In 1975, ABC was going through a strange period in its game show history. They cancelled Password, Split Second went by the wayside, and so did the pantomime game Showoffs. To fill the voids left by the three shows, they ushered in a new game show called Rhyme and Reason, and filled the second slot with $10,000 Pyramid. They still needed to fill the third slot, so they decided to come up with a new game show: The Neighbors. In this clone of The Newlywed Game, five women — all said to be real-life neighbors — appeared as contestants. The set was designed to look like the backyard of a suburban home in California. The game was played in two parts: Part one had host Regis Philbin reading a piece of information, and it was up to one of the contestants to decide if it was about her or one of the neighbors. In part two, two of the contestants got to listen to gossip about her and had to decide which neighbor said it. Cash prizes were awarded for correct answers. The contestant with the most money at the end of the show won a bonus prize. Needless to say, the show was not a big hit and was cancelled just four months after it aired.
