Their first collaborations were Juvenile Jury, a show which featured a panel of children, who came up with their takes on everyday problems and situations, which were submitted by listeners.
Another children's show from Barry & Enright was Winky Dink and You, which engaged the young viewers to use their imaginations, as well as a special "magic slate"—a sheet of durable plastic that stuck to the TV screen via static electricity, which enabled the viewer to use crayons to "draw along" with Mr. Barry, as he told stories to the children.
In 1953, Barry & Enright created their first game show, Back That Fact, hosted by Borscht Belt comedian and syndicated columnist Joey Adams.
Barry & Enright were forced to sell their game shows to NBC, including Concentration, Twenty-One, Dough Re Mi and Tic-Tac-Dough.
After an unsuccessful stint working with former rivals Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, Jack Barry first staged a comeback as an emcee, replacing Dennis Wholey on the short-lived game show The Generation Gap in 1969.
Then in 1972, Barry resurrected his career by selling The Joker's Wild to CBS; the Barry-hosted series became a hit and lasted for three seasons on the network's daytime schedule before its 1975 cancellation.
Barry's production company, however, did not put out any other hit series during this time, as evidenced by the short-lived Hollywood's Talking and Blank Check.
Barry & Enright also produced Bullseye and Play the Percentages for syndication in 1980 and Hot Potato for NBC in 1984, which was their last series for a network.
Although the production company was primarily known for game shows, it also worked on other projects such as the comedy films, Private Lessons (1981) and Making Mr.
[1] In early 1984, Barry was preparing to retire from The Joker's Wild and hand the show over to Jim Peck, his substitute host, as well as take a less active role in the production company (as he was 65 when the year began).
But after both Joker and Tic Tac Dough went off the air in 1986, Barry & Enright Productions failed to produce another hit series in America (although Enright and Wink Martindale co-produced a Canadian-based hit in Bumper Stumpers for the Global Television Network, which also aired in America on USA Network and in the UK, a series called Chain Letters co-produced by Action Time and Tyne Tees Television the same year for ITV).
[4] The last program under the Barry & Enright name was a short-lived revival of Tic Tac Dough hosted by Patrick Wayne in 1990.
Under the name Stafford-Enright, Susan Stafford executive produced a PBS documentary special The Natural Solutions: Freedom of Choice and the FDA in 1993.
For instance, on The Joker's Wild, Tic-Tac-Dough, and Bullseye, all contestants played until they were defeated (although in The Joker's Wild's case, when it aired on CBS, the network had imposed a $25,000 limit on winnings—this ruling was inclusive to all other game shows airing on CBS at the time) as well as for a brief period in the 1980s, where a winnings limit was in place where a contestant could be retired if they reached it.
In addition, all combined winnings were in increments of $50 (with the exception of The Joker's Wild, whose bonus game featured cash amounts beginning at $25).
In 1976, he was executive producer of the original version of Family Feud, where at times during the show's run, he and host Richard Dawson clashed.
O'Donnell announced for The Joker's Wild, Bullseye, Tic Tac Dough, and Hot Potato during his time with the company, and left after the 1985–86 season.