What's My Line? - Jayne Meadows; Tony Randall [panel] (Dec 21, 1958)

[@lilybean835]

I love Tony Randall . i think he's my favourite guest panelist ever. He's got a great vocabulary, he is funny and engaging, so warm and inviting, wonderful sense of humour. He's so good to everyone he works with. Intelligence with a comedic edge. Love his appearances.

[@sallyhaid7030]

Me, too. And he is one of my top two favorite mystery guests as well.

[@rmelin13231]

I also have high regards for Tony Randall. Intelligent, witty, and just a pleasure to watch.

[@daler.steffy1047]

You have a wonderful, intelligent and keen sense about people, all of which I deduced from reading your comments above. I loved what you had to say about Tony Randall, and you did so in such profound and delightful ways!

[@RonGerstein]

Tony Randall was on the CBS version of WML 68 times, including as the mystery guest.

[@katheinireland8431]

I would love to have seen Tony Randall in a kilt! I feel I have?!

[@drakea.5816]

Arlene's laugh is so genuine and she is so incredibly beautiful with those sparkling eyes!! Love her!!

[@mikemenard3984]

I love that Tony Randall gave that lady his notes. Class act!

[@alansorensen5903]

Tony gave Ms Himes his list. Wonder if he autographed it, too. Nice gesture, nice man.

[@1013pka]

Love the Christmas greetings at the end. These shows are an escape. Thank u!

[@earlenepeterson8065]

Just love the late Miss Arlene Francis.

[@brianwilliams3438]

Me too, I have become a huge fan of hers. Just genuine beauty.

[@lynettepalecek3141]

@@brianwilliams3438 Right. She had genuine beauty both inside and outside. She was also extremely socialable.

[@joeblaumer2085]

This particular episode is exactly 18 days younger than myself. I only wished I had aged so well. I love classic WML, so having Jane Meadows as a mystery guest was a very special treat. Awesome share!

[@Crystalblue58]

This episode is 6 days younger than myself.

[@mistiinseattle]

I'm still here... still enjoying all of these with gratitude for your postings. :) I haven't missed a one!!

[@orgonkothewildlyuntamed6301]

Jayne has the same inflection in her voice as her equally beautiful sister Audrey

[@shuroom57]

Really charming, those two! Yes, she did remind me, too, of Alice at one point.

[@TheBatugan77]

Agree!

[@samiam74]

Goodness, Jayne was stunning. :)

[@jonnuanez2843]

You can say that again

[@glennkoblenzer1326]

A total knockout!!!!

[@donnacook8994]

Loved seeing the captain who was a paratrooper in Korea, and moved on to the NIKE missiles. Very professional in his responses, and, as a military man's daughter, I respect that so much. Thank you sir, for your service to our country and it's citizens!

[@shuroom57]

🎄🎄🎄Yes, MERRY CHRISTMAS to EVERYBODY !!!!!🎄🎄🎄; man, it feels good to be able to say that, and watch people say that without the thought police swarming around.

[@james9208]

Merry Christmas at the end of the show.PERFECT!

[@Wizardofgosz]

I love that the Town Crier's job dates back to 1205. Wow!

[@loissimmons6558]

1205 was during the reign of King John, whose name was so despised that there was never another English king with that name. It was also ten years before the signing of the Magna Carta.

[@victorbeaumont443]

Richard Wielgosz n

[@dcasper8514]

Richard Wielgosz. famous battle took place there in 1066..

[@accomplice55]

@@loissimmons6558: HE was despised, which was why no other monarch wanted to use the name.

[@brunozauhar1879]

Tony Randall's laughter is contagious.

[@WendyDarling1974]

Contestant #1 was one very handsome man.

[@lisal8984]

Yes he was!

[@akrenwinkle]

You're not kidding. Perfection.

[@mikejschin]

The Atlas rocket launch mentioned by the panel during Captain Greene's segment was a historic launch that took place 3 days before this episode. All previous Atlas flights were suborbital, and the Dec. 18, 1958 launch was the first to go into orbit. It was also the first with a payload, which was the SCORE communications satellite. For anyone who isn't bored yet, SCORE stood for Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment. The SCORE satellite broadcast the first human communication from space: a Christmas message from President Eisenhower. This launch was significant in the "space race" which those of us of a certain age well remember, as it put the US on a technological par with the Soviets and their Sputnik program.

[@lynettepalecek3141]

Thank you very much for the information.

[@mikejschin]

@@lynettepalecek3141 Thank you for the thanks. I like to add comments to give people an idea of what was going on in the world that the show members were living in. But I'm never sure if anyone benefits from those comments. Glad you enjoyed this one. :-)

[@lynettepalecek3141]

@@mikejschin You're welcome. I'm trying to learn more about real American history. I was extremely fortunate that my late dad was an American History college Professor so I was able to ascertain the truth and be able to know when someone is not telling the truth. I feel that it's important for people who are history buffs to share their knowledge and experience with the public- especially now. I wanted you to know that I greatly appreciated it that you shared your knowledge.

[@mikejschin]

@@lynettepalecek3141 I'm sorry that you have lost your father. Did he specialize in a particular period of American history? My daughter has a Ph.D. in American history and focuses on the colonial period in her job with the state government here in Virginia.

[@lynettepalecek3141]

@@mikejschin Thank you for your condolences. He died from heart failure in 2001. I know that he taught a great deal on WWII. He was a Staff Sargeant in the Army and he fought in Italy. He lost his hearing in his right ear when a grenade went off near him. All of the men that were with him were killed. He also lost a brother in that war. My mother told me that my dad had nightmares every night since the war ended in 1945 until his death in 2001. My late mother was also in the war. She taught the Japanese Americans in Utah. After the war, my mother was a college English teacher. I'm not sure what my dad's specialty was. He did know the Constitution very well. His dissertation was so long that it was put into 2 very thick books. I think that his expertise was in WWII, the Constitution, and the Presidents. He did know a lot about the Colonial Period, too. So did my mother. I'm glad to hear that your daughter has a PhD in American History and that she has a job at the State Department in Virginia. My dad was the Department Head at the University where I live. He was a teacher. My mother was also a teacher at the same University. She graduated from the State Teachers College in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1942 when she was 20. She graduated 🎓 from Cambridge Latin High School in 1938 when she was 16. After the war, she was busy raising 6 kids and she graduated from Macalester College in St Paul, Minnesota in 1969. I'm the second youngest and I was 12. Thank you for conversing with me. 🙂

[@debraharris879]

Love me some nostalgia, this is before my time but love this kind of thing!

[@hopicard]

Tony Randall: great at 15:30-16.00!

[@JennieColmer-n7h]

I love this ol' time program! Watch it all the time!

[@leesher1845]

It was so rude that they rushed those final contestants, especially someone who’s there from England.

[@lynettepalecek3141]

I agree. He should have been the first contestant.

[@thesweeples3266]

🙄

[@thesweeples3266]

We will work on trying to make a half hour to contain more than 30 minutes for you.

[@lynettepalecek3141]

Jayne Meadows and Arlene Francis were very classy ladies.

[@mistergrandpasbakery9941]

Mickey Hargitay, Jr. was born the day this was recorded in case anyone is interested. That's the baby mentioned at the beginning of this episode.

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

Yes thank you so much for letting the world know! ❤

[@greatbritishmale]

Wish we had the adverts as well, adverts from that time were entertainment in themselves.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Yeah, it's a shame. Obviously, they were snipped out when GSN reran them. There are a small number of complete shows with commercials that have made their way into circulation, from mysterious sources other than GSN. Check the length of the videos and you can see which ones-- anything over 26 minutes.

[@bethhale2595]

Not me! I'm thrilled to miss them! :)

[@Paul71H]

@@WhatsMyLine Amazon Prime Video has 40 WML episodes from 1955, and it appears that they all contain the original advertisements.

[@beadyeyedbrat]

Not a fan of the commercials.

[@juliansinger]

Miss Hines is, to my complete lack of surprise, a Smith graduate (though I can't tell what year). She was selling kilts (and dresses) as far back as 1922, so I'm not sure how long after 1958 she lasted.

[@james9208]

Jayne Meadows so pretty.

[@spongevee1]

Jayne made a cute Santa!🎅🏻

[@debbigray1752]

People comment how John can read the guests signatures and know how to pronounce them. Did you notice when John was introduced, he arrived with cards in hand?

[@andreaplummer3841]

And more than once he has made comments that lead one to believe he had previous conversations with the guests. This would make sense as he needs to know more about what they do so he can adequately moderate the panel.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

He obviously knew in advance because he would read aloud the signatures written in Chinese characters.

[@ladya1953]

Capt. Greene has that beautiful upright military bearing, and no wonder!

[@lllowkee6533]

You can always tell a military man when he walks in.

[@deewilson3239]

It was nice to know that in 1958, a Black man who's line of work is not entertainment

[@TheConorsmithusa]

shame steve wasn't there with his wife being the mystery guest and all

[@MarshalltonUMC792]

She was the mystery guest the day after they were married and Steve was on the panel.

[@SuperWinterborn]

Could it have been more properly, with a Town Crier as a contestant, during the ongoing newspaper-strike? He should have been the first, and not the last.. ;)

[@karlakor]

I hate to see the last contestant squeezed into the last couple of minutes. It's such a rush job, and I feel sorry for the contestant, who is rushed on and rushed off with time pressing on all sides.

[@lisahinton9682]

i so agree. Imagine coming all the way from Hastings, England (no major airport there), and being on the show for a third of a second. I wish they'd organized it better, or just held the man over one more day. I'll bet he had some very interesting stories to add, had he had the chance for his game to play out, then chat with John Daly after his segment. A shame, really.

[@accomplice55]

@@lisahinton9682 : Agreed. They should have at least brought on someone local, or even better, just killed time.

[@YY4Me133]

@@lisahinton9682 To my knowledge, no one came to New York just to be on the show. Guests submitted a photo and description of their "line." If they were chosen to be on the show, it would be worked out to be at a time when they'd be there, on vacation, business, etc.

[@donnajamieson742]

It was every Sunday, so they would have had to stayed over an entire week.

[@kulturekritik9665]

DeReef Greene is interesting. He shows how quickly the military became a place where African-Americans could succeed once Truman desegregated it. Think about the fits some people threw when that desegregation happened . . . .

[@TheGreatAtario]

It was refreshing to see a military man *not* ostentatiously thanked for his service

[@lisal8984]

Why not? they all deserve it

[@stevekru6518]

@@lisal8984 Some certainly deserve thanks, but not all. Granted the biggest tragedies are ordered by political leadership, from Viet Bam to Abu Gahrab (ph), but line troops have committed atrocities, from Mai Lai to the last drone strike in Kabul killing aid workers and children. Be judicious in giving thanks but even more controlled in taking military action.

[@chutneysmith6469]

@@stevekru6518 Oh for f*ck sake. Take a chill pill.

[@thesweeples3266]

@@stevekru6518 go back to the 60’s please.

[@deewilson3239]

It was 1958

[@michellepost5232]

I watched There Odd Couple TV show when new, and at age 10 I thought Tony Randall was cute. He is on this game show, too.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

*_Commanding Officer of Nike Missile Base_* *_Makes Kilts_* *_Town Crier_*

"Is there any wood inside this?" hmmmmm, he should of been thrown a 'yes'. ;)

[@mistergrandpasbakery9941]

Hahaha! 😂 What a delightful sense of humor! 😂

[@Rhonda9199]

That took me a minute...😄

[@MrJonreed7]

The instant Bennett asked the question I cracked up.

[@jammin6816]

The most beautiful woman I’ve never heard of. Wow!

[@stevekru6518]

Arlene or Jayne?

[@davidharris6581]

I always get tickled at some of the looks John gets when he asks people where they are from. Sometimes they look at him like that is the most ridiculous question they have ever heard. Like the whole world knows they are from some town or something.

[@stevekru6518]

This is early days of tv. My guess is John briefly interviews contestants a few moments before the show. The contestant may be looking askance because John is repeating a question already recently answered

[@dbarker7794]

My decades-long crush on Jayne Meadows continues.

[@kenyongray2615]

When Jayne Meadows came out, you could see a lot of her sister Audrey. I never thought they looked similar but I must have had bad eyes.

[@slaytonp]

I could never tell them apart. My eyes were probably worse than yours.

[@lopa2828]

No I always made the same mistake. Jayne and Audrey looked quite alike like twins.

[@donnacook8994]

Jane Meadows was so funny and adorable! Pure class act!!!

[@moonlightray8493]

Jayne Meadows was adorable with that Santa costume! It's a shame the panel didn't get to see her in it, haha

[@lindalee6246]

Who remember Donald Duck orange juice ? Lol

[@poolside16190]

I was just thinking: wouldn’t it have been great if Steve Allen came on stage with a toy hammer to hit John with when he was helping Jayne undress?😂

[@katherinepowell916]

I love the town crier and would definitely go dancing on the poer!

[@1USPRES]

What happened to many of the videos? Now private??

[@donnajamieson742]

I read that many of them were not saved because they didn't have the foresight to video taped them and then all of a sudden they decided to video taped them for archives.

[@cathykinn4516]

Bill Crittenden! Wow enough that someone from Hastings went to New York but that he was on WML!

[@RonGerstein]

There were many "lines" from the UK: mayors, lords, members of parliament, queen's guards, etc.

[@shuboy05]

So did John ever explain to the panel that he was helping Jayne "undress"?

[@williamlynnroden]

That was a Ho Ho Ho Hilarious segment!

[@lynettepalecek3141]

@@williamlynnroden Good one. 😅.

[@carolleruppert2353]

Arlene Francis looked so good for so long because she had plastic surgery!

[@orgonkothewildlyuntamed6301]

the 1st guest worked for NIKE??? what a change over the years

[@ladya1953]

Ummmm....not the same thing!

[@lllowkee6533]

NIKE here was a SAM missile

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

@@ladya1953 WHOOOOSH!😆

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

@@simbalantana4572 WHOOOOSH!😆

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

@@lllowkee6533 WHOOOOOOSH!😆

[@lidijatravina7438]

Happy 2025 💖🌎

[@dpm-jt8rj]

Why are the cards (that John flips over) have an outline of the State of Florida?

[@hugovangalen]

The sponsor is Florida Orange Juice

[@dcasper8514]

dpm1982. the sponsor.

[@MrYfrank14]

sponsor pays for the cards so they get to put anything they want on them.

[@donnajamieson742]

Florida Orange juice

[@enriquesanchez2001]

TOWN CRIER was delightful and too short a segment!

[@Mmdmade]

John coughs a lot. He must have smoked

[@sdacj]

He did, and was also diagnosed with emphysema later on in life. He was probably already suffering from it without knowing it.

[@oldwestguy]

I like everything abbot Tony Randall except his laugh. He had a rather odd-sounding laugh... but I still found him entertaining and always enjoyable.

[@LANCSKID]

abbot? Wtf.

[@audreydaleski1067]

Lady in the lake

[@chrisgast]

Does anyone know what Randall meant when he asked, "Is it intentionally so?" I didn't understand what he meant.

[@chrisgast]

Thanks. That's a weird question for Randall to ask. Not sure what kind of revealing answer he thought he'd get with either yes or no.

[@dcasper8514]

chris gast. was he drafted into the service

[@MrYfrank14]

a company that was supposed to make money but isn't, so they donated what they cant sell, would be an unintentional nonprofit. I am certain he meant it as a joke.

[@slaytonp]

@@chrisgast It was a joke.

[@Paul71H]

He meant: Does the organization intentionally not make a profit? I believe it was a joke.

[@audreydaleski1067]

Love Joseph cotten.

[@TwinMillMC]

17:56

[@jackseward7779]

Since when was Jayne Meadows a "big star"?

[@allenjones3130]

Jayne dressed as Saint Nick! And why not? It was just a few days before Christmas!!

[@toddmccreary4579]

Nike missiles. Just do it.

[@cathykinn4516]

Didnt see the Mystery guest come on & judging by the scream presumed it was a singer popular with teens. Surprised to see a woman. That ho ho hoing became tedious pretty soon.

[@stickitupyourasteric]

What a joke.... 2,000 miles away and 14 miles up.. the Nike missile was just a lot of hot air... who do these jokers believe they are fooling...

[@alanfollett6242]

Nike-Ajax and Nike-Hercules were surface-to-air missiles, intended for long-range defense against manned bombers. They probably would have had some success in their intended mission, though fortunately we never had a chance to find out. I grew up a half-mile from a Nike battery (at Belmont Harbor in Chicago), and could never decide whether it made me feel safer, or a prime target..

[@Wizardofgosz]

2000 MILES AN HOUR. Not Miles away. Those missiles had a range of more like 90 miles.

[@loissimmons6558]

+Alan Follett I grew up in the same town as the Nike base on Clausland Mountain near NYC. I don't recall it making me feel safer. These were the days of "duck and cover" drills. But we also knew that NYC was a prime target.

[@ladya1953]

@@loissimmons6558 I understand. I lived just a few blocks from Barksdale Air Force Base, which contained Shreveport Base, where SAC (Strategic Air Command) was based. DURING the Cuban missile crisis, no less.

[@MrYfrank14]

and they pronounced the name wrong. does anybody ride a bike- ee?

[@Justin.Martyr]

*Nancy PeLoSi & Jennine PiRRo Prove JeHoVa God!!!!!!!*

[@Justin.Martyr]

@@julier.1902 *You Either have a Spiritual ConScienciousness or you Don't!*

[@Justin.Martyr]

@@julier.1902 *Now Try Clicking on my Name!!!!*

[@Justin.Martyr]

@@julier.1902 *IT WORKS & YOU JUST PROVED that it WORKS!!!!* *Nothing ELSE Gets through to you!!!!*

[@lynettepalecek3141]

@Justin Martyr. Nancy Pelosi is a wicked old witch! She even admitted that she's a witch!! I'm a born again Christian ✝️.

[@Justin.Martyr]

@@lynettepalecek3141*