Passings: Jack Narz, Host of Dotto and Concentration Dies at Age 85
Thursday October 16, 2008
Game show host Jack Narz passed away yesterday after experiencing complications following a stroke. He was 85.
Narz hosted the popular but short-lived game show Dotto in 1958, which ran daily in syndication on CBS and weekly in prime time on NBC. The show was the first one to be canceled at the start of the infamous quiz show scandal that rocked the game show world in the late 1950s, after a contestant alleged that rivals were being fed answers. Narz was not involved in the scandal, however, and went on to host numerous other shows including the revival of Concentration in 1973. He was given the Bill Cullen Award for Career Achievement in 2004.
GSN will be running a tribute package to Narz during GSN Live today, and from October 20th-24th they will air a week of Match Game episodes at 1:30pm and Password Plus episodes at 2:30pm which all feature Narz as a panelist. The Password Plus episodes were hosted by Narz' brother, Tom Kennedy. You can find an in-depth tribute to Jack Narz at TVGameShows.net, and there's a wonderful tribute video posted at Spike.com which includes some great clips from the various game shows Narz was involved with.
The game show world has lost a legend, and our condolences go out to the the Narz family.
Narz hosted the popular but short-lived game show Dotto in 1958, which ran daily in syndication on CBS and weekly in prime time on NBC. The show was the first one to be canceled at the start of the infamous quiz show scandal that rocked the game show world in the late 1950s, after a contestant alleged that rivals were being fed answers. Narz was not involved in the scandal, however, and went on to host numerous other shows including the revival of Concentration in 1973. He was given the Bill Cullen Award for Career Achievement in 2004.
GSN will be running a tribute package to Narz during GSN Live today, and from October 20th-24th they will air a week of Match Game episodes at 1:30pm and Password Plus episodes at 2:30pm which all feature Narz as a panelist. The Password Plus episodes were hosted by Narz' brother, Tom Kennedy. You can find an in-depth tribute to Jack Narz at TVGameShows.net, and there's a wonderful tribute video posted at Spike.com which includes some great clips from the various game shows Narz was involved with.
The game show world has lost a legend, and our condolences go out to the the Narz family.
Comments
We have lost a game show legend. I remember simpler times, and superior television. Jack Narz was part of a bygone TV era, which will regretfully never return, where programs both challenged and entertained the audience. Contestants were never belittled or embarrassed, but were allowed to be the stars of the show. To the Narz family, I wish an easy road ahead.