Series synopsis
The Name of the Game is an American action & adventure sci-fi & fantasy television series that premiered on NBC on September 20, 1968. It ended on March 19, 1971. It stars Robert Stack and Gene Barry.
The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s. The show had an extremely large budget for a television series.
Premise
The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s. The show had an extremely large budget for a television series.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Robert Stack as Dan Farrell
- Gene Barry as Glenn Howard
Guest cast
- Leslie Nielsen
- Leon Ames
- Luther Adler
- Alex Dreier
- Mercedes McCambridge
- Charles Aidman as Garth Dryden
- Lucy Saroyan
- Monte Markham
- Larry Hagman
- JoAnna Cameron as Carole Crown
- Peter Falk as Lewis Corbett
- Orson Welles as Narrator
Episodes
This series spans 4 seasons with 77 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 1 | November 26, 1966 | November 26, 1966 |
| Season 1 | 26 | September 20, 1968 | March 21, 1969 |
| Season 2 | 26 | September 19, 1969 | April 10, 1970 |
| Season 3 | 24 | September 18, 1970 | March 19, 1971 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Fame Is the Name of the Game An investigative reporter looks into the murder of a call girl. His investigation unearths her diary, with the names of many prominent people in it. He sets out to find her killer from among the names contained in it. |
November 26, 1966 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Fear of High Places Jeff Dillon investigates the death of a beautiful model, which involves an industrialist who is about to assume an important government post. |
September 20, 1968 |
| 2 |
The Witness When a Mafia informant is assassinated, Dan Farrell, senior editor of Crime Magazine, looks for the only other witness to a major mob crime. She allegedly committed suicide eight years earlier. |
September 27, 1968 |
| 3 |
The Taker Crime Magazine publisher Glenn Howard refuses to support a powerful businessman who backs a crooked political candidate and finds himself in a battle of wits over the takeover of his publishing empire. |
October 4, 1968 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Lady On the Rocks A happy marriage might be a front for the wife's fear and guilt as Howard (GB) suspects. |
September 19, 1969 |
| 2 |
A Hard Case of the Blues Blues singer Jesse Boone's business manager has just died under mysterious circumstances. He also swindled Jesse out of $200,000. Thing of it is, Jesse couldn't care less--and Crime magazine editor Dan Farrell (RS) wants to know the reasons for her apathy. |
September 26, 1969 |
| 3 |
Blind Man's Bluff An ex-district attorney gives Crime magazine reporter Jeff Dillon (TF) a phony story. It's all part of a complex plan for revenge. He was blinded several years earlier, and his wife's face was mutilated; now the former D.A. wants to trap the man responsible for his sightlessness. |
October 3, 1969 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
So Long Baby, and Amen Dan Farrell (RS) reports his findings at a Congressional committee hearing on addictive drugs. Later he finds himself entangled with a self-destructive, drug-addicted young girl. |
September 18, 1970 |
| 2 |
A Love To Remember At his college class reunion, Howard (GB) meets a strange, beautiful woman who tells him how a crush she once had on him has ruined her life. |
September 25, 1970 |
| 3 |
Cynthia Is Alive and Living in Avalon Cynthia is a reclusive jet-setter who has of late become a political activist. She refuses all interviews and keeps hidden in a rambling house on the island of Avalon. At the urging of his pal, reporter Paul Tyler decides to make a name for himself by getting the exclusive story on Cynthia. |
October 2, 1970 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | NBC |
|---|---|
| First aired | September 20, 1968 |
| Last aired | March 19, 1971 |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Friday at 20:30:00 |