.  In the final moments of the show, Bill allowed prospective contestants to be shown on camera, even though they never got a chance to play the game; at the end of that shot, a child ran across the bottom of the screen (maybe it was a sign of things to come for Mr. Cullen?), and Bill said, "Someone put a little kid on a catapault and released it there!"  Then, he mentioned that there were people who frequently asked about how the "handicap" (family pair needing 5 to win and solo player needing 4 to win) turned out; it worked very well, as he mentioned that 37 solo players played 175 Gold Runs and won $806,000, and 45 family pairs played 175 Gold Runs and $767,000, leading to the conclusion that with a balance of 8 different champions, $39,000 and a dead even number of gold runs, two heads were just as good as one.  Cullen finally concluded the last bit saying, "For every cancellation that comes now, there had to be back, a few weeks, a few months, a few years ago, a great show that started.  And this was one of those, and I know all of us feel there will be another." The Rafferty finale had some memorable moments as well.  As was the case in the previous few shows, instead of a contestant plug for Blockbusters, Bill Rafferty and Rich Jeffries did contestant plugs for Blockbusters' replacement show, a brand-new version of Concentration, which would go on to air for six and a half years, the last two and a half years in reruns.  Also, though the winning contestant didn't complete the Gold Run, Rafferty made an executive decision, giving the final champion a $1,000 bonus.

Bill Cullen's wardrobe furnished by BOTANY 500

This is Bob Hilton speaking for Blockbusters...

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Blockbusters is a copyrighted title of Mark Goodson Productions/Fremantle Media.  This page is not affiliated with Mark Goodson Productions, Fremantle Media, the Blockbusters Company, or the National Broadcasting Company in any way.  No charge to their ownership is implied. The top two pictures, the Blockbusters logo, the Cullen "telepicture" and the Goodson-Todman picture are courtesy of Ranger Ian.