Make the Connection


Make the Connection is an American game show, sponsored by Borden, that ran on Thursday nights from July 7 to September 29, 1955, on NBC. Originally hosted by Jim McKay, he was replaced after the first four episodes by Gene Rayburn for the final nine episodes.
The series was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production, and as such it had many things in common with the other panel shows developed by the company. Like I've Got a Secret, there were four celebrity panelists who were each given a timed period in which to ask questions. Each panelist that was stumped earned the contestants money.
Betty White made one of her earliest game show appearances as a panelist on the series. The regular panelists were White, Gene Klavan, Gloria DeHaven, and Eddie Bracken.

Rules

The object of the game was for the four celebrity panelists to "make the connection" between two people who would sit on both sides of the host. Each time a panelist failed to make the connection within 30 seconds, the contestant earned $25. The game ended after a panelist guessed the connection or the guest earned $150. Like many of its sister panel shows, it also featured the obligatory appearance by a celebrity guest, who would play the game as a contestant.

Episode status

Only a handful of the thirteen episodes exist, including at least one McKay episode and a Rayburn-hosted edition which featured an overly animated J. Fred Muggs, the Today Show chimpanzee sidekick. GSN has occasionally shown an episode in its "black and white" programming blocks. On September 11, 2017, Buzzr aired a Gene Rayburn episode as part of its "Lost & Found" programming block.