Sale of the Century

*Sale of the Century*
Sale of the Century
Genre	Game show
Created by	Al Howard
Presented by	Jack Kelly; Joe Garagiola; Jim Perry;
Starring	Barbara Lyon; Kit Dougherty; Madelyn Sanders; Sally Julian; Lee Menning; Summer Bartholomew;
Announcer	Bill Wendell; Jay Stewart; Don Morrow;
Theme music composer	Ray Ellis & Marc Ellis; (1983–89 version)
Opening theme	"Mercedes"; (1983–89 version)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5 (1969–74); 7 (1983–89);
No. of episodes	approx. 990; (NBC 1969–73); 39 (SYN 1973–74); 1,578 (NBC 1983–89); 220 (SYN 1985–86);
Production
Production locations	NBC Studios; New York, New York (1969–74); NBC Studios; Burbank, California (1983–89);
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production companies	Al Howard Productions (1969–74); Reg Grundy Productions (1983–89);
Original release
Network	NBC; (1969–73, 1983–89); Syndicated; (1973–74, 1985–86);
Release	September 29, 1969 –; March 24, 1989
	Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Sale of the Century (stylized as $ale of the Century) is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime.^[1] It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being the short-lived game shows Letters to Laugh-In and Name Droppers. The series aired until July 13, 1973, and a weekly syndicated series began that fall and ran for one season.

The rights to the show were purchased in 1980 by Australian TV mogul Reg Grundy, who produced a similar show called Great Temptation in the 1970s. Grundy subsequently launched an Australian version of Sale of the Century. Grundy's modified format was then used in a revived American Sale of the Century that aired on NBC from January 3, 1983, to March 24, 1989. It was one of three NBC game shows premiering on the same date, along with Hit Man and Just Men! (both of which aired for only 13 weeks), and—like its predecessor—spawned a syndicated edition that ran from January 7, 1985, to September 12, 1986. Grundy's format has also been adopted in other countries.

The game consists of contestants answering general knowledge questions. At certain points during the game, the player currently in the lead is offered an "Instant Bargain", a prize to keep regardless of the game's outcome, in exchange for a certain amount deducted from that contestant's score.

Actor Jack Kelly hosted the original series from 1969 to 1971, then decided to return to acting full-time. He was replaced by Joe Garagiola, who hosted the remainder of the daytime series plus the one season in syndication. Jim Perry then hosted both the NBC and syndicated 1980s versions. Al Howard was the executive producer of the initial 1969–1974 version, and for a short time was co-executive producer of the 1980s version with Robert Noah.

A short-lived revival of the series entitled Temptation, like the 2005 Australian revival, debuted in syndication on September 10, 2007, following a September 7 preview on MyNetworkTV. This series ran for one year.

^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 371. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.

[Daytime-1] Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 371. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.

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