The Name of the Game

The Name of the Game
Format	Adventure/Mystery
Created by	Jennings Lang
Starring	Tony Franciosa Gene Barry Robert Stack Peter Falk Robert Wagner Darren McGavin Susan Saint James Mark Miller Ben Murphy Cliff Potts
Theme music composer	Dave Grusin
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	76
Production
Executive producer(s)	Richard Irving David Victor 1st season ROBERT STACK episodes. Leslie Stevens 1st season TONY FRANCIOSA episodes. Richard Irving and later Dean Hargrove, GENE BARRY episodes
Running time	90 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 20, 1968 – March 19, 1971

The Name of the Game is an American television series that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. The series rotated between three characters working at a large magazine company: a crusading reporter with People magazine (Tony Franciosa) — before there was a real-life People magazine — the sophisticated publisher of a family of magazines (Gene Barry), and the editor of Crime magazine (Robert Stack). It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for the likes of The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s.

Synopsis

The series was based on a 1966 TV movie called Fame Is the Name of the Game directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Franciosa. The show had a relatively large budget for a television series.^[1] Franciosa was fired from the series during the third season of the show's run, and his rotation taken by various characters played by actors including Peter Falk, Robert Culp, and Robert Wagner. Serving as a common connection was newcomer Susan Saint James as Peggy Maxwell, the editorial assistant for each. As well, Franciosa, Barry, and Stack occasionally crossed over into each others' shows, though all three leads never appeared onscreen simultaneously.

The Name of the Game provided Steven Spielberg with his first long-form directing assignment: the dystopic science fiction episode, "L.A. 2017," written by Philip Wylie. In the episode, Barry's character, Glenn Howard, is hunted down in a lethally polluted Los Angeles of the future, where the fascist government is ruled by psychiatrists and the populace has been driven to live in underground bunkers to survive the pollution.

Steven Bochco received one of his first writing credits on the series, and served as story editor for the third-season Robert Stack episodes.

Cast

• Tony Franciosa as Jeff Dillon (first and second seasons; 3 episodes in 3rd season.)
• Gene Barry as Glenn Howard
• Robert Stack as Dan Farrell
• Robert Culp as Paul Tyler (third season)
• Peter Falk as Lewis Corbett (third season)
• Robert Wagner as David Corey (third season)
• Darren McGavin as Sam Hardy (2nd season, 1 episode only)
• Susan Saint James as Peggy Maxwell
• Ben Murphy as Joe Sample (supporting role)
• Mark Miller as Ross Craig (supporting role)
• Cliff Potts going as Cliff Potter, as Andy Hill (first season; supporting role)

References

External links

• The Name of the Game at the Internet Movie Database
• The Name of the Game at TV.com
• The Name of the Game at EpGuides.com

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