What's My Line
What's My Line? was a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. The original version of the show premiered on February 2, 1950 and ran for eighteen seasons, ending on September 3, 1967. It is the longest-running game show in the history of prime time network television.
Hosts and panelists
The show was hosted by veteran newsman John Charles Daly. Four panelists appeared on each program. The panelists on the initial episode were former New Jersey governor Harold Hoffman, psychiatrist Dr. Richard Hoffman, columnist Dorothy Kilgallen and poet Louis Untermeyer. In later weeks, actress Arlene Francis replaced Governor Hoffman, comedy writer Hal Block replaced Dr. Hoffman and Random House publisher Bennett Cerf replaced Untermeyer. Cerf, Kilgallen and Francis would remain regular panelists through most of the show's run. Humorist Steve Allen joined the panel when Block left the show in 1953. In 1954 Steve Allen left and Fred Allen filled the fourth seat on the panel. When Dorothy Kilgallen died in 1965, her spot was usually left open for guest panelists for the rest of the show's run.
Eamonn Andrews, host of the British version of What's My Line? , Clifton Fadiman and Bennett Cerf all filled in as host on the four occasions when Daly could not appear during the show's seventeen and one-half years on the air. Several celebrities were rotated in as guest panelists on nights when regulars were absent, and after the deaths of Fred Allen in 1956 and Dorothy Kilgallen in 1965. Notable guest panelists include Woody Allen, Johnny Carson, Ernie Kovacs, Robert Q. Lewis, Groucho Marx, Joey Bishop and Tony Randall. The single most-frequent guest panelist was the husband of Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, who appeared 112 times.
Game play
Standard rounds
Each episode of What's My Line? featured two standard contestant rounds, sometimes more if time permitted, and one mystery guest round. A round was essentially a guessing game in which the panel tried to identify the occupation of a contestant. The contestant would enter and his/her occupation flashed on monitors for the studio audience and television viewers to see. One panelist would begin by asking the contestant a yes-or-no question about his/her occupation. If the panelist received a "yes" answer, s/he could pose another question. If the panelist received a "no," the privilege of questioning passed to the next panelist. Questioning continued in rotation until the occupation was deduced or until the panel received its tenth "no" answer. At the end of the game the contestant won $5 for every "no" answer, thus $50 for stumping the panel.
Panelists had the option of passing instead of asking a question. The panel could also request a group conference in which the four members had from ten to thirty seconds to openly discuss ideas about the occupation or possible lines of questioning. John Daly set the conference time limit each time one was requested. Panels quickly adopted some basic binary search strategies and used initial questions to determine whether the contestant was salaried or self-employed, whether s/he dealt in a product or service, and whether the contestant's organization was profit-making or non-profit. In later seasons, the answers to one or more of these points of inquiry were provided before questioning began.
The host acted as a moderator, cueing the panelists on their turns and flipping over cards that represented the contestant's score. The host also assisted contestants with questions and preventing them from giving misleading answers.
Mystery guests
Celebrity "mystery guests" appeared as challengers on What's My Line? in addition to the standard contestants. In a mystery guest round the panelists were blindfolded and asked questions in order to identify the famous person. Questioning was conducted in the same way as standard rounds except that panelists could only ask one question at a time before passing control to the next panelist. Mystery guests would try to conceal their identities by disguising their voices, much to the amusement of the studio audience.
Style of the show
What's My Line? is remembered as a celebration of urbanity and good manners in television. The host and male panelists always wore black tie while female panelists donned formal gowns and gloves. At the beginning of a round, John Daly would invite the next contestant to "enter and sign in, please." The contestant would write his/her name on a small slate attached to the wall, and Daly would introduce the contestant to the panel ? the male panelists standing to shake hands and the female panelists remaining seated, naturally.
If the contestant was female, Daly asked if she should be addressed as "Miss" or "Mrs." Young, attractive female contestants usually elicited whistles from the studio audience.
During the game the polite, well-spoken Daly would generally address the panelists as "Mr. Cerf" or "Ms. Francis." Despite his responsibility to keep things moving, Daly was not above trading bon mots with the panelists during the game. Occasionally a panelist would pose a problematic question leading to an equivocal answer. Daly would step in to clarify matters, but his delightful penchant for long-winded overanalysis tended to leave the panelist more confused than before.
While ostensibly a game show, What's My Line? was really more an opportunity to interview celebrities and people with interesting occupations. The guessing game had an air of formality and adherence to rules, but Daly was clearly on the contestants' side and wanted them to win as much money as possible. If the occupation was guessed early, Daly would often "flip the cards" and give the contestant the full $50 anyway. Mystery guests were paid $500 as an appearance fee, whether they won or lost the game. This was in addition to the maximum $50 game winnings, which they sometimes donated to charity. Guest panelists were paid $750 as an appearance fee. The regular panelists were under contract and were paid "much more" stated executive producer Gil Fates in his 1978 What's My Line? book.
Alternate versions
A weekly American CBS radio version of What's My Line? was produced from May 1952 until July 1953. The regular panelists Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf, Arlene Francis and Hal Block, along with host John Daly, premiered the radio version of their show on Tuesday May 20, 1952, while still performing the Sunday telecast. The debut mystery guest, in her only What's My Line? appearance, was Marlene Dietrich. Marlon Brando made his only What's My Line? appearance on the radio program that aired on December 3, 1952. The radio show continued through the "Hal Block era" into the "Steve Allen era" while once moving its broadcast to Wednesday. The finale was broadcast on July 1, 1953.
A British version of What's My Line? ran from 1951 to 1962 on BBC and was briefly revived in 1973. It was revived again by ITV during the 1980s. Eamonn Andrews was the host for the original British series. In the U.K., his position was called the "chairman." Panelists included Elizabeth Allan, Lady Isobel Barnett Jerry Desmonde, Gilbert Harding, Barbara Kelly, Marghanita Laski and David Nixon. Hosts of the revived series included Penelope Keith and Angela Rippon.
An American syndicated daytime version (shown daily, Monday to Friday) of What's My Line? ran from 1968 to 1975. Wally Brunner was the original host. In 1972, Brunner left and Larry Blyden took his place. Arlene Francis and Bennett Cerf appeared as panelists on the syndicated version. Other panelists included Alan Alda, Bert Convy, Elayne Joyce, Ruta Lee, Meredith MacRae, Gene Rayburn, Soupy Sales, Gene Shalit and Dana Valery.
Show facts
- The show popularized the phrase "Is it bigger than a breadbox?", a question originally posed by Steve Allen during his 1953 to 1954 tenure as a panelist.
- The final mystery guest in the original version was John Daly himself. Daly alternated between a falsetto "guest" voice and his standard moderator voice, fooling the panel for a significant number of questions. The gimmick had been devised years earlier as backup plan in case the scheduled mystery guest didn't show up. That event never occurred, despite a few close calls, so Daly decided to use the trick for the final episode.
- Over the years, What's My Line? sponsors included: Jules Montenier, Inc. products (Stopette Deodorant, Poof, Finesse), Helene Curtis, Remington Rand, Florida Citrus, Kellogg's Cereals, Allstate Insurance, Mutual of Omaha Insurance, Sunbeam, Contac, Dentu-Creme, Py-Co-Pay, Polaroid Land Cameras, Aprege Perfume, Standard Brands, Geritol, Universal Electrical Appliances, Crest Toothpaste, Bayer Aspirin, Glade by Johnson Wax, Cue Toothpaste with Fluoraction, Supp-hose Stockings, Bufferin by Bristol-Myers, Rose Lotion Vel Liquid Dish Soap, Norelco Speedshaver, Ford Motor Vehicles (Falcon, Mustang, Thunderbird), Champion Spark Plugs, Fleischmann's Margarine, Corning - maker of Centura and Pyrex, Ben-Gay Penetrating Heat Lotion, Phillips Milk of Magnesia Tablets, Diet Delight Low Calorie Canned Fruit, Texaco Gasoline, Bravo Floor Wax by Johnson Wax, Kem-Glo Enamel by Sherwin Williams Paint, Westinghouse, Kleenex Designer Paper Towels by Kimberly-Clark, Polident Denture Tablets, Pet'm daily liquid vitamin food supplement for pets, Nytol Sleep Aid Tablets, Pledge Furniture Polish by Johnson Wax, Prell Shampoo Concentrate, Tegrin skin cream for psoriasis, Cope pain reliever for women's headaches, Institute of Life Insurance, Crisco Oil, The (Telephone Book) Yellow Pages, Jif Peanut Butter, Maxwell House Coffee, Pronto Push-Button Foam Floor Cleaner from Johnson Wax, Shell No-Pest Strips, Coca-Cola aka Coke, An electric knife from the Hamilton Beach division of Scovill, Duncan Hines Cake Mix and Post Honeycomb Cereal.
- The name of the closing theme song used on the show from 1950 to 1967 is called "Rollercoaster" and composed by Louis F. Busch & Milton DeLugg in 1949
