Author Topic: The Name's The Same (Read 6672 times)

Tim L · « **on:** October 07, 2004, 11:39:41 AM »

I have been watching the Name's The Same on BWO. The earliest espisodes have Bill Cullen in the far right chair..and The announcer mentions him as host of "Winner Take All"..Bill's last episode did not mention "WTA" and the Next show he was replaced by Meredith Willson who was welcomed "back" to the panel after a long "vacation" The reason I mention this is that Bill's Episodes were apparently from early 1952 since they do mention "Winner Take All".Did Bill ever appear on TNTS after this? Also: Do the early episodes from 1951-52 survive?..And has GSN ever shown the 1954-55 season with either Dennis James or Bob And Ray As hosts?..This may have been covered in ATGS at one time but I'm sure its been a while..

Tim Lones

clemon79 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 07, 2004, 12:31:32 PM »

[quote name=\'Tim L\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 08:39 AM\']And has GSN ever shown the 1954-55 season with either Dennis James or Bob And Ray As hosts?..This may have been covered in ATGS at one time but I'm sure its been a while..
Tim Lones

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I know I've seen episodes of TNTS with Bob and Ray hosting. Couldn't tell you when exactly, but I know I've seen them, during the period when Sunday nights were reserved for the oldies.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #2 on:** October 07, 2004, 12:58:35 PM »

GSN has shown the James, Bob & Ray and Clifton Fadiman eps, plus the Conrad Nagel and Brian Ahern sub-hosting eps during SNIB&W. I found the Bob & Ray episodes most fun. The concensus on Usenet was that they were awful; depends on your sense of humor, I guess.

clemon79 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 07, 2004, 01:01:11 PM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 09:58 AM\']GSN has shown the James, Bob & Ray and Clifton Fadiman eps, plus the Conrad Nagel and Brian Ahern sub-hosting eps during SNIB&W. I found the Bob & Ray episodes most fun. The concensus on Usenet was that they were awful; depends on your sense of humor, I guess.

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I thought they were crap, myself, but then the only real entertainment I got out of TNTS was watching Roger Price try to milk another 15 minutes out of his Droodles schtick.

Tim L · « **Reply #4 on:** October 07, 2004, 01:05:07 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 12:31 PM\'][quote name=\'Tim L\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 08:39 AM\']And has GSN ever shown the 1954-55 season with either Dennis James or Bob And Ray As hosts?..This may have been covered in ATGS at one time but I'm sure its been a while..
Tim Lones

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I know I've seen episodes of TNTS with Bob and Ray hosting. Couldn't tell you when exactly, but I know I've seen them, during the period when Sunday nights were reserved for the oldies.

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If I recall correctly the last run of The Name's The Same (Saturday Nights?) before this consisted of Robert Q. Lewis episodes as well as whatever sub-hosts there were up till 54-55. Id like to see the Bob And Ray and Dennis James shows just to compare. Also, was'nt there a 4-Celebrity panel setup later in the run? I do like Bob And Ray's Humor..wonder if it translated well to the format.

RMF · « **Reply #5 on:** October 07, 2004, 01:20:36 PM »

As mentioned above, they've aired the James/Bob&Ray/Fadiman episodes in the past.

It appears that GSN has no episodes from before early 1952. This isn't suprising; most early WML are gone, and the earliest BtC in the GSN Archive is from John Reed King's sub-hosting in summer 1952.

Yes, TimL, they did go to a four-member panel late in the Robert Q Lewis run.

As for Bob and Ray's hosting qualities- they had some good jokes, as I remember, but they were rather out of place.

(How G-T could have Bob and Ray AND Fred Allen on the payroll and not use either to replace Herb Shriner is beyond me...)

uncamark · « **Reply #6 on:** October 07, 2004, 05:21:11 PM »

[quote name=\'RMF\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 12:20 PM\'](How G-T could have Bob and Ray AND Fred Allen on the payroll and not use either to replace Herb Shriner is beyond me...)

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Especially knowing that "Two for the Money" was originally developed as a vehicle for Allen--when he got ill, G-T picked Shriner to host. Old Gold still wanted a show for Allen, so G-T came up with--"Judge for Yourself."

Well, they can't all be "What's My Line?"

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #7 on:** October 07, 2004, 05:28:24 PM »

Here's Bill Cullen's connection to all of this.

Cullen's shows, which may be the earliest ones that GSN has, were from the summer of 1952. There are at least six consecutive shows, going from August 6 (with guest Barry Fitzgerald, possibly the earliest surviving TNTS show) through September 10 (with Eddie Bracken). Meredith Willson returned the next week. Willson probably spent the summer working on a Broadway musical about his Iowa childhood. That would end up working out very well for him.

Cullen made at least one more appearance early in 1953, this time joining Willson on the panel.

As a separate series, Winner Take All had gone off the air in April of 1952. However, it continued as a featured part of a morning show called Matinee in New York throughout the summer, so it was still legitimate to identify Cullen as its host. The last episode of Matinee in New York was on September 5th, so that's why the September 10th episode of TNTS didn't mention Winner Take All.

tvwxman · « **Reply #8 on:** October 07, 2004, 06:38:55 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 04:28 PM\']Here's Bill Cullen's connection to all of this.

Cullen's shows, which may be the earliest ones that GSN has, were from the summer of 1952. There are at least six consecutive shows, going from August 6 (with guest Barry Fitzgerald, possibly the earliest surviving TNTS show) through September 10 (with Eddie Bracken). Meredith Willson returned the next week. Willson probably spent the summer working on a Broadway musical about his Iowa childhood. That would end up working out very well for him.

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Cats?

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #9 on:** October 07, 2004, 07:17:13 PM »

Everybody now... "We've got Cats...right here in River City...With a capitol C and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool....."

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #10 on:** October 07, 2004, 10:37:48 PM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 07:17 PM\']Everybody now... "We've got Cats...right here in River City...With a capitol C and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool....."

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In my house, where the lovely Claudia and I have far too many cats, the "P" stands for . . . well . . . P.

uncamark · « **Reply #11 on:** October 08, 2004, 01:02:11 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 09:37 PM\'][quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Oct 7 2004, 07:17 PM\']Everybody now... "We've got Cats...right here in River City...With a capitol C and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool....."

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In my house, where the lovely Claudia and I have far too many cats, the "P" stands for . . . well . . . P.

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Yeah.

But didn't the lovely Claudia used to be on "TPIR?"

JasonA1 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 10, 2004, 10:19:59 PM »

I haven't been watching this run, but I taped several TNTS shows in the past. I enjoyed the panel, the game and most of all Robert Q. Lewis. The twist on the questioning wasn't bad. For those with tapes, how did two hosts work exactly? Who did what?

-Jason

Author Topic: The Name's The Same (Read 6672 times)

uncamark

uncamark