You're In The Picture (lost unaired second episode of CBS game show; 1961): Difference between revisions

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[[File:Jackie Gleason "You're in the Picture"|thumb|right|335px|1 minute snippet from the first episode, followed by Gleason's apology.]]
{{InfoboxLost
'''''You're In The Picture''''' is often named the'' [[Heil Honey I'm Home! (Missing Episodes From British 1990 Sitcom)|Heil Honey I'm Home!]] ''of game shows. Its horrible quality got it cancelled after its first episode aired in 1961. The show was hosted by Jackie Gleason, which is said to be the show's only saving grace.
|title=<center>You're In The Picture (Episode 2)</center>
|image=YoureInThePictureCBS-TitleCard.jpg
|imagecaption=Title card.
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
}}
''You’re In The Picture'' is a CBS game show that aired for a single episode on January 20th, 1961. The show, hosted by comedian and actor Jackie Gleason, was instantly panned for its poor quality, being ranked as one of the worst television shows ever produced.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-worst-tv-shows-ever CBS article on the worst television shows; 12 Jul 2002.] Retrieved 22 Oct '17</ref>


The premise of the game show is more than sufficient evidence of its terrible quality. Celebrities would put their faces through an image that was either of a famous historical figure or some depiction of popular song lyrics of the time. The celebrity would have no idea who they were supposed to be and they had to guess. Unfortunately the answers were either so obscure that the celebrity had no way of knowing it or so obvious they get it correct within seconds. If they won the show, they would receive the most lackluster prize in game show history: 100 care packages would be sent out to someone in their name.
The premise of the show was that a life-sized illustration of a pop-culture reference or famous historical scene would be brought out for a panel of four celebrities to place their heads in. They took turns asking yes or no questions to Gleason to figure out what scene the illustration was representing. If they successfully guessed the scene 100 CARE Packages were sent for relief under their name, and if they didn’t the Packages would instead be sent under Gleason’s name. The show was instantly poorly received, going as far as Time Magazine mentioning it as one of the main reasons they viewed the 1960-1961 television season as the "worst in the 13-year history of U.S. network television."<ref>[http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872198,00.html Time Magazine article mentioning the show; 31 Mar 1961.] Retrieved 22 Oct '17</ref>


The show was ripped to shreds by critics. Gleason responded to the criticism by airing an apology for the horrid show in place of the second episode. The apology is said to be one of the best pieces of comedy ever aired on television and is looked at as a highlight of his career. It turned out to be a poorly disguised pilot for the talk show, ''The Jackie Gleason Show'''. '''''
'''A second episode'''<ref>[http://splitsider.com/2012/01/jackie-gleasons-half-hour-apology-and-youre-in-the-picture-the-show-that-warranted-it/ A SplitSider article on the show and it's archiving at the Paley Center; 20 Jan 2012] Retrieved 22 Oct '17</ref>was produced and ready for airing, presumably as a pilot or for the following week’s broadcast on January 27th. Instead of the scheduled episode, Gleason did a thirty-minute apology for the poor quality of the series, mocking the format and failure of the show. The apology, while angering sponsors and the network, was a tremendous success and is often looked upon as a highlight of Gleason’s career. Despite attempts to revamp the show, Gleason revived his talk show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' for 8 episodes to fill the rest of ''You’re In The Picture''’s scheduled run.<ref>[http://www.tvobscurities.com/spotlight/youre-in-the-picture-the-jackie-gleason-show/ Television Obscurities article on the show] Retrieved 22 Oct '17</ref>


While the first episode and apology are regularly available, the second episode never surfaced. The episode wasn't even known to have existed until Johnny Carson claimed to have appeared in it (surviving footage has yet to confirm his claim). The episode was suspected to have been wiped, though Gleason is thought to have held a copy.
While both the first episode and apology are available both archived at the Paley Center For Media in Los Angeles,<ref>[https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=you%27re+in+the+picture&f=all&c=all&advanced=1&p=1&item=T88:0034 Paley Center listing for the first episode] Retrieved 22 Oct '17</ref><ref>[https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=you%27re+in+the+picture&f=all&c=all&advanced=1&p=1&item=T88:0035 Paley Center listing for the apology episode] Retrieved 22 Oct '17</ref> the unaired episode has never surfaced. Given the expensive nature of videotapes at the time and that the episode would not be aired it is assumed that the episode was wiped. However, it has been rumored that Gleason had held a copy.
 
When Gleason appeared on the ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' on October 18th, 1985, Carson mentioned that he appeared on a taped episode.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxouFMoXQQM Jackie Gleason interview on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.] Retrieved 22 Oct '17</ref> He also stated that he filmed with Arthur Treacher and Milt Kamen (who also was not present in the first episode). The interview provides the only known information about the lost episode.
 
==Videos==
{{Video|perrow  =1
  |service1    =dailymotion
  |id1          =x5kwd0
  |description1 =10 minute snippet of the apology episode that aired in place of the second episode, including some footage of the first episode.
}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Lost TV]]
[[Category:Completely lost media]]

Revision as of 21:26, 4 September 2020

YoureInThePictureCBS-TitleCard.jpg

Title card.

Status: Lost

You’re In The Picture is a CBS game show that aired for a single episode on January 20th, 1961. The show, hosted by comedian and actor Jackie Gleason, was instantly panned for its poor quality, being ranked as one of the worst television shows ever produced.[1]

The premise of the show was that a life-sized illustration of a pop-culture reference or famous historical scene would be brought out for a panel of four celebrities to place their heads in. They took turns asking yes or no questions to Gleason to figure out what scene the illustration was representing. If they successfully guessed the scene 100 CARE Packages were sent for relief under their name, and if they didn’t the Packages would instead be sent under Gleason’s name. The show was instantly poorly received, going as far as Time Magazine mentioning it as one of the main reasons they viewed the 1960-1961 television season as the "worst in the 13-year history of U.S. network television."[2]

A second episode[3]was produced and ready for airing, presumably as a pilot or for the following week’s broadcast on January 27th. Instead of the scheduled episode, Gleason did a thirty-minute apology for the poor quality of the series, mocking the format and failure of the show. The apology, while angering sponsors and the network, was a tremendous success and is often looked upon as a highlight of Gleason’s career. Despite attempts to revamp the show, Gleason revived his talk show The Jackie Gleason Show for 8 episodes to fill the rest of You’re In The Picture’s scheduled run.[4]

While both the first episode and apology are available both archived at the Paley Center For Media in Los Angeles,[5][6] the unaired episode has never surfaced. Given the expensive nature of videotapes at the time and that the episode would not be aired it is assumed that the episode was wiped. However, it has been rumored that Gleason had held a copy.

When Gleason appeared on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on October 18th, 1985, Carson mentioned that he appeared on a taped episode.[7] He also stated that he filmed with Arthur Treacher and Milt Kamen (who also was not present in the first episode). The interview provides the only known information about the lost episode.

Videos

10 minute snippet of the apology episode that aired in place of the second episode, including some footage of the first episode.

References

  1. ↑ CBS article on the worst television shows; 12 Jul 2002. Retrieved 22 Oct '17
  2. ↑ Time Magazine article mentioning the show; 31 Mar 1961. Retrieved 22 Oct '17
  3. ↑ A SplitSider article on the show and it's archiving at the Paley Center; 20 Jan 2012 Retrieved 22 Oct '17
  4. ↑ Television Obscurities article on the show Retrieved 22 Oct '17
  5. ↑ Paley Center listing for the first episode Retrieved 22 Oct '17
  6. ↑ Paley Center listing for the apology episode Retrieved 22 Oct '17
  7. ↑ Jackie Gleason interview on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Retrieved 22 Oct '17
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