To Tell the Truth

This article is about the game show. For other uses, see To Tell the Truth (disambiguation).
To Tell The Truth
Genre Game show
Created by Bob Stewart
Presented by Bud Collyer (1956–68)
Garry Moore (1969–77)
Joe Garagiola (1977–78)
Robin Ward (1980–81)
Gordon Elliott (1990)
Lynn Swann (1990–91)
Alex Trebek (1991)
John O'Hurley (2000–01)
Narrated by Bern Bennett (1956–60)
Johnny Olson (1960–72)
Bill Wendell (1972–77)
Alan Kalter (1977–81)
Burton Richardson (1990–2001)
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 12 (1956–68)
9 (1969–78)
1 (1980–81)
1 (1990–91)
2 (2000–01)
Production
Running time 22–26 minutes
Production company(s) Goodson-Todman Productions (1956–81)
Mark Goodson Productions (1990–2001)
Distributor Firestone Film Syndication, Ltd.[1] (1969–78)
Viacom[2](1980–81)
Pearson Television (2000–01)
Broadcast
Original channel CBS (1956–68)
NBC (1990–91)
Syndicated (1969–78, 1980–81, 2000–01)
Original run December 18, 1956 – December 14, 2001

To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication. Along with The Price Is Right, Let's Make a Deal, The Newlywed Game, and Jeopardy!, it is one of five game shows in the United States to have aired at least one new episode in at least six consecutive decades. A total of 25 seasons of the various versions of To Tell The Truth have been produced, tying that of What's My Line? and surpassing the 20 of I've Got a Secret.

The show features a panel of four celebrities whose object is the correct identification of a described contestant who has an unusual occupation or experience. This central character is accompanied by two impostors who pretend to be the central character; together, the three persons are said to belong to a "team of challengers." The celebrity panelists question the three contestants; the impostors are allowed to lie but the central character is sworn "to tell the truth". After questioning, the panel attempts to identify which of the three challengers is telling the truth and is thus the central character.

Game play

Three challengers are introduced, all claiming to be the central character. The announcer typically asks the challengers, who stand side by side, "What is your name, please?" Each challenger then states, "My name is [central character's name]." The celebrity panelists then read along as the host reads aloud a signed affidavit about the central character.

The panelists are each given a period of time to question the challengers. Questions are directed to the challengers by number (Number One, Number Two and Number Three), with the central character sworn to give truthful answers, and the impostors permitted to lie and pretend to be the central character.

After questioning is complete, each member of the panel votes on which of the challengers they believe to be the central character, either by writing the number on a card or holding up a card with the number of their choice, without consulting the other panelists. Any panelist who knows one of the challengers or has another unfair advantage is required to recuse ("disqualify") himself or herself which, for scoring purposes, is counted as a "wrong vote."

Once the votes are in, the host asks, "Will the real [person's name] please stand up?" The central character then stands, often after some brief playful feinting and false starts among all three challengers. Occasionally, the central character would be asked to do something else related to their story instead of standing up. The two impostors then reveal their real names and their actual occupations. Prize money is awarded to the challengers based on the number of incorrect votes the impostors draw.

History

1956–1968, CBS

To Tell The Truth was to have premiered on Tuesday, December 18, 1956, on CBS in prime time as Nothing But The Truth, but the program title was changed to To Tell The Truth the day before the show's debut. (Both of the titles derive from the standard English court oath "to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.") The series was recorded in New York City; initially at CBS-TV Studio 52, moving to Studio 50 late in its run. The existence of an audience ticket for a taping indicates that the show originated in color at the CBS Broadcast Center in late 1966.[3]

Bud Collyer was the show's host (Mike Wallace hosted the pilot); recurring panelists by the 1960s included Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean, and Kitty Carlisle. (Cass and Carlisle stayed on as panelists for most subsequent editions.) Earlier regular panelists had included Johnny Carson, Polly Bergen, Jayne Meadows, Don Ameche, Hy Gardner, Dick Van Dyke, Hildy Parks, John Cameron Swayze, and Ralph Bellamy. Bern Bennett, Collyer's announcer on Beat the Clock, was the inaugural announcer of To Tell The Truth in the 1950s. Upon Bennett's transfer to CBS's Los Angeles studios, Johnny Olson, who in time became the best-known of all Goodson-Todman Productions announcers, joined the show in 1960 and remained through the end of its CBS runs.

Three games were played per episode. Each wrong vote from the panel paid the challengers $250 on the prime-time run, for a possible $1,000; a consolation prize of $150 was awarded if there were no wrong votes. A design element in the set for this series was a platform directly above and behind the emcee's desk. The contestants stood on this platform during their introduction allowing the camera to pan directly down to the host. They then traveled down a curved staircase to the main stage level to play the game.

On Monday, June 18, 1962, a daytime five-day-per-week edition was introduced, running at 3 p.m. Eastern, and 2 p.m. Central. The daytime show, also hosted by Collyer, featured a separate panel for its first three years, with actress Phyllis Newman as the only regular. The evening panel took over the afternoon show in 1965; in early 1968, Bert Convy replaced Poston in the first chair.

The daytime show was reduced to two games to accommodate a five-minute news break towards the half-hour mark. On the CBS daytime run, each wrong vote paid the team $100. During the show's final year and a half, the studio audience also voted, with the majority vote counting equally with that of each of the celebrity panelists. If there was a tie for the highest vote from the audience, that counted as a wrong vote.

The original daytime panel with Bud Collyer. From left: Sam Levenson, Mimi Benzell, and Barry Nelson. The fourth panel member was Sally Ann Howes.

One CBS daytime episode featuring Dorothy Kilgallen, best known as a regular panelist on What's My Line?, was broadcast on the East Coast on Monday, November 8, 1965, as news of her sudden death was circulated by wire services. The breaking news story prompted CBS newscaster Douglas Edwards to announce her death immediately after To Tell The Truth ended. She had videotaped the program six days earlier, according to the New York Herald Tribune. The newspaper added that Kilgallen and Arlene Francis both pretended to be Joan Crawford while sitting next to the real Crawford in a celebrity segment that the daytime series featured regularly starting in 1965. The episode was one of the large majority of To Tell the Truth daytime episodes that were destroyed because of the common practice of wiping videotape prior to the invention of the videocassette. This was a different half-hour telecast from the 1962 prime-time episode on which Kilgallen can be seen and heard as one of the panelists. GSN repeated that episode decades later.

The prime-time show ended on May 22, 1967, with the daytime show ending on September 6, 1968.[4] The show was replaced by the expansions of Search for Tomorrow and Guiding Light to 30 minutes, in a scheduling shuffle with The Edge of Night, The Secret Storm, and Art Linkletter's House Party.

Metropole Orchestra leader Dolf van der Linden composed the show's first theme, "Peter Pan," used from 1956–1961. From 1961–1967, the show switched to a Bob Cobert-penned theme with a beat similar to "Peter Pan," and then to a Score Productions tune during its final CBS daytime season.

Most episodes of the original nighttime run of the series were preserved on black and white kinescope, along with a few color videotape episodes.[5] Only a handful of shows remain from the CBS daytime series' first three years because of a then-common practice of wiping videotapes and reusing them to save money and storage space. Many daytime episodes (including some in color) from 1966–1968 exist, including the color finale.

1969–1978, Syndication

To Tell The Truth returned only a year later, in autumn of 1969, in first-run syndication. During the early years of its run, the syndicated Truth became a highly rated component of stations' early-evening schedules after the Federal Communications Commission imposed the Prime Time Access Rule in 1971,[6] opening up at least a half hour (a full hour, usually, on Eastern Time Zone stations) to fill with non-network fare between either the local or network evening newscast and the start of the network's primetime schedule for the evening.[6] Other stations found success running the program in place of a daytime network game or soap opera, or in the afternoon "fringe" time period between the end of network daytime programming at 4:30/3:30 Central and the evening newscasts. This edition of the show was again based at the New York CBS-TV Studio 50 until 1971, when it moved to NBC Studio 6-A in Rockefeller Center.

Each incorrect vote in this version was worth $50 to the challengers. Fooling the entire panel won the challengers a total of $500. There were two games per episode, and there was often a live demonstration or video to illustrate the contestant's story after many of the games.

The show was first released to local stations on September 8, 1969, on the same day original emcee Bud Collyer died of complications from a circulatory disorder. A total of 1,715 episodes of this version were produced, with the series ending on September 7, 1978. Some markets that added the series after its 1969 release opted to carry the show for another season or two in order to catch up on the episodes that had not aired in their viewing area.

According to Garry Moore, who had hosted I've Got a Secret in its original run and who had been retired from television at this time, the first choice of producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman was the host of the original version of the show, Bud Collyer.[7] He declined due to his ailing health, saying "I'm just not up to it."[7] Goodson and Todman then paid a call to Moore, who accepted, emerged from retirement, and hosted the program until 1977.[8] Regular panelists included Orson Bean during the first year, Peggy Cass, Kitty Carlisle and Bill Cullen, who substituted for Moore when needed. Many regulars from the original run appeared, including Tom Poston and Bert Convy.

In late 1976, Moore was diagnosed with throat cancer,[8] and originally, Cullen took his place. However, Mark Goodson noted how Cullen's serving as host, rather than as a panelist, hurt the chemistry he'd shared with Cass and Carlisle. Joe Garagiola was then hired and took over on an interim basis, stating that he was "pinch-hitting" for Moore. Moore appeared for one final time on the premiere episode of the ninth season to explain his sudden absence, banter with the panel after the first game, and formally hand the show over permanently to Garagiola, who hosted for the remainder of what proved to be the last season of the series. Moore's introduction that day prompted a loud applause and standing ovation.[9]

Johnny Olson stayed with To Tell The Truth when it moved to syndication. He left in 1972, when he moved to Los Angeles to announce the Goodson-Todman revivals of The Price Is Right and I've Got a Secret. NBC staff announcer Bill Wendell replaced Olson from 1972–1977, with Alan Kalter taking over during the final season. Don Pardo, also an NBC staff announcer, served as backup announcer to Wendell and Kalter.

To Tell The Truth used three distinctive sets throughout its nine-year syndicated run. The first, designed by Theodore Cooper and dubbed by some as the "psychedelic" set was used for the first two seasons and the first four weeks of the third; with one man on the door[10] a toned-down set with two additional men added on the door was used from the fifth week of the third season through the first 30 weeks of the fourth. The longest-lived set — a blue-hued, gold-accented, block-motif set — was used for the remainder of the run, also designed by Cooper.[11] The show was the only edition of Truth to feature a theme song with lyrics. The theme was written and composed by Score Productions chief Robert A. Israel and Truth producer Paul Alter, along with veteran theme composer Charles Fox. The bulk of this version is intact. However, the current status of the first season is unknown, and is presumed to be lost to wiping. GSN has never rerun the first season of the show, and had always begun with the second season. One episode from the first season exists in the UCLA Television and Film Archive.

1980–1981, Syndication

On September 8, 1980, a new To Tell the Truth series premiered in syndication. The new series was recorded at the same studio at NBC's Rockefeller Center complex that the previous series had, and Canadian TV personality Robin Ward served as the host with Alan Kalter returning as announcer. A new theme and set were commissioned for this edition of Truth and although previous regulars Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass, and Kitty Carlisle made frequent appearances, there was no regular panel for this edition. The new Truth aired for one season in syndicated and aired its final episode on September 11, 1981.

Two games were played, and each wrong vote paid the challengers $100; $500 was paid if the entire panel had been fooled.

After the second game, a new game called "One on One" was played with the four impostors from earlier. One fact had been purposely withheld from the panel about one of the impostors and it was up to the panelists to determine correctly to which of the impostors it applied. One at a time, each panelist would be given twenty seconds to question the impostor sitting directly across from them and would then say whether he/she believed the fact applied to that impostor. Wrong votes still paid $100 with $500 paid if the panel did not correctly determine to whom the fact pertained.

The 1980 edition of To Tell the Truth was a rarity in that it was still based in New York while nearly all television game show production had moved to California. Both To Tell the Truth and The $50,000 Pyramid (which debuted at the midpoint of the 1980–81 season and taped at ABC's Studio 15) were the last two broadcast television game shows to emanate from New York until Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? came to television for the first time in 1999 and taped at the ABC Television Center in Lincoln Square. (In that period, several cable television game shows were recorded in New York.)

1990–1991, NBC

To Tell The Truth returned again for a run that lasted just nine months from September 3, 1990 to May 31, 1991. After spending many years originating from New York, the show originated for the first time from California at NBC's Burbank studio complex. The show's theme music was an orchestral remix of the 1969–1978 theme (minus the lyrics), and the show utilized the block-letter logo from 1973–1978. Burton Richardson was its main announcer; however, Charlie O'Donnell also substituted on occasion. All episodes of this series exist and have aired on GSN in reruns.

The series' two pilot episodes were hosted by actor Richard Kline with O'Donnell as announcer, and one of these was accidentally aired on September 3, 1990 in the Eastern Time Zone markets. When the show first made it to air, A Current Affair reporter Gordon Elliott was the emcee. Eight weeks into the series, Elliott was forced to leave To Tell the Truth due to a contract dispute with his former employers and Lynn Swann, the former NFL wide receiver who was a frequent panelist in the early weeks of the show, took over for him. After fourteen more weeks Swann, who was also a reporter for ABC Sports at the time, left due to scheduling conflicts with that job and Classic Concentration host Alex Trebek was given the hosting position.[12] Shortly after becoming host Trebek's wife Jean gave birth to the couple's first child and Trebek missed the first two episodes of the taping session in order to be with her. Mark Goodson took over for Trebek and hosted the two episodes he had missed.[13] This was Goodson's final appearance on the show before his death in 1992.

When he took over as host of To Tell The Truth, Trebek became the first host to helm three American game shows simultaneously; he remained as host of Classic Concentration on NBC and was also hosting Jeopardy! in syndication. Trebek, as of 2014, is the only host to do this on American television. (Jim Perry also hosted three game shows simultaneously, one of which aired in the United States, but the other two were based in his native Canada.)

The celebrity panelists for To Tell The Truth during this period included several of the '70s panel stalwarts including Kitty Carlisle, who appeared on a majority of the shows taking the fourth and most upstage seat. The first seat, furthest downstage, saw Ron Masak and Orson Bean alternate on the panel for 34 of the 39 weeks the series was on air. The chair next to that was occupied by rotating guests, although voice actress Dana Hill appeared in the seat most often. The third chair most often featured David Niven, Jr. as a panelist, although Masak and Bean would also sit there if both were to appear on the same program. Polly Bergen and Peggy Cass, who began appearing on the original series, would appear from time to time, and other frequent panelists included Vicki Lawrence, Cindy Adams, and Betty White. The panelists were introduced in twos with the male panelists escorting the female panelists down the staircase, followed by the host. For one week, Monty Hall (then hosting the 1990 version of Let's Make a Deal, taking over for Bob Hilton on a permanent guest host basis), sat in the first seat.

Two games were played with two sets of impostors. Any incorrect votes up to two paid $1,000. If three of the panelists had voted incorrectly, the players split $1,500. If the panel was fooled entirely, the players split $3,000.

After the second game, a new version of the "One on One" game from the 1980 series was played. A seventh civilian player was brought out with two stories, and a member of the studio audience was given an opportunity to win money by trying to figure out which of the two stories were true. Each panelist was given the opportunity to ask the contestant one question for each story, and after both stories had been presented the audience member chose which one he/she thought was the truth. After the choice was made, the contestant revealed the right answer and if the audience member came up with it, he/she won $500. If the contestant stumped the audience member, that player won $1,000.

Occasionally, celebrities whose faces were not well known would attempt to stump the audience during this part of the game. For example, Hank Ketcham, creator of Dennis the Menace, tried during one episode to convince an audience member that he was really the songwriter to "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Johnny Marks had actually done this), but was unsuccessful in doing so.[14]

2000–2001, Syndication

The show then had a two-year run in syndication starting in 2000 with John O'Hurley hosting, and Burton Richardson returning as the announcer. The series was again produced at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. Gary Stockdale supplied the music for this edition.

Actor Meshach Taylor was the only regular to appear on every episode of this edition, while Paula Poundstone was a regular during the first season. Following Poundstone's departure, several actors sat in Poundstone's former chair, including Kim Coles, Jackée Harry, Mother Love, Liz Torres, and Hattie Winston. The show's website touted Coles and Brooke Burns as regulars for season two, though neither panelist was featured in every show that year. Kitty Carlisle appeared as a panelist for one episode of the series, making her the only panelist to have appeared on all five incarnations of this show, spanning six decades.

As at the end of the original CBS run, the studio audience voted. Each wrong vote awarded the challengers $1,000 meaning that $5,000 could be split by the challengers for fooling the panel. In the first few weeks of the series, stumping the entire panel, including the audience, won the challengers $10,000.

According to Steve Beverly's tvgameshows.net, this edition of Truth never received a rating higher than 1.8. It was cancelled on December 14, 2001, only 65 episodes into its second season. However, repeats continued to air through March 15, 2002. All episodes of this series exist and have aired on GSN in reruns.

You Lie Like A Dog

In 2000, Animal Planet aired a version of the show titled You Lie Like A Dog, with JD Roberto as host. The contestants were people in certain animal-related fields.

Notable contestants

A number of notable contestants have appeared on the show during a time when they, or at the very least their faces, were not well known.

1956–1968

1969–1978

1980–1981

1990–1991

2000–2001

Merchandise

A board game was released by Lowell in 1957.

A single-player online game was once released by the now defunct website Uproar.com.

A video slot machine game was once released to American casinos nationwide by Bally Gaming Systems in 2002.

International versions

Country Local name Host Network Year aired
Australia Australia Tell the Truth George Foster
Mike Williamson		 Nine Network 1959–65
Earle Bailey Network Ten 1971–72
Canada Canada (English) To Tell the Truth Don Cameron CTV 1962–64
Germany Germany Sag die Wahrheit
("Tell the Truth")		 Guido Baumann
Hans Sachs
Wolf Mittler
Hans Stotz
Bernd Stephen
Gerd Rubenbauer
Michael Antwerpes		 ARD
Bayerischer Rundfunk
SWR		 1959–71
1986–95
2003–present
Italy Italy La verità
("The Truth")		 Marco Balestri Canale 5
Rete 4		 1990–91
1991–95
Netherlands Netherlands Wie van de Drie
("Which of the Three")		 Nand Baert
Pim Jacobs
Emmik Herman
Flip van der Shale
Fred Oster
Caroline Christensen
Rob van Hilst
Jos Kuijer
Joop Braakhekke
Ron Brandsteder		 AVRO
RTL4
Omroep MAX		 1963–85, 1994–97
1991
2010–present
Norway Norway På ære og samvittighet
(of Honor)		 Kari Borg Mannsåker
Gunnar Haarberg		 NRK 1958–62
1970
1986
Ukraine Ukraine Самозванці
Samozvantsi
("Imposters")		 Anton Lirnyk ICTV 2011–12
United Kingdom United Kingdom Tell the Truth McDonald Hobley
David Jacobs
Shaw Taylor
Graeme Garden
Fred Dinenage		 ITV
Channel 4		 1957–61, 1989–90
1983–85
United States U.S. To Tell The Truth Bud Collyer CBS Primetime 1956–67
Daytime 1962–68
Garry Moore 1969–77
Joe Garagiola 1977–78		 Syndication 1969–78
Robin Ward 1980–81
Gordon Elliott 1990
Lynn Swann 1990–91
Alex Trebek 1991		 NBC 1990–91
John O'Hurley Syndication 2000–01

Popular culture

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-BC-IDX/69-OCR/1969-03-17-BC-OCR-Page-0041.pdf#search=%22firestone%20truth%22
  2. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-BC-IDX/80-OCR/1980-03-31-BC-OCR-Page-0033.pdf#search=%22to%20tell%20the%20truth%22
  3. ↑ http://www.cbsretirees.com/rem-images/Schwartz%20Collection/image9.html
  4. ↑ {{url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=TobQTbGzBJLQsAPx6NX8BA&ct=result&id=dctkAAAAMAAJ&dq=Total+Television&q=%22To+Tell+the+Truth%22#search_anchor|title=Book Search:Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television|publisher=Google Books}}
  5. ↑ "The G-T Big 4: To Tell the Truth (CBS Nighttime)" Retrieved 3 July 2007
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Prime Time Access Rule" Retrieved 24 September 2007
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Soap Opera Digest: January 1977
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Garry Moore, 78, the Cheery Host Of Long-Running TV Series, Dies". New York Times. 1993-11-29. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  9. ↑ "To Tell the Truth". 1977. Syndication. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ To Tell The Truth episode guide (1971–1972) at the Wayback Machine (archived February 24, 2006)
  11. ↑ The result of the sliding doors are similar to the sliding doors on The Price is Right. To Tell The Truth episode guide (1972–1973) at the Wayback Machine (archived February 24, 2006)
  12. ↑ "To Tell the Truth". 1991-02-04. NBC. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ "To Tell the Truth". 1991-02-18, 1991-02-19. NBC. Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "To Tell the Truth". 1990-12-25. NBC. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ↑ Victor Davis, British Journalism Review
  16. ↑ Video on YouTube
  17. ↑ "To Tell the Truth". 1957-11-19. CBS. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ↑ "To Tell the Truth". 1958-11-25. CBS. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ↑ "To Tell the Truth". 1957-07-16. CBS. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ "To Tell the Truth". 1975-06-19. Syndication. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ↑ To Tell the Truth - Alex Haley (1972) on YouTube
  22. ↑ full episode of To Tell The Truth featuring Owen Quinn on YouTube
  23. ↑ Rosa Parks - To Tell the Truth (1980) on YouTube
  24. ↑ Zack Hample on "To Tell The Truth" on YouTube


External links