What's My Line? - George Burns; Martin Gabel [panel] (Feb 2, 1964)

[@neilmidkiff]

Seeing George Burns's wonderful smile always makes me feel better.

[@joeblaumer2085]

I have a few of his books. When I read them I hear his voice in my head. Most enjoyable.

[@patricia7823]

Me too. I was getting emotional today. But now that I'm watching this ep I'll cheer up.

[@actownsend7288]

I was born in the late 80s and I second that!!

[@karenmallonee3867]

George was having so much fun, his face was priceless! I kept imagining Gracie watching from home bent over in laughter!! One of my favorite episodes...Nat King Cole (lOl)!!!

[@johncavanaugh2517]

Sadly Gracie was gone a few months later

[@pukulu]

George Burns lived a long time, from Jan. 1896 to March 1996. He made it to 100 in spite of smoking cigars.

[@preppysocks209]

There have been funnier incorrect individual guesses of the MG's identity but this episode has the best collection of incorrect guesses. Burns was clearly having a great time.

[@slaytonp]

And some of the incorrect guesses makes one wonder, Can't any of them smell a cigar?

[@macmcleod1188]

​@@slaytonpat least one of them was a regular smoker because in the first season they're smoking on the air. And I suspect more than one. Plus the audience probably had one or more cigar smokers in it and a half dozen people smoking cigarettes.

[@slaytonp]

@@macmcleod1188 That's probably the answer. In those days, smoking was "limited" to the balcony area in movie theaters, but not banned. There weren't many places one couldn't smoke freely and Hollywood promoted it as sexy and romantic in the movies of that time. Bennett smoked a pipe, and John Daly smoked cigarettes on the show a few times in early episodes.

[@icurhuman2]

Outlived them all. Way to go George Burns.

[@Caban1970]

icurhuman2 He did not outlive Arlene Francis. She died in 2001 and Burns died 5 years earlier in 1996. He did live the oldest in age, at age 100.

[@kamelhaj6850]

@@Caban1970 I remember when Bob Hope (then in his late eighties) was talking with someone and the topic of George Burns came up and Hope said: "I like George - he always calls me 'kid'" (George was some seven years older).

[@scottmiller6495]

One of the greatest entertainers of all time Period!!!!!

[@alfredobonavera3842]

Talulah Bankhead

[@Eddie_Schantz]

At 21:38 when George said " I am a liar", he gave it away because he put a little of his natural voice into it. I think he wouldhave gotten them if it wasn't for that.

[@Neisher]

Arlene's necklace is exquisite.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

The first contestant was very timely. On January 11, 1964, Surgeon General of the United States, Rear Admiral Luther Leonidas Terry, M.D., published a landmark report saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking nationwide anti-smoking efforts. Terry and his committee defined cigarette smoking of nicotine as not an addiction. (The committee itself consisted largely of physicians who themselves smoked.) This error went uncorrected for 24 years.[

[@ryanschroer]

Joe Postove www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/history/

[@loissimmons6558]

According to my research, the first challenger was also something of a musician. He was well known for playing "The Refrain From Smoking".

[@mikejschin]

The one and only time I went to dog races was in Revere, Mass, in 1973. It was something to do once, just to see what it was like. A rather seedy man was sitting next to me. Obviously a regular at the track, he gave me a running commentary on the dogs and the races. Attempting to further show off his in-depth knowledge, he invited me to ask him anything at all about the races. My question shut him up for the remainder of the evening: "Doesn't that rabbit ever get tired?"

[@lllowkee6533]

Making animals race is horrible! Then killing when they can’t!😢😢😢🐶

[@johncavanaugh2517]

​@@lllowkee6533you're probably ok with killing unborn babies in the womb.

[@rosemarymagrino772]

Love Arlene’s necklace❤️

[@Cris43130]

Notice the slight grimace on George Burns' face when Milton Berle was guessed and the big smile when Jack Benny was guessed.

[@brittanywelty566]

It made me cringe with sadness to hear Martin say at 24:34 "Goodnight, Dorothy, I hope to be here on your 30th anniversary" (of WML) when she would die not too much later in the future :(

[@robertdiotalevi285]

Sad

[@asteverino8569]

Thanks Panel and thanks George.

[@VahanNisanian]

2:05 The very first mention of The Beatles on this show! Five days later, they would arrive in New York at Kennedy International Airport.

[@brucetowell5208]

In fact they were doing a show live about an hour before the show!!!..They talk about the Beatles all thru the show, Feb, 9th 1964

[@davidsanderson5918]

Bruce Towell By this time they were doing a show live an hour practically before ANY show. Certainly while they were in Hamburg!! :)

[@robertmelson2130]

In the middle of the MG segment I looked down to see how many views this episode had gotten, expecting it to be quite large. It was a surprise; this deserves a lot more views than that!

[@MrJoeybabe25]

George Burns was kind of at the nadir of his career at this time, yet the audience still loved him!

[@libertyann439]

Greyhounds are rarely owned as puppies. They are nearly always rescues from racetracks. I love that necklace on Arlene!

[@albertwilds3928]

Thanks for recording .

[@JDAbelRN]

It is really quite beautiful. Often wondered (other then her famous heart necklace) if the jewelry that Dorothy and she wore was costume or authentic, maybe lent to them by jewelry designers, famous in New York City 😉.

[@feraudyh]

Did you read about how some necklace was ripped from her neck a few years later😢

[@normamcmanus1139]

@@feraudyhIt was the heart necklace given to her by her late husband, Martin Gabel; but, sadly, never recovered by the police or returned to her.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

Fun fact #765; Martin Gabel was nearly five years younger than his eternally young wife Arlene Francis!

[@jillgordon1003]

Wow, really?

[@TheBraveIntrovert]

Joe Postove I just found out that she was older than eveybody on the panel as well as Daly except Cerf.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Purple Capricorn If you think this is surprising, just wait till you hear Fun Fact #766.

[@TheBraveIntrovert]

What's My Line? I sort of wish I was older because I enjoy classics like this. I'm 27,but have been watching older shows and movies since I was about 16 so it's interesting to me when I learn more about this era and the people in it. I'm sort of new to watching full episodes of WML or old game shows for that matter.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Purple Capricorn Just wait a few more years and trust me, you won't wish you were older. :) I'm always delighted, truly, to read comments from people under 30 who have discovered the show. I was interested in old radio, TV and movies since i was about 12 years old, and while it didn't exactly make me the most popular kid in the playground, nothing has given me greater joy over the years!

[@TheBlackhawkbrat]

I could see old "Sugarthroat", as Gracie called George in the radio days, really pondering how to answer Bennett's question about bursting into song.

[@ArmenianBishop]

George Burns (1896-1996) was 68 years old, when he appeared on this show, in 1964.

[@ghidrah76]

As a teenager when he passed away, it always amazes me how long he lived with smoking cigars. Was sad the day he passed away.

[@claudec2588]

I'm surprised they couldn't smell the cigar.

[@direcorbie]

Gracie stepped gently away slightly more than 6 months after this episode was aired.

[@loutimmons3099]

Loved this… but how on earth could the panel not smell GB’s cigar???

[@loissimmons6558]

In November 2018, voters in Florida voted to make betting on greyhound racing illegal starting in 2021. There are currently only 5 other states where there is still betting on dog races: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Texas and West Virginia. There are four other states where it is still legal but have no active dog tracks: Connecticut, Kansas, Oregon and Wisconsin. Other states where dog racing had been legal but have recently banned it are Arizona, Colorado. Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

[@bluecamus5162]

My brother-in-law had dog racers in his family and I came to understand that there are some truly brutal aspects to the sport. The vast majority of dogs had very premature deaths for the simple reason that it takes too much money to raise losers or maintain them past their prime..

[@enriquesanchez2001]

A little over 6 months after this broadcast, Gracie Allen died. (Aug 27, 1964)

[@MrJoeybabe25]

George Burns gave Bobby his first important night-club break by hiring him for Burns's own Las Vegas opening in June,1959. "Darin," said Mr. Burns, "has the talent and the personal magnetism to become the dominant entertainer of his generation." www.bobbydarin.net/bdburns.html

[@morganrussell6783]

George Burns The Greatest Comedian/Actor Of All Time 💖💯

[@keithhyttinen8275]

Not.

[@alskndlaskndal]

I wonder if the first contestant had a talk with George Burns backstage... ;) They had to be able to smell that cigar, right???

[@marilynmosier116]

Hehehe. That is so true. He smoked all the time

[@garymilliken4429]

@@marilynmosier116 - I'd say it was evidence that back in those days, before smoking became such a taboo, everyone smoked all the time, everywhere, and as a result, it wasn't much noticed -- you can learn to ignore just about anything if you're surrounded by it all the time. I also thought, as soon as he walked out onstage with that thing, they'll know right away that it's a cigar smoker, but no, they never gave any indication.

[@princeharming8963]

I doubt that very much. They just didn't think about things like that at that time. George mentioned many times that A) he never inhaled.. and B) the stogie really was more of a prop.

[@balconi89]

"I'm also a liar". LOL

[@hiyapal7719]

DTB1997 Yes, that remark gave him away. They recognized his voice.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Aren't we all?

[@poetcomic1]

Carol Channing was the ONLY gal that George Burns would do his 'George and Gracie' type act with. She alone had that sweet and endearing nuttiness along with brilliant timing.

[@WhatsMyLine]

+poetcomic1 Sorry to say, but there was an almost never-ending succession of women that George tried to slot into Gracie's role after she retired, not just Carol Channing. His solo career didn't take off until he stopped trying to find a Gracie substitute.

[@OldTelivisionRocks]

+What's My Line? Carol was probably the only one that was good in that role though...Gracie was irreplaceable but Channing was quite amazing.

[@poetcomic1]

What's My Line? True but only Channing came close.

[@loissimmons6558]

+What's My Line? This thread reminded me that in the mid-1960's there was a show called "Wendy and Me" where George was teamed with Connie Stevens filling the Gracie type ditzy character. It ran for one season (34 episodes) from September 1964 to May 1965. Connie was good but the premise was thin and it simply was too difficult to avoid the comparisons with Gracie Allen, even with the obvious age difference and Connie being married to someone else. And either the writing just didn't measure up to the Burns and Allen show or it was Connie's delivery. As wacky as Gracie was, her lines rarely seemed forced to fit the situations. Connie's lines often seem to be thrown in to make her sound like Gracie but otherwise don't contribute to the plot. It might have also been a mistake to not give Connie a best friend (like a Bea Benaderet or Vivian Vance type close to her in age) to play off of. Of course George is still George, but he provides the only real funny lines in the first episode. Judge for yourself. A link to the full first episode follows this paragraph. Richard Crenna directed it. Writers are George's younger brother William (who also wrote for the Burns and Allen show and on "Mister Ed"), Robert O'Brien (previous writing credits included "Mister Ed" and "Make Room for Daddy"; he only worked on the first episode), Elon Packard (previous writing credits included "Topper" and "The George Gobel Show") and Norman Paul (who also had been part of the Burns and Allen writing staff). kzbin.info/www/bejne/laqohWR9gp2jl7c It was the only episode that Crenna directed. The other 33 were directed by Gene Reynolds. He had previously directed 74 episodes of "My Three Sons" among other prior directing jobs. But those episodes are not posted on KZbin.

[@VahanNisanian]

Sadly, Gracie Allen died six months later.

[@surumodi9806]

.

[@loissimmons6558]

Dee Dee Winner is listed on IMDB as being part of the crew for three movies. All three ("Caddyshack", "Hardly Working" and "The Funhouse") were filmed in whole or in part in south Florida, so it is most likely the same person. However, her WML appearance is not listed on her IMDB page.

[@donlitos]

I'm surprised Burns walked in with that heavy cuban cigar lit the smell is a dead giveaway!

[@petermack2825]

I don't remember ever seeing the panel as thoroughly befuddled as they were by the first contestant!

[@Noone58319]

Oh! How I wish I could have seen the color of Arlene’s velvet dress and the jewels in her necklace!

[@nadiazahroon6573]

I grew up in the sixties,even than we knew smoking was bad.

[@garrettmeadows2273]

Entering smoking a cigar! Those were the days. Love them.

[@drumbum3.142]

One of my Favourite WML Mysry Guest Performances here 😂🤣😂😂😂 I Love Love How he turns the panelists into pretzels.. 🥨😂😂😂 And I dunno, ..no Dissrespect to these Other Ladies and Gentlemen but ESPECIALLY Dorothy !.!!! .. How.. ... How can one not immedeately identify the one of a kind voice and timbre of George Burns, Danny Kaye, and Louis Jourdan ,? ???.. 😐🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

[@ChadQuick270W]

Interesting reference to The Beatles as one week later (02/02/1964) they’d appear live on The Ed Sullivan Show which was seen on Sunday evening on CBS, of course WML? also aired on Sunday evenings live at 10:30pm

[@washoe4827]

10:30 p.m. is night, not evening, yes ?

[@ChadQuick270W]

@@washoe4827 yes it’s at night.

[@brandonflorida1092]

@@washoe4827 What a wasted comment. You're down on the guy because he used the word "evening?" According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, evening means "the latter part and close of the day and early part of the night." You've got to bug the guy about this? Your comment typifies the trolling, gratuitously argumentative comments which are the worst thing about social media.

[@washoe4827]

@@brandonflorida1092 Nobody took offence except you, snowflake !

[@brandonflorida1092]

@@washoe4827 You don't have the faintest idea what people thought reading your posts. By all means, proceed with correcting posters' infinitesimal and, as in this case, imaginary transgressions.

[@michellephillips2713]

I was just thinking about some of these guests with there livelihood. I wonder how people in the audience would react to the dog racing in modern times. So many animal lovers out there.....including myself. Still love the show no matter what.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I was traveling on a Greyhound bus when Mrs. Winner brought one of her greyhound dogs into the station with a bus painted on its back.

[@ravi172000]

Carson & Rickles once said George is a beautiful man and he is !!! What a man !!!

[@maxnullifidian]

Ha! As soon as he let them know he was a liar they knew it was George Burns!

[@2508bona]

The Beatles? That's nothing... On this day, the GI Joe action figure debuted in American stores!

[@jmccracken1963]

"GI Joe, GI Joe, fighting man from head to toe......" (to the tune of the trio from Sousa's "U.S. Field Artillery March").

[@libertyann439]

Chris Barat First (or early) mention of smokin secession.

[@CoxJoxSox]

You got a guy who teaches non-smoking, then George Burns who puffing on a cigar. I'd think the cigar would give him away.

[@TyrSkyFatherOfTheGods]

I find the whole Burns segment curious. He came out smoking a cigar - which, as we all know, has a distinctive and strong odour. The panellists would have smelt it. Now, as far as I know, just about the only TV celebrities in the 50s and 60s smoking cigars on air were comedians - it's a great prop. Groucho Marx, Milton Berle, George Burns. And yet they mention - who? - Paul Anka and Bobby Darin?!? Seriously?

[@EvermoreOfESH]

WML was shot in CBS-TV Studio 50 those days (now known as the Ed Sullivan Theater), and the place must have smelled like a smokehouse. Smoking was allowed among those seated in the theater until after Sullivan stopped shooting his show there. Most of the crew smoked during the WML, and many of the people on stage used to smoke during the broadcast. Most of them smoked regularly, so smoke was embedded in their clothing. One guy smoking a cigar is not going to set off any alarms with all of that going on.

[@ЫРІ]

I think everyone on panel understood who the guest was, and they decided to take those 'stabs' for fun

[@laurablake6121]

@@EvermoreOfESH Hi- I know your comment is a couple of years old- but actually according to Wikipedia it was not filmed at the Ed Sullivan Theater: Beginning with episode #517 through episode #829 (June 12, 1960 - September 4, 1966), the show used CBS Studio 52 (254 W. 54th St., NY; the future Studio 54).

[@andrehinds568]

@@laurablake6121 You, of course, are correct. Please accept my apology.

[@laurablake6121]

@@andrehinds568 - Oh no no no! No apology necessary! Just thought a fellow WML fan as yourself would be interested to know this. I only questioned it because on either this episode or the one before the panel was talking about the Beatles appearing at the theater next door. Knowing that WML filmed on Sundays, I wondered if the Beatles were appearing on Ed Sullivan (at studio 50) which of course was on Sunday nights as well- so I looked it up on Wikipedia. I'm such a nerd!! :)

[@mrpuniverse2]

Miss Winner perfect name for someone in the greyhound racing biz. She backs a winner

[@igkoigko9950]

No. Anyone abusing animals should be named Loser

[@nickstrapko7549]

22:45 Burns speaking about Carol Channing who just passed on 1 /15/ 2019

[@Deutschie]

I had heard that Carol Channing was a strict vegan due to severe food allergies. The story about her heavy meat consumption came as a surprise to me.

[@VahanNisanian]

Just cracked open Bruce Spizer's Beatles books, and these were the four hit Beatles songs Bennett mentioned at the start of the show: "Please Please Me" (Vee Jay Records) "She Loves You" (Sawn Records) "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (Capitol Records) "I Saw Her Standing There" (Capitol Records; American B-Side to "I Want to Hold Your Hand")

[@loissimmons6558]

+Vahan Nisanian Great bit of Top 40 radio history. I remember those days (11 years old) listening to the transistor radio: WABC, WMCA, WINS were the rock and roll stations in NYC at the time. Suddenly this group of long-haired lads from England is dominating the charts and many of the boys in my school (private, not public) are sporting bowl haircuts and wearing Beatle boots. WABC after having rejected The Beatles for airplay just a few months earlier, labeling them a fad that would die out, jumped on the Liverpool Fab Four with both feet and began to advertise themselves as W-A-Beatle-C. Their high ratings climbed even higher and the group and their management, knowing which station in NYC was number one, helped them all the way. One typo correction: It was Swan Records.

[@gailsirois7175]

There's hundreds now

[@JasmineSurrealVideos]

Oh and Arlenes Saxon style armour necklace was stunning. Rarely will I comment on the attire but it was like a piece of wearable sculpture. I wonder who made it?

[@jmccracken1963]

Maybe it was a cast-off from Robert O'Hearn's costume designs for the then-quite-current brand-new Metropolitan Opera production of "Aida".....

[@kristabrewer9363]

WOW! I wish I had a necklace like that!

[@bigoldinosaur]

Ironic that a guest is smoking a cigar while they first contestant helps people to quit smoking.

[@brianelliott3817]

GB lived to be 100 yo. 1896-1996. He reportedly drank several martinis a day. I wonder how long the first contestant lived.

[@loissimmons6558]

George Burns used to say that it only took one drink to get him drunk. But he couldn't remember if it was the eleventh or twelfth drink.

[@kschindle1]

Yes, you would think they would have guest it.

[@kristabrewer9363]

Have you ever seen George Burns WITHOUT his cigar?

[@kristabrewer9363]

well, yea, I guess he did in when he played God (at least I HOPE he did lol. I've seen the movie twice, and I don't remember)

[@LegixInfo]

I was one day old.

[@soulierinvestments]

Interesting that Bobby Darin and Paul Anka got mentioned in the mystery guest sequence. Darin showed up the next week. Johnny Olsen plugged the Heart Fund at the end of the program and the Heart Fund is what Darin publicized the next week. Paul Anka showed up as a guest panelist within a few months. RE: Burns’s comment about Channing’s big appetite that would eat anything. Gil Fates painted a word picture in his WML book of Channing in her dressing room eating kangaroo meat out of a thermos. No comment about her contacts.

[@WhatsMyLine]

Another connection here is that George often claimed to have discovered Bobby Darrin. Note that I'm using the word "claimed"; I have no idea how true it really was. He also claimed to have discovered Bobby Rydell and to have given Ann-Margret one of her first big breaks, all three via his Vegas act.

[@soulierinvestments]

Whether or not George discovered Bobby, they were close enough as friends that Bobby stayed with George in his home when Gracie died.

[@bluecamus5162]

5 days from now, the Beatles will arrive at JFK and pop culture will change forever in this nation. The fact that Bennett mentions them at all prior to arrival is a portent of things to come.

[@markbendig555]

I think this is the first mention of the Beatles.

[@poolside123canadian7]

From the reverend who teaches people to stop smoking to the 2nd most famous cigar smoker on earth.😀😂

[@terryniblett9329]

Beatles arrive, Cardinals win the World Series, what a great year!!

[@HBMHD]

It's very interesting how at the start of WML they would promote smoking as a healthy practice because tobacco companies paid good money for fake "expert" opinions and nearing the end it was widespread knowledge that smoking was bad. Some evil corporative deceptions never change.

[@soulierinvestments]

Bennett's comments about his wife's smoking habit. At this time, I suspect Bennett still smoked his pipe. Photos of Martin Gabel clear into the 1980s suggested that he still smoked. Heart attack he died of. Would be interesting to see if Arlene or Dorothy were involved in tobacco ads.

[@jillgordon1003]

Well I don't know about Arlene but I do know that Dorothy was involved in advertising for Camel cigarettes, shortly after her trip around the world.

[@sandrageorge3488]

I remember watching a very early WML show, and Arlene was smoking.

[@sdacj]

@@sandrageorge3488 John Daly also smoked quite heavily.

[@aryehfinklestein9041]

Rev. Elman Folkenberg died aged 66 in 1986 ( not, sadly, in 2012 - when he would have been 92 )

[@VahanNisanian]

3:48 The dangers of smoking would become a serious topic 7 years later, when commercials advertising cigarettes were banned.

[@SuperWinterborn]

***** Were the cigarettes commercials banned in the US already in 1971? Up here in the north, (Norway) all forms of tobacco commercials were first banned in 1975 (1st of July)

[@WhatsMyLine]

SuperWinterborn Looks like January 1971, according to Wikipedia. A bit surprising to me, because there's a memorable cigarette television ad spoof in the early Woody Allen film "Bananas", which came out around April/May of that year.

[@SuperWinterborn]

What's My Line? Another "funny" incident added to the G+ era; In your and @Jasmine Surreal's thread below here, the "answer mark" is deleted, at least I cannot find it, and I have reloaded twice now. I just wanted to say thank you for that remark about being a smoker yourself. I was beginning to feel like an ugly duckling in a swan lake... ;)

[@WhatsMyLine]

SuperWinterborn Try living in San Francisco as a smoker. I've gotten yelled at more than once by total strangers for smoking *outdoors* on the sidewalk, the only place in the entire city where it's still legal to smoke. Most apartment buildings now don't allow smokers, either. This is not to start any sort of debate on the laws to curtail second hand smoke. But when you can't even smoke outdoors, when you can't even smoke in your *own apartment*, sheesh. Just make it illegal already, because this is far worse. At least if it were made illegal, I'd finally quit. As it stands now, I'm just a social leper.

[@SuperWinterborn]

What's My Line? Yes, Im aware of the hostility against smokers in California, which is very similar to the situation here, and all over West Europe as well. Anti-smoking, anti-whaling, etc. It has become a war, and with wars, fanatism follows... I don't deny the health issues by smoking, and think they should let the whales alone, *But!* Are all who are against whaling vegetarians? They *should* be, considering the way the animals used for food, are treated in most places. Are non-smokers aware of the health-risks the are taking on their childrens behalf, by feeding them pre-fabric food, vegetables and grain "cultivated" with pesticides and even worse, animals stuffed with antibiotics, treated as 'products', not living beings? An interesting fact, is that youth already in the late 50's, developed physical and psychic conditions, due to a great lack of vitamins, *because* the highly profiled product called "Corn Flakes", had replaced the old fashion cornmeal for breakfast? Kellogg's Company had to proclaim they "now had added vitamins to their products" when this was revealed, but still corn flakes are as healthy as popcorn, no more, no less. Sorry guys, but we all have to think again...*Sigh!*

[@donbeckman884]

I would think the smell of the cigar would give him away. I think the smoke smells so bad.

[@lllowkee6533]

John and Martin, the battle of the PREP SCHOOLS ..

[@bencheshire]

I shouted "no!" When Bennet started to take his blindfold off. George Burns doing his best tricks to try to spoil the game

[@loissimmons6558]

A Google search for "Dee Dee Winner greyhound" turns up a lot of greyhounds that have "Dee Dee" as part of their name. Unfortunately there are a lot of unrelated hits when searching for "Dee Dee Winner" with or without "Florida" as part of the search. A woman named Dee Dee Moore was convicted of murdering someone who was a winner of $30 million in the Florida Lottery in 2006.

[@patriciamooney928]

Wow! Arlene's necklace.

[@peterdaniel66]

a beautiful human being...

[@cathykinn4516]

If you listen with ear plugs or headphones you might hear a "Booo!" As Dorothy comes on. Wonder if she heard it. Comments about looking "young" this being the 60s , that was all that counted then. The Panel, especially the Ladies, must have felt great pressure to look young & 'Dolly Birds' while reminders of how long the show had been going. 'Marnie' the movie that Martin Gabel was in starred Sean Connery, Dir. Hitchcock & Diane Baker as Lil a Woman character much preferred by male audiences to the neurotic leading character. Great Music too - Bernard Harriman? Very good doc on the 'Making of...' the movie is on KZbin, in English with Spanish subs & Poster. Good acting advice about expressing shock!

[@shirleyrombough8173]

And a smoking George Burns follows the clinician who would stop his smoking.

[@RonGerstein-tf5tp]

Gracie Allen was still alive when this episode was shown. She died 8/27/64, almost 7 months later.

[@brkitdwn]

The smell of George's cigar, should've given him away.

[@hopelewis5650]

Nice segway from first guest to George Burns.

[@torgeirmolaug196]

No one could smell the cigar?

[@Camop-iz9kt]

George Burns....like Jimmy Durante, never looked young!

[@stacyblue1980]

San Juan... Nat King Cole..Paul Anka. These people were nuts. Love it tho.

[@preppysocks209]

Dorothy asks all those ridiculous questions designed not to help anyone but herself. I am glad Burns stuck it to her and sent her down the garden path. Although there were occasions with funnier individual wrong guesses about MG's, this was the greatest collection of incorrect guesses about the MG.

[@deniselittle5558]

I thought they would have smelled his cigar and known who it was immediately.

[@marynorris-johnson1266]

Mary Proctor (contestant) What's My Line?

[@VSV659]

Strange that Dorothy mentioned San Juan and then could not name George Burns! Also, I wonder why Gracie Did not show up - they rarely were separated though she passed away later that year. Also, a sad exchange between Dorothy and Martin Gabel where they talk of a 30th anniversary of the show. Dorothy was gone a year and a half later.

[@WhatsMyLine]

BV That's because George was outright lying when he said "yes" to the San Juan question. :)

[@VSV659]

What's My Line? Precisely my point - back in the 50s everyone associated Burns with "San Juan Hill" and they also knew he had never ever been to San Juan.

[@WhatsMyLine]

BV You're not following me, or I'm not following you. One of us is not following the other. Dorothy asked if the mystery guest had recently been in San Juan, thinking of a specific person (or people) she personally knew to have been in San Juan. George answered "yes", but he was lying to throw her off. He had not recently been to San Juan. This had nothing at all to do with George's "song", only with whether he had made a visit to San Juan. He never sang "I'll Be Waiting for You Bill When You Come Back to San Juan Hill" in all the years of radio shows, movie roles and TV appearances I'm aware of (major, hard core fan here). It was referenced in jokes a lot of times, but only a major, hard core GB fanatic would associate George with San Juan at all. Gracie didn't show up because she had retired 6 years earlier and made no public show biz appearances after that. She was also in very poor health at this time, basically house bound with a heart condition.

[@direcorbie]

Gracie's health had begun to fail by this point.

[@karenedmiston5964]

The men of that era were fond of Brill cream. Why did Bennett always ask the mystery guests do they ever burst into song. Bennett could be very annoying.

[@neilphelan145]

No could be about it.

[@Fush1234]

I worked for a tobacco company 35 years ago. We used to receive 1,000 cigarettes a month to give away as samples 🤣🤣🤣

[@sandrageorge3488]

Diane Lois Mary Elizabeth was Dee Dee's real name. Maybe that's why people are having a hard time looking her up.

[@mhk3360]

I didn't know they had non-smoking classes in those days. I also find it interesting that on some episodes with commercials. They advertise Kool Cigarettes.

[@alanfollett6242]

+mh K Even if there was no tobacco sponsor for this specific show, I'm a bit surprised, given the importance of cigarette advertising to CBS in 1964, that this guest got on the air. I wonder if anyone at G-T had to put up a struggle.

[@OldTelivisionRocks]

+Alan Follett luckies taste better! :P

[@loissimmons6558]

+Alan Follett They were able to swing it by giving equal time to the opposing camp: having George Burns smoking his cigar on air. :-D

[@igkoigko9950]

If it weren’t for marketing - not just advertising but product placements and all forms of PR - would anyone inhale and disseminate toxic fumes.

[@deniseaukerman]

Hi Judy! I don't recall which episode it was, but I do recall a time when Olivia and John discussed when Olivia married him and came to live in his parents' home with him. It may have been the episode when Olivia put the p ottted plant on the porch railing, signifying that she and John need time alone. Grandpa sheepishly got the message.

[@amethystanne4586]

I remember that episode. The oldest daughter had just married the local doctor, and she was telling her mother about how the newlywed couple rarely got alone time/there was always some.body.around.

[@BasicYTHandle]

Re George Burns with his cigar: (1) how ironic that he appeared on the same episode as a smoking cessation specialist; (2) wouldn't the odor have been a clue to the panelists?

[@dekelanson5280]

You'd think Burn's cigar smoke would give him away.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I just revirwed my two responses and just cracked myself up. Sorry. I guess I would have expected something like this from Bennett.

[@robertdiotalevi285]

When Bennett asked about breaking into song he should have had it!

[@johnparadise3134]

22:56 Carol Channing was a big eater!?

[@CBCycles]

Oof, that was an absolutely brutal joke George Burns told, I’m sure Carol Channing was thrilled 😑 lmao

[@Damon_Strong]

16:30 She didn't mention what happens to the Greyhounds after their racing days are over. It's not pretty. Look it up.

[@RonGerstein-tf5tp]

Ate they made into dog food?

[@patriciamooney928]

They guessed Jack Benny and Milton Berle. 😆

[@MrWindermere123]

I think that studio lighting or facial make-up must be more subtle these days because the shiny foreheads in this episode -especially Bennet who had less hair than the others - were dazzling me at the beginning. The backcloth looks very drab in contrast - perhaps deliberately dull in order to avoid the reflective glare of the studio lights.

[@hopelewis5650]

Dorothy's hair reminds me a quepie cewpie doll

[@leannsherman6723]

How did they not smell George Burns’ cigar?

[@dianatralli4099]

I can't find the episode aired on february 9 1964 where they are talking about the Beatles, did KZbin take it away.?

[@uofa82]

The choice to smoke killed my mother with lung & liver cancer at a young 56. 😢❤

[@rapunzelz5520]

Why the heck didnt john correct the 2nd contestant when she went astray at the beginning?!?

[@shirleyrombough8173]

I saw a woman at the bus station with a greyhound dog with a bus painted on its side.