clockwise (L to R) Wink Martindale, Steve Beverly, and Randy West
Why Wink Martindale was a “never give up” guy
Original Airdates: May 2-5, 2025
TVC 688.1: TV Confidential remembers longtime radio host, author, recording artist, and game show legend Wink Martindale (Gambit, Debt, Tic Tac Dough, Winking at Life, “Deck of Cards”) with a special program-length tribute to the man who became synonymous with the words “emcee” and “host.” Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025 at the age of ninety-one. In this segment, Steve Beverly, retired professor of broadcast journalism at Union University in Jackson, TN (the hometown of Wink Martindale), game show historian, and the host of Steve Beverly’s TV Classics, talks to Ed about how Martindale developed his skills as a “quality ad-libber” early in his career by doing play-by-play for high school sports broadcasts; how he was often a de facto producer on the set of his game shows, always adapting to changing conditions in the format of the game (particularly in moments when things when awry); and why, unlike most broadcasters, Martindale was never afraid to take a risk by going to a bigger market.
Steve Beverly recently re-aired Wink Comes Home, a 90-minute special that he hosted in November 2007 at Union University in which Wink discussed his life and career and took questions from the studio audience, as part of Steve Beverly’s TV Classics. That episode is now available for viewing on demand on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop by going to EPlusTV6.com or, if you have the PBS app, typing in West TN PBS, where you’ll find Steve Beverly’s TV Classics on the drop-down menu of Local Shows.
Wink Martindale and the longevity of Tic Tac Dough
Original Airdates: May 2-5, 2025
TVC 688.2: Steve Beverly, retired professor of broadcast journalism at Union University in Jackson, TN (the hometown of Wink Martindale), game show historian, and the host of Steve Beverly’s TV Classics, talks to Ed about how Wink never lost sights of his roots in Jackson, TN; how the success of the Martindale version of Tic Tac Dough in the 1970s forever changed the public perception of that particular game show (because the original Tic Tac Dough had been tarnished by the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s); and how Martindale’s Tic Tac Dough really took off in syndication in 1979, becoming the No. 1. syndicated game show (after failing on CBS the year before), with the “Ken Jennings-like” success of contestant Thom McKee. Also in this segment: Steve and Ed discuss the new version of Tic Tac Dough, hosted by Brooke Burns, which premiered on Game Show Network on Apr. 14, 2025. Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025 at age ninety-nine.
Steve Beverly recently re-aired Wink Comes Home, a 90-minute special that he hosted in November 2007 at Union University in which Wink discussed his life and career and took questions from the studio audience, as part of Steve Beverly’s TV Classics. That episode is now available for viewing on demand on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop by going to EPlusTV6.com or, if you have the PBS app, typing in West TN PBS, where you’ll find Steve Beverly’s TV Classics on the drop-down menu of Local Shows.
The “performance energy” of Wink Martindale
Original Airdates: May 2-5, 2025
TVC 688.3: Longtime television announcer Randy West joins Ed as TV Confidential continues its special program-length tribute to game show legend Wink Martindale. Randy was Wink’s announcer on five game shows for the Family Channel, including Trivial Pursuit, Boggle, and Jumble. Among other topics in this segment, Randy mentions what he believes are the two reasons for Martindale’s great success: his roots in Middle America (which Wink never forgot), and his genuine love for people, which particularly showed during Wink’s interactions with the contestants on his various shows. Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025 at age ninety-nine.
Why Wink Martindale was a great orator
Original Airdates: May 2-5, 2025
TVC 688.4: Randy West, Wink Martindale’s announcer on five game shows for the Family Channel, talks to Ed about Wink’s career as a spoken-word recording artists (including “Deck of Cards,” “Heavenly Child,” and “I Stand for Everyone”). He also shares a funny story about Wink and Mary Steck, the cue card lady on Trivial Pursuit, that gives you a window into who Martindale was a person. Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025 at age ninety-nine.
Wink Martindale, “Deck of Cards,” and Tic Tac Dough
Original Airdates: May 2-5, 2025
TVC 688.5: TV Confidential continues its program-length tribute to Wink Martindale by bringing you an encore presentation of Wink’s appearance on our program in December 2018. Topics this segment include how Wink taught himself how to become an announcer when he was a kid by reading ads from Life magazine aloud; the back story of “Deck of Cards,” the spoken word recording that Wink first released in 1959 and which has sold than three million copies ever since; the many ways in which providence has played a role in Wink’s life; and how Wink learned more about the nuances of hosting a game show from Dan Enright, co-executive producer of Tic Tac Dough, than from anyone else. Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025 at age ninety-one.
Wink Martindale on meeting Elvis for the first time in 1954
Original Airdates: May 2-5, 2025
TVC 688.6: From December 2018: Wink Martindale talks to Ed about why game shows remain a popular form of entertainment on television; the importance of matching the right host with the right game format; how Wink happened to be at radio station WHBQ in Memphis, TN on the night of July 8, 1954, when deejay Dewey Phillips played an Elvis Presley record (“That’s All Right, Mama”) on the radio for the very first time; and how Wink also met Elvis for the first time that night when the King was summoned to the station, starting a friendship that continued until Presley’s death in 1977. Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025 at age ninety-one.
