I've Got a Secret

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I've Got a Secret was a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. It was created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill as a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?. The original version of the show premiered in June 19, 1952 and ran until April 3, 1967. It was then revived for the 1972-1973 season in once-a-week syndication and then again from June 15 to July 6, 1976 for a summer run. Another production ran on the Oxygen cable channel in a daily version, with original episodes airing through 2001.

GSN premiered a new version on April 17, 2006 with an all-gay panel. In October 2006 GSN opted not to renew the show for a second season[1] but the show (in reruns) is still on the schedule and was recently moved to a prime time slot.

Contents 1 Hosts and Panelists 2 Game Play 2.1 Standard Rounds 2.2 Guest Rounds 3 Style of the Show 4 Super Secrets 5 Themes 6 Trivia 7 External links

[edit] Hosts and Panelists

The show was originally hosted by radio and television personality Garry Moore. After several months of an ever changing panel, the show settled down to include game show host Bill Cullen, acerbic comedian Henry Morgan, TV hostess Faye Emerson and actress Jayne Meadows. In 1958, Emerson left the show to star in a play. She was replaced by actress Betsy Palmer. The following year, Meadows moved to the West Coast to live with her husband Steve Allen. She was replaced by former Miss America Bess Myerson. At various times guest hosts substituted for Moore (usually, but not always, in the summer). The guest hosts included panelists Henry Morgan and Betsy Palmer, among others.

Garry Moore left the show and was replaced by Steve Allen on September 21, 1964. Allen also hosted the show during the 1972-1973 season. Former panelist Bill Cullen hosted the show during the brief 1976 CBS summer revival. The panelists on this revival were Richard Dawson, Henry Morgan, New York-based entertainment critic Pat Collins, and Elaine Joyce.

The Oxygen channel version of the show was hosted by Stephanie Miller until August 2001. Regular panelists in the Oxygen version included JM J. Bullock, Jason Kravits, Amy Yasbeck and Teri Garr.

The GSN version was hosted by Bil Dwyer; the panelists were Billy Bean, Frank DeCaro, Jermaine Taylor and Suzanne Westenhoefer.

[edit] Game Play

[edit] Standard Rounds

Each show contained two regular contestant rounds. Occasionally (but far less often than sister show What's My Line?), an additional contestant would appear after the guest round. A round was basically a guessing game where the panel tried to determine a contestant's "secret". A contestant (sometimes more than one) would enter. The host would introduce the contestant and ask their name. He would then say "Whisper your secret to me, and we'll show it to the folks at home" and the contestant would whisper his secret to Moore. From the show's beginning until the middle of 1954, each panelist had 15 seconds of questioning time. When the questioning ended, the contestant was awarded $10. Two times around the panel ended the game. Later on, they went once around the panel. The contestant received $20 when time ran out on a panelist, for a maximum of $80. They would also often receive a carton of Winston cigarettes or a supply of whatever product was sponsoring the show at that time. Unlike the big money "quiz shows" which were soon to follow and then become a major scandal, the money and prizes were always secondary to the game play and interaction among the panelists. On Oxygen's version, the challenger earned $200 for each stumped panelist, while stumping the entire panel earned a total of $1,000 for the challenger.

On GSN's current edition, each panelist has 40 seconds to question the challenger, but the prize is only awarded if the contestant stumps the entire panel. A contestant who does so wins $1,000 and dinner for 2 in Beverly Hills. The fine print at the end of the show discloses that challengers are paid an appearance fee; in addition, losing contestants also receive some unspecified parting gifts. Several minor show-business professionals have demonstrated their performances on the show, including, for example, piano juggler Dan Menendez.

[edit] Guest Rounds

Once per show, a celebrity came on with a secret. At the beginning of the show, the celebrity had opened the show with "My name is ______ and I've Got a Secret!". Early on, the celebrities' secrets would be real ones, or were made up by the staff. Eventually this segment wasn't a game at all. Instead the celebrity would be there to demonstrate something, such as how men and women react to each other or the panel discussing their first dates. They even went so far as the panel putting on a play or singing a song. Until the end of the series, however, real secrets were sometimes done. Sometimes, the secret was that the panelists were being sent to some far off location to film a news report, which whould be shown the next week.

[edit] Style of the Show

As opposed to What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret was played mainly for laughs. They did occasionally have serious secrets, such as a pilot who was saved from drowning by a civilian, but more often than not, the secrets were not taken seriously. The panel was always referred to by their first names and everything was done informally. Demonstrations were often done after each secret, which was strictly taboo on What's My Line?. As opposed to John Daly, Garry was much more likely to throw in the towel if the panel was very far off the secret. The focus was on the entertainment value, not the game itself, which is also why often the celebrity "secret" really wasn't a secret at all.

[edit] Super Secrets

Most of the best remembered secrets were segments where things just got out of control. One memorable secret had actor/comedian Wally Cox using a box full of wood furniture to make an entire bedroom set. Chaos ensued when everything started to fall apart, despite the lengthy rehearsals that they had done before the show. On another occasion, one of the contestants was supposed to be able to blow up an inner tube to the point of explosion just by blowing into it. Great idea, but it took him so long that celebrity Andy Griffith finally just came out and watched the spectacle with everyone else. Other well remembered secrets included actor Paul Newman serving a hot dog at a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball game at Ebbets Field to Henry Morgan. Another one had then-actor Ronald Reagan, pointing out the difference between doing live TV and having to do retakes in the movies, leaving the stage each time a panelist said "uhh...". Moore would then re-introduce Reagan and start the bit over, sending the audience into hysterics.

Another memorable stunt for Easter ended with children chasing rabbits all over the stage. Another time, a cow was brought onstage to be milked by Bess Myerson, but wound up defecating on camera. Once, the great illusionist Michel de la Vega suspended Garry Moore from shoulders to heels between ordinary table chairs and levitated Betsy Palmer over three upended sabres. They also sometimes had historical secrets, such as the one told by Samuel J. Seymour, who appeared two months before his death in 1954. Seymour was the last surviving person who had been at Ford's Theatre in Washington when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.

In 1957, one mystery guest was Philo T. Farnsworth. He fielded questions from the celebrity panel as they unsuccessfully tried to guess his secret ("I invented electronic television."). For stumping the panel, he received US$80 and a carton of Winston cigarettes. Ironically, this would be the only television appearance of the man who invented electronic television.[2]

One simple but memorable secret was aimed at Palmer, who had gone through a long spell without a successful guess. A man came on stage with a carrot in each ear. His secret was, of course, that he had carrots in his ears. Palmer, given the opportunity to go first, did not guess the secret – disappointing the producers, who had planned to drop confetti and balloons and make a big fuss when she did. Later, Palmer said: "I thought about asking, but I thought it was too obvious."

On one show two men came out in strange military uniforms and speaking what sounded like a foreign language. They were part of the "Aggressor Force" used in U.S. military war games, and were speaking the artificial language of Esperanto.

On one show, Chico Marx appeared silently dressed in his brother's Harpo's traditional costume, while an on-screen caption read "I'm actually Chico Marx."

[edit] Themes

The first theme used on the show from 1952 - 1961 was "Plink, Plank, Plunk" by Leroy Anderson (this theme is heard on the album "Classic TV Game Show Themes").

The second theme, used from 1961 - 1962, was an upbeat arrangement of the Theme to "A Summer Place" by Max Steiner.

The third theme, used from 1962 to 1967, was an upbeat, spritely march composed by the show's musical director, Norman Paris.

When Steve Allen assumed the hosting duties, an instrumental version of Allen's composition "This Could Be the Start of Something" was added.

The theme from the 1976 version with Bill Cullen was used one year later on the ABC game show Second Chance. A remix of that theme was also used in the Australian version of Family Feud.

[edit] Trivia

• Lowell Toy Mfg. Corp of New York made the home game of I've Got A Secret.

[edit] External links

• I've Got a Secret online! - The largest IGaS fansite, featuring transcripts, photos, and audio clips.
• I've Got a Secret - profile of the show from the Museum of Radio and TV
• Goodson-Todman Big 4 Guide - an episode guide to all of the major Goodson-Todman panel shows, including IGAS.
• Oxygen's I've Got a Secret - website for the 2001 version of IGAS, hosted by Stephanie Miller.
• Game Show Utopia I've Got a Secret 1952 - a page devoted to the 1952 version of the show.
• Game Show Utopia I've Got a Secret 1976 - a page devoted to the 1976 version of the show hosted by Bill Cullen.
• Eleven minute interview with Betsy Palmer (panelist on I've Got a Secret for 10 years (1957-1967)). (Anecdotes about her career and how she got her first acting job.)
• Aviation preservationist Cole Palen's appearance on I've Got A Secret in April of 1965