About this season
The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s. The show had an extremely large budget for a television series.
Episodes (26)
1. Lady On the Rocks
Aired 19 September 1969 • 75 min
A happy marriage might be a front for the wife's fear and guilt as Howard (GB) suspects.
2. A Hard Case of the Blues
Aired 26 September 1969 • 75 min
Blues singer Jesse Boone's business manager has just died under mysterious circumstances. He also swindled Jesse out of $200,000. Thing of it is, Jesse couldn't care less--and Crime magazine editor Dan Farrell (RS) wants to know the reasons for her apathy.
3. Blind Man's Bluff
Aired 3 October 1969 • 75 min
An ex-district attorney gives Crime magazine reporter Jeff Dillon (TF) a phony story. It's all part of a complex plan for revenge. He was blinded several years earlier, and his wife's face was mutilated; now the former D.A. wants to trap the man responsible for his sightlessness.
4. The Emissary
Aired 10 October 1969 • 75 min
An old-line French Marxist who happens to be an old friend of Crime magazine publisher Dan Howard (GB) would like him to help him pull off a delicate diplomatic mission. The Red Chinese delegation has just stormed out of an international health conference, and Howard has been assigned to woo them back.
5. Chains of Command
Aired 17 October 1969 • 73 min
Farrell (RS) is investigating charges that the officials of a prison on the Mexican border are shipping out forced labor to local farms. It has been further charged that the officials are getting rich on kickbacks. Assuming a false identity and taking a job in the border town becomes very hazardous.
6. Goodbye Harry
Aired 24 October 1969 • 75 min
Roving reporter Sam Hardy's boss, Crime magazine publisher Glenn Howard (GB), sends Hardy and magazine researcher Peggy Maxwell on a dangerous fact-finding mission. Their quarry is American missile scientist Harry Roarke. While it appears as though Harry has defected to Cuba, he may very well be hiding out in the States, in fear for his life.
7. Give Till It Hurts
Aired 31 October 1969 • 75 min
The object of Farrell's (RS) latest investigation is a professional fundraiser. The editor recognizes him as a notorious con man, so it should be no problem to expose his racket. But problems there are, especially when an unknown gangster type pressures him to lay off.
8. The Perfect Image
Aired 7 November 1969 • 73 min
Howard (GB) has recently been instrumental in getting the new mayor of Chicago elected. Recently uncovered evidence, however, suggests that he is in bed with the Mob. Howard and Crime magazine researcher Peggy Maxwell try to weed out the truth.
9. The Prisoner Within
Aired 14 November 1969 • 75 min
Dillon (TF) investigates the story of a young man who is challenged by an Army officer to undergo prisoner of war training. He accepts the survival training challenge.
10. The Civilized Men
Aired 28 November 1969 • 75 min
Farrell (RS) heads to Florida to probe into a cattle scam. Someone has been selling tainted meat, the end product of a rustled shipment of government livestock. Could the Mob be involved?
11. High Card
Aired 5 December 1969 • 74 min
A U.S. Senator claims to have photographic proof that Howard (GB)was the man who tipped off the Cubans about the Bay of Pigs.
12. The Power
Aired 12 December 1969 • 75 min
Dan Farrell (RS) sets about to investigate corruption on the waterfront. Farrell finds himself in the middle of a power struggle between two brothers battling for control of the longshoreman's union.
13. Laurie Marie
Aired 19 December 1969 • 75 min
When Laurie Marie gets lost on the vast country estate of millionaire industrialist Robert Coates, he posts a $10,000 reward for anyone who can return the girl unharmed. This results in a stampede of mercenary characters who make a shambles of Coates' estate. Watching from the sidelines is reporter Jeff Dillon (TF) and his girl friday Peggy.
14. The Tradition
Aired 2 January 1970 • 75 min
Howard (GB) and a young Greek woman are forced to flee for their lives when they challenge an ancient Greek custom.
15. The Brass Ring
Aired 9 January 1970 • 75 min
A Boxer is suspended when he punches out an obstreperous reporter. Feeling partly responsible, Dan Farrell (RS) tries to help the young fighter. Farrell soon learns that the boy's manager may be arranging a fixed bout.
16. Island of Gold and Precious Stones
Aired 16 January 1969 • 75 min
A late millionaire's millions have disappeared, and reporter Jeff Dillon (TF) wants to find out why. Together with his crack researcher Peggy Maxwell, Dillon checks out the deceased man's relatives. Each, it seems, has a reason for wanting the man dead, and each had opportunity to make off with the inheritance.
17. The Takeover
Aired 23 January 1970 • 75 min
As special envoy, Howard (GB) visits a crisis-torn Asian nation whose Chief of state allegedly robbed the treasury and vanished. The ladies reinforce Howard's suspicions of a frame-up and sparks a probe that sends him into guerrilla territory.
18. The Garden
Aired 30 January 1970 • 90 min
Dan Farrell (RS) is on the trail of a possible scam. A ""Pop"" psychiatrist who is strong on placebos but short on ethics, treats his wealthy patients at a lavish remote retreat called The Garden. Farrell is convinced that he is a phony, and tries to prove it
19. Tarot
Aired 13 February 1970 • 90 min
Glenn Howard (GB) tries to prove that a young girl did not really kill herself and finds himself dangerously entangled with a coven of deadly witches.
20. The King of Denmark
Aired 20 February 1970 • 90 min
Dillon (TF) investigates when an ancient and invaluable manuscript is found, and a girl disappears increasing the mystery.
21. The Skin Game
Aired 27 February 1970 • 90 min
Farrell (RS) investigates deaths caused by an illegal dilution of medical supplies in a small African nation.
22. Man of the People
Aired 6 March 1970 • 90 min
Jilted by ""populist"" tycoon Cesar Rodriguez, Hilary thirsts for revenge. She plans to publish a series of articles exposing the popular Rodriguez as a fraud, using his Mexican heritage to hornswoggle his own people.
23. Echo of a Nightmare
Aired 20 March 1970 • 90 min
The crime in question occurred some 25 years ago. Now the kidnapper has been mysteriously murdered, compelling Dan Farrell (RS) to investigate. Curiously, the partner of the abduction victim's millionaire father tries to bribe Farrell to drop the case.
24. Jenny Wilde Is Drowning
Aired 27 March 1970 • 90 min
When a young actress becomes suicidal, Jeff Dillon (TF) attempts to prevent her suicide attempts.
25. One of the Girls in Research
Aired 3 April 1970 • 90 min
Howard's research girl has romantic daydreams about him as they try to locate an eccentric conniving industrialist who is trying victimized her.
26. The Other Kind of Spy
Aired 10 April 1970 • 90 min
Dillon (TF) investigates a chemical plant that has blown up only to discover industrial espionage as the motive.