Say When!!

Say When!!
The show with host Art James in 1963.
Created by	Mark Goodson Bill Todman
Directed by	Dick Schneider, Don Bohl
Presented by	Art James
Starring	Ruth Halsey, Emily Banks, Gunilla Knutson, Carolyn Whit, Kristan Johnson, Elizabeth Ames
Narrated by	Wayne Howell
Country of origin	United States
Production
Producer(s)	S. Robert Rowe
Location(s)	NBC Studios New York, New York
Running time	approx. 22-26 Minutes
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	January 2, 1961 – March 26, 1965

Say When!! is an American game show emceed by Art James which aired on NBC television from January 2, 1961 to March 26, 1965. The show was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production and James' only game show for them. Wayne Howell was the announcer, with occasional substitution by Roger Tuttle, Mel Brandt, and Fred Collins. The models alternatingly consisted of Ruth Halsey, Emily Banks, Gunilla Knutson, Carolyn White, Kristan Johnson, and Elizabeth Ames. Carmen Mastren was the show's music director.

The series aired live in black and white (switching to color in mid-1964) from NBC Studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York.

Two contestants, one a returning champion, competed. At the beginning of each game a dollar goal was revealed and four prizes were displayed. The contestants then took turns picking one prize at a time (when a prize was picked, another prize replaced it). Once picked, the dollar value of the prize was added to the contestant's total.

The object for the players was to get closer to the goal than their opponent without going over. Once either player came within $250 of the goal she/he could "say when" (freeze), forcing the other to continue play until she/he either won the game by beating the frozen total or exceeding the goal and losing.

One of the recurring prizes was the "Blank Check", which usually involved a grocery-related item. The contestant who chose it could select up to a certain amount of it times the product's individual cost. The individual price would then be revealed and multiplied, with its total then added to the contestant's score. (James' later game show Blank Check was not actually based on this "prize", but on adding digits to a four-digit cash prize.)

A best-of-three match was played to determine the champion, with players keeping all prizes won outright.

During one episode following the switch to color, James was doing a live commercial for Peter Pan peanut butter. The spot went normally until, as he had done several times during rehearsals for the spot, he dropped a table knife into the glass jar as he held it up; on this instance, however, the bottom of the jar broke and the knife fell out of the bottom. James continued the spot to laughter from the audience, which held as the bottom part of the jar (now a fully visible circle) came "unglued" from the peanut butter. "It's great peanut butter," James said. "The jar is something else". He later said, "My mother told me there'd be days like this".