Front Page Challenge

This Front Page Challenge print ad was used in the 1960s. The weekly show was on the air from 1957-1995 and was television's longest-running game show and became an axiom of Canadian television.

The popular series featured the panel attempting to guess a news story by asking a hidden guest a series of questions.  At times during its run, the primetime show drew a record two million viewers. Notable mystery guests included Igor Gouzenko, Eleanor Roosevelt and Errol Flynn, and guest panelist Walter Cronkite.

The series was initially meant to just be an inexpensive summer replacement series for the Denny Vaughan Show - but by the time its summer run was over, it's popularity had grown to the extent that it permanently took over the timeslot.

The regular panelists would ask the guests questions in an attempt to identify a headline-making news story. After the panel managed to identify the guest, a newsreel-style account of the story would be shown from the audience and the guest would then be interviewed by the panel. The quizzes were designed to last about four minutes each so two or three mystery guests could be featured on each episode.

Over time the challenge period got shorter and chats with challengers like Eleanor Roosevelt, Indira Gandhi and Rick Hansen grew longer.

Announcer Bernard Cowan worked with longtime host Fred Davis and regular panelists Gordon Sinclair, Pierre Berton, Toby Robins, Betty Kennedy, Allan Fotheringham and Jack Webster.

Watch a 1972 episode of Front Page Challenge:

Posted on Sep 8, 2011 6:00:00 AM