What's My Line? - The Original Series

[Teasing the Korean]

I am obsessed with the original What's My Line?, especially the episodes with panel lineup of Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf, and Steve Allen.  I love watching this show before I go to sleep. The show's civility and manners got me through the years 2017-20.  

Any fans?

Here is the opening theme:

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

As music gradually puts itself to sleep, I gradually turn to game shows. This is one of them, but hardly the only one.

[Teasing the Korean]

45 minutes ago, JSngry said:

As music gradually puts itself to sleep, I gradually turn to game shows. This is one of them, but hardly the only one.

I've done this with many game show, but there is something about What's My Line, especially the 1950s era, that induces a particularly euphoric pre-sleep state.

[JSngry]

Bennet Cerf was surprisingly "entitled" way more than I expected.

Fred Allen was consistently brilliant, though.

The whole show seems wonderfully provincial these days. It's a keeper.

To Tell the Truth is my jam, though. With or without Bud Collyer. Spotting a liar makes for good entertainment, to say nothing of sharpening one's life skills.

[Shrdlu]

That was an excellent series. There are lots of them on a certain Tube.

Dorothy Kilgallen was murdered, sadly. There is an episode recorded on the day of her death, as evidence that the standard story is a lie. She knew too much. But let's enjoy the program.

[Teasing the Korean]

41 minutes ago, Shrdlu said:

Dorothy Kilgallen was murdered, sadly. There is an episode recorded on the day of her death, as evidence that the standard story is a lie. She knew too much. 

If that is indeed true, Mark Shaw will not be the one to convince me.  

[Teasing the Korean]

Oh, and here is the closing theme:

 

[JSngry]

 

[Teasing the Korean]

26 minutes ago, JSngry said:

 

Who is the composer/group?

[JSngry]

5 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Who is the composer/group?

https://classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/toTellTheTruth.html

Group? Who knows.

[JSngry]

 Some OG TTTT

https://youtu.be/Jl28fe7ImFA

 and then 

https://youtu.be/Bumhf1RQ7jk

 happy housewifes for happy husband's, chicken or egg?

[Teasing the Korean]

Yesterday, I was under the weather, and I spent the entire day in bed watching What's My Line.  At one point, I wondered if any of the panelists ever correctly guessed the occupation in the pre-question free guess phase.  Well, in one episode, Bennett Cerf correctly guessed that a contestant was a slot machine repairman, based only the fact that he was from Nevada.

[JSngry]

18 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Yesterday, I was under the weather, and I spent the entire day in bed watching What's My Line.  

DVD or YouTube?

There's a Roku channel that's got, like 12 or so episodes, and Amazon Prime has something like50-60 (iirc).

I actually have fond memories of a later, syndicated version hosed by Wally Breuner, and then Larry Blunden (or was it the othe way around>). Soupy Sales was a regular, as was Arlen Franis. Pretty good show iirc.

What I did NOT enjoy seeing was Arlene Francis as a panelist on a few episodes of The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour, Time, I'm afraid, had passed her by with all that droll "urbanity". Same thing when George Gobel did a week. Sad to see.

I still say that Freemantle (the company that bought the Goodson-Todman & Mark Goodson Productions catalog) is sitting on a gold mine, but maybe not. But you can never go wrong with Bill Cullen.

 

[Teasing the Korean]

22 minutes ago, JSngry said:

DVD or YouTube?

A combination of Amazon Prime and YouTube.  Some lost episodes from the first two years have been found in recent years and have made it to YouTube.  Not sure if Amazon has picked these up or not.  

[JSngry]

Don't think so. We've watched all they have.

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Don't think so. We've watched all they have.

The What's My Line YouTube channel purports to have uploaded every existing episode, at least from the initial 17-year run from 1950 to 1967.

[JSngry]

There ya' go then. You can Martin Gabel to your heart's content!