H2 Archives

1998-2004: six seasons of fun, excitement and surprises. Who knew that this past incarnation would be the second longest-running of the Squares franchise.
Now that the series has ended, the stories of hype, contestants and merriment remain safeguarded in the H2 Archives for all to see.

Hollywood Hype
A story from the WBZ website in Boston, Massachusetts about the hype surrounding the new version of Squares. Dated August 26, 1998

The Lost World of Hollywood Squares
My personal feature on the "lost episodes" of Squares 98 that were shown during the 1998 holiday season, complete with star lineup and a few funny moments. Dated January 4, 1999. Updated August 15, 2000

2000: A Year of Successes
A look back at the events that made 2000 a successful year for the show

Contestant Interview 1
An interview with Season 4 champion Robert Klamser

Contestant Interview 2
An interview with popular Season 5 champion Charlie Brown

Season 2 Memorable Moment: Stunned Host Cops Emmy Gold
May 19, 2000-the day of the 27th annual Daytime Emmy Awards. And the results of the Outstanding Game Show Host category took everyone by surprise.
When the winner was revealed, it was announced as a tie. Bob Barker of The Price is Right won the first award, but was unable to be part of the ceremony due to knee surgery. Practically everyone thought that Who Wants to Be a Millionaire host Regis Philbin would take the second award, but who should sneak in through the back door but Tom Bergeron. He ended up winning the second trophy, resulting in what some believe to be the biggest upset in recent history

Season 4 Memorable Moment: Before He Became A Whammy Tamer...
...he was a contestant on Hollywood Squares.
During a series of episodes in about mid-November of 2001 featuring well-known television personalities playing for their favorite charities, the Thursday episode of that week saw Inside Edition reporter Stacey Gualandi take on Hot Ticket host Todd Newton. The latter won the front game, picking up $10,000 more in the bonus round. Todd would later go on to host Whammy!, a reincarnated version of the 1980s cult favorite Press Your Luck for the Game Show Network. He currently tours across North America as a motivational speaker and in 2012 won his first Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Game Show Host for his work on the Hub series Family Game Night
You can watch his episode here

Season 5 Memorable Moment: The Wildcard Wins It All
Jenny Thomas battled 7 other top money winners to get to the 2003 Tournament of Champions, and after earning the wildcard berth for winning the Close but No Cigar playoffs, she won it all.
The energetic English teacher powered her way through the field of 5-time champions from seasons 4 and 5 to win the tournament crown. She got there by defeating Cedric Benson in her match on April 29 and faced off against Lisa Suzuki-Jeffers in the final on May 2. The two truly made a game out of it, with Lisa winning rounds 1 and 3 and Jenny winning rounds 2 and 4. But when all was said and done, Jenny captured two extra squares in round 5 to defeat Lisa with a total of $6,000 in the front game.
In the bonus round, instead of the "pick a key" approach, Jenny was invited to choose a star on the board, and whatever they had in their envelope would be added to her total. She chose Martin Mull, a star from her first week of appearances. Martin held the $50,000 card, to which he proclaimed it "as it should be". With the stars, Tom, the producers and husband Scott by her side to help celebrate the victory, Jenny became not only the 2003 champion, but the all-time money winner in this version of the series. Her final total came to an impressive $196,175 in cash and prizes--a well-deserved reward for a truly wonderful contestant.