Not telling the truth on TTTT

[thomas_meighan]

When GSN was running the 1970-71 season of TTTT during 1998, I distinctly remember seeing an unusual incident. During one segment, the central subject (who might have been a male Avon representative -- this detail is hazy) apparently made a mistake of some kind that raised a red flag for Garry Moore. He halted the questioning, turned away from the contestants and reminded the subject that he was sworn to tell the truth. I don't recall the rest of what he said, but the game continued as normal.

What I don't remember is what the subject said that led to this situation, or whether it was something that would have been fishy to the average viewer. Does anyone else remember this episode?

[Matt Ottinger]

Weirdly, I have a memory of the incident from the original airing, because as a child it struck me as so strange that the host of a show would do something so out of the ordinary.  But I remember even less of the details than you do. 

[Ian Wallis]

I remember seeing this on GSN.  I don't remember the exact details because it's been quite a while, but I think the central character was trying not to give too much away and gave a vague answer to a question.  After that panelist had finished, that's when Garry turned away and said what he did.  After the game was over, he explained to the panel why he did it.

[Mr. Matté]

This specific incident was discussed here a long time ago, see http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,5782.msg60653.html#msg60653

If say it was Number 1 giving the less-than-truthful answer, and immediately after 1's response was when Garry did the spiel, wouldn't that be the tipoff making the turning away from the contestants moot?

The only other similar instance of this was on one of the 1980 Ward episodes that I saw on YT but Robin said something along the lines of "You must answer truthfully" before the questioning started.

[calliaume]

Mark Evanier just reposted a piece from 2002 where the central character's story was a complete fabrication:

http://www.newsfromme.com/2015/05/07/our-gang-imposters-2/

This was pretty early in the show's run; I suspect they tightened up the background checks further down the line.

[Neumms]

This specific incident was discussed here a long time ago, see http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,5782.msg60653.html#msg60653

Noted there was an occasion where Garry Moore disqualified a panelist's question. Rayburn asked a set of priests, "what prayer ends with" such-and-such, and Garry interrupted him, calling it a "demonstration." Does anyone know what the rules for the questioning were?

[TwoInchQuad]

Noted there was an occasion where Garry Moore disqualified a panelist's question. Rayburn asked a set of priests, "what prayer ends with" such-and-such, and Garry interrupted him, calling it a "demonstration." Does anyone know what the rules for the questioning were?

Pretty sure that "no demonstration" thing happened during Bud's tenure, too-- and although not directly related to the rule being discussed, I seem to recall that the small obstructions between the contestant's desks (that block the contestant's arms and hands as they sit at the desks) appeared just a little while after one of the panelists noted that they based their vote on the appearance of one of the contestant's hands.

As for someone fibbing and potentially forfeiting their winnings-- the appearance of Wrong Way Corrigan comes to mind.  Bud very quickly shut down the after-game questioning from the panel when Corrigan started talking about his famous flight, and continued to insist that it was an accident. 

Even in the 50's, almost no one believed that.

[Marshall Akers]

When GSN was running the 1970-71 season of TTTT during 1998, I distinctly remember seeing an unusual incident. During one segment, the central subject (who might have been a male Avon representative -- this detail is hazy) apparently made a mistake of some kind that raised a red flag for Garry Moore. He halted the questioning, turned away from the contestants and reminded the subject that he was sworn to tell the truth. I don't recall the rest of what he said, but the game continued as normal.

What I don't remember is what the subject said that led to this situation, or whether it was something that would have been fishy to the average viewer. Does anyone else remember this episode?

It was one of those uncomfortable moments that happened occasionally.  The segment you're describing sounds like a 1970 game featuring a men's liberation activist, and it happened following Kitty Carlisle's questioning...which went like this (spoiler alert, I guess):

Kitty Carlisle: "Number one, what led you into this crusade?"
Number one: "Well, I'm delightfully mad."
Carlisle: "Oh is that the reason?  What do you do for a living?"
Number one: "I'm a graduate student."
Carlisle: "And you don't earn any money except running around to places where they don't want you?"
Number one: "No, I just sharpen pencils for money."

And when Carlisle's questioning round was over, Garry Moore interjected with this: "Okay, Kitty.  Now we're going to go to Gene Rayburn, but before we do that, I'm going to do something that I have to do every now and then because every now and then, somebody forgets the rules.  And I'm pointing no fingers.  I'm deliberately not looking toward our contestants, but the one who is the real fella is bound to tell the truth.  Keep that in mind over there over on the other side."

Now, Carlisle had questioned all three contestants, so it really could have been any of them that caused the trouble.  But when Gene Rayburn asked number one again later for his occupation, the answer changed. 

To be fair, Garry was stuck.  Since he already knew who the central character really was, he was obligated to intercede.  But in the end, three of the four panelists ended up voting for the real guy.  Maybe it was an unrelated guess, or maybe they used his message to their advantage.  The only sure thing is that what was probably just a reporter's bad inside joke came across as a clumsy evasion in the moment.


Marshall
http://www.ttttontheweb.com

[Eric Paddon]

The "no demonstrations" rule did go back to the Collyer era.   The one time Dorothy Kilgallen was a panelist she asked one of three claiming to be opera singer Teresa Stratas to do a line from an opera and Bud ruled the question out.

One rule that did change from the Collyer era had to do with if a panelist recognized an imposter or subject.   In the Collyer era the panelist had to disqualify him or herself right away without questioning.    In the 70s, this changed so that the panelist could question but not vote and would reveal his knowledge of the subject/imposter only at the end of the round.