What's My Line? - Senator Margaret Chase Smith (Jun 14, 1953)

Containing one of the funniest segments ever aired on WML: the lady who ran a nudist camp!
MYSTERY GUEST: Senator Margaret Chase Smith
PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Steve Allen, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf
-------------------------------
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[@jeffyork5766]

I will turn 60 this year (2019) and suffer more frequent depression. I found this series less then a year ago and not only am I hooked on it, it truly helps ease my depression. This has got to be the one game show with the most humor, comrodery and laughter between panel, panel moderater and audience. I just love them and I know they know it.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Jeff York -You are right. I w ish we could find this level of elegance, humor, decency and civility in the entertainment or political world today. So I watch WML as the antidote. Ld

[@paulrollins2414]

I agree! I'm no spring chicken, although I don't go back quite this far. But I love this show, a look back at a more erudite time, and I am sure, as you are, that the participants know that we're watching now.

[@marthagill8336]

@@paulrollins2414 m

[@patperry6290]

@@shirleyrombough8173 j

[@briane173]

@@shirleyrombough8173 Is it not a shame that we have to go back 70 years to find TV entertainment that is classy, humorous, civil, and decent, wholesome entertainment. It's the reason I'm here and don't have the TV on. Literally thousands of channels available and I can't find anything with the qualities of WML. When I was a kid watching this show I liked it BECAUSE it was adults acting like adults -- but I appreciate it 10 X more now.

[@captainjay1034]

The reaction that Arlene has when she realises why Dorothy jumped in her set was priceless

[@sandwichman100]

Dorothy suddenly recognised her with her clothes on?

[@moonlightray8493]

I've rewatched the nudist camp segment at least five times, and it never ceases to make me laugh all throughout! Steve starts things off with a series of hysterically funny questions, Bennett compounds the hilarity by asking about liquids, and then Dorothy's gasp - followed by Arlene's subsequent realization - wrapped things up perfectly!!

[@battlegirldeb]

It's now 2023 and I'm rewatching the early seasons. This is the first time I looked up Senator Chase Smith. Like many of the women in congress at the time she went in to fulfill her husband term in office after he died. She is one of the few to be reelected for her own term in office.

[@Merrida100]

I absolutely adore Steve Allen. He's so engaging and relaxed, so comfortable and naturally funny, charming. So enjoyable to watch.

[@pattimaeda6097]

Merrida100 he IS pretty witty

[@tompaulcampbell]

Quite a musician too!

[@spongebobandplanktonshould2920]

Hi Merrida. My favorites are Bennett&Arlene.

[@briane173]

Steve Allen was my hero growing up in the early 60s. _Such_ a quick wit, supremely intelligent, multi-talented, and a decent human being. I've patterned my sense of humor after his. The biggest paradox is that away from the limelight he was very introverted and didn't _seek_ the limelight. A very humble human being - a quality I respect most in others.

[@lllowkee6533]

Steve and Tony Randall were my two favorites …. but all but one guest panel were wonderful. ❣️

[@dodge96neon]

the audience's reaction to steve's questions are great

[@dutchtea8354]

I think he is funnier with off-the-cuff wit such as, “Do you mean she’s a bartender,” than he is when he uses the show writers’ gambits. I do understand that he was getting paid to do the gambits, but he was better without them. As soon as the occupation was revealed, I knew Steve would be called first, even though she was the first guest.

[@golden-63]

10:12 one of the greatest What's My Line moments.

[@yatinexile7144]

It's times like this that you wish for color TV. Dorothy's face must have been beet red.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Thanks for your great comments. These shows all pretty much blend together in my head after seeing so many of them, so I genuinely need this kind of heads up when there's one that's really special, beyond something obvious like a great mystery guest. I just rewatched this one myself based solely on your enthusiasm for it . . . I'm guessing you went out of your way not to spoil what the line is for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, so I won't either. I'll just agree, it's a classic. :)

[@listeningeyes3298]

Whoever you are behind the “What’s My Line” symbol, be you a Mr. OR Mrs. OR Miss, wado for putting this old game show on here for people to watch and enjoy😊. I have no idea how hard it was to gather(for lack of a better word) these episodes PLUS to put them in the CORRECT order that they were each aired. I do not believe that I would have had the patience to do this, the reason that I say & admit my lack of patience is because I am sadly one of many impatient people who, after placing something in the microwave oven for say, 2 minutes, I end up yelling at the microwave oven to “Hurry Up.”😊. Today being Thursday November 24,2022, I want to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and your family members.

[@Rhonda9199]

I really like Steve Allen...he cracks me up!

[@mtnman6557]

WML is so good that I click the Like button before I even watch the episode.

[@leannsherman6723]

Arlene: “ Dorothy, I don’t think you would go.” 😂

[@shadowg6563]

if there is a more pleasant TV personality than John Daly I wouldn't have a clue who that might be

[@billyhealan3777]

I agree

[@kristabrewer9363]

Bob Barker, Alan Ludden, and I'm sure there are more

[@su8483]

Arlene Francis

[@garyhooper3064]

He seemed to be the very definition of class and sophistication.

[@keymaninmusic]

Roseanne

[@waynehowell6160]

This episode makes me wonder if maybe Dorothy would have been a poor poker player. That gasp of realization was priceless.

[@magnificentfailure2390]

corner moose I would not want to find out, not if any substantial amount of money was involved.

[@Imapeach1]

I loved it when Daly was conferring with the fortune teller,and Steve Allen bursts into song...."pretend you're stupid when you're smart"....lol. Gotta love Mr. Allen.

[@graperonto]

10:51 "Dorothy I don't think you'd go!"

[@ladya1953]

graperonto But she did not say the same to or of Steve! Lol

[@Beson-SE]

All 4 members of the panel got on their feets to shake hands with Senator Margaret Chase Smith.

[@MrYfrank14]

i assume the ladies stood out of respect for the office.

[@mcmiraclevalley]

To this day I love watching this show and its clean and people are so kind and REAL no fakes and scumbags.

[@Borastheantichrist]

Other panelists certainly have their strengths, but, when I see Steve Allen with Dorothy, Arlene, and Bennett, I know I will like the episode.

[@mrpuniverse2]

When Dorothy worked out the first one who reaction was priceless hilarious episode thanks for posting

[@ironduke2000]

One of my favorite moments ever on the show.

[@nickarcher03]

Love how the audience goes nuts when Mrs. Reed's occupation is displayed. It was a different time.

[@alastairjinks6966]

Some great occupations throughput the whole run

[@jamesu3346]

one of the best episodes

[@kateluxor2986]

I loved it when Dorothy and Arlene got the same "a-ha" moment with Mrs. Reed. Priceless! When they stood up for Sen. Smith, I realized that is the second time I've seen them do that. The other time they stood up for Anna Magnani. "You wouldn't go there, would you Dorothy?" "I most certainly would not!" Lol!

[@dannydoc1969]

They also stood for Eleanor Roosevelt

[@spongebobandplanktonshould2920]

Why they stood for Anna? She's just actress. Weird.

[@netram28]

@@spongebobandplanktonshould2920 The ladies were probably awestruck by Magnani's reputation as the greatest actress in the world.

[@blacknight7643]

They also stood up Frank Lloyd the great architect

[@user-gp4mn3wq5l]

Dorothy and Arlene stood up for Senator Chase Smith

[@alastairjinks6966]

All well spoken and smartly dressed

[@erichanson426]

For the 2nd guest, I thought they were getting close when Bennett Cerf asked if it could be taken internally. I laughed so hard. That is the humor I love, and why I enjoy this show so much.

[@dutchtea8354]

Arlene discovered that the product was not, nor ever had been alive, and Bennett immediately asked if it was grown. Then, Dorothy discovered that the product was _not_ utilitarian, yet, Bennett still asked if it could be taken internally. Later, Bennett complained that he couldn’t get a _yes_ answer.

[@spongebobandplanktonshould2920]

@@dutchtea8354 Yes agree, you&I both love Bennett.

[@ToddSF]

Margaret Chase Smith was yet another person for whom Dorothy and Arlene stood up when shaking hands. I'm thinking it was out of respect for someone holding the office of U.S. Senator. I suppose age could have been a factor, although at age 56, Senator Smith was not elderly, just six months older than Bennett Cerf.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

ToddSF 94109 - They stood for the senator out of respect. As they should have in those days. So few these days deserve that symbol of respect.

[@stanochocki8984]

Ms Smith was nearly chosen to be the 1st Woman on a party ticket to fill the Vice Presidential spot...seems it all came down to the ''back-room'' machinations' of Party politics as usual--though many felt that had she been put on the ticket...it would have given a decided enhancement....Sad, very sad that she Didn't get her Party's Nod......She had Brilliant mind and knew, Washington Politics--in and out AND knew just where all the skeletons in the closet where....

[@icturner23]

What do you mean by “yet another”?! I’ve only seen them stand for her, Eleanor Roosevelt and religious ministers, although I think Dorothy only stood for Catholic ones.

[@bettycogswell9851]

Steve Allen is such gas. I knew John would go to him first on the nudist colony to get the laughs. I just loved him on here...

[@ellenmurray9196]

It is very rare for ALL of the panelists to rise to meet the mystery guest. I have seen them do it 2 other times, for a woman in her 90's who still worked and for Bishop Sheen.

[@randysills4418]

They all stood up for Eleanor Roosevelt if my memory is correct...

[@laureanocangahuala6015]

And Marian Anderson (though one of the four was late in standing)

[@dianawardrip5171]

Both men and Arlene Francis stood for Billy Graham. Dorothy Kilgallen did not, pity.

[@soulierinvestments]

Yolanda Reed -- really one of the most memorable WML contestants ever. The production staff probably knew her line would generate laughs. I bet her line generated more than they anticipated. The panel acts as though they have found themselves unexpectedly in a Roman forum. Even Steve Allen, who received from the production staff a gambit for this game, looks dumbstuck by the audience response.

[@magnificentfailure2390]

"Snap, Crackle, Pop* Steve Allen at 15:40 SMH, 62 years later.

[@loissimmons6558]

That joke by Steve was a very special "treat"! :-)

[@spongebobandplanktonshould2920]

@@loissimmons6558 He's overrated lol. Love his wife much more.

[@dadakijito]

That was not Steve Allen who made that joke, it was John Daly! He was making a comment on Bennett's question about being able to eat it (fireworks) and compared it to a breakfast cereal.... snap, crackle and pop -- totally priceless!! LMAO!

[@davidsoulier6375]

One of the few incidents where Dorothy and Arlene got hit by revelation at the same time.

[@WhatsMyLine]

+David Soulier You're using your old account? :)

[@davidsoulier6375]

+What's My Line? eeekk, so I am. I got a new computer on Saturday, and I wonder how I managed to lock in on the David account.

[@davidsoulier6375]

The good manners of the time are pretty startling when compared to current mores. Everybody stands up for Senator Smith.

[@Jaydoggy531]

Contrast it with the way that the the animals cat call on the attractive female guests. No manners hide the sins of the time.

[@retrobilly1986]

David Soulier that’s before people found out what scumbags a lot of politicians are.

[@efesgirl999]

If only I could find a man like John Daly...like looking for the end of the rainbow...

[@ruffluff565]

Ditto, though I might add a portion of Bennett in mine too.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

efesgirl999 -Are you ever right! If you find two save one for me!

[@spongebobandplanktonshould2920]

@@ruffluff565 Agree, love Bennett.

[@poetcomic1]

Dorothy would NEVER go to a nudist camp.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Not as a patron, I'd have to agree. . but as a journalist? ;)

[@SonnyBubba]

“Might I use this service?” Considering that there’s nothing except perhaps personal preference that would prevent you from using the service, we’ll have to give you a Yes.

[@anneroy4560]

Odd how Mr Daly says 'prizes' when the only 'prize' one might win is money ... he could say 'prize money' ... no matter ... I could watch this show forever ...

[@Sgt_Glory]

Perhaps he meant "prizes" in total. As there are multiple contestants, and hence multiple prizes.

[@mikejschin]

Thought I was the only one to notice that. There's only one prize: a certain amount of money that depends on how many "no" answers they can give. In a similar vein, John always says they will start the "general questioning" with a given panelist. That made sense when there were free guesses, but after those went away there was no need to say "general": there was just questioning.

[@MightyMoCat]

You probably get a year's supply of Stoppette.

[@TheGreatAtario]

Audience was absolutely scandalized by the mention of nudism, heh

[@davidsoulier6375]

Game one: One of the few times that a gambit spun completely out of control. Steve Allen was thrown off his gambit by audience reaction. He looks and sounds a little bewildered that the audience shrieks at his questioning.

[@WhatsMyLine]

+David Soulier They didn't really need a gambit for this one, did they?

[@davidsoulier6375]

+What's My Line? No. The audience would have howled at practically any question -- as it in fact did.

[@SonnyBubba]

Steve has no idea how badly he’s getting into it. These are all getting roaring laughter from the audience, but are benign questions. “Is there a service?” Yes “Might I use this service?” Yes “Would it make me happy?” Yes “Would it change my appearance?” Yes She could be a barber, based on those questions.

[@dutchtea8354]

@@SonnyBubba Dorothy and Arlene ended up getting the biggest laugh.

[@thomasthetankengine1670]

Fun fact: This was broadcasted the same day that "The sad story of Henry" Incident happened. The incident consisted on an O gauge locomotive derailed at a badly placed set of points, then, one of the crew workers grabbed the engine and placed it ack onto the rails, this all happened wile being LIVE.

[@esclad]

To think someone as great as Steve Allen is just in an unmarked grave appalls me. I love when the penny drops with Dorothy Kilgallen and you hear her audible gasp :) 10:16

[@wayneyadams]

The Pensacola Naval Air Station is almost 360 miles west of Jacksonville. In those days, before I-10 was built, it would be a 7 hour drive.

[@neilmidkiff]

Yes, a rare geographical blunder by Bennett. He usually was spot on when he named the principal industry, hotel, department store, or bookshop in a contestant's home town; clearly he paid attention to these things on his lecture tours. Maybe he never had given a speech in Jacksonville.

[@scotwirth6228]

Funny, nobody said, "Dorothy found a weenie" during the first game.

[@dumbbo1]

“Yolanda Reed” was actually Zelda Suplee, second wife of Reed Suplee who founded Sunny Rest Resort on his farm in Carbon County, PA.

[@philippapay4352]

dumbbo1 - Wow, I just read her bio. She was quite a woman. She left this business and got involved about 1961 in a transgender organization that promoted better understanding of gender identity et al. A big achievement for her within this period was to talk Johns Hopkins Medical Center into founding the nation's first Gender Identity Clinic. After 10 years in this line of work she was credited by many as the primary influence in gaining more understanding for gender dysphoria, homosexuality and other ostracized sexual identities people held, experienced. She was Zelda Yolande Roth Suplee. Her husband at the Nudist Park was Reed Suplee, thus the name she used here.

[@Walterwhiterocks]

@@philippapay4352 But why would she change her first name merely because she married ?

[@philippapay4352]

@@Walterwhiterocks I don't know that she ever changed her name legally, beyond adding her husband's onto it. But she did use differing versions of her name as more or less brand names at different phases of her career. I don't think she changed her first name, but rather began using her middle name instead. You'd have to look up her bio which is complicated, but fascinating as she helped found the first transgender study center at Johns Hopkins. She was quite a smart character.

[@juliansinger]

More: www.wikitree.com/wiki/Roth-4358

[@dutchtea8354]

@@Walterwhiterocks Yolande was her middle name. www.findagrave.com/memorial/196922877/zelda-yolande-suplee

[@anniefannycharles9951]

67 years ago. Little could any of them guessed that in 2020 a woman in sw Florida would be watching this show on her phone! Also that the planet was going thru a deadly pandemic. I love the question about near-sighted people by Steve. Hilarious.

[@RonGerstein]

Or in 2008 a black person was elected President of the United States.

[@BrianPicchi]

10:57 Bennett "I'd go with her, I tell you that." LMAO!

[@loissimmons6558]

A remark that Hal Block would have been lambasted for, no doubt.

[@CzechMirco]

@@loissimmons6558 Because he was constantly firing such comments like a machine gun. From Cerf it was unexpected and thus funny.

[@spongebobandplanktonshould2920]

@@loissimmons6558 Stop hating Bennett, hate it or like it, he's big part of WML. Loved by everybody. He's very charming. Let people praise him. Ugh, people just won't let the others praise Bennett.

[@loissimmons6558]

@@spongebobandplanktonshould2920 I loved watching Bennett. But I also liked Hal Block.

[@spongebobandplanktonshould2920]

@@loissimmons6558 You brought Block up with aim to get people to forget that Bennett's good. And giving visible favor to Block which sounded like you found him OK and not creepy. Stop comparing, Bennett and Block differ. #Facts Can't you just let people enjoy Bennett? Must you butt in with Block comparison? Like I said in previous reply, "Ugh, people just won't let the others praise Bennett".

[@geraldkatz7986]

They always start with Steve Allen whenever there is something risque or would get a big laugh from the image when he asks if he would use the product or service.

[@karenbyrne5423]

Totally agree,! Great show for mental and emotional health. Nothing like the garbage on TV now adays. Show much fun. Binge watch and haugh out loud.

[@melaniedaniels7298]

She was slow to her feet but Arlene didn't let me down. Her and Dorothy were sticklers for manners and etiquette and I was worried she wasn't getting up for a Senator.

[@richardstephens7636]

The audience blew it on the nudist one. Damn it.

[@dinahbrown902]

They blow it a lot and it’s so aggravating

[@robertholman8730]

​@@dinahbrown902I believe they shouldn't show the audience the line of guest until it's discovered! 😊

[@soulierinvestments]

Interesting that Dorothy's free guess actually was close. 10:15 : Dorothy being hit by revelation. LOLOF One of her funniest WML moments ever. Just the bonanza to top one of the great WML games. ·

[@battlegirldeb]

Watching some of the older show I don't remember seeing this episode.

[@mizbootie]

I'm always so disappointed when the audience gives it away.

[@dinahbrown902]

Aggravating as hell

[@robertholman8730]

The audience shouldn't be told till the contestant is done.😮

[@libertyann439]

Love Dorothy s reaction to Mrs. Reed. I only wish the fortune teller could have helped Dorothy.

[@magnificentfailure2390]

Awesome!

[@horaceball5418]

Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to be placed in nomination for the presidency at a major party's convention. She didnt like Joesph McCarthy.

[@libertyann439]

Horace Ball I collect campaign buttons. I have one of her for Peresident.

[@MrYfrank14]

dont tell the democrats in 2016. they insisted Hillary was first.

[@preppysocks209]

She delivered a famous speech against McCarthy and HUAC (and the Truman Administration's record of weakness against Soviet spying), but did not explicitly mention McCarthy by name, in June, 1950, nearly 4 years before the Senate voted to censure him, and three years before this episode. Unfortunately, the Soviet Union assisted North Korea in invading the South only a few weeks later, and anti-Communist sentiment supported McCarthy for longer than otherwise would have been the case.

[@hawkeyeten2450]

She was a rabid anti-Communist herself though. Senator Smith may have disagreed with McCarthy's behavior and tactics, but she was no friend to leftists.

[@44032]

Steve still looks confused at the end.

[@RichardHannay]

Oh it’s the nudist colony lady episode!!!

[@oneman1812]

Timeless

[@largemember]

3:32 I hope it's a Nudist Camp for THE BLIND!!!!!!

[@yeswecanusa2008]

These days we prefer the term "clothing optional" camp or property.

[@lenamaria4able]

The Same Day That Sad Story Of Henry Live Broadcast Happened

[@dutchtea8354]

At 13:39, Steve asked, “Is it larger than a breadbox?” This was the 12th use of the term. This is the third show when the ladies stood to shake hands. (After Ethel Barrymore & Anna Magnani). This is the third ladies night.

[@StephenBurrus4444]

Arlene's line of questioning of the nudist camp operator has a completely different meaning and context in 2020.

[@tejaswoman]

What a pity for Sen. Smith it was (1) over so soon and (2) before the show started having the celebrity guest stick around a few minutes to chat. A true missed opportunity.

[@robertholman8730]

Not a talk show😊

[@WhatsMyLine]

Today's KZbin Rerun for 10/16/15: Watch along and join the discussion! ----------------------------- Please click here to subscribe to the WML channel if you haven't already-- you'll find the complete CBS series already posted, and you'll be able to follow along the discussions on the weekday "rerun" videos: kzbin.info/door/hPE75Fvvl1HmdAsO7Nzb8w Join our Facebook group for WML-- great discussions, photos, etc, and great people! facebook.com/groups/728471287199862/

[@fabianmusefano6402]

Arlene" Dorothy, I don't think, you would go!"

[@clearfield2009]

I say again: I am so in love with Steve Allen 💕💥💕

[@wayneyadams]

1953 and the PC police are already in full swing. It's a nudist park not nudist colony.

[@neilmidkiff]

A colony implies a place of full-time residence (from Latin "colōnus," settler) and may also have pejorative connotations of separation (leper colony). Resort, park, or camp better describe places visited for a day trip or a short stay. It's more about truth in advertising than about PC.

[@lllowkee6533]

Margaret Chase Smith beat a hasty retreat…😵

[@MrYfrank14]

i cant believe you could say "nudist" on TV in 1953.

[@Rosarium2007]

MrYfrank14 well the show was on at 10:30 at night . . .

[@dinahbrown902]

?

[@MrYfrank14]

@@dinahbrown902- !

[@dinahbrown902]

@@MrYfrank14 😊👍

[@largemember]

17:55 Looks like Hubert Humphrey in drag!.....:>)

[@mrpuniverse2]

Her reaction is what I meant in the previous post

[@drumbum3.142]

Maine.. ... ..... That is Very Interesting.. .... I Wonder what Madam Margaret Smith's Opinion upon the .. current "state" of politics over the past ... say six, seven, or maybe even eight years would be... .

[@Mpshfromlowell64]

As with Eleanor Roosevelt, the ladies stand to shake hands with Senator Smith. Respect…..

[@padd937]

I love when the panel catches a hint from the audience reaction -- example at 10:10

[@erichanson426]

I have noticed that the audience reactions to questions asked or answered do help the panel in guessing the line of the guests. The panel deserves extra credit for being so observant to the audience.

[@neilmidkiff]

@@erichanson426 Arlene is usually the first to pick up on their reactions (though Dorothy caught it first this time). Good actors learn to sense audience reaction to a play, and can even adjust their timing and emphasis to fine-tune the performance to the audience. That's part of the magic of live theater. Arlene certainly had extensive stage experience to help her in this regard.

[@worldnotworld]

That was a very strangely abbreviated visited by senator Chase Smith!

[@randysills4418]

I want to go on a nudist retreat before I die and when the pandemic ends!

[@dinahbrown902]

Only if everyone was adult and didn’t giggle like school kids.

[@carolcaponigro]

I remember this as a kid. My parents always watched it. Today's TV and/ or media has filled our air waves with crap. It's also torn down our moral compass in this society. Bring back some old fashion values and examples to better model our behaviors and conduct.

[@robertmelson2130]

This idea has occurred to me several times before, usually when something specific might have been interesting to "overhear". Watching these early, pre-entrance shows again, though, I notice how the panel is always talking among themselves when the camera is first on them. Is there no one in the WML fan crowd who reads lips? Perhaps I'm stretching but I think of some of the interesting stuff we'd possibly get. And, too, I may have an unrealistic (derived from fiction/movies) idea of what a lip reader could do. Oh well, it's just idle musing on my part...

[@MrYfrank14]

lip readers can do a lot. law enforcement has used them to read the lips of people they have under surveillance. but i doubt, with the poor quality of TV back then, they could read very much from this show, today.

[@Thedawnatnight]

@@MrYfrank14 you say that but there is a clip here on youtube where a lip reader watches films of the BEF in WW1 and figures out what they are saying

[@MrYfrank14]

@@Thedawnatnight - i stand corrected. I did not believe that was possible.

[@Poorsap]

Yolande Reed is a pseudonym. Her name was Zelda Suplee. More about her and her legacy here: zagria.blogspot.com/2009/01/zelda-r-suplee-director-of-erickson.html?m=1

[@WhatsMyLine]

Thanks for the info!

[@Poorsap]

+What's My Line? Just happy that I googled her and found a more than just an obit. Your subscribers are a wealth of knowledge. I was happy to share a bit to the community you created. 😊

[@ToddSF]

Shocking "line" for 1953, running a nudist camp. I'm thinking she didn't want TV viewers to be able to locate her and subject her to negative mail and perhaps even phone calls after this appearance on TV, so she made up that pseudonym for herself. I can't think of any other explanation for it.

[@ChristopherTate]

I wonder now how many of the ordinary contestants appeared under pseudonyms.

[@ToddSF]

Christopher Tate Not many, I'm guessing. It would have been embarrassing for them when their friends saw them and recognized them. Of course, very few contestants ran nudist resorts or did anything else they'd not want to have associated with their real names.

[@the4tierbridge]

Oh, come on! How does this get recorded on the SAME DAY, but The Sad Story of Henry is lost to time?

[@josearturogarza5114]

Stopette Deodorant... _POOF_ Works even on He-Men. Just one squirt..and... _Poof_

[@sandwichman100]

darn audience gave it away

[@RonGerstein]

That is the entire idea of using the audience during the MG segment or they would order the audience to also wear a mask over their eyes.

[@ellenmurray9196]

"Do people feel very gay about the kind of job you do", Arlene's comment is hilarious nowadays.

[@dinahbrown902]

Only to some

[@jamesgollin6428]

I wonder if the final contestant was related to Ronald Clyde Tatro, who was implicated by DNA evidence after his death as the likely killer in an unsolved 1984 case. Before I came here, I had been watching an account of the case on a crime channel, and there appears to be a strong physical resemblance between him and the contestant. Ronald Tatro would have been 9 years old in June 1953, and the contestant looks a bit old to have a son of that age, however. (I couldn't find any information as to his birthplace or his parents.)

[@sdacj]

Could the senator's name plate get any more crooked?

[@mikejschin]

Well, "senator" and "crooked" naturally go together. (No aspersions are intended in relation to Senator Smith -- the comment is a little joke inspired by general cynicism developed over a lifetime of watching politicians.)

[@ruffluff565]

Does anyone know whether the contestants received any remuneration apart from what they won by stumping the panel? Some of them must have been quite poor and I secretly hated seeing the panel uncover them before they won the whole pot.

[@christinedorman3383]

From what I've read, they got an appearance fee that was in the hundreds of dollars. Not a large amount by today's standards, but a hundred dollars was a tidy sum in the 1950s. You could buy a car with it!

[@robink620]

It saddens me just how much the English language has declined over the years. I think most adults could not understand a large amount of the words used frequently on this show.

[@tomcarterpianist]

I'm unsure which words you refer to, though if you're referring to John Daly's verbose explanations it's worth noting that the panel themselves often remark that they have no idea what he has said. It is possible that some adults nowadays would not recognise all the words on this programme, but that does not relate to a society-wide decline in language as you seem to imply but, rather, it relates to the simple fact that a living language evolves and so words come and go. It would be unfair to the people of 1950 to expect them to understand all the language of the present day, which is to say words like "vlog", "internet", and so on. It is also unfair to hold people of the present to the same standard, expecting them to understand all the language of a past time. I hope you don't mind my mentioning of this. It is worth mentioning either way though.

[@icturner23]

It’s so strange how Daly always describes the mystery-guest segment as the “special feature” when it occurs every episode and forms either a quarter or a third of the programme. It’s hardly “special”.

[@igkoigko9950]

Not a special feature of a particular WML episode , but perhaps a special feature of WML as opposed to competing game shows.

[@joeadm3771]

For all those people who say "I wish things today were more like they were ..." listen to the shrill, almost shrieking gasps to Steve Allen's questions ... could you imagine the mindset that produced that? And is that something desirable? For all its flaws I'll take 2018 over 1953.

[@ladya1953]

Joe Adams To each his own.

[@dougtagg9162]

Joe Adams I like the shrills and shrieking gasps. I’ll take 1953. In some ways things seemed better in general to me.

[@igkoigko9950]

I’m with you Joe. In fact I wonder if using technology not existent in 1953 to proclaim a preference for 1953 rises to the level of hypocrisy. Certainly, not every change since the middle of the last century has been for the better, but overall I’m thankful for the many benefits we have today.

[@thesweeples3266]

What we have now is better. Who we were then was better.

[@SG-ug9xj]

If you put yourself in the context of the times, I think the respect for Senator Chase was a combination of Americans having respect for their elected leaders at that time, and the fact that in 1950 Chase made an official statement on the Senate floor against what McCarthy was doing. She went against her own party. McCarthys ship would have been just about sinking at the time of this show. Bennet Cerf was a flaming leftist and Arlene leaned that way as well. I'm not sure about Allen. i'm sure Cerf especially respected and appreciated Chase for her stance against McCarthy. Kilgallen fell at least slightly to the McCarthy side, according to Cerf, but they all would have respected any Senator, Congressman, Mayor, Governor, Water Commissioner, Paper Boy or Indian Chief regardless. They were 1000 times more dignified and respectful people than anything this woke generation will ever produce.

[@hawkeyeten2450]

Actually, McCarthy's war chest was filled with a MOUNTAIN of fresh ammo by the outbreak of the Korean War (he only fell apart when he went too far for even the hawks around 1954). Senator Smith herself, despite opposing McCarthy's methods and behavior, became one of the most pro-war members of the Senate and voted in favor of both the 1950 McCarran Act and the Communist Control Act of 1954 (which banned the Communist Party as a political institution and required all Marxist organizations to federally register). At one point, she even suggested using nukes on the North Koreans and Chinese if they refused to make peace. She may not have been a McCarthyite, but Senator Smith was a rabid anti-Communist who helped make life miserable for Marxists in this country, and was a gigantic supporter of the Cold War. Believe it or not, Eleanor Roosevelt became so angry towards her that she refused to shake hands after debating Senator Smith in 1956.

[@lindaroper2654]

There's nothing spiritual about a fortune teller. That's the work of the devil.

[@YY4Me133]

It's a con game, like religion.

[@mrcoiganable2988]

Dorothy is such a nightmare, no wonder it ended the way it did for her.

[@thesweeples3266]

Your comment is reprehensible. Shame on you.

[@beadyeyedbrat]

Cold

[@kristabrewer9363]

WOW! as if a nudist colony wasn't bad enough. Now they have a FORTUNE TELLER! :( well, at least they're on the same episode. This'll be the first episode since I started watching it that I'm gonna have to give a thumbs down to (that way, I'll know enough not to watch it again)