“From Hollywood, the music capital of the world, this is (The $100,000) Name That Tune!”

Tom was the master of the music for seven superb years of the classic musical quiz.

Two contestants, male & female, are chosen from a pool of contestants pre-tested on their musical knowledge.

ROUND ONE: The contestants stand across the stage from a large ship bell and the band starts playing tunes. When a contestant knows the tune s/he runs across the stage to "ring the bell and name that tune!" Best of five tunes wins the round and ten points.

Very early in the run this was replaced by The Money Trees. The contestants each had racks with dollar bills of varying denominations spinning around, and each contestant plucked bills while their opponent tried to identify tunes. The contestant who removes the most money at the end of the round wins 10 points (or the contestants each received five points for a tie.)  

After the second season, the Money Trees disappeared for two reasons: #1, Tom didn't like the inherently greedy nature of the game, and #2, a number of contestants cut up their hands on the gold clips that held the bills in place.

ROUND TWO: Melody Roulette is played with a wheel with dollar values ranging from $20 up to $500. For each tune, Tom spins the wheel and the contestants compete for whatever value comes up. Each contestant also had a designated $200 space on the wheel, and if the wheel landed on one of those two spaces, the appropriate contestant received $200 straight up, in addition to playing the next tune for $200. Most tunes named after five tunes, or the first contestant to three tunes, wins the round and 10 points. Again, the contestants get five points apiece for a tie.

ROUND THREE: “Bid-a-Note” is what every casual fan will remember about the show. Tom reads a clue pertaining to the identity of a song. The contestants then bid on how little help orchestra leader Bob Alberti, playing the piano, will have to give them (“I can name that tune in five notes.”) After a contestant bids one note, or after their opponent tells them to “name that tune,” Bob plays as much as the contestant bid. A correct guess wins the tune for the bidder. A wrong guess gives the tune to the challenger. First contestant to win three tunes wins 20 points.

Top scorer in terms of points (if the game is tied a final tune is played and the contestants ring in to answer) plays for $15,000 in cash & prizes in the Golden Medley.

In the Golden Medley, the contestant has 30 seconds. The orchestra then gets to playing, and the contestant hits the lockout button to stop the clock and names that tune. Guessing correctly wins $500 worth of prizes. A wrong guess ends the game. The contestant is allowed to pass on any tune and come back to it if time is left. If the contestant guesses seven tunes before time elapses, s/he wins $15,000 in cash and prizes.

While not actually a game element, during the first two seasons, Tom would strike up the band and lead the audience in sing-alongs between rounds. If the show was going well, Tom would even cut a rug with a lucky audience member.
 

In 1976 the show was officially renamed "The $100,000 Name That Tune" and the show got a glitzy overhaul, including a new set, a new orchestra led by Tommy Oliver, and a new format. During the next two years, "Name That Tune" was at its best.

ROUND ONE: A revamped version of Melody Roulette is played. This version uses two wheels. The inner wheel has dollar amounts ranging from $100-$1,000, the outer wheel is empty except for two “Double” cards and a “Car” space. Tom spins the wheels and the contestants compete for whatever value comes up. The orchestra plays five tunes, and Tom spins the wheel for a new value before each. Contestants keep everything they win, but the top scorer after five tunes (or the first contestant to get three tunes) wins 10 points. If there’s a tie, both contestants get 5 points.

ROUND TWO: Sing-a-Tune enlists the aid of “La-La Lady” Kathy Lee Johnson, now Gifford. Kathy Lee sings the chorus of five tunes, singing “la-la” when she gets to the tune's title, and the contestants write their guesses for the titles. Whoever correctly guesses the most titles wins 10 points (or five apiece for a tie), plus a bonus prize package.

ROUND THREE: Bid-a-Note, played the same as before for a bonus prize package and 20 points. Top score after all threes (or a tiebreaker) goes on to play Golden Medley.

Golden Medley is played the same as before, with a new wrinkle added: If the contestant can go 7-for-7 and win the $15,000 top prize, they come back the following week, with no risk involved, to go for a $100,000 cash bonus.

If time permitted, Tom and Kathy Lee would play the Home Viewer Telephone Game. A viewer selected at random from somewhere in the continental United States would be called, and Kathy Lee would get on the phone and sing him or her a tune. If the home viewer could name that tune, s/he would win a new car.

1976-78 PRESS RELEASES & TV GUIDE ADS

	"JOYOUS LEAP!" (Episode 99)
	"TENSE MOMENT" (Episode 101)

	TOM KENNEDY "Name That Tune" NBC Promotional Department
	A general publicity shot.

---

The show now turned to a number of sources for the tunes contestants had to guess throughout the show. New bandleader Stan Worth along with Name That Tune orchestra played mainly standards and show tunes. A rock band, Dan Younger & The Sound System, was added to play contemporary hit music. Monica Burress was the vocalist for the orchestra's tunes, while Steve March (biological son of Mel Torme and stepson of "$64,000 Question" emcee Hal March, making him the perfect candidate for a musical game show) sang tunes with The Sound System.

Tom evidently liked the addition of rock music to the show, by the way. On a couple of the episodes on the trading circuit, he can be seen "air-guitaring" the show's theme on his way to the stage!

ROUND THREE: The third round was Golden Medley Showdown, with both contestants competing to name as many tunes as possible before time elapsed. Winning this round was worth 20 points. Top score after three rounds or a tiebreaker wins the game and another prize package.

After six episodes played in this fashion, the six winners return to play, three at a time, over two episodes. Every ninth episode would be a tournament final; the winner of each tournament wins $10,000 a year for the next ten years.

Courtesy of Fred Wostbrock

Courtesy of Mike Klauss

Nostalgia for the 1970s is the in-thing during this decade, and the Today Show spent a week in 2002 celebrating the greatest game shows of the 70s. (Funny the attitudes networks have toward game shows anymore...they're good enough for our blooper specials and our nostalgia programming, but keep them off our regular daytime schedules at any cost.)

Tom received the invitation to reminisce about "Name That Tune" and as a bonus, after an interview conducted by Al Roker, Tom headed back to his old job, emceeing a game between the show's on-air personnel on the street outside Rockefeller Plaza.

To the surprise of--well, not me---Tom still looked like he belonged up there, emceeing a nice friendly game with the team of Katie Couric and Ann Richards vs. Al Roker and Matt Lauer. The women were the clear favorites in this game, particularly because Katie had been yelling the answers throughout the montage of game clips from the 70s version.

But during Round One, Pick-a-Tune (so named because Tom had picked the tunes to be played for this round), cracks in Katie's dangerous facade began to reveal themselves. The men dominated, to everybody's surprise, and finished the round leading 3 to 1.

Matt and Al showed themselves to be a formidable duo, which privately gave me a thrill because I was rooting for them the whole time. After all, Al was a former game show host who had been nothing but pleasant to me during our brief handshake encounter, while Matt got his start in broadcasting less than three miles from my apartment, covering the news for WOWK-TV in Huntington.

Round Two would offer a chance for Ann and Katie to rally on the journey toward the grand prize...hey, there's a lone pianist onstage, that must mean it's time for Bid-a-Note!

Just like on the classic series, Tom read the clues and the contestants bid on how many notes they needed. Unlike the original series, the contestants were allowed to go as low as ZERO notes, which Katie Couric actually did successfully at one point in the game.

Katie's miracle performance seemed to be for naught, though, as the men continued to dominate and won the game 5-2, winning a fabulous prize package: a Today Show backpack and a supply of Eskimo Pies!

Tom, executive producer Ralph Edwards, Executive in Charge of Production Bruce Belland, and producer Ray Horl.

Tom delivers the most energetic performance of his career on this series, and why not? He gets to listen to music that he loves, and he gets to hand out a thick stack of cash and car keys for correct answers. (On one episode in the trading circuit, it's hard to figure out if the contestant or Tom is happier when Tom announces, "Here are the keys to your brand-new car!") He plays up the Mystery Tune for all it’s worth, too. In the one episode I have he does a very blatant clearing of the throat before reading the information about the piece's history and copyright. And it's clear from the way he can't help swaying back & forth during the songs or air-guitaring the theme in later seasons that this is a music lover hosting a music game. Tom found his dream gig with "Name That Tune," and it shows.

Tom was such a superb emcee here, he was asked to play the host of “Name That Tune” on an episode of the sitcom “Cybil.” They could have randomly hired any actor to play a game show host, but when they want Tom Kennedy himself to do the role, you know he’s performed a memorable job.

I can name this show, and its host in one word...CLASSIC.

Tom's biggest hit, and fondest memories (2.81 MB, 7 min)