I've Got a Secret

I've Got a Secret was a television game show in which a celebrity panel attempted to determine the unusual secret of each guest. The program was one of the early successes of producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. The show was based on a game called "Secret, secret, whose got the secret."

The show began in 1952, but was briefly cancelled before being revived for a record long run up to 1967 on the CBS network. The first host was Garry Moore. He was followed by Steve Allen, and finally by Bill Cullen, who had been one of the panelists.

The panelists included Cullen, Kitty Carlisle, Orson Bean, Henry Morgan, Jayne Meadows, Bess Myerson, and Faye Emerson. They had a fixed period of time (which varied in the many years of the production) to pose questions that would enable them to guess the secret.

The guests were either famous people who had concealed an unknown secret or ordinary people, who were unknown to the panelists. As the contestants continued to stump the panel, they received small increments of prize money (which also varied in amount during the history of the show). Four contestants appeared on each show.

The original sponsor was the R.J Reynolds tobacco company, which eventually featured the Winston brand of cigarettes. Moore openly smoked on the show and gave cartons of cigarettes to contestants as a consolation prize.

The show has had subsequent revivals (1972 - 1973, and 1976, 2000).