The Name's the Same

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The Name's the Same was an American game show produced by Goodson-Todman for the ABC television network from December 5, 1951 to October 7, 1955, and was sponsored by Swanson for the majority of its run.

The show's premise was similar to Goodson-Todman's What's My Line?, but the panelists had to guess the name of the person which also described something ("A. Lap", "A. Table", "Ruby Lips", etc). Other contestants had the same name as a well-known personality. The personality was sometimes brought out at the end of the round to surprise the contestant who shared his/her name. On other episodes, the panelists had to guess what a celebrities' "secret wish" was (Kirk Douglas's was to coach the Vassar lacrosse team; Van Johnson's was to have Marilyn Monroe sit on his lap; Charles Coburn's was to dance the rumba with her again as he did in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes).

Robert Q. Lewis was the emcee from December 1951 to August 31, 1954, when the show went on a ten-week summer hiatus (he insinuated on the August 31 episode that the show's future was in doubt). When it returned in October, the new emcee was Dennis James, who remained until June 1955. Bob and Ray hosted from June to early September, and for the final five weeks the hosting chores were taken over by Clifton Fadiman.

The only panelist to remain for the show's entire run was New York-based actress and socialite Joan Alexander. From 1951 to 1953 her co-panelists were Abe Burrows and Meredith Willson. In 1953 Burrows's chair was taken by Gene Rayburn and Willson was replaced by Bill Stern. In 1954 Stern gave way to Miss America 1945 Bess Myerson and Roger Price. The final panelist who lasted at least six months was Honeymooners' Audrey Meadows. Many familiar faces of the era, such as Mike Wallace, Basil Rathbone, Carl Reiner, Arnold Stang and Jerry Lester were guest panelists.

The first theme song used was "Shooting Star" conducted by Sidney Torch and His Orchestra. The second theme song was "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis" about the city which is where the show's later sponsor, Ralston Purina was headquartered.

A UK version was made for radio (BBC Home Service) and TV (BBC Television) with British namesakes of famous people, buildings, and things. A one-off edition was produced for BBC Four in 2005 as part of a season of programs detailing the "lost decade" (1945-1955).