What's My Line? - Carol Channing; PANEL: Tony Randall, Helen G. Brown, Martin Gabel (Feb 6, 1966)

MYSTERY GUEST: Carol Channing
PANEL: Tony Randall, Helen Gurley Brown, Martin Gabel, Arlene Francis
NOTE: Closing credits added from an older rerun pre-GSN-credit-crunching.
Many thanks to Steve M. Russo for providing this episode in much higher quality than the version I had previously. Folks interested in high quality, well packaged, well-edited DVDs of WML (and other game shows) can contact him directly for more information at [e-mail].
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[@samiam74]

Very few people can just instantly make me smile. Carol Channing was one of those few rare gems.

[@bluecamus5162]

She's a force of nature.

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

Adorable, venerable Carol Channing laid to rest this week (January 2019). RIP one of the last legends of this wonderful era!

[@dekelanson5280]

I know, it's sad that she's gone. I always love watching Carol, she's just so entertaining.

[@drumbum3.142]

Im.. ..Not (at all) disagreeing with that sentiment; but even Now (some) three years later we DO Still Have Some Thoroughbred Talent/Artists with us..

[@charmingjim]

Carol Channing exudes love for everyone. Love for people, love for the stage and performance, love for living. She is shining among the brightest stars !

[@308W82]

To have seen Carol Channing live was an AMAZING experience! Extremely funny, with charisma galore, she made everyone in the audience feel as if she was singing right to them. She became family! So great to have these WML clips of one of Broadway Theater's absolutely shiniest stars. Its too bad that her legendary performance in "Hello Dolly" was not captured on film. As impressive as Streisand was, Channing had imbued the role with such great humor, pizzazz, and warmth, that those of us lucky enough to have seen her in person will ALWAYS treasure the memory of her stellar audience-embracing performance. She WAS and always will be remembered as Dolly! BUT it is great to have these WML episodes -- capturing the loving spirit and zest for life of Channing AND so many of the other superstars of the 50's and 60's that pop up as the Mystery Guests. Thanks to the person who has posted all these great clips!

[@briane173]

Was there ever a female star more ebullient than Carol Channing? You just can't help it -- she cheers you up just listening to her and flashing that million-dollar smile. And a personality that can't be corralled.

[@TheBraveIntrovert]

I never really knew who Carol CHanning was before watching WML, but every time she is on the show period I love it.

[@ludenasan1]

I saw Carol Canning one night in Hello Dolly then the next day in the same theater Pearl Bailey in the same play- outstanding.

[@kentetalman9008]

I saw them both too. Carol was great, but Pearl was SPECTACULAR. The entire Black cast was superior.

[@loissimmons6558]

This episode is indicative of the great lengths the WML staff went through to find celebrities who were not known to be in town.

[@brkitdwn]

One out of many celebs they never had on was Marilyn Monroe. Perhaps the audience would have blown the roof off had she been on 🤔

[@drumbum3.142]

@@brkitdwn Maybe. But I Dunno About that Technical,. The Roof Was ALREADY Blown Off With Some of the Mystery Guests that came thru'

[@brkitdwn]

@drumbum3.14 I'm sure they tried very hard. Marilyn probably had no interest, and said to Joe. You do it honey. You'll be great 👍

[@moonglow1311]

Well Hello Dolly‼️it's so nice to have you back where you belong‼️😎🇺🇸

[@soulierinvestments]

Carol fulfilled her mission. I think I will go to my grave remembering the date and time and color of her CBS special.

[@Beson-SE]

February 18th!! :)

[@savethetpc6406]

Johan Bengtsson 1966!

[@briane173]

@@Beson-SE At 8:30 -- 7:30 Central! On the 18th! In color!

[@bannedheretic2971]

The lady dentist is stunningly beautiful, the hair, teeth, makeup, and that towering hair!

[@CommanderBabe]

She's my aunt!

[@Beson-SE]

Martin Gabel *AND* Carol Channing in the same WML! How lucky can I be? :) She flew in from Chicago only to appear as a MG. Her fured coat was maybe inspired by the movie "Dr. Zhivago". And she talked for ever like she used to do. (Don't forget February 18th!) :)) I can imagine that there was a contestant back stage who was told they had run out of time because of mrs Channing's post-chat. :)

[@savethetpc6406]

This was the first time I've ever seen/heard Carol Channing successfully disguise her voice. I didn't think she could do it, but I'm glad she finally did!

[@stevenmurphy1669]

Johan Bengtsson I wonder if Tony Randall is such a total asshole in real life. Probably!

[@paulmorin6569]

Hope you weren't bumped johan

[@soulierinvestments]

RE: Channing's reference to Daly's daughter. "Buntsy." You can always tell real eastern establishment class when one of the daughters goes by Buntsy.

[@savethetpc6406]

soulierinvestments You mean there are *others*?! :o Somehow I always pictured the name spelled "Buncie" -- since it rhymes with Muncie (Indiana), I guess.

[@adamjeffries7235]

very funny. none of these people were ‘wasp establishment’ the host was south african and a performer. arlene was Armenian married to a jew.. all the talk of children at harvard and country houses was their branding themselves as elite.

[@shuboy05]

Carol Channing's mention of David McCallum (Ducky on NCIS) just made realize how long his career stretches.... I'm a bit surprised he was never a Mystery Guest even though Robert Vaughn was one on the syndicated version.

[@hizgrase]

My service dog was named after Ducky. I didn’t catch that now I have to go back and watch it again.

[@hizgrase]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3q7mGZjgKuVfMk

[@musiknutz]

Loved hearing Miss Francis was writing to Miss Channing

[@hizgrase]

Carol Channing so adorable.

[@chuckendweiss4849]

I have seen Carol in Hawaii. What a great performance she hand the audience in her hands. She came out after the show to explained that her show filmed for TV

[@atasteofhoney6018]

I always enjoy watching the later 60s episodes, it’s just great for fashion ideas.

[@Dolphin-cb9sq]

As always, a great show.

[@BaldJean]

Carol Channing at one time says "Ich träum' so viel von dir, komm doch mal zu mir" which is German for "I dream so much of you, come over to me some time".

[@irtitze]

My friend and I saw Carol in Washington DC and loved her performance. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. I have been a great 'Carol Channing' follower since. I saw her in Hello Dolly and Thoroughly Modern Milly and she gave that extra something!!!

[@CoxJoxSox]

Carol Channing - what a sweetie

[@shagadelic7]

carol channing is just adorable

[@VahanNisanian]

They could not have picked a more appropriate Mystery Guest for the night, given who was gonna sit in on the panel next week for the 16th Anniversary.

[@tomkavany1528]

M

[@soulierinvestments]

A Sehki in Vegas. Sounds like the title of a Bollywood Musical.

[@LANCSKID]

Yes, but it would be spelled correctly!

[@gailsirois7175]

I really miss Dorothy...

[@davidsanderson5918]

Crumbs. Carol Channing actually talks like that in ordinary conversation. :)

[@jacquelinebell6201]

She was a lovely person too. I always enjoyed watching her in Password.

[@motnosniv]

Ms. Channing always seemed so playful and full of love for everyone.

[@michaeldanello3966]

Helen Gurly Brown...still with the same unflattering hairdo but at least she didn't repeat that ridiculous looking bow that she sported last time. Thank you so much for all the great effort you have put into this monumental task. It is very much appreciated. I have seen everything in order so far. Still it's kind of sad that I am approaching the end... there has been nothing this classy and respectful on TV in a very long time.

[@slaytonp]

And never will be again.

[@briane173]

@@slaytonp I"m afraid you're right, and to our detriment. TV was where you once went to aspire to the behavior on display; now there is nowhere to turn; it all plays to the lowest common denominator. I frankly don't know why we allowed it to happen. Says a lot about the tenor and trajectory of our civilization.

[@slaytonp]

@@briane173 The lowest common denominator just gets lower, so when I finish this series, I just start watching it from the beginning again. (I'm nearly 90, so by the time I finish, the beginning is new all over again.) I'm on my fourth round, and am up to 1955. There's something to be said for certain types of senile memory loss, in that you can enjoy the same thing all over again many times, as a new experience, while knowing that you ARE going to enjoy it.

[@briane173]

@@slaytonp 🤣🤣 Yeah there's that. I've watched quite a few but mainly from '61-'66 coz that's when I watched it as a kid. Brings back fond memories but more importantly it gives me a new appreciation for the panelists and their challengers and mystery guests.

[@jacquelinebell6201]

I agree about HGB!

[@hernacabreja5988]

I love this episode

[@algoritmosalfredohipicasig7116]

February hosts many parallels and much duplication, in fact, four years earlier on August 26, 1962, Arlene had guessed Carol Channing was the Mystery Guest. On a WML just two years earlier, pre-recorded February 16, 1964, Arlene suspected the MG was Carol, but let Robert Q Lewis guess. All three show dates bear multiple 2-6 combinations. #Synchronicity

[@WienerVL]

"Ich träum so viel von Dir komm doch vorbei bei mir"! Thats funny! It means "im dreaming of you come and visit me"!

[@steveward2394]

Notice how nice they treat people

[@msbrowngault]

I wonder if Ms. Channing is a distant relative (or close) of Ms. Kitt ... very very similar features ... and ... Ms. Channing's father is from MY town 😊 & Ms. Kitt's hometown isn't too far away 😄

[@night0merchant]

Never knew who carol channing was, but Ryan stiles often made her impression on whose line and I never understood the reference. Now I get it😂

[@FreihEitner]

I was thinking the same about Ryan's Carol Channing impression.

[@joycejean-baptiste4355]

Mr. Beasley has a proper British last name. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas is what their questions lead to. Lol!

[@avisnunez2443]

That was great seeing her again

[@LANCSKID]

Who?

[@RichardAugustMatthew19Man]

To think Arlene died with cancer and Alzheimer's Dementia on 2001. What a great shame.

[@jburma]

Carol Channing is completely hilarious and I can't tell if she knows it or not.

[@Beson-SE]

"Your hands looked as if you worked with them", said Tony to the first contestant (the Dentist). What did he meant? That her hands were big and manly? :) 4:15

[@johnfd0210]

He was probably jealous that he didn't have "big and manly" hands!

[@moderne-ist1612]

Weird, awkward and rude thing to say to her

[@gailsirois7175]

It was a very rude remark.....just, thanks so much for that Mr. Randall...you ass

[@joelfogelsanger5773]

I swear I heard someone in the audience shout out dentist right before Arlene said it.

[@susanrutherford866]

So did I that's how Arlene got it

[@jacquelinebell6201]

I heard it too.

[@lone-welf]

she’s so freaking cute!!!

[@TacomaPaul]

Look at all that hair on the Dentist !

[@LANCSKID]

Like a pile of wood shavings …

[@soulierinvestments]

First contestant: first time I saw her, I thought -- looking at her massive hair do -- that she had to be a consulting engineering physicist.

[@2508bona]

Either that, or a chef. (Her do looks a bit like a chef's hat made out of hair.)

[@Beson-SE]

Was it all hair or did the women put someing in the hair to get that volume and height?

[@feverspell]

Johan Bengtsson My guess is she used extensions or a fall of some kind to add to however much hair she already had.

[@neilmidkiff]

+feverspell And a pound or two of spray lacquer....

[@adriennegormley9358]

Neil Midkiff mostly hairspray. I remember prepping for my senior bsll (same period) and it's basically a stack of hollow hairsprayed loops stacked on top of each other. Worked with shoulder length or longer hair.

[@TacomaPaul]

Carol Channing is from Seattle.

[@LANCSKID]

My Aunt Nellie was from Scunthorpe … so?

[@hazelanderson1479]

Carol Channing looks adorable in that furry hood!

[@jackseward7779]

You mean Princess Running Mouth!

[@drumbum3.142]

Would the Happenstance and Occurance of flying .. in a plane be considered outdoors or indoors..,?..🤔😆😂😂😂😄😂😂😂

[@clipstone]

The show Carol's plugging is right here kzbin.info/www/bejne/haDPZoiPhtl8epo

[@VahanNisanian]

What would Bob Barker (who had been pushing animal rights since the 80's) say if he saw Carol Channing with fur? Hey, I couldn't resist bringing this up. :)

[@soulierinvestments]

What would Barker say to Arlene Francis? The week before, she appeared in a gigantic mink collar. Se showed up in the skins of animals quite regularly.

[@2508bona]

Hey, you need to go to great lengths to keep warm when you run the Iditarod. 😄

[@savethetpc6406]

Chris Barat How did you do the laughing face? I know it isn't one of the ALT + Number pad options that we've been playing with since New Year's. (e.g., ☺☼ ♫)

[@psygn0sis]

+SaveThe TPC He's on his phone.

[@joeambrose3260]

Hater !

[@galileocan]

Martin appears to have very poor teeth. He could have used the first guest's service.

[@El_Ophelia]

Not as bad as Abe Burrows. Eeeek, I felt bad for his wife. I was so distracted by his teeth.

[@joelfogelsanger5773]

Sometimes Tony Randall sounds like Felix Unger.

[@hopelewis5650]

Duh

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Dentisting 😂 shout out to C.M. aka Joanna Garcia #iykyk ❤

[@El_Ophelia]

Forgive me if this sounds off, but didn't it kind of come off as rude, Tony's first comment to the dentist saying he hands looked like she did manual labor? I mean, she does work with her hands, so he's correct but for a lady, that can be a tender topic.

[@moderne-ist1612]

Totally agree

[@gailsirois7175]

I thought it was VERY rude and wholly insensitive

[@jacquelinebell6201]

I doubt her hands were as rough as Tony implied.

[@LANCSKID]

My dentist has got hands like a navvy. My hygienist, however, has beautiful hands, soft and gentle but only revealed when she takes those damn rubber gloves off!

[@jtrain5615]

Why is Carol Channing is dress for the Tundra?

[@gailsirois7175]

Because it was blizzarding outside...pay attention !

[@Vitte4]

When Bennett Cerf is absent, it's rather humorous how clueless the panel often becomes in guessing mystery guests. Tony Randall is particularly challenged!

[@gailsirois7175]

No loss for Cerf to be gone...he is a cheater

[@kentetalman9008]

@@gailsirois7175 Not. He's just smarter than you are.

[@vocalartistsmgmt]

Tony Randall seemed really annoyed by Carol's chatter. (Was he?)

[@doctorjames7454]

I believe so. He was acting like a dick.

[@amberola1b]

vocalartistsmgmt Tony really was getting snarky with Carol. I think it was pretty rude. Unless it's because Tony eventually said that he and Carol went to school together that she understood and took it in good fun

[@carolv8450]

He was joking!

[@gn1025]

His laughter isnt exactly musical.

[@1928gerry]

Absolute nonsense. He was obviously enjoying seeing an old friend, & knows like any friend would that she loves to chatter - it's a trait she's always had.

[@smurfydude77]

Beasley? Is he related to Gags Beasley, the legendary writer?

[@soulierinvestments]

"Thoroughly Modern Millie." Julie Andrews. Mary Tyler Moore. Carol Channing. Beatrice Lillie. All got embroiled in the thing. Channing eventually got an Oscar nomination for it, but it did her ambitions in the movies no good. At all. It sunk Mary's ambitions in one fell swoop.

[@2508bona]

The one where she played a nun, correct?

[@JakeMabe1]

***** Mary has made other films since 1969. Did you not see "Ordinary People"?

[@savethetpc6406]

Just to clarify -- it was Mary Tyler Moore (not Carol Channing) who played a nun in "Change of Habit." ;) (I was having trouble picturing Carol Channing as a nun!)

[@Beson-SE]

SaveThe TPC Carol as a nun? Any time! She's a saint! Too bad she never played Maria in "The Sound of Music". :)

[@soulierinvestments]

Landmark film all the way around. The star, I thought was Redford's direction -- and Mary.

[@danielbisson8032]

SHE LIKE HATS

[@PaulDA2000]

What the hell was that horrible outfit Carol Channing had on!🤣

[@gailsirois7175]

Dressed for the blizzard outside..there is nothing wrong with it ....she is warm

[@joeambrose3260]

Met Randall=Arrogant and condescending but funny in TOC RIP

[@brunoantony3218]

Yes a prick. He was a regular at the opera in NY ugh.

[@hilarygrant4351]

And of course, we know now that Channing had a secret, too: her father was African American.

[@carolv8450]

Really?

[@Scot913319]

Half-black.

[@johnfd0210]

I thought of that when they thought she was Pearl Bailey!

[@gailsirois7175]

And ?

[@El_Ophelia]

Out of curiosity, why do the introductions always refer to Bennett and/or Daley with regards to them being attractive.?

[@oldschoolmuscle4436]

Tony Randall's insulting behavior towards the characteristically ebullient Miss Channing was more than somewhat uncomfortable.

[@randyshanofsky9903]

Shocking what an a-hole he was this whole episode, especially to Miss Channing. The whole show is clearly different without Dorothy.

[@psygn0sis]

What the heck. Why is Carol wearing a bloody parka in the studio?

[@RayNDeere]

John mentioned at the beginning that NYC was being his by heavy snow. Possibly that Carol had trouble making it in and rushed right to the stage. The mystery guest doesn't arrive at the theatre until after the show started so the panel don't accidentally see them.

[@stevenginsberg8471]

There was one episode that Phil Silvers came in still wearing his coat and hat.

[@preppysocks209]

@@RayNDeere yes, certainly. By why a stage hand doesn't hold it for her while she appears on the program is the question.

[@nancymilawski1048]

Maybe it's cold in the studio.

[@psygn0sis]

@@nancymilawski1048 It's been said several times on the show that the studio was very hot. Cameras were awful back then. They had to use numerous, very hot lights to get a decent picture.

[@josephlacerra8433]

Always found Carol Channing to be extremely annoying.

[@gailsirois7175]

I love her

[@LANCSKID]

VERY irritating!

[@LANCSKID]

The comments to the Sikh gentleman regarding Las Vegas and gambling were extremely insensitive and ignorant. Sikhs are forbidden by their faith to gamble.

[@joelfogelsanger5773]

I don't think that MG was a particularly good player.

[@jimbo97]

Carol Channing is the most obnoxious celebrity I can think of. :-(

[@Fush1234]

Hahaha. Ridiculous hair style… Hahahahahaha. A true birds nest

[@danarapoport3233]

Love it