Blank Check debuted at 12:30p.m. Eastern time, replacing a daytime version of
Name That Tune hosted by
Dennis James. At this point, the program had to end five minutes before the half-hour in order to accommodate an
NBC News bulletin anchored by
Edwin Newman.
Blank Check was the eleventh program to air in the 12:30p.m. slot since the newscast began in October 1960.
The Who, What, or Where Game ran the longest, from 1969 to 1974. NBC discontinued the five-minute newscast—its last daytime newscast—on
December 31, 1976. The series was replaced on July 7 by
The Magnificent Marble Machine at 12:00p.m. Eastern, which was also hosted by Art James. James and staff members disliked the format and sometimes referred to it as "Blank Mind" because they thought that it "was dumb luck, a guessing game". ==References==