You're in the Picture

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You're in the Picture was an American television game show that aired on CBS for only one true episode, on January 20, 1961 (the same day John F. Kennedy was sworn in as 35th President of the United States).

Considered by many to be one of the largest flops in television history, the show was an attempt to mirror the success that Groucho Marx had enjoyed for many years with You Bet Your Life. Lending the comedic touch as host was TV star Jackie Gleason, joined by Johnny Olson as announcer and Dennis James doing live commercials for sponsor Kellogg's.

The show consisted of a four-member celebrity panel sticking their heads into a life-sized illustration of a famous scene or song lyric. Each panelist would then take turns asking yes/no questions to Gleason to try to figure out what scene they were a part of. If they were able to figure out the scene, 100 CARE Packages were donated in their name; if they were stumped, the packages were donated in Gleason's name.

The celebrity panel for the episode consisted of Pat Harrington, Jr., Pat Carroll, Jan Sterling and Arthur Treacher. In a 1980s interview with Gleason on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson also makes the claim that he was on the show, even though existing clips do not show him involved.[1][2].

The show received negative reviews across the board following its premiere. The program's second episode, instead of the game, consisted of Gleason sitting on a stool on a bare stage and apologizing for the previous week's show.

Saying that the show failed because of "the intangibles of show business," Gleason also noted that more than 300 years' worth of show business experience had been involved in the production. He commented that the program, "laid, without a doubt, the biggest bomb in history...This would make the H-Bomb look like a two-inch salute." Acknowledging the critics, he also stated that, "You don't have to be Alexander Graham Bell to pick up a telephone and know it's dead."

This comical half-hour apology got much better reviews than the game show, and Gleason finished out his series commitment by renaming the program The Jackie Gleason Show and turning it into a talk show.

The Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio) in New York City has copies of both the original airing and the half-hour apology available for public viewing.