The "annoying" background music played during Number Please -- which GSN ran a couple episodes of last week -- might have paved the way for the live music played throughout Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Let's Make A Deal during their runs.

But I guess future composers for video games might've looked at the kinescopes as well to hone their crafts later on in their lives. Like I've said when we were at ATGS, the music cues in the Mega Man games were all similar to those on TPIR, but I'll save that for Golden-Road.net.

It's just that the vibraphone was the only instrument used on Number Please, while LMAD and Mister Rogers all used live orchestras while their shows are taping. As for video game music, it takes lots of time.

When did Mister Rogers have an orchestra? All I've ever heard was Johnny Costa doubling on the piano and celesta.

I think Costa had a small musical ensemble that played the music on Mr. Rogers. A few times during the run, Mr. Rogers would actually walk off the set to show the viewers Mr. Costa and the other band members.

The show used a jazz trio as a regular unit, and in the late 1970's and beyond the piano would often be replace by a synthesizer.

As far as the musical accompaniment on "Number Please", a lot of old TV shows had a pianist or organist playing soft melody and reaction stings throughout otherwise quiet passages. Everyone may also remember seeing Steve Allen on his TV appearances when they aired on "Comedy Central" a decade ago, where he would sit at the piano and improvise tunes while addressing his audience.

I heard Pat O'Brien was a member of that band. They sounded great.

Nope. Johnny on piano and syntesizer, Carl Vickers on bass violin, and Bobby Rawsthorne on drums. Oh yes, that's from memory.

After Johnny Costa's death in 1996, the piano and new music director was Michael Moricz from the Pittsburg Symphony.

Please, enough with the Pat O'Brien talk. Go after Billy Bush or somebody (but stay away from my Maria Menounos).

Anyway, back on-topic: The 700 Club in the late '80s/early '90s also had a live band do the fanfares during its pledge drives; it only consisted of two guys on drums and keyboard. And you thought Ivan Ditmars' orchestra on LMAD was pitiful!

"The 700 Club" had a band for a good portion of its run--most of the time bigger than what you described. This was when they were still trying to be the Christian Johnny Carson.

But to get back to brass tacks, I still have the feeling that the only reason "Number Please" had this strange live musical accompaniment (and the theme and prize cues were still recorded) was because they wanted something to break the potential monotony of one bell after another as the letters were being revealed--and Goodson wasn't about to have an organist, so Don Elliott is given the Augean stables of game show music scoring.

(Of course, something like this would seem to point that the music wasn't the real problem with the show--it was the game itself.)

Well, considering that Pat Robertson wasn't the original host of "The 700 Club", what did you expect. And for some reason, one of the theme composers is escaping me. I thought Michael J. Nelson of MST3000 had done one of the more recognizable themes. He did the MST theme as well.

It was Jim Baaker, for those who care...when he left to start the PTL Club and the show went national, Robertson took the host's chair, which is when they got that whole "Christian Tonight Show" motif going.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

Crazy enough, E! just showed their THS of Tammy Faye which showed Jim and Tammy as the original hosts of "The 700 Club", and "Praise The Lord", and "PTL Club" (the one they did on their own. Now we've really gotten away from the topic, haven't we? :) :) )

Anyway, Mike did the early 90's "700 Club" music. I figure it would be the only name y'all would recognize.

Where did you hear that? Mike didn't write the MST3k theme. That was Charlie Erickson and Joel Hodgson. The changing lyrics were done by committee.

Mike did write many songs for the show, but he's not really a professional composer. I doubt that the head writer and soon-to-be host of a cowtown puppet show from the Twin Cities would write the theme music for a religious talk show in Virginia Beach.

OBGS: MST3k did a great parody of Match Game.

Cowtown? Virginia Beach? It sounds plausible when you put it that way.

The name Michael J. Nelson did appear in the credits for both shows for music.

SURPRISE!!!

All I wll say about this is that Michael J. Nelson *is* a somewhat common name and that it's very possible that two people in different ends of the television business could have it.

[Allen Ludden] Think about it. [AL]

While there is some truth to that, I would have thought the SAG rules also applies to AFTRA. After all, how to explain game show host Michael Burger and Dallas meteorogist Mike Burger.