Sunday, July 8, 2012

Game Time: Choose Up Sides (1956)

When we were kids, we would choose teams for pickup games of softball or kickball, or even a little 3-on-3 hoops action.

Little did my generation know that there was actually a game show under the name, Choose Up Sides, which aired on NBC in 1956. The set was rather simple for the period, and so was the concept. The inestimable Don Pardo, whom I believe is still active today on Saturday Night Live, is the announcer, and a pre-Match Game Gene Rayburn is your genial MC. Gilmorebox uploaded the open, which is all that is available on YouTube at the present time.



Edit: 7/22/17: We've added a complete episode. The intro isn't the same as above, but...!



It's easy to assume Choose Up Sides was a forerunner to later game shows like Double Dare (The Nickelodeon show), although it wasn't quite as messy. Not only that, but it really was a companion of a sort to another G-T game, Beat The Clock, which was running at the time on CBS. No rating, of course.

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