Password (American game show)

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Password
Also known as	Password All-Stars (1974–75)
Genre	Game show
Created by	Bob Stewart
Directed by	Lou Tedesco (1961–67) Mike Gargiulo (1961–67) Stuart W. Phelps (1971–75) Ira Skutch (1971–75)[1] Tony McCuin (2022–)
Presented by	Allen Ludden Keke Palmer
Announcer	Jack Clark Lee Vines Bern Bennett John Harlan A. D. Miles
Theme music composer	Kurt Rehfeld (1961–63) Bob Cobert (1963–67) Score Productions (1971–75)[1] James Poyser (2022–)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5 (ABC) 2 (NBC)
No. of episodes	1,555 (CBS Daytime) 201 (CBS Primetime) 1,099 (ABC) 17 (NBC)
Production
Executive producers	Frank Wayne (1961–75) Jimmy Fallon (2022–) John Quinn (2022–) Jim Juvonen (2022–)
Producer	Howard Felsher (1971–75)[1]
Production locations	CBS Studio 52 New York, New York (1961–66) CBS Television City Los Angeles, California (1962–67) CBS Studio 50 New York, New York (1966–67) ABC Television Center Los Angeles, California (1971–75) Vine Street Theatre Los Angeles, California (1971–75) Universal Studios Lot Universal City, California (2022–)
Running time	22–23 minutes (1961–75) 25–26 minutes (1962–67; primetime) 43 minutes (2022–)
Production companies	Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions (1961–75) Universal Television Alternative Studio (2022–) Electric Hot Dog (2022–) Fremantle (2022–)
Original release
Network	CBS (1961–67) ABC (1971–75) NBC (2022–)
Release	October 2, 1961 (1961-10-02) – present
Related
Password Plus Super Password Million Dollar Password
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Password is an American television game show in which two teams, each composed of a celebrity player and a contestant, attempt to convey mystery words to each other using only single-word clues, in order to win cash prizes.

The show was created by Bob Stewart and originally produced by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. It aired on CBS from 1961 to 1967, and ABC from 1971 to 1975. The original host was Allen Ludden, who had previously been well known as the host of the G.E. College Bowl.

Two revivals later aired on NBC: Password Plus from 1979 to 1982, and Super Password from 1984 to 1989, followed by a primetime version, Million Dollar Password, on CBS from 2008 to 2009.^[2] All of these versions introduced new variations in gameplay.

In 2022, NBC premiered a primetime revival of Password executive produced by Jimmy Fallon, and hosted by actress Keke Palmer. This version is a modernization of the original CBS version, and features Fallon as a regular panelist.

In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #8 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.^[3]