Password is an American television game show. Two teams, each composed of a celebrity and contestant, attempt to convey mystery words to each other using single-word clues, in order to win cash prizes. There have been various incarnations of the show have aired on television since the 1960s. The show was created by Bob Stewart and originally produced by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. It aired on CBS from 1961 to 1967, and ABC from 1971 to 1975. Versions of the show in the 1970s added a number of gameplay variations, among them a switch to a format with celebrities playing for charity. Allen Ludden was the host of every version aired between 1961 and 1975. Two revivals later aired on NBC: Password Plus from 1979 to 1982, and Super Password from 1984 to 1989. CBS aired a primetime version, Million Dollar Password, from 2008 to 2009. All three of these versions introduced new variations in gameplay. In 2022, NBC premiered another primetime revival of Password hosted by Keke Palmer, with Jimmy Fallon serving as one of the celebrity partners as well as executive producer.
Gameplay
Two teams, each primarily consisting of one celebrity player and one civilian contestant, compete. A mystery word, known as a "password", is given to one player on each team and shown onscreen to viewers; on most incarnations, the announcer also whispers the password to the audience. Gameplay alternates between the two teams. On each team, the player who is given the password must attempt to convey it to their partner using a singular word clue. Invalid clues include using the word or any part of it; using hand gestures; using more than one word or a hyphenated word; using a made-up word; or failing to give a clue. Proper nouns and non-English words may be used as clues, and words that have already been given as clues may be repeated. If the teammate fails to guess the correct password, it is then passed to the opposing team unless the password or part of it was given as a clue, at which point the password is discarded and a new one selected. Guessing the password on the first attempt awards the most possible points, with each successive being worth one point less than the one before it. Gameplay continues until the password is correctly guessed and points awarded, or all possible turns have been exhausted, and a new password is selected. Originally, the maximum value of a password was 10 points, with a cash prize awarded to the first team to reach 25 points. With the 2022 version, the standard maximum value of the first guess is just 6 points, with a goal of 15 points. Once a game, a team may also select to "shoot the moon" or play the word for 8 points should it be correctly guessed on the very first attempt. An incorrect response on the attempt allows the other team a chance to earn the points. The celebrities switch partners after Game 1 and play a second round. If the contestants win one game apiece, a tiebreaker round is played. A final password sits in an envelope, and host Keke Palmer will be the sole clue-giver. The contestants stand and as soon as they feel they know what the password is they will buzz in. A correct response sends the responder to the Bonus Round to play for $25,000 but an incorrect or non-response will automatically send their opponent to the Bonus Round.
Bonus round The original version of the show featured one of the first bonus rounds for a television game show, known as the "Lightning Round". The celebrity of the winning team was given five passwords, and attempted to convey each one to his or her teammate within 60 seconds. Each correctly guessed word was worth $50. On the 2022 version, the bonus round is played with 10 passwords, each starting with consecutive letters of the alphabet. This format was previously used as the bonus round of both Password Plus and Super Password. The winning contestant is given a combined 60 seconds to attempt conveying all ten passwords to the celebrities. During the first 30 seconds, the contestant plays with one of the two celebrity partners, after which point the other celebrity takes over, and the round continues from the remaining letters including any that were passed earlier by the contestant. If an illegal clue is given, that password is discarded and replaced with another one beginning with the same letter. Each correctly guessed password is worth $1,000, with a grand prize of $25,000 if they all are correctly guessed. If the contestant fails to get all 10, they are given a final password and will convey a clue to the two celebrities. The celebrities deliberate and give Palmer what they think is the answer. A correct answer doubles the money earned by the contestant.
Contestants On the CBS daytime version, contestants played two matches, win or lose, with each game awarding $100 to the winner. For most of the CBS nighttime version's first year, the same two players stayed for the entire show, playing as many matches as time allowed with each player guaranteed at least $100. However, after three contestants managed to break the $1,000 mark, this practice was changed in November 1962 to having two new contestants play each game (generally, three pairs of contestants competed in the course of each show), with winning contestants receiving $250 and losers receiving a consolation prize (usually $50). Early on in the ABC version the contestants played a single-elimination game with the winning contestants could stay until they were either defeated or won a maximum of 10 games, thus retiring them as undefeated champions. Later on, the limit was dropped, and champions stayed on the show until defeated. From 1973 onward, games are played to a best of three format.
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