In the early 70's, eccentric game show mogul Chuck Barris acquired the rights to Jan Murray's 50's hit, Treasure Hunt, and rebooted it as a syndicated, weekly series with an updated set, a group of attractive models, and a new host, Geoff Edwards. Murray was still around, doing game & talk shows and stand-up comedy, but for some reason was no longer in demand as a game show host, despite his success in the 50's. Murray, though, was given screen credit as series creator.
The New Treasure Hunt ran for four seasons (1973-7), and you can blame Barris himself for scuttling the show before the 5th season. Flush with success from NBC's Gong Show, Barris wanted Hunt to be even more bizarre. He'd already done away with the quiz portion of the show, opting to try to emulate or parody (take your pick) Monty Hall's Let's Make a Deal. Edwards, who'd taken advantage of the weekly schedule to land a daytime gig (Jackpot), balked, and would've been gone, except that Barris had a change of heart, then pulled the plug anyway.
Hunt would return for that fifth season after all, in 1981, this time as a daily series, but the four year time lag proved costly, and the series finally ended in 1982. Subsequent purchases of the series by other entities have not produced revivals, although another game show icon, Wink Martindale, has been attached to recent attempts.
Let's take a trip back in time to 1973:
Rating: B. Nothing beats the original.
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