paul lynde sat in the middle square on hollywood squares.
paul lynde sat in the middle square on hollywood squares.
who sat in the middle square on hollywood squares?
paul lynde
section::::career.:"hollywood squares".









































in 1966, lynde debuted on the fledgling game show "hollywood squares" and quickly became its iconic guest star. eventually he assumed a permanent spot as the "center square," a move which ensured that he would be called upon by contestants at least once in almost every round. despite an urban legend to the contrary, lynde remained in the center at the producers' discretion.
paul lynde
in 1983, several years after orion pictures acquired "hollywood squares" rights owner filmways, nbc decided to attempt a revival of the series. what resulted was a joint produced effort with orion's television unit and mark goodson productions that combined the "hollywood squares" program with a revival of the goodson-produced "match game". the sixty-minute program was dubbed "the match game-hollywood squares hour" and debuted on october 31, 1983 at 3 pm eastern, coincidentally replacing the peter marshall-hosted series "fantasy". jon bauman (aka former sha na na frontman "bowzer") hosted the "hollywood squares" portion of the show. the only regular panelist on this version was gene rayburn, who reprised his role as host of "match game"; he always occupied the lower left square during "hollywood squares", which bauman also occupied during "match game" segments. most of the semi-regulars were previously better known for "match game" (only on one week of episodes did a regular from the previous "hollywood squares", george gobel, appear on the panel).
hollywood squares