abc had largely abandoned the game show format by the time "double talk" debuted; the network had dropped its hour-long game show block at the end of 1985 and had not aired any game shows at all for four months before "double talk's" premiere. debuting on august 18, 1986, "double talk" struggled in the ratings against the second half of "the price is right" on cbs and "scrabble" on nbc and failed to find an audience. the series ended its run on december 19, 1986, four months and a day after its debut.