40 Fun Facts About Name That Tune

Which Tony-winning actress became host of Name That Tune when it returned to prime time in 2021?

Jane Krakowski said she took the job partly to perform again in front of a live audience. Her Tony came for the 2003 Broadway revival of Nine.

Which future morning-show partner of Regis Philbin was Name That Tune's house vocalist in 1977–78?

Kathie Lee Gifford, then billed as Kathie Lee Johnson, got her first television role on the show. She left after one season, seven years before joining Regis Philbin.

Which former American Idol judge was bandleader for the revived Name That Tune's first five seasons?

Randy Jackson also announced the opening of each show. A record executive and bassist, he was the longest-serving judge on American Idol.

The 2021 Name That Tune revival filmed its first season with American contestants in which country?

Australia hosted the shoot in Sydney, with Americans living there as contestants and a studio audience under local COVID-19 rules.

Which Hunger Games actress was attached as host when CBS ordered a Name That Tune pilot in 2017?

Elizabeth Banks later found a game show that stuck, hosting ABC's revival of Press Your Luck from 2019. CBS passed on her music quiz pilot.

Bill Cullen, a 1950s Name That Tune host, was the original host of which long-running game show?

The Price Is Right kept Bill Cullen busy from 1956 to 1965. During his Name That Tune year he was also hosting NBC's Place the Face at the same time.

Jim Lange, host of the 1984 Name That Tune revival, was best known for which matchmaking show?

The Dating Game had Jim Lange as its host from 1965 to 1980. His daily Name That Tune was less lucky, lasting a single season.

Which future Roots star became known to TV audiences as a teen contestant on Name That Tune in 1958?

Leslie Uggams was spotted as a teen talent on the show, then went on to play Kizzy in Roots and, decades later, Blind Al in the Deadpool films.

In the 1950s Name That Tune, what did contestants race across the stage to do before naming a song?

Ring a ship's bell was the rule: two large bells stood across the stage from the players. A 1974 daytime round, Ring That Bell, recreated the dash.

Which network revived Name That Tune in 2021, pairing it on Wednesdays with The Masked Dancer?

Fox announced the revival in November 2020, a day after filming had begun. NBC was the show's first home, on both radio and television.

In the best-known round of Name That Tune, what do the two contestants bid down against each other?

Number of notes is the stake in Bid-a-Note: rivals bid down from as many as seven until one dares the other to name the song.

Which Name That Tune bonus round asks the winner to name seven songs in 30 seconds?

Golden Medley dates back to the 1950s original, when viewers at home chose the songs. One wrong answer ends the round, though a player may pass and come back.

For its 1978 season, The $100,000 Name That Tune adopted a new set and theme in which musical style?

Disco arrived as part of a 1978 overhaul that also scrapped the Mystery Tune in favor of season-long tournaments for the big prize.

The host of the 2021 Name That Tune revival played which vain actress on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock?

Jenna Maroney, clueless and narcissistic, earned her four Emmy nominations for best supporting actress. The Tina Fey comedy ran from 2006 to 2013.

Which Masked Singer panelist became bandleader of the revived Name That Tune in its sixth season?

Robin Thicke, son of sitcom dad Alan Thicke, joined The Masked Singer panel in 2019. He replaced the revival's first bandleader after five seasons.

Which younger brother of emcee Jack Narz hosted the syndicated Name That Tune from 1974 to 1981?

Tom Kennedy took a stage name so that two announcers named Narz would not be pitching rival products.

CBS cancelled the original Name That Tune in October 1959 in the wake of which TV controversy?

The quiz show scandals, which exposed scripted outcomes on hits such as Twenty-One, swept the genre off the air. The last Name That Tune aired a day after CBS's announcement.

Name That Tune grew out of which earlier quiz that phoned people at home to identify melodies?

Stop the Music relied on random calls to listeners and its studio audience. Name That Tune turned the idea into a duel between two contestants on stage.

Ralph Edwards, producer of the 1970s Name That Tune, created which surprise-biography show?

This Is Your Life began on radio in 1948. Edwards later refused to sell rerun rights to his Name That Tune, so the 1970s episodes never returned to national TV.

Media mogul Silvio Santos hosted a version of Name That Tune on his own network in which country?

Brazil knew the show under a Portuguese title meaning What Song Is It. It aired on SBT, the network Santos founded, and returned in 2023 as a segment hosted by his daughter Patricia Abravanel.

Singer Robert Janowski spent two decades hosting a Name That Tune version on TVP1 in which country?

Poland's version, whose title means What Melody Is It, launched on TVP1 in 1997. Janowski hosted it until 2018 and returned in 2024.

From its second season, the 2021 Name That Tune revival moved production to which European capital?

Dublin took over the shoot, at the RDS and Font Hill Studios, as the Irish company BiggerStage came aboard as co-producer.

Name That Video, a 2001 Name That Tune spin-off using music videos, aired on which cable channel?

VH1 aired the daily show, where players named songs from their videos. Lorne Michaels picked host Karyn Bryant, who filmed 50 episodes.

Cassette Roulette on 1970s Name That Tune had contestants pick song categories from a board of what?

8-track tapes, eight of them, made up the board, and four hid a bonus prize. The game lasted only a few months of the first syndicated season.

Where were 1970s Name That Tune contestants placed to hear the $100,000 Mystery Tune?

An isolation booth, wired so the player heard only the music and the host, held the contestant for 20 seconds of playing and a single guess.

Sealed envelopes in a backstage safe on 1970s Name That Tune each held what for the Mystery Tune?

Sheet music with the title blacked out went to the pianist, while a smaller envelope inside held the title for the host to open afterward.

In The Money Tree, a 1970s Name That Tune game, what did an opponent pluck off as a rival listened?

Dollar bills, 100 singles per tree, vanished one by one until the player named the song. Some rounds ended with both trees stripped bare.

Roberta Salter, who co-created Name That Tune, was the daughter of which celebrity evangelist?

Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of the Foursquare Church, was a media celebrity of the 1920s. Roberta was born in Hong Kong, where her parents were missionaries.

Which emcee hosted Name That Tune when it first reached television on NBC in 1953?

Red Benson lasted a single prime-time season. When the show moved to CBS in fall 1954, Bill Cullen took over the job.

Which host of TV's first network game show fronted NBC's 1974 daytime Name That Tune?

Dennis James emceed Cash and Carry on the DuMont network in 1946. His Name That Tune ran five months and was his last new game show.

Name That Tune vocalist Monica Pege came from Lady Flash, the backing trio of which 1970s singer?

Barry Manilow toured with Lady Flash from 1974 to 1979 and wrote the trio's own 1976 hit, Street Singin'. Pege performed on the game show as Monica Burruss.

Steve March, a lead singer on Name That Tune from 1978 to 1981, is the son of which jazz crooner?

Mel Tormé is the father of Steve March-Tormé, who won the job a day after auditioning with Elton John and Stevie Wonder songs. His stepfather hosted The $64,000 Question.

Monthly champions on the 1984 Name That Tune won a package featuring which mid-engine sports car?

Pontiac Fiero plus $10,000 in cash headlined winnings billed at $100,000 in all. Runners-up went home with a vacation for two instead.

A Name That Tune video game hosted by Bob Goen was released for which short-lived home console?

Philips CD-i got the game, which was modeled on an unsold 1990 pilot of the show. A version announced for the Game.com never appeared.

Eddie Hodges, a 1957 child player on Name That Tune, first played Winthrop in which Broadway show?

The Music Man opened on Broadway in 1957 with Hodges, aged ten, as Winthrop Paroo. Its cast album made him a Grammy winner at 12.

The first bandleader of the revived Name That Tune played bass in the 1980s for which rock band?

Journey hired him as a session player for the 1986 album Raised on Radio, then took him on the tour that followed.

Which former teen idol was host of a 2006 CBS Name That Tune pilot built around a $1 million bonus round?

Donny Osmond, who had spent two seasons hosting Pyramid, was the host CBS chose. The planned bonus round asked for 15 songs in 60 seconds, but no series followed.

Which comedian, who also opened for Frank Sinatra, hosted Name That Tune on CBS from 1955 to 1959?

George DeWitt was the original run's longest-serving host, staying until CBS pulled the plug. He was born George Florentine.

Which Give Us a Clue team captain took over as host of the British Name That Tune in 1984?

Lionel Blair succeeded comedian Tom O'Connor and stayed until ITV dropped the show from its schedule in 1988.

Bob Goen, host of a Name That Tune video game, was the final host of which show's daytime run?

Wheel of Fortune had Bob Goen as its last daytime host, from 1989 to 1991. He later spent more than a decade on Entertainment Tonight.