Heatter-Quigley Productions
 |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960 |
| Founders | Merrill Heatter Bob Quigley |
| Defunct | 1981 |
| Fate | Rebranded as Merrill Heatter Productions |
Heatter-Quigley Productions was an American television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley. After Quigley's retirement, the company became Merrill Heatter Productions.
History
On many of Heatter-Quigley's most popular game shows, beginning with Video Village, a key element of the game was enlarged, and in some instances the entire game itself was magnified to larger than life.
- tokens.is similar to Video Village.)
(The popular late 1970s Canadian game show Mad Dash - The Hollywood Squares featured a massive tic-tac-toe board
- Shut the Box"
- Gambit had a large deck of playing cards in a game of blackjack
- The Magnificent Marble Machine featured a gigantic pinball machine
- lie detector
In 1961, Heatter and Quigley entered into a partnership with Four Star Television to produce programming, and most of the assets were transferred to
In 2008, Heatter returned to game show production with the GSN game show Catch 21, based on Gambit. Heatter is co-executive producer with another veteran producer, Scott Sternberg. Heatter died of cancer on October 8, 2017.
Employees
Many hosts would become famous for the shows they did for HQ. Peter Marshall became most famous for The Hollywood Squares, Wink Martindale would have his first big hit with Gambit, and Alex Trebek would see his first hit in America (after a long run with Reach for the Top in his native Canada) with High Rollers.
Titles by Heatter-Quigley Productions
- Video Village/Video Village, Jr. (1960–1962)
- Double Exposure (1961)
- People Will Talk (1963)
- The Celebrity Game (1964)
- Shenanigans (1964–1965)
- PDQ (1966–1969)
- Showdown (1966)
- Hollywood Squares/Storybook Squares (1966–1981 version)
- Temptation (1967–1968)
- Funny You Should Ask (1968–1969)
- Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (via Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. Animation); the only non-game show produced by the company, although it was intended to have a game show element)
- Name Droppers (1969)
- Gambit (1972–1976)
- a British versionof this show aired 1975–81
- The Amateur's Guide to Love (1972)
- Baffle (1973), a revival of PDQ.
- All-Star Baffle (1974), Baffle with "civilian" contestants playing the bonus round, picked from the studio audience.
- High Rollers (1974–1976; 1978–1980)
- The Magnificent Marble Machine (1975–1976)
- Hot Seat (1976)
- To Say the Least (1977–1978)
- Bedtime Stories (1979)
- Las Vegas Gambit (1980–1981)
Titles by Merrill Heatter Productions
- Battlestars (1981–1982)
- Fantasy (1982–1983) (co-produced by Earl Greenberg Productions and Columbia Pictures Television)
- The New Battlestars (1983)
- All-Star Blitz (1985) (co-produced by Peter Marshall Enterprises)
- Bargain Hunters (1987) (co-produced by Josephson Communications, Inc.)
- High Rollers (1987–1988) (co-produced by Century Towers Productions and syndicated by Orion Television Syndication)
- The Last Word (1989–1990) (syndicated by Turner Program Services)
- Hollywood Teasers (1993; unsold revival of All-Star Blitz, distributed by MCA TV)
- Catch 21 (2008–2016, 2019–2020) (co-produced by Scott Sternberg Productions)
Notes and references
- ^ "Four Star enters syndication, live" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazing. 1961-09-04. p. 66.
- ^ "Pleasing price tags return game shows to TV" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine. 1968-01-08. pp. 54–55. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Filmways expands with print, TV additions" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine. 1969-06-09. p. 44. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ King World International Acquires Exclusive International Format Rights to Game Show Catalogue From Merrill Heatter Productions, Inc., prnewswire.co.uk
- ^ "KING GETS THE SQUARE". Broadcasting: 26. 1991-11-25.