| The Movie Masters | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Alan Goodman Albie Hecht[1] |
| Presented by | Gene Rayburn |
| Narrated by | Peter Pratt |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Chauncey Street Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | AMC |
| Release | August 2, 1989 (1989-08-02) – January 19, 1990 (1990-01-19) |
The Movie Masters is an Americantelevisionpanelgame show that ran from August 2, 1989, to January 19, 1990. It was the last game show hosted byGene Rayburn and aired as filler programming on theAmerican Movie Classics (AMC)cable network.
The regular panel of the show consisted of veteranNew York Times movie and theatre criticClive Barnes and longtimeTo Tell the Truth panelistsKitty Carlisle andPeggy Cass.
At the start of each episode, the announcer would introduce Cass, who in turn introduced Barnes, on through to Carlisle and Rayburn, the last of whom was escorted out by the hostess. (This conceit had previously been used onWhat's My Line?)
The goal of the game was to identify a famous movie scene hidden behind a 3-by-3 puzzle board. Each puzzle piece included a movie-related question, identified by a category; the question often involved "fill-in-the-blank" movie quotes similar to Rayburn's previous game showMatch Game. Correctly answering a question revealed that piece of the puzzle; two incorrect answers in a category eliminated that piece from being chosen again and kept it permanently hidden (as the show only prepared two questions for each category). Winning the game (by correctly guessing the movie scene) earned a prize package for a home viewer, the size of which depended on how many questions the winning panelist had answered correctly.
Each panelist was addressed in sequence in lieu of a buzzer system; the panelist would be given the opportunity to answer each question before either of the other panelists were called upon.
The Movie Masters was one ofAmerican Movie Classics’ first jump into the pool of original series production.Chauncey Street Productions parent Fred/Alan, Inc. had worked withJosh Sapan for several years atShowtime before he oversaw American Movie Classics atRainbow Media. Based on their past work together, he thought Chauncey Street might have some thoughts for an AMC series.
Chauncey Street majordomoAlbie Hecht loved game shows (CSP went on to produceTurn It Up! for MTV,Kids' Court andGUTS for Nickelodeon, and Albie oversaw many more as president of Nickelodeon production). He and Fred/Alan principal Alan Goodman created the idea for The Movie Masters, with the notion that it would recreate the salad days of broadcast network quiz shows. There were dozens of casting calls where the production spoke to luminaries likeBetty Comden andMargaret Whiting, before coming to the conclusion they would replicate a classic quiz show line up. They landed on TheMatch Game’sGene Rayburn as host, and actress and veteran quiz panelistPeggy Cass, New York Times’ theater criticClive Barnes, andA Night at the Opera actress andTo Tell the Truth stalwartKitty Carlisle as contestants.[2]