Old TV Game Shows

[terentii]

@Debillw3

I loved To Tell the Truth–especially when the other 2 were asked questions so far in right field that it essentially turned into a game of “Balderdash”.

Even better is when that happened and the panelists believed the other 2 over the one who wasn’t talking out of his/her ass.

I remember one episode from the brief nighttime version of the show (this must have been in the spring of 1966). The guest was the guy who wrote the lyrics to “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” which was the No. 1 song in the US at the time.

One of the panelists (I’m pretty sure it was Bill Cullen) asked what the item was that the wife was supposed to pin on the soldier’s son’s breast. (The correct answer was “silver wings.”)

The guy he asked said (and I remember this exactly) “I believe it was ‘put crossed swords on my wife’s chest.’”

Whoops! Eliminate one impostor right there! :smack:

[Debillw3]

@Some_Call_Me.Tim

As far as could be demonstrated, and I’m quite sure the producers tried very hard to attempt to demonstrate this, Michael Larson did not “scam” Press Your Luck. He simply played the game with more skill than the producers had anticipated. He took no actions that were not within the rules of the game. See this documentary on YouTube.

My understanding (from what I remember watching that documentary a while back) is that there was no scam when he was on the show itself, but he was a bit slick & less than forthright when it came to getting on the show in the first place.

Again from what I recall, he did his best to paint himself as someone he wasn’t in order to become the type of contestant they were looking for.

Once he was in the seat, he played by the rules, but until that point…

Edit: the word I was looking for was “hustler”

[DooWahDiddy]

@Some_Call_Me.Tim

As far as could be demonstrated, and I’m quite sure the producers tried very hard to attempt to demonstrate this, Michael Larson did not “scam” Press Your Luck. He simply played the game with more skill than the producers had anticipated. He took no actions that were not within the rules of the game. See this documentary on YouTube.

I know, it’s what my show is about. It’s just a shorthand word; the documentary was (of course) part of my 2-year research while I was writing the show.

[Clothahump]

Another little bit of trivia that I didn’t know at the time was that Bud Collyer, who hosted To Tell The Truth and others, was famous for having been the voice of Superman on the radio series.

[terentii]

@Clothahump

Another little bit of trivia that I didn’t know at the time was that Bud Collyer, who hosted To Tell The Truth and others, was famous for having been the voice of Superman on the radio series.

He was once a guest on The Tonight Show, where they did an old radio script from Superman. I forget who played Lois Lane, but Johnny Carson was Jimmy Olsen.

[MrAtoz]

@Clothahump

Another little bit of trivia that I didn’t know at the time was that Bud Collyer, who hosted To Tell The Truth and others, was famous for having been the voice of Superman on the radio series.

And Lois Lane on the radio series was played by Joan Alexander, who was a long-time panelist on The Name’s the Same.

The Name’s the Same occasionally showed up in the black & white rotation on on GSN. I find it kind of fascinating to watch. It was in the vein of What’s My Line? and I’ve Got a Secret–the panel asking questions of a contestant in an attempt to figure out something about them. The gimmick here was that the contestant had the same name as some famous person or historical figure. But compared to the other Goodson-Todman shows, it always looked kind of low-rent. The set seemed small and cramped, and they kept going through different hosts and panelists, as if none of them really wanted to be there.

It’s also a good lesson in “How Fleeting is Fame.” In watching it, I found several instances where the “famous name” was someone I had never heard of. Obviously they had been well-known at the time, but darned if I know who they are now.

[burpo_the_wonder_mutt]

@Clothahump

Another little bit of trivia that I didn’t know at the time was that Bud Collyer, who hosted To Tell The Truth and others, was famous for having been the voice of Superman on the radio series.

Also, one of the cartoon series (mid-'60s?).

[terentii]

@MrAtoz

The Name’s the Same occasionally showed up in the black & white rotation on on GSN. I find it kind of fascinating to watch. It was in the vein of What’s My Line? and I’ve Got a Secret–the panel asking questions of a contestant in an attempt to figure out something about them. The gimmick here was that the contestant had the same name as some famous person or historical figure.

Seven–eight years ago, there was a free website called TV4U where you could watch a lot of classic shows. I think the earliest one they had was Twenty Questions from 1948 or '49. I believe it was on the old DuMont network at the time. I don’t think the episodes TV4U had were kinescopes; to my surprise, they looked like they had actually been filmed in the studio.

Hoo-whee! Talk about low-tech and slow-paced! Still, doggoned if it wasn’t a lot of fun to watch!

[cochrane]

@Clothahump

Another little bit of trivia that I didn’t know at the time was that Bud Collyer, who hosted To Tell The Truth and others, was famous for having been the voice of Superman on the radio series.

@burpo_the_wonder_mutt

Also, one of the cartoon series (mid-'60s?).

He also played Superman in the Fleischer/Famous Studios cartoons in the 40s, along with Joan Alexander as Lois Lane from the radio series. Collyer, of course was famous for dropping his voice a register in mid-sentence when Clark changed to Superman.

“This looks like a job… for Superman!”