Who's Whose (lost one-episode CBS game show; 1951): Difference between revisions
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==External Link== | ==External Link== | ||
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who%27s_Whose Wikipedia page for ''Who's Whose''.] Retrieved 11 Jul '19 | *[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who%27s_Whose Wikipedia page for ''Who's Whose''.] Retrieved 11 Jul '19 | ||
==References== | ==References== |
Revision as of 05:29, 11 July 2019
A still from It's News To Me, the show that replaced Who's Whose in its next time slot.
Status: Lost
Who's Whose was a very short-lived/ill-fated early game show that was hosted by Phil Baker (radio comedian and host of various radio game shows) that aired for its first and final time on June 25th, 1951 on CBS. It was created to replace The Goldbergs in their time slot.[1]
Overview
Host Phil Baker had his own assistant during the show, a man in a turban named Gunga.[2] The show had three celebrity panelists, those being women's activist Robin Chandler, Art Ford and literary critic Basil Davenport.[3]
A game would start with a panel "of experts" next to three women and three men. The panel would try and decide what male was married to one of the females.[4]
The show had its own pilot (or, as it was known at the time by some, an "audition show") created in May 1951. Unlike other series at the time, the "audition show" for Who's Whose was created in a cheap, unique way. In what was called a "two-bit kine", the pilot's audio was recorded on an audiotape in a studio, while the moving picture was created by taking a long series of still camera photos. The audio was played back while the producers flipped through the photographs.[5][6]
Reception and Cancellation
After the show premiered on June 25th, 1951, it was critically panned by audiences. One reviewer described the show as "one of the most poorly produced TV shows yet to hit our living room screen",[7] and another stated it was bad for a multitude of reasons. Their first was that it was "lacking in production", the second was that the people playing the game didn't know how to play it, the third was that they described the host (or "emcee") Phil Baker as "uncomfortable" and "clumsy", and the fourth was that, not only did none of the contestants succeed in identifying the wife of Dizzy Dean, Dizzy Dean himself was nowhere to be seen at the time. They soon discovered him listening to a baseball game on the radio with an employee.[8]
After the critical reception of Who's Whose, CBS cancelled it immediately before it could air a second episode, making it one of (if not the) first television shows to be cancelled after only airing one episode. It was replaced by It's News To Me (a picture from which can be seen in the infobox) and was successful, running until 1954.[9]
Availability
No prints or kinescopes of Who's Whose exist. It has not surfaced since its original airing and is unlikely to surface due to television's wiping practices at the time, home video having not been invented yet, and it was also likely destroyed due to its failure, meaning CBS didn't think it would succeed again. As such, Who's Whose is likely lost to the ages. As for It's News To Me, that series (which was also a panel game show) is also lost in some form, however, some episodes are known to survive.
External Link
- Wikipedia page for Who's Whose. Retrieved 11 Jul '19
References
- ↑ A page from The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present book that mentions the show. Retrieved 23 May '19
- ↑ An excerpt of a Variety newspaper mentioning the show. Retrieved 23 May '19
- ↑ Another Variety newspaper snippet mentioning the celebrity panelists. Retrieved 23 May '19
- ↑ Newspaper article from after the show premiered, in July 1951. Retrieved 23 May '19
- ↑ A Variety article from Independence Day in 1951. Retrieved 23 May '19
- ↑ A newspaper article on the cheap technique Who's Whose used. Retrieved 23 May '19
- ↑ One review of the show, criticizing it. Retrieved 23 May '19
- ↑ Another critical review of the show, citing the reasons as to why it was bad. Retrieved 23 May '19
- ↑ Article mentioning the show's cancellation. Retrieved 23 May '19