My What's My Line Mystery Continues

[BillCullen1]

I was at WML tapings in '73 and '74. I recall one day when Mark Goodson sat in on the panel for Gene Shalit. The had a spot on personalized checks and they had a checkbook for Gene Shalit, where they explained that he had the flu. I think this might have been the same day Bill Todman was a mystery guest because someone cancelled out. It was the Friday show.

[whewfan]

At that time, Mel Brooks was still not too well known as a personality, so maybe they didn't realize how funny he was/is. In that WML episode, he had only released two movies, The Producers (definitely a classic) and The Twelve Chairs (IMO not one of his best... certainly not the zany humor and outright parody that he would later be known for, but Dom Deluise sort of saves it in the scenes he's in. He wanted Gene Wilder in Twelve Chairs too, but Gene wasn't available at that time)

[BrandonFG]

I dunno...Get Smart had already gone off the air by this point, so I think his name was a little more out there, esp. his humor. He'd also appeared on the 2000th episode of Jeopardy! not long after this (maybe a year or so later), and they used him a lot more there.

[chris319]

Bruner sure cut Soupy off at the knees in the egg collector spot. I've never seen a game-show emcee be that rude to a panelist or contestant on camera -- not even Allen Ludden.

I didn't think the handwriting guessing game played at all well.

Mel Brooks was already well known, certainly to the panel, from his comedy routines with Carl Reiner.

I wouldn't blame Bennett for never coming back after that show.

[calliaume]

Bruner sure cut Soupy off at the knees in the egg collector spot. I've never seen a game-show emcee be that rude to a panelist or contestant on camera -- not even Allen Ludden.

I didn't think the handwriting guessing game played at all well.

Mel Brooks was already well known, certainly to the panel, from his comedy routines with Carl Reiner.

I wouldn't blame Bennett for never coming back after that show.

The handwriting game was way too long.  It's wonderful to have all the panelists participate, but it took up four and a half minutes, and by the time we got to Arlene, I'm sure people were looking at their watches.

I'm just taking a guess, but if Wally Bruner did want out after the fourth season, I suspect G-T didn't fight very hard to make him stay.  Gil Fates' What's My Line? book is almost one of a kind, but there's no question he leaves a lot of touchy subjects untouched (the death of Dorothy Kilgallen is the first thing that comes to mind).  It must have been awkward for Larry Blyden to be hosting the show in some parts of the country with Bruner's episodes still running in others.

[Adam Nedeff]

At that time, Mel Brooks was still not too well known as a personality, so maybe they didn't realize how funny he was/is.

Brooks and Carl Reiner had been performing "The 2000 Year Old Man" for over a decade at this point; one of their albums sold over a million copies. He was also a staple of talk shows at that point, having done "The Tonight Show" (including Johnny Carson's first episode), Steve Allen, Mike Douglas, David Frost, and Dick Cavett numerous times. He also performed stand-up on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Hollywood Palace." And he had done a BUNCH of other game shows during the 1960s, including "Eye Guess," "Personality," "The Face is Familiar" and "The Celebrity Game." In addition, he had written 139 episodes of "Your Show of Shows", three episodes of "Get Smart," a show which he also created, and had won an Oscar for "The Producers."

I'm pretty sure people knew that Mel Brooks was funny by this point.

[chris319]

Somewhere there is a clip of Mel Brooks telling a story involving Bill Cullen and Eye Guess. If I can find it, I'll post it.

Bennett emceed WML? once that I've seen, but he was awkward and probably shaking in his boots. I always wanted to see Martin Gabel and Tony Randall try emceeing it. Daly was cheerful and whimsical at times in the emcee chair. Wally was a cold fish. If he lasted four seasons, that's three too many.

[chris319]

John Daly looked particularly glum during the first show after the death of Dorothy Kilgallen. I'm convinced he was a direct pipeline from studio 52 to his father in law, the eponymous head of the Warren commission which was charged with covering up LBJ's role in the Kennedy assassination. Dorothy would come to the studio and tell everyone how she was going to blow the lid off the case with her Jack Ruby interview. I have a feeling she was silenced before she could get Ruby to spill the beans.

I don't blame Gil for omitting this controversial topic from his book.

[WhammyPower]

Somewhere there is a clip of Mel Brooks telling a story involving Bill Cullen and Eye Guess.

Yep.

[Matt Ottinger]

Somewhere there is a clip of Mel Brooks telling a story involving Bill Cullen and Eye Guess.

Yep.

The print version was from a 2010 issue of GQ Magazine under the heading "Epic Tales of Embarrassment"

The week of October 17–21 in 1966—that would make me about 40—was a special celebrity week on Eye Guess. Bill Cullen was the host. The game was very similar to Concentration. I was teamed up with Julia Meade. Remember her? Actress, very pretty young lady, blonde... Okay, never mind. I don't think I won, but I did get the take-home game. Anyway, the show is over, and I start walking toward the podium to say good night to Bill, to thank him for having me on. He starts coming toward me cross-stage, and I don't know what he's doing. His feet are flopping. His hands are flying everywhere. He's doing this kind of wacky walk-of-the-unfortunates that Jerry Lewis used to do. So I figured, what the hell, I'll join him. I start doing, I dunno, this multiple-sclerosis walk, flapping my arms and doing the Milton Berle cross legs—my own Jerry Lewis impression... And Julia is whispering, "No! He's crippled, Mel!" I don't even hear her. Finally we meet in the middle, we hug, and he says to me, "You know, you're the only comic who's ever had the nerve to make fun of my crippled walk. Everyone's so careful, it makes me feel even worse." And I realize, Oh, my God, this guy is really crippled! It was my worst moment—and if you weren't me, probably the funniest thing that ever happened.

[BrandonFG]

And I realize, Oh, my God, this guy is really crippled! It was my worst moment—and if you weren't me, probably the funniest thing that ever happened.

From time to time, I will read about something that happened years ago and cringe about how badly people would've reacted to it happening today. This story, as much as I laughed, definitely fits that bill for me.

[clemon79]

From time to time, I will read about something that happened years ago and cringe about how badly people would've reacted to it happening today. This story, as much as I laughed, definitely fits that bill for me.

[BrandonFG]

Well yeah, but in Mel's case, it was an honest misunderstanding. Trump was just being Trump (read: an egotistical asshole).

[Adam Nedeff]

Bumping this just because I unexpectedly got some clarity about taping times. A Facebook friend posted a photo of the 1969 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and it just so happens that the photo catches the parade as it's passing the Ed Sullivan Theater, and the marquee is advertising tickets for "What's My Line?" Now granted, it's a different year and a different studio, so it doesn't really solve anything about Curt's mystery for sure, but at the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1969, the tapings were on Wednesday at 10:45 a.m., 1:45 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.

[BillCullen1]

Bennett emceed WML? once that I've seen, but he was awkward and probably shaking in his boots. I always wanted to see Martin Gabel and Tony Randall try emceeing it. Daly was cheerful and whimsical at times in the emcee chair. Wally was a cold fish. If he lasted four seasons, that's three too many.

Wally was a news correspondent before this, so he was use to being serious. But I think he realized that WML was not Meet the Press. Larry Blyden was a stage actor so he had a more outgoing personality. He also had hosting experience doing Personality and The Movie Game before WML.