I think many of us expected GSN to plug in the 1969 Gerald Ford What's My Line? on this week's overnight block...and they did not disappoint. Panelists included Gene Rayburn, Brenda Vaccaro (I could've paused the disc and stared at her awhile, what a set of legs), Joanna Barnes and Bennett Cerf. Ford got quite a response from the audience when he walked out. He stumped the panel, which had managed to narrow down that he was a Republican House of Representatives member (Brenda got some laughs when she guessed the well-known GOP member was a Democrat; apparently from his questioning, Gene actually was one). After the questioning, host Wally Bruner mentions having interviewed Ford alot during his Washington TV days, and in response to a question from Cerf, Ford mentions having just played a round of golf days earlier with former host John Charles Daly.
The big surprise for me was the second show of the night: another syndicated WML? this time from 1968 with the Godfather of Soul himself, the late James Brown. The panel (Soupy Sales, Phyllis Newman--who I also could've stared at awhile, Gawn Granger--last name correct?--and Arlene) was able to track down his identity. Arlene and Wally praised Brown for helping to quell recent racial disturbances in Washington and Boston; Soupy and Brown carried on like they were close friends or at least mutual fans.
The rest of the shows were entertaining too: the Ford show also included a live alligator wrestling demo and the Brown show had as the first guest, the man who made the panel's blindfolds! (Added treat: at the end of the Brown show, in response to an audience member question, Arlene tells how she met hubby Martin Gabel while the two worked in old time radio.) Props to GSN for unearthing both of these and for not crunching the credits in either one. I wish we could see more of the syndicated Line? from time to time.
