The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack, which aired from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes each.

Then-newcomer Susan Saint James, as Peggy Maxwell, served as research assistant to each of the lead characters for nearly half the episodes, providing for some continuity.

This graphic originally put the featured lead first, then the other two as "starring in ...", Franciosa set on pale blue background, Barry on red, and Stack on green.

Franciosa's "Jeff Dillon" segments were "current affairs" stories that ranged from industrial espionage ("The Other Kind of Spy"), to medical fraud and malpractice ("Keep the Doctor Away"), racial tensions ("The Black Answer"), or shady goings-on in an Army training camp ("The Prisoner Within").

His tales usually involved big business ("The Perfect Image") or political intrigue ("High Card") set in powerful, wealthy circles.

Howard also had a small but memorable number of more surreal "offbeat" escapades, such as "Love-In At Ground Zero," in which he was abducted by fanatical hippies and forced to witness their protest mass suicide during a secret chemical weapons test, and the aforementioned, Steven Spielberg-directed "L.A. 2017", which appeared at first to shift the series into the genre of science fiction.

investigator, a righteous figure with a tireless sense of justice, which recalled his previous role as Federal Agent Eliot Ness in The Untouchables.

Farrell's character had a tragic edge, unlike his two co-stars, being a widower whose wife's murder was shown, in flashback, in the first-season episode "Nightmare," which explained his more serious attitude.

Franciosa was fired during the third season of the show's run due to erratic behavior during production of the episode "I Love You, Billy Baker.

Franciosa's face was still featured on the opening graphic for season three, with the guest leads billed as, 'Guest Starring in ...', then depicted with photos (from each episode) set on the closing credits as background.

According to writer Richard DeRoy, his teleplay for the third-season episode "A Capitol Affair" was intended to establish Suzanne Pleshette as a new permanent character, gossip columnist Hallie Manville.

Darren McGavin took a guest lead as freelance newsman Sam Hardy (in "Goodbye Harry"), and Vera Miles likewise as Howard's top female reporter, Hilary Vanderman (in "Man of The People").

Other guest stars included (alphabetically): Dana Andrews, Martin Balsam, Anne Baxter, Honor Blackman, Charles Boyer, Rossano Brazzi, Joanna Cameron, Hoagy Carmichael, David Carradine, Ray Charles, Chuck Connors, Joseph Cotten, Broderick Crawford, Nigel Davenport, Sammy Davis Jr., Yvonne De Carlo, Brandon deWilde, Ivan Dixon, Pete Duel, Sharon Farrell, Barbara Feldon, Jose Ferrer, Steve Forrest, Pamela Franklin, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Sean Garrison, Will Geer, Frank Gorshin, Robert Goulet, Lee Grant, Peter Graves, Julie Harris, Noel Harrison, Burl Ives, Van Johnson, Shirley Jones, Louis Jourdan, Boris Karloff, Jack Kelly, John Kerr, Jack Klugman, Peter Lawford, Dorothy Lamour, Gypsy Rose Lee, Claudine Longet, Kevin McCarthy, Roddy McDowall, Sal Mineo, Ricardo Montalbán, Laurence Naismith, Barry Nelson, Leslie Nielsen, Susan Oliver, Suzanne Pleshette, Pernell Roberts, Simon Scott, William Shatner, Frank Sinatra, Barry Sullivan, Donald Sutherland, Russ Tamblyn, Mel Torme, Ike & Tina Turner, Lurene Tuttle, Jessica Walter, Dionne Warwick, Dennis Weaver, Robert Webber, James Whitmore, Jill Townsend, Brenda Vaccaro, and Robert Young.