9. Wipe That Smirk Off Your Face (Password)
The password is blunder! You're going to find a few Password blunders on this list from the different incarnations of the classic game show, but for the number nine blunder, we travel back to the original Password hosted by the late, great Allen Ludden. What sometimes happens with game show blunders is another blunder occurs not too long after, and that's what happened here. It's two blunders for the price of one clip, and the price is free!
The star of both blunders is famed radio and television actress, best known for voicing Betty Rubble on The Flintstones and her role as Kate Bradley on Petticoat Junction, Bea Benaderet. On the original Password series, television personality Jack Paar was best known for blurting out the word by accident on several occasions, one time doing it twice on the same episode. It seems like Bea Benaderet had a case of Jack Paar-itis as she also did the big Password no-no twice on the same episode.
The first instance occurred during the main game with the password being "smirk." Although a tough word, a clue of "sneer" may have led her contestant to say the word, and "sneer" was the exact clue Benaderet meant to say. However, sometimes the word in your head isn't what ends up coming out of your mouth as Benaderet confidently said "smirk." To the delight of the audience, Benaderet realizes what she has done and shames herself for it. Allen Ludden then comes to the rescue, as he did on many occasions through the years of him hosting Password, to tell Bea that they weren't getting anywhere with the word anyway, and to be honest, he was right. It may have been a while before the word "smirk" was finally said if it was going to be said at all.
Luckily for her contestant, the blunder didn't stop Benaderet from winning the game and advancing to the "Lightning Round" with her partner Brenda. Here's where the second blunder is featured. In the "Lightning Round," contestants had one minute to guess five passwords, each worth $50. The first two words were easily accomplished, but then came trouble as the third word was "frankfurter." Benaderet gave the perfect clue of "hot dog," which is legal since it can be spelled as one word. Unfortunately, contestant Brenda had never heard of the word "frankfurter" before. Benaderet then decides to play Pyramid with Brenda a few years before Pyramid was even created by saying phrases like "a nice, big, long word," "it goes in a bun" and "a foreign city."
Back in the day, Password was very lenient with their rules, especially in the "Lightning Round," so Benaderet was not immediately buzzed for giving those really illegal clues. However, she was buzzed when she mistakenly flat-out said another password. The last word of the five was "jail" and instead of giving the clue "prison," well, you can predict what happened. Once again, Allen Ludden gave a perfect remark after the audience laughter died down by saying to Bea, "I think you give the best clues."
Just like Bob Barker, Allen Ludden has the game show hosting magic of being able to turn a mishap into a moment.
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