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Broadcast History: July 1, 1948 to c.1950, CBS Prime Time; February 12, 1951 to April 20, 1951, 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays), 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM (Tuesdays, Thursdays) CBS Daytime; February 25, 1952 to April 25, 1952, 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM, NBC Daytime
Main Game: Two contestants competed, one the returning champion and one the challenger. The host reads a question. Whoever rang their signal first got the chance to answer. The signalling devices were called "Bell" and "Buzzer" to determine which player was holding what. If the player who rang in missed or took too much time, the answer was revealed and the question thrown out, and a new question is asked to the other player. The first player to correctly answer three questions first won the game and a prize.
INTERESTING FACTS AND TRIVIA
Sometimes in the main game they would substitute general questions for special games like identifying a certain bottle while being blindfolded and feeling the bottle.
Winner Take All was the first game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman and first surfaced on radio before moving to television in 1948.
After the show got the axe by NBC, it was featured as part of the daytime variety show Matinee in New York during the summer of 1952.
Winner Take All was the first game show that paired up Bill Cullen and Don Pardo. They would pair up again on The Price is Right, Three on a Match, and Winning Streak, as well for a week on To Tell the Truth in 1972 while Bill was a regular panelist.
It is interesting to take note that over the short NBC run, the sets for Winner Take All were changed/modified a few times. In the later episodes, the wall behind Bill Cullen looked more expensive than the cheap one used in the show's first weeks. Also, in some episodes, Bill Cullen was seen wearing a bowtie instead of his traditional neckties. (See below)
Here are some snaps from a (most likely) WNBT (then WRCA, now WNBC) station ID.
Home Games: None issued but a quiz book was issued in 1949 and the authors were Bill Todman and Mark Goodson. (Bill Todman got top billing.) The book contained 2000 questions and answers. For more information, click here.
Episode Existence: Only a handful of episodes from each of the above versions exist. GSN has shown four episodes with Bill Cullen recently and another one with Barry Gray as part of a "Game of the Week". The two surviving episodes with Bill Cullen that aired in the past have recently aired on Black and White Overnight on the week of September 20 as well as two others that had not been rerun yet.
If anyone has more information on Winner Take All, e-mail me here.
Winner Take All is ©1946-1952 Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Productions/Fremantle Media Television. No challenge to ownership is implied.
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