I've Got a Secret

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Logo from 1950s version
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Logo from 1950s version

I've Got a Secret (abbreviated as IGAS) was a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television and was created by Allan Sherman as essentially a knockoff of What's My Line?. The original version of the show premiered in June 19, 1952 and ran until April 3, 1967. It was then revived for the 1972-1973 season in once-a-week syndication and then again from June 15 to July 6, 1976 for a summer run. Another production ran on the Oxygen cable channel in a daily version, with original episodes airing through 2001.

GSN premiered a new version on April 17, 2006. This version has an all-gay panel. So far, this aspect has not been played up on the show or in GSN's promotions for it (however a recent advert had called it "the most FABULOUS show on television"). GSN reportedly opted not to renew the show for a second season in October 2006 [1], but the show is still on the schedule and was recently moved to a prime time slot.

Contents

[edit] Hosts and Panelists

This show was a production of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman and was created by comedian Allan Sherman. The show was originally hosted by radio and television personality Garry Moore. After several months of an ever changing panel, the show settled down to include game show host Bill Cullen, acerbic comedian Henry Morgan, TV hostess Faye Emerson and actress Jayne Meadows. In 1958, Emerson left the show to star in a play. She was replaced by actress Betsy Palmer. The following year, Meadows moved to the West Coast to live with her husband Steve Allen. She was replaced by former Miss America Bess Myerson. In addition, Moore was replaced by guest hosts off and on throughout the run of the show (usually, but not always, in the summer). These guest hosts included panelists Henry Morgan and Betsy Palmer, among others.

On September 14, 1964, Garry Moore left the show and was replaced by Steve Allen on September 21, 1964 who also hosted the show during the 1972-1973 season. Former panelist Bill Cullen hosted the show during the brief 1976 CBS summer revival. The panelists on this revival were Richard Dawson, Henry Morgan, Pat Collins, and Elaine Joyce.

The Oxygen channel version of the show was hosted by Stephanie Miller until August 2001. Regular panelists in the Oxygen version included JM J. Bullock, Jason Kravits, Amy Yasbeck, and Teri Garr.

The GSN version is hosted by Bil Dwyer; the panelists are Billy Bean, Frank DeCaro, Jermaine Taylor and Suzanne Westenhoefer.

[edit] Gameplay

[edit] Standard Rounds

Each show contained two regular contestant rounds. Occasionally (but far less often than sister show What's My Line?), an extra contestant would appear after the guest round. A round was basically a guessing game where a panel tried to ascertain the "secret" held by the contestant. A contestant (often more than one) would enter. The host would introduce the contestant and ask their name. He would then say "OK, whisper your secret to me, and we'll show it to the folks at home" and then the contestant would lean in and whisper his secret to Moore. When the show first started and up until the middle of 1954, each panelist would have 15 seconds of questioning time. When that finished, the contestant was awarded $10 and 2 times around the panel would end the game. Later on, they merely went once around the panel. The contestant received $20 each time the time ran out on the panelist for a total of $80. They would also often receive a carton of Winston cigarettes or a supply of whatever product was sponsoring the show at that time. Unlike the big money "quiz shows" which were soon to follow and then become a major scandal, the money and prizes were always secondary by far to the play of the game and the interaction between the panelists. On Oxygen's version, the challenger earned $200 for each stumped panelist, while stumping the entire panel earned a total of $1,000 for the challenger.

On GSN's current edition, each panelist has 40 seconds to question the challenger, but the prize is only awarded if the contestant stumps the entire panel. A contestant who does so wins $1,000 and dinner for 2 in Beverly Hills. The fine print at the end of the show discloses that challengers are paid an appearance fee; in addition, losing contestants also receive some unspecified parting gifts. Several minor show-business professionals have demonstrated their performances on the show, including, for example, piano juggler Dan Menendez.

[edit] Guest Rounds

Once a show, a celebrity came on with a secret. At the beginning of the show, the celebrity had opened the show with "My name is ______ and I've Got a Secret!". Early on, the celebrities' secrets could be real ones, or made up by the staff. Eventually this segment wasn't a game at all. Instead the celebrity would be there to demonstrate something, such as how men and women react to each other or the panel discussing their first dates. They even went so far as the panel putting on a play or singing a song. Until the end of the series, however, real secrets were sometimes done. Sometimes, the secret was that the panelists were being sent to some far off location to film a news report, which whould be shown the next week.

[edit] Style of the Show

As opposed to its sister show, I've Got a Secret was played mostly for laughs. They did occasionally have serious secrets, such as a pilot who was saved from drowning by a civilian, but more often than not, the game was not played seriously. The panel was always referred to by their first names and everything was done informally. Demonstrations were often done after each secret, which was strictly taboo on What's My Line?. As opposed to John Daly, Garry was much more likely to throw the towel in if the panel was very far off the secret. The focus was on the entertainment value, not the game itself, which is also why often the celebrity "secret" really wasn't a secret at all.

[edit] Super Secrets

Most of the best remembered secrets were segments where things just got out of control. One memorable secret had actor/comedian Wally Cox using a box full of wood furniture to make an entire bedroom set. Chaos ensued when everything started to fall apart, despite the lengthy rehearsals that they had done before the show. On another occasion, one of the contestants was supposed to be able to blow up an inner tube to the point of explosion just by blowing into it. Great idea, but it took him so long that celebrity Andy Griffith finally just came out and watched the spectacle with everyone else. Other well remembered secrets included actor Paul Newman serving a hot dog at a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball game at Ebbets Field to Henry Morgan. Another one had then-actor Ronald Reagan, pointing out the difference between doing live TV and having to do retakes in the movies, leaving the stage each time a panelist said "uhh...". Moore would then re-introduce Reagan and start the bit over, sending the audience into hysterics.

Another memorable stunt for Easter ended with children chasing rabbits all over the stage. Another time, a cow was brought onstage to be milked by Bess Myerson, but wound up defecating on camera. Once, the great illusionist Michel de la Vega suspended Garry Moore from shoulders to heels between ordinary table chairs and levitated Betsy Palmer over three upended sabres. They also sometimes had historical secrets, such as the one told by Samuel J. Seymour, who appeared two months before his death in 1956. Seymour was the last surviving person who had been at Ford's Theatre in Washington when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.

In 1957, one mystery guest was Philo T. Farnsworth. He fielded questions from the celebrity panel as they unsuccessfully tried to guess his secret ("I invented electronic television."). For stumping the panel, he received US$80 and a carton of Winston cigarettes. Ironically, this would be the only television appearance of the man who invented electronic television.[2]

One simple but memorable secret was aimed at Palmer, who had gone through a long spell without a successful guess. A man came on stage with a carrot in each ear. His secret was, of course, that he had carrots in his ears. Palmer, given the opportunity to go first, did not guess the secret – disappointing the producers, who had planned to drop confetti and balloons and make a big fuss when she did. Later, Palmer said: "I thought about asking, but I thought it was too obvious."

On one show two men came out in strange military uniforms speaking a foreign language Esperanto. They were part of the "Agressor Force" used in war games.

[edit] Themes

The 1st theme used on the show was "Plink, Plank, Plunk" by Leroy Anderson (This theme is heard on the album "Classic TV Game Show Themes").

The 2nd theme used was an upbeat arrangement of the Theme to "A Summer Place" by Max Steiner.

The 3rd theme used was an instrumental version of "This Might Be the Start of Something Big" by host Steve Allen.

The theme song from the 1976 version with Bill Cullen would later be used one year later on the 1976 ABC game show - Second Chance.

A remix of the theme song from the 1976 version would also be used in the Australian version of Family Feud.

[edit] Trivia

  • Lowell Toy Mfg. Corp of New York made the home game version of I've Got A Secret.

[edit] External links

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