Bob Eubanks: Legendary Host's "Not So Newlywed Game"

By Jason C. Klose

Best known for hosting The Newlywed Game on and off in the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s, legendary disc jockey, television personality and game show host Bob Eubanks also hosted the successful revamp version of Card Sharks from 1986 to 1989. In 2000, Eubanks received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also received a lifetime achievement Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 2005.

The Newlywed Game was launched in 1966 when Eubanks received a phone call from Chuck Barris, asking him to host a new game show. The Newlywed Game premiered on ABC later that same year and was an immediate hit. 

Only 28 years old when he started hosting, Eubanks became widely popular for bringing a youthful energy to daytime television, pressing contestants into giving embarrassing and hilarious answers. The Newlywed Game was also ranked as one of the top three daytime game shows, for five consecutive seasons, between 1968 and 1973, and was ranked in the top three prime-time game shows, also for five seasons, between 1966 and 1971.

While hosting The Newlywed Game, Eubanks was known for using the catchphrase "makin' whoopee," in reference to making love. It was Eubanks who borrowed the term from the song of the same name, in an attempt to keep parents with young children from having to explain the facts of life because of a television show.

In September 2015, I interviewed Eubanks for a preview of his "Not So Newlywed Game" at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport. For this show, Eubanks selected couples from the audience to come up on stage...only this time, 'married couples.' Bob was a real pleasure to talk to - a gentleman, professional yet down-to-earth, very well-spoken, and just an interesting guy. He tells great stories - and what a voice! 

So here is my conversation with Bob, the published article in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, and the original article I submitted. Hope you enjoy it!

Bob_Eubanks_09-22-2015

An old game, a new style and the same fun

Legendary Host Bob Eubanks Brings “Not So Newlywed Game” to Williamsport

Eight lucky couples will be front and center for an evening of laughter, fun, and prizes, as legendary game show host Bob Eubanks brings his “Not So Newlywed Game,” a live replica of the television game show, to Williamsport, Saturday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m., at the Community Arts Center, 220 West Fourth Street. 

The Newlywed Game premiered on ABC in 1966, going off and coming back on the air several times over the next three decades; from 1966-75, 1976-81, 1985-89, and 1996-98. In the mid-1970s it was the number one syndicated television show in the nation, and remained a syndicated hit throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. TV Guide voted Eubanks one of the top five game show hosts of all time.

In its time, The Newlywed Game was a microcosm of society, where a person could see all kinds of things by just watching the show. While hosting The Newlywed Game, Eubanks was known for using the catchphrase “makin’ whoopee,” in reference to making love. It was Eubanks who coined the term from the song of the same name, in an attempt to keep parents with young children from the need to explain the facts of life because of a television show.

“It was the first reality show if you will, and it was the first time we looked into people’s bedrooms,” Eubanks said. “I recall at the time, they wanted me to say ‘make love.’ And I wouldn’t say it, because I didn’t think you should have to explain that to your children until you are ready to do so. So we agreed on ‘whoopee.’ And that’s how ‘whoopee’ came about.”

When Eubanks first started The Newlywed Game, he would make a mistake now and then and have to stop. But he soon figured out that people liked for him to make a mistake, so he started making mistakes on purpose.

“The way to make people talk is the moment you take yourself out of the equation – they’ll just talk up a storm,” he said. “I figured out that people don’t want to know about you, they want you to know about them. And that’s how I was able to make these people talk; and they did.”

“Chuck Barris, who designed the show, figured out very early that the funniest people in the world are ‘John and Mary Jones,’” he said. “That’s why we never used celebrities on the show.”

When Eubanks got the job as host of The Newlywed Game, he was told there would be four couples who had never been on television. All he had to do then was go out and manufacture a half-hour of comedy. By the way, his competition on television that evening were the very popular shows Gunsmoke, Andy Williams, Jackie Gleason, Laugh In, and Flipper.

“If I went out there and could manufacture a half-hour comedy, I felt very creative,” he said. "The Newlywed Game was a comedy show that had a game – whereas Wheel of Fortune is a format-driven game show. I enjoyed The Newlywed Game because I learned how to make people talk. I learned a great deal by watching Johnny Carson. Johnny could say a million words with an expression.”

During the 1950s and early ‘60s, Eubanks was one of California’s most popular disc jockeys. He was also a producer of concerts, such as the Beatles 1964 and 1965 Hollywood Bowl performances. It was the beginning of a 20-year concert promotion career for Eubanks, in which he also produced the Rolling Stones, and every major rock ‘n’ roll act. While still in Los Angeles, he also produced such artists as Barry Manilow, the Supremes, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Elton John and Merle Haggard, among others.

“In 1969, I didn’t want to deal with the drug culture of San Francisco, so I got out of that business,” Eubanks said. “I then got back in it in 1972, and it was at that time that I managed the careers of Dolly Parton and Barbara Mandrell. I also signed Merle Haggard to an exclusive contract; and I was with Haggard for 10 years. Everywhere he went I went.”

In 1982, Eubanks decided he didn’t want to travel so much anymore, so he got into television production, producing the Toni Tennille Show and Buddy Hackett’s You Bet Your Life.

“I just had fun, and I’m still having fun,” he said. “You have success because you have to keep reinventing yourself. You have to take what you know how to do and apply it somewhere else. I have contemporaries that sit at home waiting for the phone to ring, and it’s not going to ring. So here I am, out playing the ‘Not So Newlywed Game,’ and having more fun than you’re supposed to have.”

Having fun is just what Eubanks has continued to do, involving himself in various recent projects; which keep his body and mind active.

“If you rest, you rust,” he said. “I do the ‘Not So Newlywed Game,’ and I do a very funny one-hour keynote for corporations called ‘It’s All About People.’ I also have a new show out now called ‘Backstage with the Beatles,’ in which I tell stories that lead up to Beatles music, and I show never before seen photos and videos. It’s really, really cool.”

With the “Not So Newlywed Game,” Eubanks, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in show business, tells backstage stories about some of America’s most popular celebrities. He also shows hilarious video clips of some of your favorite game shows.

“I will be introduced, and then I’ll show some very, very funny clips from past Newlywed Game shows,” Eubanks said. “We’ll pick four couples out of the audience, and then we’ll play ‘The Not So Newlywed Game.’ The only qualification is you have to be married.”

The winning couple will then be selected from those four and will receive a nice prize. Eubanks will then pick out four more couples and will do it all over again. 

“I go right into the audience and pick the couples – and it’s usually based on enthusiasm,” he said. “Whether you get up on the stage or not, you’re going to have so much fun – because I do!”

When it comes to reality television today, Eubanks believes shows such as The Voice, American Idol, and America’s Got Talent are well done, but he finds most of them not so much fun.

“They’re playing The Newlywed Game on the Game Show Network with another host, and that’s ok,” he said. “But we had a metaphor when we were doing the show. And the metaphor is ‘you never take the teddy off the girl.’ In other words, you never get dirty. And they’ve taken the teddy off the girl. And if you do that you only have one other place to go, and that’s to get dirtier. And so our show wasn’t dirty. Did we push the envelope? Heck yeah. But we never took the teddy off the girl, and for that I’m very grateful.”

 No matter your age or whether you’re married or single, Eubanks promises you will be entertained.

 “It’s time to laugh,” he said. “You’ve got to be very careful, because you can’t take any of this too seriously. I promise you, whoever is there, they’re going to walk out going, ‘Oh that crazy Bob, he’s so funny.’”