What's My Line? - Victor Borge; Herman Wouk [panel]; Steve Allen [panel] (Jan 29, 1956)

MYSTERY GUEST: Victor Borge [comedian/pianist]
PANEL: Herman Wouk, Dorothy Kilgallen, Fred Allen, Steve Allen

[@bitscolumn]

So happy you have this video with Steve and Fred appearing together as panelists.

[@wmbrown6]

They also appeared together on a local show where Will Rogers' life and career were looked at; the host (who later created and hosted "Open Mind") introduced them as "the Allen brothers," thus providing a twist to the "father/son" jokes on this edition of their lone joint "WML?" panel appearance. In the time of 1966-67 when Sue Oakland was appearing on an alternating basis (with Phyllis Newman and "Suzy Knickerbocker" on other weeks), one wonders what if, on one of her panel appearances, character actor Simon Oakland (likewise, as with Steve Allen and Fred Allen, of no relation) was also booked as a guest panelist, would there have been "father/daughter" and/or "older brother/younger sister" jokes? Bennett bringing up Jack Benny's "Sy/Sue/Si" routine? Mr. Daly addressing them on occasion as "Mr. Simon" and "Miss Sue"?

[@audreyschwarzfeld4747]

Trtrttttfffffffgggg

[@drumbum3.142]

Totally Agree. (Some) Eight years after the fact but this is really cool. 😊 And Unique.. . To my Knowledge both of these Comedy Legends were/are Not related..

[@Maxxq123]

Who is watching these wonderful episodes during Covid-19

[@sandrageorge3488]

They have done so much to keep my morale up.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

What's THAT?

[@geniusmchaggis]

im now officially obsessed with WML! ive been watching a dozen a day!

[@bobbyoconnor3104]

genius mchaggis hi I watch the shows every day as it beats most of the modern shows in n.z.the only game shows I watch is tipping point and the chase both from england

[@oaknova5415]

I do too!

[@davidsanderson5918]

Bobby Oconnor I see you wrote your comment a year ago. I'm in the UK too and I wouldn't be at all surprised if like me you've cancelled your TV licence by now. Television is over. I have enough here on YT to keep me going for many years to come.

[@geniusmchaggis]

ah laddy...i love it all...i love today TV too...just a tiny segment....there is so much crap...but you know?....thats what they said in 1972...too...TV is crap they said...in 1972...itll go on and on and we shall love it all the same...heres what ZAPPA said in 72...kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5qmgpZ7jJ5rhbs.....

[@geniusmchaggis]

and heres what the TUBES said in the 70s...kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6GTkK1qaZ2jocU

[@bigoldinosaur]

“Thank you very much father.” Ahh classic bliss.

[@broughtbackin]

I hope someone reads this someday (and these vids stay up for decades to come). I just LOVE how the men celebrities get up to shake hands with both men and women. There is NO SUCH class in this day and age. It is all gone. (2024)

[@jackkomisar458]

Victor Borge's show, "Comedy in Music", closed 8 days before this episode aired. It ran for 849 performances and was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running one-man show in the history of theater.

[@puffnstuff12]

I just stumbled across this show last week and I can't seem to put it down. Too bad nothing this fabulous exists today.

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

So great to see Steve back

[@lilybean835]

Yes, I adore Steve

[@jenniferisbell9629]

I love this show! I miss Ms. Dorothy. I’m 60 yrs. old. I enjoy these older programs. The politeness, kind, well spoken is not used in a very long time.

[@Rosarium2007]

It is interesting that I’m watching this today. Tomorrow is the 74th anniversary of the morning my paternal grandmother went out out to get the milk bottles off the porch and spotted a large explosion off in the distance. The news reports at the time claimed an ammo dump at the local military base had exploded. Just over three weeks later another version of that “ammo dump” exploded in Hiroshima and a few days later in Nagasaki. [My grandparents lived in Alamogordo, NM in the 1940s & 1950s.]

[@sandrageorge3488]

Wow

[@GJP1169]

These game shows are quite enjoyable even after all these years .Great programming is always timeless

[@jmoss491]

I love seeing Fred and Steve together.

[@stephaniezimbalist3757]

Just 47 days after this episode aired, Fred dies at age 61.That's weird, it's also crazy that, that is what 61 looked like back then.

[@drumbum3.142]

Totally Agree. (Some) Five years after the fact but this is really cool. 😊 And Unique.. . To my Knowledge both of these Comedy Legends were/are Not related..

[@Bambi_Harris_Traveling_Author]

I love Victor Borge, he always makes me smile

[@neilmidkiff]

In his own act he was unsurpassed -- I saw him live on stage several times and tried never to miss his TV shows -- and as a mystery guest he was very funny. But other times as a guest panelist I find him selfishly trying to bend the show to his type of humor, and at least for me he doesn't make it work; I really can't stand his panelist appearances.

[@bettycogswell9851]

@@neilmidkiff He made people laugh. It doesn't get any better than that...

[@accomplice55]

@@neilmidkiff Agreed! He was normally hilarious, but he did not work as a panelist on this show.

[@hhale]

Victor was an amazingly talented pianist first and foremost. That he inserted so much humor into act, and I personally found him very funny, is in a way a bonus. I saw him live a number of years ago while he was on tour through the Dayton, Ohio area. He was well into his 70s at that point and his act was still well worth the price of admission.

[@Kerithanos]

"Tests atom bombs" is the best "line" I've ever seen on this show. I would have loved to see the panel try to figure that one out the whole half hour - I have a feeling there would be a LOT of funny questions.

[@TheMikester307]

I saw Borge perform back in the '90s! Very funny!

[@soulierinvestments]

Landmark of time. Here it is -the one and only time the Allens Fred and Steve appeared together on the panel. One time earlier, Steve sat on the panel the one time when Fred was a mystery guest, plugging his new and unsuccessful TV show whatever it was. This has to be the highest-powered writer panel ever assembled for this program - novelist Wouk, columnist Kilgallen, and writers-authors Fred and Steve. Wouk for a number of years served as Fred’s editor-sounding board -writer on “The Fred Allen Show” on NBC Radio. Fred’s other well known editor-sounding board-writer was Nat Hiken.

[@Beson-SE]

Fred Allen calls Steve his " son" and Steve replies with "father". Actually they could have been father and son, Fred was born in 1894 and Steve in 1921.

[@perpieta]

Love the author-intensive panel. Fwiw this seems to me to be the first time so far that the panel isn't an equal distribution of men and women.

[@loissimmons6558]

+perpieta Actually, there were three men and one woman on the panels for the first two episodes which were pretty much pilots without a sponsor. I forget the order now, but Arlene Francis was the distaff member on one and Dorothy Kilgallen on the other. After that, they were the regular female panelists, replaced only on occasions when they were out of town or (in Dorothy's case) on maternity leave. Surprisingly, there was no mention of why Arlene was not present for this episode. At the end of the previous episode we were told that Herman Wouk was replacing Bennett Cerf, who would be in California. But Arlene had just come back from Japan earlier that month. I thought they might mention that she was under the weather (not unusual to catch a bug in a foreign country, especially back then), but no mention at all. It was rather odd. It also seemed a bit odd to bring out Dorothy first to sit in the second chair.

[@loissimmons6558]

Looking up something else, I found a quote from Arlene Francis that she was supposed to be on the first show but had a schedule conflict. So it was Dorothy on #1 and Arlene on #2.

[@RayNDeere]

The final CBS episode had Arlene, Bennett, Steve and Martin Gabel making up the panel (Martin having made over 100 appearances on the panel in the past)

[@AaronHahnStudios]

11:25 in. As a Outback Australian Born I can firmly state Dorothy is Correct. Kangaroo's have two feet and two hands, their brief use of them in contact with the ground is incidental.

[@carolv8450]

Interesting thx

[@michaelnivens6267]

Victor Is such a treasure - so hilarious

[@bitscolumn]

I was so glad you uploaded this precious gem! Sad to realize, in less than 2 months, Fred would be gone.

[@dianawardrip5171]

I agree!!

[@loissimmons6558]

This was Steve Allen's first appearance on WML since he was a panelist on the 9/19/54 episode. During the interval was when they switched to the newer questioning method of only one question per turn for the panelist. Steve reminds himself of the new method the first time it was his turn with the MG.

[@loissimmons6558]

Victor Borge's accent and manner of speech was still very apparent despite his attempt to disguise his voice. While Steve Allen correctly guessed it, I think Dorothy Kilgallen also would have guessed correctly had the game play gotten back to her. It sounded like she knew once Borge affirmed that he was not born in the U.S.

[@robbycan]

funniest celebrity guest I've seen!

[@ronflatter1235]

As of July 20, 2016, Herman Would at 101 is the oldest of 44 surviving panelists from the original WML.

[@su8483]

Wouk died May 17, 2019 in Palm Springs, CA.

[@carollee444]

Victor Borge was so entertaining & funniy!

[@peternagy-im4be]

No he most certainly wasn't.

[@spongevee1]

I have missed Steve😍

[@scottpardee6303]

I have too. I’m sorry that Fred passed, away, but I was getting turned of him. Steve is funny, but not intrusive on on others.

[@imkerrusin]

Fred Allen: "Are you on television?" Victor Borge: "Right now." XD

[@peternagy-im4be]

Not really funny is it?

[@dalej42]

That’s a great panel even missing Arlene and Bennett

[@robertjean5782]

Agree totally 😊

[@RalphOnofrio]

Victor Borge was a comedy genius...and a great musician.

[@orgonkothewildlyuntamed6301]

Victor easily the greatest combo musician/comic his piano skills underrated because to play bad/backwards on purpose takes as much as skill as playing properly

[@thecandidcounterbalance1492]

Cool, I didn't know he used a piano that much in his acts.

[@slaytonp]

He is funny, but I always tend to get a bit frustrated, because I really want to hear him play the piano--he is so good, but he never does. (This should be in the past tense, since he's dead, but I still look at all of this acts that are available on CD and You Tube, over and over.)

[@mikejschin]

At 5:00, Fred says, "My chances are fatal". This is the third or fourth episode where he makes some reference to death. Wonder if he had a feeling that his end was near.

[@ibnalhaytham]

I just made a comment to that effect in a reply above, but after your observation. Glad to see someone else noticed it.

[@neilmidkiff]

His high blood pressure was not responding to treatment, and apparently some broadcasting opportunities had to be turned down in his last year or so because they were judged too strenuous for his condition, based on things I've read. I am not an expert on his biography, so don't know just what was the immediate cause of his death, but it's not surprising that he felt the end might be near.

[@wmbrown6]

@@neilmidkiff - Almost like Dorothy's "Oh, I'm dead" asides whenever she makes a guess she thinks could be wrong, in the months leading up to her death.

[@dianawardrip5171]

@@neilmidkiff I doubt that treatments for high blood pressure were very good in those days and food, nutrition advice was poor. He does often mention his nightly walks which were undoubtedly part of his treatment.

[@gugurupurasudaikirai7620]

Sneaky Dorothy, on that first guest she had one of her wheenies and Fred called for a conference. She gauged the audience's reaction and realized her wheenie was off so she told Fred not to use it. Basically getting in a free question. Good to see Steve Allen for the first time in a while and Fred's old friend and ex employee Herman Wouk again, this time on the panel

[@steffybabes]

We used to always watch this on Sunday Night in the 50s.

[@robertjean5782]

I hid behind the sofa and watched the show😊

[@loissimmons6558]

It amazes me that not only did WML bring back Victor Borge multiple times as a panelist (twice in 1954 and five more times after this episode during the run of the show), but John Daly once again lauds how funny he was as a panelist. There is humor that fits within the flow of the game and humor that detracts from it. Borge as a panelist was a complete disruption and distraction to the other panelists. I always enjoyed watching his performances on TV and I like him as an MG so I am not anti-Borge in general., Even so, I was ever so grateful that they had him as the MG and Steve Allen as the last minute substitute panelist and not the other way around.

[@carolv8450]

I agree - he is good when he performs on his own- not so as a panelist.

[@ibnalhaytham]

@@carolv8450 Agree with both of you.

[@bettycogswell9851]

@@ibnalhaytham DO YOU GUYS NOT LIKE TO LAUGH?....VICTOR WAS HILARIOUS....

[@accomplice55]

@@bettycogswell9851: Yes, as the MG. Have you seen him as a panelist?

[@bettycogswell9851]

@@accomplice55 Yes I have...I love him..

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Is anyone else having a problem with low sound on this?

[@asmrdadbod2483]

Does seem a bit low, volume-wise

[@cindypoderino4470]

I have that problem with alot of episodes, especially from the 50's.

[@orgonkothewildlyuntamed6301]

what??

[@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst]

He said is anyone else having a problem with low sound on this

[@robertjean5782]

​@@cindypoderino4470kinescope wasn't always good on maintaining the volume😢

[@peggywenzel9035]

I agree I watch these shows instead of TV now

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Herman Wouk died last year 10 days short of 104 years of age.

[@antoinepetrov]

This is a good double feature with Oppenheimer

[@thunderball6908]

There's something about Dorothy that reminds me of Hermione from Harry Potter.

[@yawlltube]

"Thank you, Joyce Kilmer." LOL!

[@lindanitzschke1315]

Wouk died just 10 days before his 104th birthday! He had lost his first-born son a short time before the boy's 5th birthday in a drowning accident. Wouk later dedicated War and Remembrance to him with the Biblical words "בלע המות לנצח - He will destroy death forever" (Isaiah 25:8).

[@jacquelinebell6201]

Missed Steve Allen.

[@laurahoward5426]

John Daly seemed genuinely pleased that the atom.bomb tester watches the show

[@Beson-SE]

Steve Allen looks very different in his new glasses.

[@alanrabjohns4656]

Yes I've got volume up high as it goes and I can't hear a thing !

[@hhale]

I've noticed the issue with sound levels with other episodes as well, some are worse than others.

[@robertjean5782]

​@@hhaleit can't be fixed as they used kinescope 😢

[@thecandidcounterbalance1492]

24:17 - Hah, I guess this guest panelist is not a frequent WML viewer... Awkward! That's one way not to get invited back.

[@joncheskin]

Kangaroo boxer and atomic bomb tester means a tough night for the panel. Good thing Victor Borge's voice disguise malfunctioned or they might have gone 0 for 3.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

BOXES KANGAROO IN VAUDEVILLE ACT TESTS ATOM BOMBS

[@broughtbackin]

Herman Wouk died 10 days shy of his 104th birthday!

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

Awkward moment at 24:18

[@andrewm5402]

Did I miss something? Where is Arlene?

[@neilmidkiff]

You're right that her absence was not explained. On the following week, she was introduced as "just back from Florida" -- but on the previous week Bennett's trip to California was announced, and Bennett cautioned Arlene not to flirt with his panel substitute Herman Wouk. So it was Steve Allen who must have been a last-minute replacement for Arlene on the panel, not for Bennett as implied once here.

[@laurahoward5426]

Fred Allen died about 6 weeks after this

[@peternagy-im4be]

Voice of doom.

[@ferdberffle]

Too bad we can't hear it

[@juliansinger]

I think Mr. Brent's kangaroo was named Sydney. (Sydney gets billing in Billboard and Mr. Brent doesn't, which is why I'm not positive.) Dr. Kloepper got his bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Kansas, his doctorate from Michigan, and had at least three kids. (And a wife.)

[@loissimmons6558]

I thought that Dr. Kloepper might have something to do with the University of Kansas as it is located in Lawrence, KS.

[@geraldkatz7986]

How interesting the man from Lawrence Kansas tests Atom Bombs when the infamous tv movie The Day After takes place in and around Lawrence Kansas, Kansas City being the city nuked for the purpose of the movie.

[@flaggerify]

Sound on this one very low.

[@bt10ant]

Herman Wouk died at 103, (in 2019).

[@1928gerry]

My hearing isn't that bad but I haven't heard a word in this whole segment.

[@hopicard]

Herman Wouk is still alive.

[@WhatsMyLine]

He got one of his first breaks as a writer working on the staff of Fred Allen's radio show! I've read Wouk talking about it in an interview, saying that whatever small contributions the other writers made, f.a. completely rewrote every script personally, which is almost unparalleled by any other major comedian on radio OR television.

[@jvcomedy]

You are right. He'll be 100 in May!

[@dmann1115]

Wow! That's really remarkable. Especially considering all the cigarette smoke he would have inhaled for so many decades - regardless of whether he was a smoker!

[@su8483]

Died May 17, 2019, Palm Springs, CA

[@CountryAndClassics]

MORE VOLUME NEEDED!! Also, Do You not know about the "character map" settings in Windows? the E in Borgé

[@caitlinfitzpatrick836]

With the first challenger, last I checked kangaroos only had two feet, not four. Silly John!

[@caitlinfitzpatrick836]

Even though they qualify the hands as feet, I wouldn't have figured it that one out either.

[@ladya1953]

The handler said they walk on the front feet also, so classified as feet not hands.

[@cathykinn4516]

Was the Kangaroo Self Employed too?! Present day TV producers should take note of this show to see you can make an entertaining funny informative show w/o obscenities & with Real Talent, not just celebs.

[@robertjean5782]

No chance😊

[@MrJoeybabe25]

From a distance could one mistake the second contestant for Bennett?

[@lllowkee6533]

No atomic bombs in the home at this date, not even a microwave oven.

[@robertjean5782]

😅

[@steventuck1524]

WHY IS THE VOLUME SO LOW???

[@MrJoeybabe25]

How much was the best hotel room in Manhattan in 1956? More than 50 clams? Were the out of towners put up at the show's expense?

[@calliopivogiatzis2235]

If anyone knows this,please comment. Was dorothy killgallen's husband ever considered a suspect in her death since there was a lot of infidelity in the marriage?

[@JanetM-ro6xc]

There are those who contend that he murdered her based on his alcoholism, jealousy of her numerous successes,her infidelity ( he was a serial cheater),and her child,Kerry, whom.he disowned and threw out as a teenager. She had created other enemies due her meanness in columns. However, her husband was the most likely culprit. She did not commit suicide.

[@El_Ophelia]

I just realized I think Dorothy had a cleft lip or palette. I've noticed her lip on the right side has a vertical scar. Something tells me she might have been delivered with forceps and that might be what contributed to what we perceive as an altered mouth and chin.

[@davidsanderson5918]

Lilly Beans An interesting spot. There's a fold on her lip to the right side. Mind you, the shadows created by the lighting have over-emphasised all manner of aspects since the very first episode. The lovely Arlene for instance only needs to turn slightly to her left and suddenly dark areas appear round the eyes and crows feet show on her forehead. The combination of lighting and b&w is so harsh and unflattering particularly on the regular women panellists. Nevertheless Kilgallen always stirs my curiosity. From day one I've found her peculiar beauty fascinating.

[@accomplice55]

I can't find any evidence that she had a cleft palate. A forceps delivery, perhaps, but that's nothing like a cleft palate.

[@keithnaylor1981]

Tests Atom Bombs - perhaps the ones that go bang are put on one side to be used again later.

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

18:42 wtf? lmao

[@loissimmons6558]

Snippets from when it was taped from being shown on GSN, I presume. They are sprinkled in a few places throughout the video, apparently someone a split second slow hitting the pause button. It's not worth Gary's time and effort to remove those split second clips. Don't worry, it's not subliminal advertising. I haven't yet been led to contact an 800# law firm!

[@MrYfrank14]

that was the bomb tester's wife. John just said the bomb tester and his wife never miss what's my line. that was the wife watching what's my line.

[@robertjean5782]

​@@loissimmons6558Also not worth time for volume😊

[@davidsanderson5918]

HOORAY!! STEVE ALLEN. Hopefully he can show the other Allen here how it's done! If only the other Allen would shut up.

[@JanetM-ro6xc]

Steve Allen had a genius level IQ. It was always a pleasure to see him on TV.

[@kristabrewer9363]

This is the 3rd episode where Fred said that Steve was his son. What's up with that?

[@davidsanderson5918]

Krista Brewer Desperate, isn't it?

[@accomplice55]

Fred thinks it's funny. It's not.

[@robertjean5782]

Just being a comedian 😊

[@xanderytube]

I think Dorothy was right, kangaroos do run bipedally...

[@hhale]

They bound or hop, they don't actually run per se, though they do so bipedally the largest ones can do so at speeds of 40-45 mph in typically in short bursts.

[@orgonkothewildlyuntamed6301]

partially incorrect answer to Fred for saying kangaroo was smaller than him they can grow to 8' tall & 200 lbs & I know for sure Fred isn't that tall so answer should have been "yes & no" or "sometimes"

[@robertjean5782]

The ones this boxer had were smaller then Fred😅

[@cidalianeves7585]

wow, the guy that testes atom bombs says he hopes they make some good....

[@El_Ophelia]

They worked. We're at peace with Japan.

[@thesweeples3266]

@@El_Ophelia 👍

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

Was Dorothy checking out Victor's butt as he walked off?

[@mariechristensen8390]

Regarding the man with the kangaroos…thank god we have animal rights now

[@thesweeples3266]

Eat your hamburger

[@robertjean5782]

They we're never abused😊

[@sbalman]

Yeah...those atom bombs do so much good. Cannot believe he said that.

[@thesweeples3266]

As an instrument of international politics and defense they have provided one of the longest periods of major conflicts in history.

[@markfurnell6748]

@@thesweeples3266 SOON TO BE ENDED, ALAS.

[@lilybean835]

With all due respect, Fred Allen is excruciating to watch. His delivery is so slow and laboured, and he's too forced. He spends too much time trying to get his jokes in and pausing a very long time until he gets the laughter he wants. I've come to dread every episode he's on.

[@ibnalhaytham]

I must agree. I know some fans of the show love his humor, but I only found one or two of his remarks funny at all. Sad to say, considering his end was near, but true.

[@robbob1234]

I've come to dread every episode you comment on Fred.

[@davidsanderson5918]

He was awful. Not found him the least bit funny since he first sat on the panel.

[@kovvvas]

I really like Fred Allen. His funniness is subtle

[@wmbrown6]

They did say Fred Allen had a face for radio . . .

[@trock6577]

Victor Borge lived about a mile from me in Southbury,Ct in the fifties on a farm that raised Cornish game hens. I never thought he was that amusing, just goofy.

[@robertjean5782]

Your from another era😮