The Name of the Game (TV series)

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for the likes of The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s. The show had a relatively large budget for a television series.

Synopsis

The series was based on the 1966 television movie Fame Is the Name of the Game directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Tony Franciosa. The Name of the Game rotated among three characters working at Howard Publications, a large magazine publishing company — Jeff Dillon (Franciosa), a crusading reporter with People magazine (before there was a real-life People magazine); Glenn Howard (Gene Barry, replacing George Macready, who'd played the role in the earlier film), the sophisticated, well-connected publisher; and Dan Farrell (Robert Stack), the editor of Crime magazine. Serving as a common connection was newcomer Susan Saint James as Peggy Maxwell, the editorial assistant for each.

The show had a most striking imaginative rotating opening graphic, which in turn put up the three lead actors faces forming out of repeated appearing collages of their names, each slightly differing. This graphic originally put the featured Lead first, then the other two as 'starring in...', Franciosa set on pale blue background, Barry on red & Stack on green.All three Leads were...
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