Stewart Television facts for kids

Stewart Television was a company that made fun game shows for TV. It was started by a person named Bob Stewart in 1964. The company first began in New York City.

The Story of Stewart Television

Before starting his own company, Bob Stewart worked for another big TV company called Goodson-Todman Productions. He began creating game shows for them in 1956. One of the first popular game shows he helped create was The Price is Right. This show aired on NBC and was hosted by Bill Cullen. He also helped create To Tell the Truth in the same year. In 1961, he created Password.

In 1964, Bob Stewart decided to leave Goodson-Todman. He started his very own company, which he called Bob Stewart Productions.

Early Shows and Success

The first game show his new company produced was Eye Guess. It started in 1966 and ran until 1969. Another show, Personality, aired from 1967 to 1969.

In 1973, Bob Stewart created a very successful game show series called Pyramid. It started as The $10,000 Pyramid. His son, Sande Stewart, joined the company that same year and helped produce the show. Over the years, the Pyramid series became more and more popular. Its name changed several times, eventually becoming The $100,000 Pyramid.

Moving to a New City

In 1978, Bob Stewart Productions moved its main office to Los Angeles, California. The first show they made in their new location was The Love Experts. However, some of their older shows, like The $20,000 Pyramid, were still filmed in New York.

In 1982, Stewart brought back The $25,000 Pyramid. To make it clear it was a new version, they called it The New $25,000 Pyramid. Dick Clark became the host of this popular show. It was filmed in Hollywood, California. Bob and his son Sande also worked together on other shows, like Go, which started in 1983.

In 1985, Bob Stewart started another company called Bob Stewart Cable, Inc. This company made game shows specifically for cable TV channels. Only two shows were made under this new company. They were Jackpot! and The New Chain Reaction. Both of these shows were filmed in Canada for the USA Network.

By 1987, Bob Stewart started to slow down his work. His son, Sande Stewart, took over running the company. In 1990, the company's name changed again to Stewart Television. The cable TV company also changed its name to Stewart Cable TV, Inc.

Sande Stewart later started his own company, Stewart Tele Enterprises. In 1991, he produced a new version of The $100,000 Pyramid. This show was hosted by John Davidson. It ran for two seasons and ended in 1992, which was the same year Bob Stewart fully retired.

Becoming Part of Sony

In 1994, Bob Stewart sold his company to Sony Corporation. After the sale, Sande Stewart continued to create and produce game shows with his own company, Sande Stewart Television.

Many of the game shows created by Bob Stewart's company are now shown on the GSN. Some of his classic game shows have even been brought back with new hosts. For example, a new Pyramid show hosted by Donny Osmond started in 2002. Chain Reaction also returned in 2006, hosted by Dylan Lane.

Today, Stewart Television is still a part of Sony Pictures Television, even though it doesn't create new shows under that name.

People Who Worked at Stewart Television

Many talented people worked at Stewart Television over the years. Bob Stewart's son, Sande Stewart, joined the company in 1973.

The main announcers for Stewart's shows were Don Pardo and Bob Clayton. Don Pardo announced many shows that were filmed in New York, like Eye Guess and Three on a Match. Bob Clayton was another important announcer, working on shows like Pyramid and Pass the Buck.

Another well-known announcer was Johnny Gilbert, who is famous for Jeopardy!. He announced for shows like Chain Reaction and The (New) $25,000 Pyramid. Other announcers who worked for Stewart included Charlie O'Donnell and Bob Hilton.

Jack Clark, who was an announcer for Wheel of Fortune, also worked on The $10,000 Pyramid.

Dick Clark was a very important person at Stewart Television. He hosted almost every version of the Pyramid game show from 1973 to 1988. Bill Cullen, a close friend of Bob Stewart, also hosted many shows for the company, including The $25,000 Pyramid and Eye Guess.

Anne-Marie Schmitt was a producer for many of Bob Stewart's shows. Other important production staff included Erin Perry, Francine Bergman, and David Michaels. The directors for the shows included Mike Gargiulo and Bruce Burmester.

The Stewart Television Show Library

Sony Pictures Entertainment now owns all the game shows and show ideas from Bob Stewart Productions. Sadly, many of the original recordings of shows made before 1978 were lost. This happened because of how TV networks used to store and reuse tapes back then. However, many episodes from that time have been saved by people who recorded them at home or by TV station employees. These episodes can sometimes be found online.

Shows Created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman

• The Price is Right (1956–1965)
• To Tell the Truth (1956–1968)
• Password (1961–1967)

Shows Created by Bob Stewart for Stewart Television

Other Company Names

Over the years, the company used a few different names:

• Bob Stewart Productions (the first name)
• Bob Stewart & Sande Stewart Productions (used from 1982–1984 and 1987–1991)
• Bob Stewart Cable (for shows made for cable TV), later called Stewart Cable TV, Inc.
• Basada, Inc. (used for copyright on some shows like Pyramid and Go)