''Haggis Baggis'' is an American

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from 1958 to 1959.

Jack Linkletter Arthur Jack Linkletter (November 20, 1937 – December 18, 2007) was an American game show and television host and entertainer. He was the son of Art Linkletter. Early life Linkletter was born Arthur Jack Linkletter in San Francisco. He was the ...

hosted the primetime version while

Fred Robbins Fred Robbins (born March 25, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football, Wa ...

and Dennis James did the daytime show. The announcer was

Bill Wendell William Joseph Wenzel Jr. (March 22, 1924 – April 14, 1999), known as Bill Wendell, was an NBC television staff announcer for almost his entire professional career. Life and career Born William Joseph Wenzel Jr. on March 22, 1924, in New Y ...

, with some editions announced by

Jerry Damon Horace Jerome D'Amato (August 24, 1927 – January 24, 1979), known professionally as Jerry Damon, was an American radio and television announcer and actor. Biography Damon was a staff announcer for NBC in New York from 1954William T. Naud William T. Naud (born June 7, 1929) is an American director, writer and producer. His films include ''Ricky 1'', ''Wild in the Sky'' and ''Island of Blood''. He is best known for creating television game shows such as '' Rhyme and Reason'' and ...

Game play

Two players, usually women, competed. The object was to identify an image of a celebrity's face, which was concealed behind a 5×5 grid, with the horizontal dimension showing letters and the vertical dimension showing categories. The host announced a category and one of the letters. Then the player in control had to come up with a word or phrase that fit the category. For each acceptable answer given, a piece of the picture connected to the category and letter was revealed. When a signal sounded after four combinations were played (two per player), the game continued with the player choosing a category, then a letter, and finally an answer which fit both criteria. The first player to solve the picture won the game and became champion. In the event that either contestant would make a mistake on the picture, the game automatically went to the opponent. The winner of the game would get the better role in the bonus round and earn the right to play the next game. In the bonus game the winner would secretly choose one of two prizes titled "Haggis (luxury items)" or "Baggis (utilitarian items)". If the opponent picked the other package, each contestant won the prizes they chose; if not, then only the champion won whatever she selected. Champions could stay on the program until defeated.

Broadcast history

The series debuted on June 30, 1958 in both daytime and nighttime. The daytime series was hosted by

from the June 30 debut until he resigned February 6, 1959. The following Monday, Dennis James took over and hosted through the end of the daytime run; James noted on his first episode that he was given no warning that he was taking over the show, forcing him to learn the rules of the game on the fly. The nighttime series ran from June 30 to September 29, 1958 with Linkletter as host. Linkletter refused to do the daytime version so as to not compete with his father

Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of '' House Party'', which ran on CBS radio ...

Episode status

The series has not been rerun and is most likely

wiped Lost television broadcasts are television programs that were not preserved after their original airing, rendering them permanently unavailable for both public and private screening. Because of this, they are considered a form of lost media, par ...

due to network policies at the time. For NBC in particular, this was quite common through 1980. Two episodes are known to exist, both hosted by Jack Linkletter, which are held by the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a nonpro ...

. James's first episode, likely from the personal library he maintained during his lifetimeDennis James
/ref> (now managed by his son Brad), also exists.

Notes

References

* ''The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows'', 2nd ed.; 1995 Schwartz, Ryan, and Wostbrock

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0051279 1958 American television series debuts 1959 American television series endings 1950s American game shows American English-language television shows NBC game shows