A few years back, when the Game Show Network was running a series of vintage 1950 programs, we fell in love with a classic: What’s My Line?
The panelist show was uber-witty; super urbane; ultra sophisticated. Female panelists dressed elegantly in evening-wear accented by pretty gloves, stylish jewelry and other fashion accessories; men clad in tuxedos displayed tremendous manners and eloquent use of language.
The friendly banter between newsman/panel moderator John Daly and long-time panelists, including actress Arlene Francis, newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, and Random House publishing chief Bennett Cerf. The fourth panelist role was filled by a different guest each week.
The panelists quizzed guests about their occupation, asking a series of Yes/No questions. If the guest collected 10 ‘No’ answers, they were considered to have stumped the panel.
A highlight of the show, though, was a series of mystery guests each week. These were celebrities of the time from the world of entertainment, sports, politics and the arts.
The reason I started thinking of “What’s My Line” - and really the inspiration for today’s blog - was the fact that Holly in a few spare moments had run across some excellent mystery guest segments on YouTube over the weekend.
She was watching the movie, “Midnight in Paris” and started thinking about Salvador Dali. I guess she went looking for him and found a guest segment from “What’s My Line.” That led her to others.
To quote her, “They had freaking everybody on that show, didn’t they?”
Yes, Holly, they freaking did.
Here’s the Dali segment she referenced:
Some of the others she watched:
- Walt Disney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of7_K1e_x3Y
- Eleanor Roosevelt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX0wmS3gV0I
- Ronald Reagan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5D6RnMbfHI
Then, I threw in a couple of my favorites as well:
- Andy Griffith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfXHyhNU9uc
- Fred MacMurray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMpj1qJlFOM
- Bob Hope (at the 16:45 mark of this segment) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-dRR1wYvqY
Another segment I saw featured the chairs of the two major political parties. They were actually civil to each other! Maybe it was a sign of the times or just the elegance of this show on display.
I could spend hours and hours watching these old segments but I’ll stop here.
Such a great show. Such fun. A nice bit of nostalgia even if this isn’t Throwback Thursday!
JG
Originally posted 10/27/2014
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