What's My Line? Forums

I'm thoroughly enjoying Herb Shriner and the TWO FOR THE MONEY shows - 4 so far. I wonder if all the contestant banter was scripted? It seems like it would almost have to be. We know what the general public is like from watching thousands of contestants on hundreds of What's My Line? shows - and they usually can't be so spontaneously humorous.

None of the episodes shown by GSN have been consecutive. I would guess that Schaffer Pens and Old Gold Cigarettes were alternating as sponsors and GSN will not show episodes sponsored by a long dead cigarette brand. The second (3:30 AM) broadcast of TFTM aired today (Sunday) had almost 28 minutes of program content aird by GSN.

I thought Sam Levinson was pretty lame compared to Herb Shriner. I remember Levinson being on TV a lot when I was a kid, but never saw much of Shriner. The only TV he seems to have done in the 1960s before he died were a few Andy Williams Show spots.

Thought Mr. Shriner's run was actually 1952-56, but anyway . . . seeing Mr. Levenson at the helm, I couldn't help but be reminded of the final year of The Name's The Same after Robert Q. Lewis left and a parade of different hosts took over (including Bob & Ray) . . .

Bob and Ray were the worst, but Dennis James and Clifton Fadiman weren't much better. But you're point is so true, once Herb Shriner left the show he took the "personality" out of it, literally.

Does anybody know the original dates of any of the eight shows GSN televised? I know there were references to Thanksgiving, New Years Eve and Christmas, even the 1955 Sears Christmas catalogue.

This show had a similar history to TNTS. "Two For The Money" left the network in Sept. of 1956. It was revived in March, 1957. I would guess that Herb Shriner was not available to continue as the host. Sam Levenson was a "guest" host when Herb would take a summer vacation so I would guess this is why he was hired to replace Herb. I believe the show only lasted about 8 months with Sam as the host.

Hey --- did anyone notice that they didn't skip/preempt? The episode that aired last night was the exact one that was supposed to air after the ones that had aired before they showed the Two for the Money. Kudos, GSN!

Lets hope GSN continues that practise if there are any Christmas and New Year's specials at the end of the year.

It was actually a nice break to see something different. We need WML? every night but we can do without Beat The Clock seven nights a week, especially since GSN showed these very episodes on weekends in 2004. If any more non-cigarette sponsored Two For The Money shows exist maybe show them once a week, bring back The Names The Same twice a week, maybe Password once a week, just something to break up the Beat The Clock boredom. I'm a big Bud Collyer fan, but I'm finding myself more and more fast-forwarding through BTC to get to WML?

Beat The Clock wears pretty thin after a while. If you take away the 1950s clothes, hairstyles, etc., it could be one of those crazy kiddie game shows that Nickelodeon ran in the 1990s (i.e., Figure It Out, Double Dare, and so on).
Two For The Money was much more along the lines of WML, but only because of Shriner's pacing. Same goes for The Name's The Same, but only when Robert Q. Lewis is in charge. I think the episodes of that, when Joan Alexander and Meredith Willson were on the panel, were as close in style and pacing to WML as anything else G-T did at the time, including I've Got A Secret and To Tell The Truth.

BTC might be the most boring G-T 1950's show. It would be great if GSN would replace this show with a selection of other G-T shows. Say 2 nights of TNTS, 2 of Password and the other 3 could be a selection from non-cigarette sponsored game shows.

I wish GSN would start playing TNTS instead of BTC. I missed most of the early episodes when GSN aired it last year.

GSN should go back to BTC only on weekends like they did in 2004. Put Password, TNTS or the Geritol sponsored TTTT on again during the week to break it up a bit. Maybe Two For The Money on Friday nights.