‘What’s My Line?’ Turns 75! Celebrate With the Best of 1950s Forgotten TV Game Shows

75 years ago, on February 2, 1950, the first mystery guest was revealed on the premiere episode of What’s My Line? Do you remember who it was? … Times up, it was New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto. Over the run of the series, mystery guests ran the gamut from Hollywood stars like Gary Cooper and Elizabeth Taylor, to music icons like Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne, among many others. Check out some more fun facts about the beloved game show, plus some of the other most popular 1950s TV game shows.
What’s My Line?
Time on TV: 1950-67 on CBS (original run)

Everett Collection
An early classic from prolific game show producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, this program featured celebrity panelists questioning contestants in order to determine their occupation. Most of these contestants were from the general public, but each week, there was a celebrity mystery guest for whom the panelists were blindfolded. Journalist John Charles Daly hosted the original version of the show, which ran for 17 years on CBS. Among the notable regular celebrity panelists who appeared quite a bit during this time were actress Arlene Francis, journalist Dorothy Kilgallen, and writers Bennett Cerf and Hal Block. Fun Fact: It had a spinoff called I’ve Got a Secret that aired for just as long.
You Bet Your Life
Time on TV: 1950-61 on NBC (original TV run)

Everett Collection
The gameplay was secondary to the not-so-secret formula of laughter in this showcase for the legendary Groucho Marx, who performed You Bet Your Life on radio as well as on TV. On radio, the series was heard at various times on all the major broadcasters of the era: It started on ABC Radio from 1947-49, continued on CBS Radio from 1949-50 and concluded on NBC Radio from 1950-60. During this latter run, it transitioned to a TV production that aired simultaneously on NBC’s television network.
The show’s fairly simple format remained mostly the same across both media: Lucky teams of contestants happily withstood Groucho’s wisecracks, before answering questions for a cash prize. If either player uttered that day’s “secret word,” a toy duck decorated with Groucho eyeglasses and mustache would descend with a $100 bonus. The big difference that made the TV version of You Bet Your Life so enduring were the visuals provided by Groucho, in the form of hilarious physical reactions that punctuated his zingers (so impactful that the series was known as The Groucho Show during its final season).
Truth or Consequences
Time on TV: 1950-51 on CBS & 1954-65 on NBC (original runs)

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Another game show that began on radio and continued on there while also spinning off a TV version, Truth or Consequences was a modernized version of the old Truth or Dare game. Created by Ralph Edwards, who also hosted the program’s run on NBC Radio from 1940-57, as well as its initial television season, which aired on CBS from 1950-51, the show gave contestants just a couple of seconds to answer trivia questions. Those who answered incorrectly failed the “Truth” portion of the game and had to face the “Consequences,” usually in the form of having to perform an embarrassing stunt.
After its first season on CBS, the show returned to television on a new network, NBC, in 1954, where it ran in various daytime and primetime versions until 1965. On Dec. 31, 1956, NBC’s daytime version of the show debuted its new host: radio personality and future TV game show icon Bob Barker, who very nicely liked to end his episodes with the phrase “Hoping all your consequences are happy ones.”
Beat the Clock
Time on TV: 1950-58 on CBS & 1958-61 on ABC

TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
Yet another Goodson-Todman game show production, Beat the Clock, as its name implies, challenged contestants to complete challenges under a certain time limit in an effort to win prizes. Bud Collyer — who hosted Beat the Clock’s original radio format in the late ’40s, when it was known as Time’s A-Wastin’ and then Beat the Time — was the show’s first TV host. Other hosts during this initial era, when it aired first on CBS and then on ABC, included Win Elliot and Sonny Fox. Several revivals of Beat the Clock have followed over the decades: a syndicated production (1969-74), a return to CBS in 1979-80, a 2002-03 version that aired on PAX TV (now Ion Television), and a 2018 version on Universal Kids that featured children and adults competing.
Concentration
Time on TV: 1958-73 on NBC, Syndication 1973-1978 and 1987-1991 on NBC

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Part memory test and part puzzle, Concentration featured pieces of a larger picture hidden behind a wall of numbers. Match the pieces behind any pair of numbers and those numbers disappeared, revealing a prize and sections of the whole board. Guess what the picture puzzle is and you get to keep all the prizes you matched on the board, courtesy of original broadcast host Hugh Downs or, later, Ed McMahon or Alex Trebek. The series aired from 1958-78, before returning for a several-year revival called Classic Concentration in 1987.
Of course, there were many others, like The Price is Right which made its debut in 1956 with Bill Cullen, Queen for a Day which first made its mark on radio or a very early version of The Dating Game called Blind Date. What was your favorite 1950s game show?

Game Shows
September 2024
It’s play time! We’re clueing you in on the greatest panel and quiz shows that ever buzzed about on television.
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