The WML Project: Phil Rizzuto

[SWC75]

The first great era of TV quiz shows, from 1950-67, was dominated by the producer team of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, who created the classic shows “What’s My Line”, (WML), “I’ve Got a Secret” (IGAS), and “To Tell the Truth”, (TTT), among others. They were all guessing games- WML to guess the profession of the guest or the identity of a “mystery guest”, IGAS to guess the guest’s secret, and TTT to guess which of three contestants was actually who they claimed to be. Unlike flashier shows like “The $64,000 Question”, which got into trouble by feeding answers to guests the viewers liked, these shows just gave guests one shot and didn’t pay much money. As a result they were on a lot longer. The networks finally decided they had had their day and cancelled them all in 1967, although syndicated daytime versions appeared on and off in the years after that.

In 1994, the Game Show Network was created. They got the rights to the Goodson-Todman shows and began showing them. They became very popular and many viewers taped them. Their rights to the G-T library then terminated and they showed other programs. They got the rights back in 1998-2003 and again the old shows were popular and many were taped by fans. These fans have posted many segments from these shows onto U-Tube. Many of them involve prominent sports figures. I decided to make a list of the ones I could find, with some comments about their appearances and post them on the Syracusefan.com “Other Sports” board in case anybody would like to view them.

TTT, by its nature, avoided celebrities. A rare segment I could find of it that features a famous athlete was a 12/5/60 appearance by Wilma Rudolph, a few months after she’d won three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Can you imagine Michael Phelps appearing on TTT now with two other guys and the panel doesn’t know which one is him? But things were different in 1960. IGAS had celebrity guests and some were athletes but there are far fewer IGAS clips on U-Tube than WML, for some reason. Because of this, I’ve label this the “WML Project”, even thought I’ve included IGAS and TTT segments where I could find them.

My plan is to make one post a day, although that might invovle multiple clips on the same celebrity or subject. I hope you enjoy them.

 

[SWC75]

2/2/50 Phil Rizzuto Phil had not yet begun his MVP season. He also appeared on the syndicated WML in 2/5/70, which is also on U-Tube and discusses having been the first mystery guest 20 years before. Phil was also a panelist on WML three times: look for: William Bendix and also Jacques Cousteau, (9/16/56), Sal Maglie (10/7/56) and Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffries, (7/28/57).


This was the first ever episode of WML as, as such, is rather clunky. The only panelist to survive beyond the early episodes was Dorothy Kilgallen. Governor Hoffman turned out to be a crook and died of a heart attack after an embezzlement scheme was uncovered. Professor Untermeyer was blacklisted. Dr. Hoffman went back to his practice. Believe me the show got better than this as it progressed. This premiere episode is more of a curio than a classic to WML fans. Phil enters at the 23 minute mark and they hardly have time for him. He would go on to be AL MVP that year.

 

[SWC75]

Phil appeared on the show again 20 years later, (it was now a syndicated daytime show and in color with a different host):

(taped 2/5/70- 20 years and 3 days after the premiere and broadcast 4/17/70)

By now he was the highly poplar broadcaster for the Yankees, who were in their down period while the Mets had just won the World Series.

 

[SWC75]

Phil’s child Pat appeared on the fourth ever episode of TTT on 1/15/57:


Phil comes out to identify which child is his. Hehad just retired and was beginning his 40 year career as a Yankee broadcaster.(Roger Maris’ wife Pat appeared on TTT on 10/2/61 but You-Tube unfortunately doesn’t have that.)

 

[SWC75]

Phil’s former double play partner at second base and future broadcast partner, Jerry Coleman, appears as one of the imposters in the third segment of the 2/5/57 episode of TTT:


Jerry comes on at the 16:40 mark and shows a great poker face. After broadcasting Yankees games during the 60's he moved to California and did Angels games, then, for almost 40 years, was the voice of the San Diego Padres.

More tomorrow.

 

[Noexcuse]

Great stuff. Thanks for posting. Love the Scooter. Think he's probably doing this right now:

 

[MSOrange]

Looking forward to this. I've often found myself watching old youtube clips of I’ve Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth. Some of them are just fascinating stuff like the last living witness to the Lincoln assassination. Sports episodes should be really neat to watch.