What's My Line?

[Merboy]

I think this popular 50s and 60s game show should be revived for today. There's still lots of celebrities who would make great mystery guests. Who would be our Arlene, Dorothy, Bennett, and John Daly though? The original show had a very dignified urbane air and was so classy. Does that kind of class exist anymore? It was also very Manhattan-centric- asking if guests had appeared on the "legitimate Broadway stage" or in "one of the big Broadway theaters" (they asked that for movies too).

 

Most all of the episodes are available on YouTube for viewing: https://www.youtube.com/user/WhatsMyLineCBS/videos

 

I also think the show had a fabulous gayness to it for pre-Stonewall television.

[+ WilliamM]

Very difficult to find someone as witty and smart as Arlene Francis. I believe she said the secret was to listen to the three other people on the panel rather than focus on your own next question

 

Thanks for the suggestion ? ?

Edited June 21, 2020 by WilliamM

[+ E.T.Bass]

I'm nearly addicted to watching these on YouTube.

Two that I recently ran across had intriguing mystery guests, Frank Lloyd Wright and Oscar Levant.

Oscar Levant had a local TV show which I also found on YouTube, with Fred Astaire guest appearance.

 

Wright talked about his new office tower in Oklahoma which by now must be around 60 years old.

 

I found a couple of panels that included Jerry Lewis. Very funny and clever.

 

Did Television try to maintain a much higher level of sophistication and class back then? Perhaps that is what the audience aspired to.

 

Not these days.

 

If the show was rebooted I can't think of anyone off hand that could pull off being such a great host.

 

Tastes have changed anyway.

[+ E.T.Bass]

To the panel John Daly was a beloved figure. Someone of his caliber and accomplishments wouldn't be found on a game show now.

Edited June 21, 2020 by E.T.Bass

[+ WilliamM]

"What's My Line" was broadcast at 10:30 pm eastern time on Sunday nights. So the last show before Monday and work

 

Even though I wasn't crazy about Dorothy Kilgallen, the show never fully recovered from his passing away in the Fall of 1965.

 

I think WML needed someone very smart and not always completely likable

 

Arlene and Bennett were friend off camera. Dorothy but not as much. She was more conservative.

[+ sam.fitzpatrick]

I remember watching the show with my father when Wally Bruner was the host.

 

Potential panelists for a current version - Martha Stewart, John Legend, Donna Murphy, Maria Shriver, Ru Paul, Mario Lopez

[thickornotatall]

I'll watch sometimes very late when I can't sleep...Polly Bergen and Kitty Carlisle Hart are direct opposites...One is cool and smart...the other silly and loud...like them both..

[+ WilliamM]

I believe Bergen and Carlisle were panelists on To Tell The Truth, although they may have also appeared on What's My Line occasionally too. I liked Polly a lot, but yes she could be silly and annoying.

[maninsoma]

If this show was brought back it would certainly not have the same vibe as it did then since the culture has changed so much. Even the 1970s version of the much more risque Match Game had to be made even more crude when it returned to TV four years ago.

 

I also love watching What's My Line. It's on Buzzr in the early morning where I live. Right now they are running episodes from the later reboot with Larry Blyden as host. Those episodes are okay and still feature Arlene Francis, but I much prefer the original incarnation with John Daly.

[+ WilliamM]

Arlene Francis devorced her first husband, a Hollywood film executive, after a painful personal debate. He was a wonderful man, but she didn't love him. To some extent, Ms. Francis married him to please her somewhat overbearing parents.

 

Before What's My Line, she realized she was good at quick and witty comments, to her great surprise.