Trivia / Beat the Clock

• Contractual Obligation Project: The only reason Monty Hall got picked to host was because CBS had him under contract at the time- up to that point, CBS hadn't found any work for him, and hence forced him to do so. Hall didn't look back at his hosting tenure with fondness. He was quoted as saying: "The people were asked to do stupid stunts and so on. I just didn't care for it."
• Follow the Leader: Anything You Can Do was a Canadian take on the format with a "battle of the sexes" twist which aired on CTV in Canada and in syndication in the United States in 1971-74. Gene Wood was host for the first season, quitting both because he took over the hosting duties for Beat the Clock and because, despite producer Don Reid's reassurances, the stunts were not safe and often resulted in injured contestants; Canadian actor Don Harron replaced him for the balance of the run.
• Long-Runners: The original version ran for 11 years.
• Missing Episode: The Monty Hall era (1979-80) exists in its entirety, but the previous two versions are not as fortunate.
  • Most of the daytime run of the Bud Collyer era (1950-61) is believed lost, although a 1960 episode featuring a couple winning $20,100 in the Bonus Stunt (51 weeks after the previous Bonus Stunt win) is known to circulate. The nighttime version is missing most of its first two years; the earliest episode aired on GSN dated from August 1952, although an October 1951 episode in the public domain has been uploaded to the Internet Archive, while the Paley Center collection includes a January 1952 episode.
  • The Jack Narz/Gene Wood era (1969-74) is missing most of its first two years (including the first season, recorded in New York), and airings of the surviving episodes are infrequent at best.
• Prop Recycling: The PAX version, which was taped at Universal Studios Florida, used a number of props from Double Dare (1986), most notably the 1-Ton Human Hamster Wheel.
• Real-Life Relative: Jack Narz's brother Tom Kennedy (born Jim Narz) appeared as a guest for a 1971 week. The two traded some "Remember when we..." quotes that might have confused viewers not familiar with their family relationship.
• Real Song Theme Tune: The Sylvania years had "Hickory Dickory Dock", while the Fresh Deodorant era had "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)". Both used new lyrics.
• Stunt Casting: Literally, as celebrities would help the contestants do certain stunts in the Narz/Wood era.
• What Could Have Been: Bob Barker was approached to host the syndicated version. Barker's contract with Truth or Consequences at the time forbade him from doing a second syndicated show, and Jack Narz was hired instead.

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