What's My Line (Mystery Guest Willie Mays) (8-20-1968)

Soupy Sales, Joanna Barnes, Nipsey Russell, Arlene Francis

[@tombarzey7964]

RIHP🙏to the legendary #24 Willie Mays who recently has recently passed away. Thanks for all your contributions to the sport of baseball!

[@nadcordois]

I agree John Daly was and always will be, the host of What's My Line.

[@williamdunphy352]

Willie Mays is one of the class acts of Major League Baseball.

[@Danimal300zx]

Thank you very much for the What's My Line Episodes. Keep'em coming my friend.

[@bbailey7818]

Say Hey! Willie Mays still with us at 92. And many more!

[@Lava1964]

Willie Mays' voice was terrific. He should have done some announcing when he retired.

[@djdon60]

Arlene, obviously, was a big fan, judging by her correct guess, on the ' 54 episode. I can't wait, to see if she does so, again.

[@PREGO1966]

Shhhhhhhh she will

[@jph0917]

She guest him all 3 times he was on, 1955, 1962 and this time.

[@PREGO1966]

@@jph0917 I believe there is a 4th in Blyden's era

[@JFGecik]

I forgot to say that being unable to watch (late on Sundays) makes it extremely pleasurable for me to see a lot of what I missed here at KZbin. Thanks to those posting segments and even full episodes!

[@13loomisst]

My childhood hero. Thanks very much.

[@hunterreilly-hr9qt]

When Willie mentioned ground rule doubles it reminded me of a game I saw at yankee stadium 1958. A mantle ground rule double. 465 ft !!!

[@admiralJONK]

RIP to the goat 😭😭😭

[@kevinvanmeter2264]

Rest in Peace, Willie.

[@WaltGekko]

The date on this says this has to be one of the very first of the syndicated WML? shows filmed as this version debuted in the fall of 1968 and would continue to the end of 1974 with new shows and in repeats through the summer of '75.

[@ahmadfadzil4104]

I wish I had a time machine to come back to this year. I was a kid then. Wonder what I was doing this moment.😢

[@RonGerstein-tf5tp]

Sitting on the toilet

[@PREGO1966]

There was an episode later in Larry Blyden's run where a female challenger did roughly the same as the first challenger, and if memory serves she was the first one on her show. She also stumped the panel.

[@scottlevin3966]

You gotta love what people wore back then true class.

[@allanscudder]

He was on the earlier incarnation of WML

[@buddmannable]

Willie and Hank............enough said.

[@hunterreilly-hr9qt]

Ruth did have a few ground rule doubles counted as hrs in those days but not enough that really amounted to anything

[@presto709]

Did he get to 715?

[@SamSanders072764]

+MatchGameProductions per the Mark Goodson Wikia, & the comments at the end of this show, this episode would have aired 10/21/68.

[@hunterreilly-hr9qt]

John Daly and Bud Collyer the best game show hosts ever

[@rmelin13231]

In that order.

[@danielfronc4304]

Funny how Mays said they might have counted ground rule doubles as homers. In fact, in early baseball they did count them as homers.

[@tpir1972]

Is WMl the first game show to go in syndication?

[@tomitstube]

willie ended up with 660. aaron who willie didn't think could do it, broke babe's 714 mark ending up with 755. barry bonds finished with 762 before being forced out of baseball.

[@bobthetvfan]

Truth or Consequences was the first game show to be canceled by a network and continue with new episodes in syndication, in 1966. What's My Line? started its syndicated run in 1968. As for this show, I've always maintained that Larry Blyden was the better host for the syndicated show; his interests in both the contestants and the Mystery Guests were almost unlimited, and Wally Bruner always seemed to be channeling John Daly. And I've had a crush on Joanna Barnes ever since she co-starred with Peter Falk on "Trials of O'Brien" in the mid-'60s.

[@PREGO1966]

Like John, Wally was a originally a newsman. Larry brought with him mystery guests from the golden age of theater and stage.

[@swkccr]

best player ever!

[@lennypearl]

Wasn't the first contestant on the original WML? He looks a lot like the man who did the same thing.

[@RonGerstein]

The first episode of the original WML was 2/2/50, and this episode was in 1968, 18 years later.

[@lennypearl]

@stein Actually, silly of me to post the question, I should have looked it up! 😋 Yes, it's the same Gene Beene who was on the Dec 4, 1960 episode with mystery guest Nancy Kwan!

[@soulierinvestments]

Arlene Francis guessed him when he was a mystery guest in 1950s WML.

[@garyrasberryjr.552]

Arlene was a diehard Giants fan when they were in New York and a Willie Mays fan in general.

[@RayNDeere]

I would believe that there were other game shows that were syndicated before WML, but right now cannot come up with any names

[@GGE47]

Hank Aaron did surpass Babe Ruth with the Atlanta Braves in 1974. I saw him hit two homeruns against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 9th 1973 Braves won 8-2. Earlier a horse named Secretariat won the Belmont to win the Triple Crown. It was the first time since Citation won in 1948. I saw that on television just after my father and I settled into the motel. I don't count the steroid era after that.

[@kevinvanmeter2264]

This post is being made on 7/8/2020. Willie Mays played in game three of the 1951 National League playoffs between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants where Bobby Thomson homered off Ralph Branca with Mays the on-deck hitter. Willie is the only surviving Giant from that game at 89. Carl Erskine is now the only surviving Brooklyn Dodger player (93) along with Wayne Terwillger (95) from that 1951 team other than broadcaster Vin Scully (92).

[@WeFrost62]

I wonder what the first guest whispered to Arlene on his way out? ;)

[@RonGerstein-tf5tp]

I am itchy for you

[@multitieredinvestor5246]

When my son bull rode, I was more frightened of him being on the highway coming home dog tired. I often flew him in my plane.

[@TheFrogger15]

Hank Aaron broke the record 6 years later.

[@jeffthewhiff]

The interesting thing about the girl who worked as a "Good Humor" man is that today, you wouldn't be able to call her a "man" in that job.

[@RichardAugustMatthew19Man]

You wouldn't be able to call "HIM" a "WOMAN" either!

[@JFGecik]

Born in 1951, I LOVED to watch WML when I was little, but too often could not, because it was on late on Sunday nights. Both on the original series and on the new, they OFTEN took too long to process the first guest -- and then struggled to give a decent amount of time to the others. I don't know why the hosts didn't have the common sense to overcome this flaw.

[@bobthetvfan]

They finally did. By the time Larry Blyden became host they were giving the panel broad clues; for instance, a stilt walker "gets around in a most unusual way." This cut about two minutes of what were generally the same questions; during the last year of the syndicated show announcer Chet Gould introduced the panel, eliminating some of the long-windedness of the panelists introducing each other.

[@michaelchristopherson123]

@@bobthetvfan 😊

[@drbonesshow1]

The days when TV had some measure of creativity: 0:01 - 0:24

[@RichardAugustMatthew19Man]

19:20 What a prophecy! Henry Aaron (RIP) DID break the 714 HR record.

[@RonGerstein]

So did Ken Griffey Jr.

[@craigwheller]

How does Arlene not recognize him? At least his name? His name and act are memorable and she guessed him when, 15 years earlier and he looks exactly the same.

[@PREGO1966]

Disagree, Wally Bruner was a class act.

[@jlprindle1]

Gene Beene was on before . Arlene should have gotten that. Even a girl was on the worked with Mr Beene was even on and she did the same thing.

[@curiouscharacter1]

Thanks, I remembered that they had a guy who blew himself up with dynamite before but wasn't sure it was the same man. One thing I do remember from his first appearance though; he said the most important thing about his act was to always empty your lungs before the explosion. I guess the instantaneous pressure change would collapse both lungs if they had air in them.

[@graperonto]

I noticed that too. Yet Soupy did. Maybe by 1970 it was already going out of style... the way they did it in the 50s and 60s. Pity.

[@mrjeff3000]

Say hey!

[@fanboy2015]

They should offered Mr. Daly $10 million to host this version. Mr. Brunner seems like a nice fellow, but Mr. Daly would have been a heck of a lot better.

[@PREGO1966]

+George Almeyda If you watch the clip on here of the finale of the b/w series you know why Daly wasn't available. He was invited to Washington to do "the voice of America"

[@fanboy2015]

That's why I wrote to offer Mr. Daly $10 mil to do the syndicated version. The $10 mil is obviously an exaggeration.

[@PREGO1966]

The point is Daly was not available, and tghe reason why was given clearly in an episode of that version of the series that is viewable by people who weren't even around then. Moreover after 17 years, it's time for a change no?

[@KiddBloo86]

PREGO1966: Not to mention, Daly didn't want the demonstrations done after each "line". "Save that stuff for IGAS" as he mentioned before.

[@38ddkelly]

Gene Beane???

[@curiouscharacter1]

Well, it worked for Chill Wills, Steve Reeves and Evel Knievel didn't it?

[@timothyball7502]

2-12-2023. Bad deal. He did not tell how much $$$$ he was paid for the boom-boom act. Sigh!

[@mle7143]

As the last surviving member of the original panalists from the 1950s I wonder what Arlene Francis must have felt like..going from the heyday in the 1950;s with this show...

[@bobthetvfan]

In his book of reminiscences Gil Fates admitted that Arlene had a great time doing the syndicated show, and he was surprised that she developed a real rapport with Soupy Sales. However, I can't see Dorothy Kilgallen doing the syndicated show if she had lived.

[@wschmrdr]

I think Hank Aaron could do it. ;)

[@XMLarry]

Good Humor ice cream under a $1? Not anymore...

[@RonGerstein]

I remember ice cream for 10 cents (as well as candy and soda).

[@JHRobbins]

That host can't touch John Daly-not even close.

[@mle7143]

Interesting how Nipsy Russell Doesnt stand to greet the guest...when it was always a custom for the men to stand...hmmmm....

[@PhyscoScorpio1621]

Bonds is Willie Mays Godson and people don't become instant superstars because steroids it helps yes but the truth be told if you are a horrible player and can't hit, throw, or catch all steroids will get you is a fat head and shrunken testicles