Looking for a The Name's The Same episode

[Matt Ottinger]

Doing some research on, of all people, Meredith Willson, who was a panelist on TNTS in the early going.  However, I'm looking for an episode he wasn't on.  Specifically, the very first episode after he left the panel for good.  I remember that Robert Q. Lewis noted his absence and said that he was going to work on a musical project, which would end up being the Broadway classic The Music Man.

It seems likely that this would be the July 21, 1953 episode with Ronald Reagan as the celebrity guest.  Someone has uploaded the Reagan segment to YouTube, but I'm looking for Robert Q's comments.  And to be clear, I'm not absolutely positive that's even the right episode.  If anybody can do the old man a solid here, I'd be ever so grateful. 

ottinger@starfleet.com, or as most of you know, I'm very active on Facebook.

[bscripps]

I checked what I have, which has mostly served to remind me how poorly my DVD burner worked at the time...

I have everything from around that time frame on disc, but my system at home isn't able to read the discs well enough to either play or rip.  The Reagan episode plays up until the first guest after Reagan's appearance, but then quits (I didn't hear anything about Willson in what played).  I spot-checked a few episodes from around that time (and what I could get to load) and didn't find anything. 

In the meantime, I ripped what I could salvage and put it up on YT:

- 6/9/53 Eve Arden
- 6/30/53 Zsa Zsa Gabor
- 7/21/53 Steve Allen

The ep guide I'm using says the Arden episode was the first of four episodes on which Willson didn't appear, with the Gabor episode being the third (Harry James and Gracie Fields are the other two).  The Steve Allen episode is listed in my guide as 7/21 and is a one-time return for Willson, with the Reagan episode following on the 28th (I don't know the provenance of this guide; it's just a file I've got from long ago and I wouldn't swear by any of the dates).  Aside from the Reagan episode, I didn't give any of these a real close listen, just checking in the usual spots (intro, outtro, etc.) for any mention. 

I'll give the disc a spin in my Windows machine at work and see if I have any better results...

[Matt Ottinger]

Thank you.  Any sort of extensive episode guide you may have might have come from me originally.  I posted one a while back when GSN was running the episodes late at night, but I didn't retain the episodes after I had pulled the information from them.  Even though my page is gone, someone at the Mark Goodson Wiki appears to have...um..."acquired" the data and published it as their own:

http://markgoodson.wikia.com/wiki/The_Name%27s_the_Same/Episode_Guide

You're right that it might very well be the Eve Arden episode.  There's an obvious edit in the copy you have, right before Q introduces the first guest.  Could be that it's the spot where Q mentions Willson, and GSN cut it out of later airings than the one I saw.

I'll take your word that it's not in the first few minutes of the Ronald Reagan episode, but then I start running out of possibilities.  I guess Q could have been saying goodbye to Willson on his last appearance, but that's not how I remember it.

Grateful for your (and anyone's) continued sleuthing.

[bscripps]

I was able to salvage the Reagan episode:

(The others that were on the same disc should be sidebarred at YT.  Unfortunately, I had no luck with the other discs.)

The abrupt edit in the Arden episode also happens here, so you may be right about it being the Reagan and GSN just killed it.

[snowpeck]

I have a much earlier GSN airing of the Reagan episode somewhere (and maybe others from that time frame, not sure) so I'll check it later.

[snowpeck]

The Reagan episode I have from a 1999 airing on GSN is exactly the same as the one uploaded. The abrupt edit is where GSN inserted a commercial break, likely to cover up Robert Q. speaking on behalf of the sponsor.