| Judge for Yourself | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Variety show/Quiz program |
| Starring | Fred Allen Dennis James Terry Gibbs Bob Carroll Marian McPartland |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Mark Goodson Bill Todman |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | August 18, 1953 – May 11, 1954 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Armstrong Circle Theatre (9:30 EST) |
| Followed by | On the Line with Considine (10:30 EST) |
Judge for Yourself, at first subtitled The Fred Allen Show, is an unconventional Mark Goodson and Bill Todman quiz and audience participation television program, with comedian Fred Allen as the emcee. It aired on NBC from August 18, 1953, to May 11, 1954. Dennis James was the series announcer but took over as host in January 1954.[1][2]
Each week three performers – singers, dancers, musicians, or comedians – were judged by two panels, one of professional entertainers and the other from the studio audience. If one of the amateur judges rated the acts 1, 2, or 3 in the same order as the celebrities, that individual would win a $1,000 prize. Two instrumental jazz groups that appeared on Judge for Yourself had considerable success thereafter, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and the Marian McPartland Trio.[1]
The original intent of the series was to allow Fred Allen to interact with guests, much as Groucho Marx did on his own NBC series, You Bet Your Life. The complicated format first employed, however, was revamped in the middle of the season. On the episode which aired on January 5, 1954, the professional judges were dropped, and the studio audience panel rated new songs to predict future hits, the comparable format of ABC's Jukebox Jury, which also aired in the 1953–1954 season.[2]
The songs were performed by a regular cast of Bob Carroll, the Skylarks, Kitty Kallen (two episodes), and Judy Johnson. The winning judge of the songs was selected on the basis of applause meter voting by the studio audience, a format also adopted thereafter on the NBC/ABC daytime reality show, Queen for a Day, hosted by Jack Bailey.[1]
Judge for Yourself aired at 10 p.m. EST on Tuesdays, opposite The United States Steel Hour, then on ABC. It followed The Armstrong Circle Theatre.[3]After Judge for Yourself folded, Allen appeared for the last two years of his life from 1954 to 1956 on What's My Line, a long-running CBS game show in which celebrity contestants try to determine the mystery guest's occupation.[4]
A subsequent Judge for Yourself aired in syndication from 1994 to 1995, with the attorney Bill Handel as the host. The premise of that series, a one-hour daily talk show, is jury selection from the studio audience.[2]