© Mark Ollig
Recently, after watching episodes of the classic 1970s “Match Game” TV game show on YouTube, I recalled another popular game program seen on my parent’s television during the 1960s.
CBS broadcast the original "What's My Line?" game show, which John Charles Daly hosted from Feb. 2, 1950, until Sept. 3, 1967.
Daly previously achieved notoriety as the first national radio reporter to broadcast news of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941.
Starting Oct. 1, 1950, “What’s My Line?” was broadcast live Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m. in the Central Time Zone.
In the 1978 book, “What’s My Line?” written by the show’s executive producer, Gil Fates, he reveals President Dwight Eisenhower seldom missed a show.
As a youngster, I recall watching some episodes of the 1960s “What’s My Line?” which I credit to the program’s cartoonish opening theme.
The four regular “What's My Line?” panelists varied over the years; however, columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, actress Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf, the Random House book publishing chairman, were the regulars for the longest time.
John Charles Daly was the host and panel moderator, and Arlene Francis was a regular panelist for all 17 years of the original show.
The show's premise was to have the panelists ask each contestant questions to reveal their occupation, or “line.”
The contestant, sitting to the right of John Daly, could only give a yes or no answer.
Just the folks in the audience, the panel moderator, and those watching TV knew the contestant's occupation.
Each show featured a famous “Mystery Guest” recognizable on sight, which is why the panelists put on their blindfolds before Daly says, “Mystery Guest, will you enter and sign in, please?”
The guest would then walk onto the stage and autograph a blackboard as the audience, who recognized the famous person, loudly applauded.
On Oct. 13, 1963, with the panelists blindfolded, comedian Groucho Marx appeared as the celebrity mystery guest, walking up to the chalkboard and signing in as “Mr. & Mrs. John Smith,” which caused the audience to laugh and applaud.
The questions for Groucho began with Bennett Cerf.
“Do you ever make after dinner speeches in the course of your operations?” he asked.
“Yeah, only before dinner!” Groucho wisecracked back to a smiling Cerf while Daly, the audience, and the panelists roared with laughter.
You were not going to limit Groucho Marx to just a yes or no answer.
It was vintage Groucho; he had everyone on stage and in the audience laughing in stitches with his witty answers to the panelist’s questions.
Arlene Francis finally revealed Groucho Marx as the mystery guest.
I had a feeling the whole panel knew it was Groucho the minute he spoke his first sentence in a half-heartedly disguised German accent, but they kept the game going to keep Groucho on.
Groucho was also puffing away on his traditional cigar, and so one would think the panelists would have smelled that, too.
During this episode, John Daly quipped while the audience laughed, “It’s exhilarating to have Groucho show up on a program that you’re supposed to be running because you stop running it the minute he gets in. I don’t know what’s happened.”
My all-time favorite “What’s My Line?” episode has Groucho Marx bringing the house down in complete and utter laughter as a panelist on Sept. 20, 1959.
This episode included a contestant whose occupation was a jail warden who looked like the Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev, a professional wrestler named Judy Grable, and actress Claudette Colbert.
This hilarious “What’s My Line?” episode can be seen at: https://bit.ly/3gdwfcI.
“What’s My Line?” became so popular that celebrities would jump at the chance to be on the show, especially when they wanted to plug a book, Broadway show, movie, or television program they were on.
An impressive list of movie actors, authors, politicians, sports and military figures, and folks with unusual occupations appeared on "What's My Line?"
The original “What’s My Line?” ended in 1967; however, a syndicated daily version of the game show started in 1968 and ran until 1975.
Original moderator John Charles Daly did not return, though Arlene Francis did as a regular panelist.
During one syndicated broadcast in 1968, Bennett Cerf made a surprise appearance as the mystery guest and spoke of how he missed the original game show and its host, John Charles Daly.
After this appearance, Cerf would occasionally re-appear as a panelist until he died in 1971.
What makes the original “What’s My Line?” so entertaining for me is the comical, playful bantering between the panelists and their interactions with the guests, audience, and John Daly.
I also enjoyed watching Daly display his exceptional vocabulary, humorously expounding upon various explanations to questions and his father-like conduct with the panelists.
The original version of “What’s My Line?” ran from 1950 to 1967, producing 876 episodes.
Over 750 complete "What's My Line?" shows with many containing original commercials can be seen at https://bit.ly/3KZWIbG.
Gil Fates’ 1978 book, “What’s My Line?” is among those sitting on my bookshelf.
What’s my line? I am the humble writer of your Bits and Bytes column, of course!
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| The "What's My Line?" book from my bookshelf! (photo by Mark Ollig) |
