What's My Line? - Gale Storm [panel]; Hal March (Oct 9, 1955)

MYSTERY GUEST: Hal March (Theater and TV actor, best remembered as host of "The $64,000 Question")
PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Robert Q. Lewis, Gale Storm, Bennett Cerf

[@dhall058]

The last guest was my godfather, "Uncle Eddie". In addition to inventing and manufacturing the Sleep Eye Shade (with his business partner, 1920s crooner Rudy Vallee), Edward Hemphill was a jockey, served with the 9th US Volunteer Cavalry (better known as Colonel Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders), and kept a six-gun under his pillow until the day he died at age 100. He told great stories, kept miniature horses in the backyard of his San Francisco townhouse, and was generous to a fault. What a nice surprise to find this television appearance, thanks to a listing in the IMDb!

[@johnniepriest1086]

I enjoyed reading your charming story; interesting character, your 'Uncle Eddie'.

[@dhall058]

Thank you, sir!!!

[@erichanson426]

Thank you, it is always nice to see and learn facts about the person who invented a popular item.

[@karlschwinbarger105]

I've thought before it would be fascinating if someone's parent or grandparent were on this show. To see them 69 years ago talking and smiling. How fascinating would that be.

[@mehboobkm2018]

@@karlschwinbarger105 Yeah, especially if the grandsons never saw them before!!!

[@leesher1845]

John Charles Daly always made the guests feel welcome and good about themselves.

[@jacquelinebell6201]

Loved the male nurse segment. What a lovely man. Dorothy's questions were 😁.

[@rew9264]

Enjoyed seeing Gale Storm on the panel. She was a mystery guest on another episode as well. I've always enjoyed this game show.

[@MrYfrank14]

"to be commissioned" penciled in freehand at the last minute.

[@salbazaz7261]

Every episode now I think about how many more Fred Allen shows we have until he dies. That makes me sad.

[@Ingentiy]

Yep, feeling that too.

[@lllowkee6533]

It makes me so sad to know they’re all gone now! 😢

[@jacquelinebell6201]

Yes, me too. Very sad.

[@hcombs0104]

Gale Storm will always have a place in my heart, as one of the ladies who entertained me in my early childhood. In 1962, when I was four, I would watch reruns of My Little Margie on Channel 2 in New York, right before Captain Kangaroo. A year or so later it would be reruns of The Gale Storm Show on Channel 7, with Zasu Pitts, which I would watch after a day in Kindergarten.

[@joycejean-baptiste4355]

We need more male nurses even now. I am a retired Nursing Assistant and I've worked in many a health facility and hospitals with the Nurses, we had many male residents and patients to shave, bathe, toilet and such. Some were over six feet tall. Nursing was traditionally female over the years, but we had a few male Nursing Assistants and Nurses.

[@Beson-SE]

Hal March surprised me. He looked very dull and boring when he came in, but he had one of the most funny accents I've heard and he had some very interesting facts and anecdotes to tell about "The $64,000 Question". It's nice when you can change opinion about someone into a positive mood.

[@loissimmons6558]

Interesting to have Hal March follow Lucy & Desi as MG. During this television season (1955-56), "The $64,000 Question" was the only show to bump "I Love Lucy" out of the #1 slot in the Nielsen television ratings. The claim was that the crime rate, movie attendance and restaurant patronage significantly dropped on Tuesday evenings when the show aired. As so often happens in Hollywood, that led to numerous copycat programs until the quiz show scandals a few years later toppled the whole genre and TV westerns became the next big thing. The Honeymooners referenced the show at least 5 times during the classic 39 episodes. The most obvious is when Ralph becomes a contestant on a fictitious show of similar nature ($99,000 Answer) with popular songs as his category. Audrey Meadows (Alice Kramden on The Honeymooners) was the MG in August. Another connection to a previous WML episode is that $32,000 winner Gino Prato, the shoemaker from the Bronx who was the opera expert, was mentioned as having been in Italy at the same time as MG Joe DiMaggio when he was MG a few weeks earlier. Marine Capt. Richard McCutchen is mentioned on this episode, including the fact that he lost 7 pounds during the process. Ironically, his category was cooking. He was the first to win the top prize, doing so on 9/13/55. The second top winner had the longest enduring celebrity status: Dr. Joyce Brothers. She was the only woman to win top prize. Not only was her win legitimate, it is reported that she was one of the contestants that Charles Revson (Revlon was the sole sponsor) disliked and wanted bumped from the show quickly. She had not planned to use boxing as her category, but agreed when the sponsor "suggested" it. and she agreed. What they didn't know was that she had the ability to read and memorize vast amounts of material in a short period of time Dr. Brothers was raised in Queens and earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell, two things we have in common.

[@DLAN-jb3hb]

That's was where I remember him on an episode of I Love Lucy.

[@sstavsky]

@@DLAN-jb3hb Yes, he guested on a couple of episodes of "I Love Lucy," including as a negligee salesman!

[@robertjean5782]

Always fascinating history and comments😊

[@juliansinger]

Male nurses in the Army had some struggle to get established, since it was one of the few approved provinces for women in the armed services. Took years. A few newspaper articles I found said Lyon later went to medical school, but then another source said he spent ten years in the Army and then 'transferred to the line,' which would normally indicate combat, to me, but seemed to indicate retirement. Can't find further info just now. history.amedd.army.mil/ancwebsite/articles/malenurses.html?.com& Meantime, as of 2015, Mrs. Sheppard was still with us, and still performing. Fairly extensive article below includes some pictures, and wow the standing on the horse picture is something else. 'By age 11, Sheppard was performing at the Pendleton Roundup in Pendleton, Oregon. It was not long after that she began trick roping while executing the hippodrome stand on horseback. The idea came from her boss at the time, rodeo producer Everett Colborn. He suggested combining the two when she was 14; and, to this day, she says it was the best advice anyone ever gave her. The way she talks about it, you would think it was a breeze. “Standing on the horse is the easiest part,” she says. “The hard part is getting on othe horse.”' www.globemiamitimes.com/living-the-rodeo-dream-2/ Also, Mr. Hemphill's first patent (for the sleep masks) was co-registered (with his wife) in 1933.

[@sansacro007]

Thank you kindly for the great article link! What a beauty and talent! Still alive and a kick'n as of May 15, 2024: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Sheppard

[@joncheskin]

Hal March sometimes gave away $64000, and on What's My Line he won twenty bucks.

[@golden-63]

In 2023 dollars, $64,000 would be the equivalent of about $700,000! 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑

[@michaeldanello3966]

My favorite Gale Storm recording was Ivory Tower. I think it was one of her biggest hits, she had a few.

[@golden-63]

Dorothy's necklace is gorgeous! 🤩

[@robertjean5782]

She was well to do😊

[@iamintheburg]

Mrs. Sheppard reminds me of the actress Katy Jurado - from all those Universal or Paramount westerns.

[@418-Error]

Our TV show is now an radio too, therefore we have a very big audience. Different times indeed.

[@miketheyunggod2534]

My Little Margie, Gail Storm.

[@MrWindermere123]

Back again now: Hal March died from lung cancer at the age of 49 in 1970 after years of chain-smoking. He must be 35 years old in this episode. A scandal around quiz shows being fixed/rigged caused his show to be cancelled and after 1958 he found it hard to get work on TV. He went from radio comedy to huge TV fame to playing bit parts in other people's shows.

[@gbrumburgh]

In February of 1956. Hal would marry the ex-wife of Mel Torme, actress Candy Toxton, and adopted her two children by Torme: Steve and Melissa. Hal and Candy had three children of their own: Peter, Jeffrey and Victoria. His step-children sang Hal's praises as a stepfather and eventually added his name to their surnames. Steve March-Torme became an established jazz singer and songwriter and Melissa Torme-March an actress.

[@rogerpropes7129]

When this aired I was 10 years old; how ironic to remember that for a brief moment in time in 1955 the faces of Gale Storm and Hal March were known to any American with a TV set, yet today I had a hard time remembering exactly who Hal March was. 'sic transit gloria mundi.'

[@michaelangood]

he was very convincing in, SEND ME NO FLWERS, HOWEVER BRIEF.

[@juanettebutts9782]

Gooo, nurse!! (I've been an RN well over 30 years.) Dear Bennett, In Texas, it's "RO-dee-oh." Yee-Haw!! 😆

[@slaytonp]

Not if you use the western "Spanish" pronunciation, which is "ro DAY o." I don't know when Texas seceded from the Spanish manner of placing accents, but both pronunciations are acceptable in the Random House dictionary.

[@slaytonp]

@Harold Potsdamer We don't normally use printed accents in English spelling, and it would be unnecessary in Spanish, since the accent is normally on the second syllable and the accent print in Spanish is used only with the exceptions to this rule. I believe you're thinking about some adopted words from French, whose words are often accented in print, but we probably mispronounce anyway.

[@slaytonp]

@Harold Potsdamer Good come-back! Both words come from the same root source, but have evolved into different meanings and pronunciations. Some dictionaries use the accent on resume', some don't, or show it both ways. But I notice that you're typing had the accent where it should be, over the 'e', where my typing board requires a ' mark after the 'e'. Here I am, taking up space (aka hijacking) in the wrong place. We need a separate forum for this discussion.

[@deboraholsen2504]

Hal March was on I Love Lucy at least once. He played the guy who Lucy tried to set up with Sylvia. :) I couldn’t help noticing he had a nice voice.

[@roberttelarket4934]

Hal March tells us his program is now on simulcast(t.v. and radio). Today 2024 it’s also on KZbin. Next year 2025 is 70 years ago when this episode appeared.

[@loissimmons6558]

On the October 9, 1955 episode of WML Dorothy Kilgallen mentions that the baseball season has ended. The final game was played on Tuesday, October 4, a day that will live in the hearts of Brooklyn Dodgers fans as long as there are any still here on Earth. But to get to Game Seven, Game Six needed to be played on Monday. Any best of seven series will get to the sixth game with one team leading three games to two. The Dodgers were the team in the lead, but they were heading back to Yankee Stadium where they had lost the first two games. They would be facing the ace of the Yankee pitching staff, Whitey Ford, who had tied for the AL lead in victories with 18. Although his efforts were mediocre in the opening game, he managed to eke out a victory. Dodger Manager Walt Alston had a quandary. His ace, Don Newcombe had a sore arm and couldn’t pitch. Billy Loes, who would have been starting after three days’ rest, which was customary in those days, had pitched poorly in Game Two. He was also a right-handed pitcher, and righties were at a disadvantage in Yankee Stadium. Young Johnny Podres was a lefty and had won Game Three, but he was slotted to pitch Game Seven should it be necessary, which would be normal rest for him. It would have been way too soon for the starters of games four and five to start again. Besides Loes, he had another veteran righty starter in Russ Meyer. He had been a member of the Dodgers starting rotation the previous two seasons, posting marks of 15-5 and 11-6. But he had pitched infrequently for Brooklyn in 1955, in part because he had broken his shoulder blade midway through the season. Although he had a 6-2 record, he hadn’t been especially effective in his 11 starts and 7 relief appearances. What also needs to be noted about Meyer is that he was previously in the starting rotation of two NL pennant winners who faced the Yankees in the World Series: the 1950 Phillies and 1953 Dodgers. Two previous managers (Eddie Sawyer and Chuck Dressen) chose to bypass him as a starting pitcher in the World Series. Sawyer did so, even though they had lost two starters just before the start of the Series. Meyer’s nickname was “Mad Monk”. You never knew when his volatile temper would erupt. Clem Labine had started occasionally early in the year, but at the end of the season, Alston had been using him exclusively and effectively out of the bullpen. After his last start on 7/24, he pitched 30 of his league leading 60 games in relief. During that time, he lowered his ERA from 4.22 to 3.24. Besides, Alston had used him in four of the first five games of the Series, and in the last two games, he pitched a total of 7 1/3 innings. He was not a candidate. (He would start and win Game Six of the 1956 Series.) Sandy Koufax is left-handed. He was also a raw rookie who hadn’t pitched well since his two shutouts in mid-season. He was issuing a lot of walks and not striking out batters very often at the end of the season, a dreadful combination. He was never mentioned as a serious candidate. That left Karl Spooner. He was also a lefty. And even if he wasn’t the same Karl Spooner who had wowed everyone at the end of the 1954 season, he had pitched effectively more often than not during the regular season, including being the winning pitcher in long relief when they clinched the pennant. Furthermore, in Game Two at Yankee Stadium, he had pitched almost as long as Loes had. In three innings, he gave up only one hit and no runs, striking out five and walking one. If he could give them six good innings along those lines, even if he gave up a couple of runs, he would keep the Dodgers in the game and then they could turn it over to Roebuck, Bessent and Labine in the bullpen. Spooner was tabbed as the starter. The game was pretty much over before the fans were settled in their seats. Spooner recorded only one out, a strikeout of Billy Martin. He walked two of the first three batters, gave up a pair of singles to fall behind 2-0, and then Bill Skowron hit one that barely traveled 300 feet, but it settled into the lower right field stands for a three run homer. Down 5-0, Meyer came in and pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout relief and Roebuck came in with two more shutout innings. But Ford was masterful. He held the Dodgers to one run and they never seriously threatened to get back in the game. For the second time in the Series, a Yankee lefty did what no NL lefty could do: pitch a complete game victory over Brooklyn. And the pitcher who tossed the other complete game would be on the mound for the Yankees in Game Seven. Would the Dodgers come close only to fall short once again? There was one other concern for the Dodgers and their fans. Duke Snider had wrenched his knee stepping on a drain cover and had to come out of the game after three innings. Going into the game, he was looking to break the record for most home runs in a World Series and he had two games to do it. Now there was a possibility that both teams would have their star center fielder on the sidelines for Game Seven.

[@loissimmons6558]

When the lineups were announced for the final game, Snider was in center field; Mantle was on the bench. Podres, warming up for the game, told third string catcher, Dixie Howell, that there was no way this lineup could beat him. There was no one in the lineup he feared pitching to. The Dodgers did make one lineup change due to injury, however. Jackie Robinson was struggling with a pulled Achilles tendon. Don Hoak started in his place. Otherwise, Alston used the same lineup as he used in games one and two: switch hitting Jim Gilliam in left field, right-handed hitting Don Zimmer at second base and left-handed hitting Sandy Amoros on the bench. Continuing with his plan to pitch lefties at Yankee Stadium against the Dodger lineup overloaded with right-handed hitters, Stengel sent Tommy Byrne to the mound as his starting pitcher. Just as in Game Two, he held the Dodgers to two runs (one unearned) and the Dodgers managed only three hits against Byrne in 5 1/3 innings. The Yankee bullpen gave up two more hits, both singles. In contrast, the Yankees got eight hits off Podres and were able to get runners into scoring position in five of the nine innings. But Podres rose to the challenge every time. Furthermore, he kept Yankees hitters in the ballpark all game. The other big difference was that the normally the Yankees would get a key break or two when they needed it to win the deciding game; today it would be the Dodgers who got the breaks. There were at least three: two on defense and one on offense.

[@loissimmons6558]

The Dodgers had finally beaten the Yankees. There were two lesser known heroes thrust into the spotlight in Podres and Amoros. But there it was also fitting that Reese, who was the only Dodger to have played in every World Series loss against the Yankees up to that point in time, would field the final out and that Hodges would not only record the final putout, but he would also drive in both runs. It was redemption for the great first baseman who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame for his 1952 World Series when he went 0 for 21, even though he needed no redemption in the eyes of the fans he supported him every step of the way. Among the other stars who became known as the “Boys of Summer”, Snider had his second World Series with four home runs and led his teammates with a .320 plus contributed a key bunt in Game Seven; Campanella hit a big homer in Game Three to start the Dodger comeback in the Series, then got the first hit and scored the first run in Game Seven; Robinson’s steal of home and key hits along the way inspired his teammates; Furillo contributed timely hits as he was one of three Dodgers to tie for the team lead with 8 hits (and three more players had 7), plus his strong right arm routinely kept Yankee runners from taking liberties on the base paths; Gilliam, after a disappointing regular season had 8 walks along with 7 hits to lead the team in on base percentage and he played wherever he was needed, which was true throughout his career; Labine relieved in four of the seven games, recording a win and a save to go along with a sparkling 2.89 ERA. It was truly a team effort.

[@loissimmons6558]

The fans in Brooklyn and wherever they were found in groups went delirious. When you’ve waited so long and then come so close in recent years, believing you had the better team but couldn’t prove it, finally getting the brass ring was extra sweet. During the celebration that night, one fan told Podres over and over that he had been waiting for this since 1916. And it was a frustrating wait between 1925 and 1938 when they finished in sixth place seven times, seventh place three times and in the first division only three times (no better than third place, which they managed once). The fans had to settle for small victories, like beating the Giants twice at the end of the season to deprive them of the 1934 pennant after Giants Manager Bill Terry had mocked the club at the beginning of the year. It is said that no one in Brooklyn, from Greenpoint to Gerritsen Beach and from East New York to Bay Ridge, ate inside their house that night. They brought out little grills and growlers of beer onto the sidewalks and into the streets and had impromptu block parties. People who didn’t know each other would hug and clap each other on the back like it was V-J Day. In fact, one fan hung an effigy of the Yankees from a light pole the way he hung an effigy of Hirohito ten years earlier. Saloonkeepers gave away booze to guys they never saw before and guys on the wagon for years got drunk. Candy store owners gave treats to neighborhood kids who had robbed them for years. Women kissed neighbors they rarely talked to. The players, especially the veterans, were as thrilled for their loyal fans as they were for themselves to finally win it. Even someone who was apparently as unsentimental as Furillo said that they won it for the fans as much as for themselves. They had come to know the relationship between Brooklyn and the rest of New York City, especially with Manhattan and much of the Bronx (including the area where Yankee Stadium was located) that considered themselves more sophisticated and generally superior to Brooklynites. They knew how the fans couldn’t do enough for them: like the butcher who gave his favorite pitcher (who lived in his neighborhood) a steak every time he won a ballgame. They knew that in comparison with the fans in other cities, Dodger fans rooted with almost a religious fanaticism, so deeply was their identity invested with their team. It was the reason why Hollywood during WWII, when it wanted to show G.I. Joe missing being back home, would often have at least one Brooklyn fan who wanted to be back at Ebbets Field. How often did you see the same thing about a Yankee fan or Giants fan or fans of some of the other good teams of that era like the Tigers, Cardinals or Red Sox? The fans at Ebbets Field were so spontaneously boisterous, they were the “tenth man” for the Dodgers. These were not paid mascots. Nor did they run on the field during the game or otherwise interfere with the game being played. There was the Dodger Sym-phony Band that paid their way into every game to entertain the fans and embarrass the opposing players. No matter how hard the players, knowing what was to come, tried to throw off their timing, there was the invariable cymbal crash that accompanied them sitting down on the bench after making an out. The park was alive with excitement, with fans like Eddie Battan incessantly blowing his tin whistle, peep-peep-peep. It was audience participation, but not like today where the scoreboard and organist has to lead the fans in cheers. These were knowledgeable fans who had grown up arguing baseball with each other as well as with fans of the Giants and Yankees who they might encounter. The kids idolized the players and many was the time that the fans and players became like family to each other. Hodges became especially beloved because he married a Brooklyn girl at the end of his first season as a regular and they lived in the borough year round. But anyone who had “Dodgers” written across his uniform chest was to be defended to any and all fans of opposing teams. Perhaps the most famous of all Dodger fans was Hilda Chester. She had a piercing voice with a Brooklynese accent that enabled her to be the only one heard among 30,000 screaming fans. She became a regular at Ebbets Field by 1938, but had attended many games before that and had originally became known to sportswriters as a teenager when she hung outside the offices of a Brooklyn newspaper so she could find out the score of the Dodger game being played that day. They started giving her free passes to the games occasionally and then she had various jobs at Ebbets Field that enabled her to see at least part of the games. When she had a heart attack in 1941, Manager Leo Durocher led a group of players to visit her in the hospital. The Dodgers started bringing on some of the road trips and bought her gifts. One of the nicer ones was a charm bracelet. But when her doctor told her to stop yelling at the games after a heart attack, at first she brought a frying pan and a ladle. That’s when the Dodgers bought her the first of many brass cowbells over the years. The cowbell became one of her trademarks. On Saturday, October 8, the day before this episode, an argument heated up in a bar in Queens. The participants were William Christman, an off duty cop and a Dodger fan, and Robert Thompson, a Yankee fan. Eventually, they took the argument outside. At some point, Thompson, who couldn’t stand the idea that the Yankees lost even once, shot and killed Christman. On occasion, a Dodger fan gave his all for the team.

[@redhed515]

I like Robert Q so much more than Fred Allen.

[@ltrain4479]

Same, he is my favourite guest panelist. I wish he would have taken Steve Allen's spot. I like Steve Allen but he stalled a little too much. Fred was a little annoying but Robert Q Lewis was great. He was smart, could be funny but didnt stall.

[@robertjean5782]

​@@ltrain4479majority of people aren't from this era, not familiar with Fred's dry wit. Which was very popular by millions and listened on radio😅

[@roberttelarket4934]

I like Q but Steve Allen was better and brilliant and Fred Allen was also very intelligent.

[@leesher1845]

I had never heard of Hal March until watching this clip, although I had heard of the $64,000 question. March was born Harold Mendelson. Everybody changed their names, especially the Jewish actors and actresses who didn’t want to come across as “too Jewish” at the time. Thankfully, times have changed.

[@robertjean5782]

As of April 2024 Jewish people have been persecuted and more😢

[@karenbarlow-goodsell8483]

Mrs. Sheppard born in 1929 is still living!

[@robertjean5782]

Yes as of May 2024😊

[@joiefulton4015]

Hal March looks like Danny Thomas

[@krystonjones]

I once met Gale Storm’s cousin, Windy Day. It was on a Col’ Night.

[@ltrain4479]

Edward Hemphill was born in 1872 and died in 1971.

[@anselm4360]

Is he related to the actor who plays Bob from Schitt's Creek?

[@leannsherman6723]

I enjoyed getting to know Hal March. He seemed like a very kind man, in addition to being nice looking and funny. Gale Storm’s voice was tough to take, and I’m glad she wasn’t a regular panelist.

[@pammilner7161]

Always enjoyed Gale but her voice was indeed grating.

[@Merrida100]

I notice Dorothy often asks if things are attractive, or add to a person's beauty, and making sure she won't get laughed at in public. Is this shallow and vane, or pride? Or is it just being a New Yorker? I honestly don't know and can't tell because Arlene never gives off that vibe.

[@kathkwilts]

Dorothy was primarily a fashion editor so she’d naturally be concerned about things being attractive.

[@golden-63]

Dorothy's most asked question is: Is it a solid or a liquid?

[@robertjean5782]

Dorothy was a investigative reporter for years 😊

[@robertjean5782]

Dorothy liked to cover her bases when questioning a guest😊

[@kenowens9021]

Hal March was in the first graduating class of George Washington High School in San Francisco in 1937.

[@Gwaithmir]

Hal March was a chain smoker and died of lung cancer in 1970. He was only 49 years old.

[@jacquelinebell6201]

I didn't know Hal March but if he wasn't mainly a comedian he should have been. So funny!

[@carollee444]

Cerf tongue was always handling out when woman were around!

[@jesssands5349]

Hal March was so handsome. I know him more from I Love Lucy, the Dr and the lingerie sales man?

[@519djw6]

Yes, the only time I remember seeing him was when he played an actor pretending to be a doctor on "I Love Lucy." Ricky was playing a trick on Lucy, and had March "diagnose" her with the "go-blootz"!

[@craigsmith157]

@@519djw6 One of my favorite ILL episodes.

[@SomethingSomethingg]

It's funny how in 1955 a male nurse was such a shocking thing because nowadays you don't think twice about it.

[@loissimmons6558]

WML & the Dodgers - As 1955 continued until the beginning of Spring Training in 1956, not one of the Dodger players from their successful World Championship was called upon as a mystery guest. Johnny Podres went on the Steve Allen Show on the night of Game Seven and he was a single man from upstate NY. In January, he had been feted by the NYC chapter of the Baseball Writers, giving him their award for World Series MVP. I would be very surprised if other members of the Dodgers, players and front office personnel, weren’t honored as well. I was invited to go to the 1981 dinner and the dais was filled with players and team officials and more at the front tables. Hodges lived in Brooklyn. Campanella lived in Nassau County and had a business in Harlem. Jackie Robinson lived in Stamford (CT). Newcombe lived a few miles west of Staten Island in New Jersey. Billy Loes was from Astoria in Queens. Furillo was from Reading (PA), not that far away. Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley probably would not have wanted to go on, but key members of the front office staff such as VP & General Manager Buzzi Bavasi or VP in charge of their Minor League teams Fresco Thompson would have been available for much of the winter. Director of Scouting, Al Campanis, would have also made a good choice as far as someone high enough in baseball operations of the team to represent the Dodgers. During Spring Training, a first segment mystery guest was sad hobo clown, Emmett Kelly. Cartoonist Willard Mullin had drawn a caricature of a hobo for years to represent “’Dem Bums” as the team had become known to their fans when they weren’t knowingly in earshot of a fan of an opposition team. It was close enough to Kelly that the Dodgers hired him as their mascot for the 1956 season. Once again, WML bypasses the players to represent the team. Despite what they had accomplished, the Dodgers and their fans are still unsophisticated bums. It turns out there was one good reason for sadness during this episode. It was the last episode before Fred Allen died. Two weeks later, WML features another first segment MG associated with baseball: Major League Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick. On May 13, 1956, WML has the batboys of the Dodgers and Yankees as the non-celebrity guests for the fourth segment of the show. Even here they balanced it! On June 24, 1956, the first segment mystery guest signed in as “11 Guys from Cincinnati”. They were 11 players on the Cincinnati Redlegs baseball team who were serious contenders for the NL pennant in 1956 for the first time in many years and would set a team record for home runs in a season. In the standings they eventually finished third as the Dodgers won the pennant. Now WML is picking out of town players ahead of Dodger players! On August 26, 1956, WML showed that they were willing to have baseball front office personnel as mystery guests … from the Yankees, anyway. Del Webb and Dan Topping, Yankee co-owners are segment one mystery guests. By now, it would seem to me that if this was a discrimination court case, the plaintiff’s would have certainly proved their case by now. On October 7, 1956, WML finally has a Dodger player as a mystery guest … sort of. In 1954, WML had the odd combination of Duke Snider of the Dodgers paired with Sal Maglie of the Giants as their mystery guest. During the World Series, Maglie is the segment one mystery guest. But as any diehard Dodger fan will tell you, just because the Dodgers acquired Maglie during the 1956 season didn’t make him a true representative of the Dodgers. Yes, they appreciated the fact that he pitched very well after the Dodgers acquired him from Cleveland, including a no-hitter in the heat of the pennant race when they were still trailing Milwaukee and also that he won Game One of the 1956 World Series for them. But to our way of thinking, compared to most of the members of the Dodgers, he was a mercenary, someone who had previously been one of the most hated of all Dodger opponents, known for his brushback pitches as Manager Leo Durocher would shout “stick it in his ear” to his pitchers. Before the 1957 season concluded, the Dodgers sent him packing once again, this time uptown to the Yankees. He became the last player to play for the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees in New York City. Maybe Dodger fans should have been happy that WML avoided featuring Dodger players. The next day, Maglie started Game Five of the World Series. It would be wrong to blame WML for anything that went wrong. The game he pitched that day rivaled his no-hitter of a two weeks prior. In six of the eight innings he pitched, it was three up, three down for the Yankees. In one inning, Mickey Mantle launched a home run that barely reached the closest right field seats. In another inning, the Yankees strung together three singles, none of them particularly well hit, for another run. Just like Game One, Maglie gave up two runs. But in Game One, the Dodgers got him six runs. In Game Two, they pounded the Yankee pitcher who would come back to start Game Five. But on the day after this episode, Don Larsen sent Dodger batters down in order in all nine innings. It was the only no-hitter, one that happened to also be a perfect game, in World Series history. After this, the Dodgers time in Brooklyn was anticlimactic. They finished a distant third in the 1957 pennant race to the Braves (and behind Branch Rickey’s Pirates) and then broke the hearts of their fans by moving to Los Angeles. Whether WML had Dodgers on the program was no longer all that important.

[@richatlarge462]

Thank you for all the Dodgers stories from 1955.

[@dcasper8514]

Whew...

[@billyshepard5514]

This celebrity guest Hal March is completely unknown now, I only know him from an episode of the monkees

[@musik102]

It''s strange but I'm pretty sure Hal March would have been almost totally unknown in the UK during this - or any -period.

[@jennjenn61]

Ro-DAY-o's....love it

[@lauracollins4195]

jennjenn61 - Spanish pronunciation :)

[@robertjean5782]

Depending on what part of the country you're from it's pronounced 3 different dialects😊

[@ltrain4479]

Why couldn't Robert Q. Lewis have been a regular panelist? He was so great on this show. I liked him better than Steve and Fred Allen.

[@mikejschin]

It's funny how people's tastes differ: I enjoyed both Allens but didn't like Lewis. I guess it's those differences that keep the world interesting. :-)

[@belindaalbright8798]

I agree. Hal Block was disgusting. Steve Allen just wasn't funny, I didn't care for him back then and nothing has changed for me.

[@patriceodom2553]

Wow

[@sophiemorrison9820]

I liked most of the panelists in the early years but I had a special fondness for Robert Q. I really liked his radio voice and humor. He was multifaceted in tv, radio and stage acting.

[@leannsherman6723]

I like him better than Fred Allen but definitely not better than Steve Allen. I love Steve Allen!❤

[@MrWindermere123]

Hal March was funny and self-deprecating - now it's off to Google to find out what he did beyond the funny voice.

[@mehboobkm2018]

@6:43 Dorothy: '"Are you mostly on solid ground? "..… Lyon: " yes." and goes on to look down to confirm! 😂😂😂

[@robertjean5782]

Verses flying above😊

[@wynnssecret8882]

Why would Dorthey say ( while questioning Ed Lyon ) "How do you say in English?". Isn't she American (?). And she wrote a newspaper column so shouldn't she know a great deal of words ( in English )???

[@fetchmeastorm3670]

She was making fun of herself because she couldn't think of the correct word.

[@bogieviews]

She knew plenty of words. She was a journalist and had a large vocabulary.

[@sansacro007]

Oh, calm down! It wasn't her wheelhouse!

[@robertjean5782]

Dorothy was a investigative reporter for years to come

[@jp-kx5cs]

Why did you remove the awesome Stopette commercial?

[@WhatsMyLine]

I didn't remove anything. This is how the show aired on GSN-- they never ran the original commercials. In the rare cases where I have a copy of a show with commercials, I take extra time out to splice the commercials back in. I didn't have them for this one (as is true of 95% of these shows).

[@steveburrus5526]

You need to "get a life" if y9u happen to think those old St opette commercials were "awesome"! They were pretty boring frankly.

[@lauracollins4195]

Steve Burrus - Wow, someone who likes something you don’t needs to “get a life”...? Ouch.

[@QuadMochaMatti]

"Poof!" went the commercial of the anti-perspirant that goes Poof!

[@petemarshall8094]

Make your armpit a charmpit! I love Stoppette and its advertising campaign.

[@beadyeyedbrat]

Why does Bennett always wait until the interview is over to ask a question?

[@robertjean5782]

It's called proper etiquette 😊

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

U.S. ARMY NURSE TRICK RIDER IN RODEO MAKES SLEEP MASKS

[@AllTimeTopTens]

Nancy Sheppard was still performing as recently as 2011: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnOrhJmPhr9onbs

[@slaytonp]

Thank you so much for that! I'm the same age she was when she was still performing rope tricks, and my only claim to fame is getting to the toilet all by myself.

[@golden-63]

In 2023 dollars, $64,000 1955 dollars would be equivalent to about $700,000! 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑

[@bigwilson8794]

Bennett's should not have gotten a flip at 11:46 question, as it was couched in the negative and should have gotten a yes

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

Dick Wilson And he got 2 questions at 17:26

[@hobonickel]

If you liked Nancy Sheppard you can watch her on the January 23, 1958 episode of You Bet Your Life at kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJa3oaJogKiGfNkm19s

[@WhatsMyLine]

hobonickel Oh my goodness-- how did I never realize this connection before? Thank you so much for pointing this out! (Just in case you're not aware, I also run the YBYL channel, so you'd think I'd have noticed this before!)

[@hobonickel]

I sort of suspected you ran the YBYL channel but I was not sure. I was thoroughly impressed with Nancy Sheppard during her appearance on WML and I just happened to watch her appearance on YBYL and wanted to let others know about it if they were interested. You are doing a great job on both channels. Thank you for your effort and keep up the good work.

[@Rhonda9199]

hobonickel, Thank you, very much enjoyed!

[@kathkwilts]

Were my eyes playing tricks or did John Daly pull out an iPhone out of his pocket in 1955?

[@QuadMochaMatti]

Sure, why not? After all, there's footage of British record producer Joe Meek allegedly pulling an iPhone out of his jacket pocket whilst being questioned/cited by London police officers, following a promotional stunt that went awry, just a few years later.

[@dcasper8514]

Kathy Somers. kathy, now just think for a moment, Can you remember anyone having I-phones on 9-11, when the twin towers came down ?

[@DaRozeman]

My guess is that would probably have been a cigarette case.

[@twinsonic]

An iPhone 7, to be precise..

[@accomplice55]

@@dcasper8514 : Yes, nearly everyone. But not in 1955.

[@Danno682]

Here’s another video of ProRodeo Hall of Famer Nancy Sheppard! m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2qZq4CIab6ia68

[@VTMCompany]

13:18 Who?

[@michaeldanello3966]

It's hysterical when Robert Q Lewis tries to feign interest in the female guests or fellow panelists. I bet he'd pass out if he was ever in the presence of a naked woman. Smart he surely was, ladies' man -- I don't think so. It was interesting to see he didn't forget the male nurse's face or profession.

[@kentetalman9008]

No, we do not pass out in the presence of naked women.

[@rossmartenak5517]

So-called "Gale Storm" was born Josephine Owaissa Cottle. Why the public deceit & disrespect of her family name?

[@robertjean5782]

Majority of stars changed their name as directors request😊

[@lllowkee6533]

The panel never knows how to pronounce “rodeo” .

[@leesher1845]

I know they pronounced it like Rodeo Drive.😂

[@mehboobkm2018]

Only Bennett didn't known.

[@robertjean5782]

It's pronounced 3 different dialects in the country😊

[@roberttelarket4934]

I never knew who Hal March was until one episode from I Love Lucy. I don't understand why they put him on this program he is really a non-entity!

[@robertjean5782]

False statement 😮

[@roberttelarket4934]

@@robertjean5782: You are also a non-entity.

[@roberttelarket4934]

Are you Miss or Mrs.? Sir are you Mister or Mr.?

[@galileocan]

I think Dorothy's mask is creepy. Those eyes!

[@poetcomic1]

Never could stand Gale Storm. She looked like a Pekingese and her chipper voice grated on my nerves.

[@robertjean5782]

Your loss 😅

[@kristabrewer9363]

I said this before, and I'll say it again; WHAT is the purpose of this game show if John is just gonna keep flipping over all the cards no matter WHAT they win I love this game show, but he is seriously defeating the purpose of it, and I'm slowly starting to NOT want to like it (right now, I still do, but he keeps on doing that...) And also, the only reason he runs short of time is because he talks forever with the guests

[@dorothykilgallenwasmurdere1653]

Wouldn't you want to win a decent prize? Plus it was at his discretion. Some of these people came far away. You're very grouchy.

[@jacquelinebell6201]

He wants to give those who only have a short time a decent prize. Seems fair. Many came a long way for a few minutes.

[@golden-63]

He didn't in the first 3 years or so, but as the years went by, he did it more often.

[@robertjean5782]

​@dorothykiiigallen gallenwasmurdere1653 I 👍 😅

[@robertjean5782]

​@@dorothykilgallenwasmurdere1653I agree😅