You Bet Your Life #56-21 Farmer's wife tries to tell a joke (Secret word 'Dollar', Feb 14, 1957)

Highlight of this show is Norma Hacker trying to tell a joke (@6:20). She can't get more than a few words out before cracking herself up.
COUPLE #1: Norma Hacker, farmer's wife / John W. Hughes, lecturer and pie aficionado from Wales
COUPLE #2: John Barbour, Paramount messenger boy / Mary Barbour, John's wife, originally from Athens, Greece
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Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.

[@mikestanyer6175]

came across this by accident and lord im an addict groucho doesnt have to say a thing its the look

[@johnsampson1096]

Maybe a miracle will happen, and lost segments will somehow show up. Can't get enough of YBYL! Thanks for the posts.......

[@henrybrowne7248]

Oh man, I didn't know they were scarce . . We really gotta preserve 'em.

[@MrMenefrego1]

I LOVED the first female contestant! When she told that story and got so worked-up that she even broke her own pearl necklace lol! And we will all forever wonder just what the end of that story was! 👀

[@henrybrowne7248]

I just finished watching and loved her too. I say all the time, the contestants on this show are just as good as Groucho. And, the very best humor comes from ordinary people in everyday life.

[@keithnaylor1981]

The most entertaining and funniest show available in 1957, and it still has that accolade in 2024! This has to be something for the ‘Guinness book’!

[@axiomist4488]

The lady telling the joke kept the PTA people in stitches too, I bet !

[@SaxonC]

Hilarious! Groucho always gives me a laugh! Genius

[@kamikazeyamamoto4545]

The lady who lived on a ranch was decades ahead of her time. Self-sufficient.

[@hogfarmersforjustice4804]

Haha. Subsistence is what almost all people had until the industrial revolution.

[@rickb1387]

Kamikaze Yamamoto actually we today are just way behind.

[@pfflyer3381]

You do know your wearing the Japanese WAR flag

[@demef758]

@@hogfarmersforjustice4804 "Haha. Subsistence is what almost all people had until the industrial revolution." What are you laughing about? If I listen to our democrat masters, most of the country is at subsistence levels. Why else are they firing up the printing presses and handing out trillions in "free money"?

[@nicmart]

@@demef758 You are one of those charming people with a tic, so you have to repeat the same things endlessly, as if anyone gives a crap. The first two massive covid handouts were signed by Donald Trump.

[@justinbooth3476]

This holds up so well better than the shit on tv today.

[@MrMenefrego1]

you tell 'em, Justin! (any relation to John Wilkes Booth? 👀 )

[@nedludd7622]

In large part because it presents real people. Just look at the lineup of guests on talk-shows today, it is always just celebs and semi-celebs who are trying to promote their latest product or, if they don't have a current project, their general careers. Totally unreal and uninteresting.

[@McLKeith]

This is back when people actually knew things.

[@theoakhills]

Besides who's been married 4-5 times and how many times in the Betty Ford clinic.

[@michaelxpettis]

They knew for example that Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, which of course it isn't

[@SelfReflective]

The problem today is not that people don't know things, it's rather that they know too many of them.

[@nadagabri5783]

They didn’t know who wrote Frankenstein.

[@latreclays4246]

2:46 No one gonna mention his flawless pronunciation?!?!

[@ThekiBoran]

Groucho stated that he got $16,000 a week to host the show. That's the equivalent of someone getting $155,000 per week today.

[@bornin6473]

That was cheap. He's priceless.

[@mikestanyer6175]

he deserved every penny

[@stevencohn922]

@@mikestanyer6175 no one deserves that kind of money as long as millions are starving and can’t feed their families!!

[@patfromamboy]

176,000 dollars today

[@marions.120]

That’s not alot of money. Today they’re paid millions per week!

[@catherinemelnyk]

He says goodbye in Italian to a Greek lady. But it's still funny...

[@jr4062]

She was ahead of her time regarding growing your own food.

[@MrMenefrego1]

Groucho Marx & George Fenneman made such an outstanding team! George would set 'em up and Groucho would knock 'em out of the park!

[@devlinasssociatesllc4569]

Thanks to all you people that are uploading these. This show was on constantly through the 1990's. I did hear the reason its not on anymore is the owners want too much cash for it. Sad

[@googleyeyes5122]

I didn't think even Rand McNally knew that! 😂

[@chrislawson7983]

I made up the ending of the joke.... I laughed so hard I forgot.????😝😘🤔🤦

[@filmguymike]

I believe the rest of the joke goes..So the next day they got together sat down waiting for the bus one of the two men had brought a dog but the dog was missing a nose. The man looks at it and says hey your dog is missing a nose how does he smell? The other man replys...terrible

[@MrMenefrego1]

Thanks for that, not knowing was driving me nuts!

[@RRW1982]

@@MrMenefrego1 Works for me - thanks, and 'You Bet Your Life!'

[@henrybrowne7248]

Kind of anti-climax to me . .

[@pbailey232]

​​@@henrybrowne7248yes i agree...her inability to tell the joke was much more funny than the the joke itself if that was truly the rest of it.

[@pbailey232]

....but apparently it was a scream to her!!!

[@atiphwyne5609]

Astonishing that John W. Hughes knew so much about American cities yet so little of English literature.

[@519djw6]

Yes. And he was British, too!

[@theonlyantony]

Yes, an exoticist and 'bachelor.'

[@K2Gardens]

@@519djw6 No, he was Welsh.

[@519djw6]

@@K2Gardens I know he was Welsh, but he was also *British*, and that's why I was surprised that he missed such an easy question. And, as you know, every educated Welsh person is fluent in English--and half of them don't speak Welsh today.

[@K2Gardens]

@@519djw6 they might be fluent in English but it does not mean they are fluent in English lit. Calling a Welshman a brit is as bad as calling a Scot a brit.

[@billanthony7896]

Bill Cosby hosted the revival of this show in the 1980's, and he did a fair job as host. Sometimes, though, it's hard to capture the magic twice. There was but one Groucho, and the atmosphere of this show was hard to duplicate. Sometimes all the ingredients come together at the right time and place. That was definitely the case with "You Bet Your Life!"

[@johnbower1709]

No good

[@johnbower1709]

Isn't bill Cosby in prison

[@brianphillips1374]

Cosby doesn't tend to go on about influences, but he admired Groucho Marx; it's part of the reason he smokes cigars. Cosby even had Marx on his variety show.

[@baldilocks1914]

john bower rightfully so

[@pfflyer3381]

Buddy Hackett also

[@kevinjudy7218]

The best wit ever recorded...

[@franklinnorth7708]

Pie o neer, great Groucho quip

[@loissimmons109]

I watch the show first, then read the episode notes and comments. As soon as I saw the spelling, I suspected it was the same John Barbour who was producer and host of "Real People" and a long list of other accomplishments in the field of entertainment. I didn't recognize him at first because he filled out a bit as he matured, not unusual for a man. And it was 22 years between this episode and Real People. I remembered him as very dry. I didn't realize he was so controversial at other points of his career. John Barbour is featured in this segment of Real People in 1980. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYnLdYV8oKZsp5I I read from a few sources that he moved to LA from Canada in the early 60's, but this is 1957 and he had a job in Hollywood, so I wonder if he was going back and forth between countries early in his career, wherever the best opportunity presented itself. Another mystery from the show. If John Hughes identified as a lecturer, wouldn't it be natural to ask what subject he lectured about? Left on the cutting room floor perhaps? I couldn't dig up anything else about him on the Internet. No one can say that Norma Hacker didn't warn Groucho. And I think there were two other show highlights: one relating to the secret word and the other to the Barbours and the wheel spin. Just remember that John Barbour had a comedy act for much of his career. And I have to say that you must get very strong arms from waitressing. Wow! I think that was the hardest I ever saw it spun. It looked like it would never stop.

[@cats0182]

I think that when Chuck Barris or Jamie Farr was discussing the early "Gong Show", one of them mentioned that the first host was someone named John Barbour. I wonder if this is the same person?

[@zarabada6125]

John Williams Hughes from Marianglas on Anglesey raised money to take an Ambulance to Spain during the Spanish Civil War. After the war, he travelled to different countries to give lectures on the horrors that he saw there. www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/LvUYvtcMTruhgIVvgIB_Yg

[@CD-db1zo]

Pies. Now they’re all manufactured, not homemade as it was in those days.

[@jamescollier2370]

The Welshman's saying the name of the town in Wales, which not even English or Scottish people can pronounce, made me recall that there is a town in Wales whose name contains four consecutive "L's".

[@richardharrold9736]

Llanfair PG, which is the place name Hughes mentions.

[@henrybrowne7248]

Good grief! What is it with these Welsh? Was it some kind of code or something? To confound the English perhaps?

[@IWillSayMyPeace]

@@henrybrowne7248 perhaps it's some ancient spell of sorts?

[@MrStan-kb8kr]

Back in the day the contestants were more knowledgeable in all categories than people are today 😷

[@janepatterson6779]

Agree...

[@MrStan-kb8kr]

@@janepatterson6779 I'm not the only one interested in those days gone by ✌️❤️🥤🍿

[@jamescollier2370]

Yes, and people dressed up to go out. All the ladies are wearing dresses and the men suits and ties.

[@ohmeowzer1]

I like Norma hacker she's great..i laughed with her

[@user-iv9xw3vs6c]

wow that woman, who tells the joke, is 100% my copy

[@MrMenefrego1]

That $300.00 which the American man and his Greek wife were gifted in '57 would be the equivalent to over $2,492.00 in 2021! 👀

[@armybeef68]

But that $300 can buy WAY more than that $2,492 can nowadays. Back in those days, you could buy a meal for for 60 cents.

[@MrMenefrego1]

@@armybeef68 yup

[@PimpLenin]

I don't know if he wasn't feeling well or what, but Groucho didn't seem very "into" this episode. Kinda extra grouchy. lol

[@billanthony7896]

The Fonz- This is nothing. There's another episode out there where Groucho was in such a bad mood, he was actually arguing with one of the guests, a housewife as I recall. It was so bad, that I wondered if they had actually aired that episode in primetime. That episode is out there somewhere. Maybe the guy who uploaded these knows where, and IF, one can find that episode!

[@henrybrowne7248]

🤣Pie-o-neer . . You have to have a lot of crust to make a statement like that . .

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

"Pie-oneer"

[@seancoxen3329]

Mr. Hughes has a typically gorgeous Welsh voice.

[@nadagabri5783]

Amazing way back then this women and her family bought 5 acres to be self sustaining cool

[@tomtorrell8019]

Groucho said some risque things that wouldn't go over in today's PC world. A different world we live in today. One of the funniest was when he had a man on the show who was father to 10 kids. Groucho asked why he had so many kids and the guy said because I like kids. Groucho said...well I like cigars too but I take em out of my mouth once in a while. The audience roared. They couldn't do beeps because it was on kineoscope.

[@519djw6]

Actually, the version I heard was this, and it's even funnier--although a little bit "dirty": Man: "Well Groucho, I love my wife." Groucho: "I love a good cigar, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while!"

[@theoakhills]

Groucho the "American classics have ALL gone LGBTQ on us. You'd not recognize the classics! Tips is still there (My Restaurant Tips)

[@martinjones5965]

17m28s G: "Arrivederci" ... he speaks fluent Greek.

[@franklinnorth7708]

The original big fat Greek Wedding.

[@martinjones5965]

15m25s she shakes her hands like there are ants crawling on them.

[@martinjones5965]

I haven't slept for weeks wondering what the 2 guys on the bus did next ... any takers for a punch line?

[@contraryMV]

It's hard to believe that woman could be self-sufficient.😃😄😅😂

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

The show has been on almost 10 years and the cameraman (or director) still can’t get the guy speaking on camera at 11:00.

[@ohmeowzer1]

Love grouchy lol

[@marions.120]

This was on my birthday (February 14th) although I wasn’t born yet!

[@papagen00]

where were you then?

[@retrorex]

Why does John Barbour lie and tell Groucho he's from Los Angeles? He's from Canada and didn't move to LA until the early 60s. He was born and raised in Toronto.

[@loissimmons109]

There's an old joke about no one actually being from Los Angeles, that they all come from somewhere else originally. Even the Dodgers, Lakers and Rams (twice!) weren't originally from Los Angeles. So John was just in step with most Los Angeles residents (as Billy Joel noted "Los Angelenos all come from somewhere ...").

[@BridgetKHennessy]

I've done some googling, and can't find it...does anyone know the end of the joke??

[@walkingtrails7776]

Bridget Kathleen Hennessy I was wondering the same thing , she was so cute trying to tell it. She's probably gone or someone's grandmother now, I hope they know about this episode.

[@filmguymike]

So the next day they got together sat down waiting for the bus one of the two men had brought a dog but the dog was missing a nose. The man looks at it and says hey your dog is missing a nose how does he smell? The other man replys...terrible

[@PingusMingus]

John W. Hughs is a really fast talker

[@MrJamespeyton]

Some of the guests were very interesting but I wished Groucho not have interrupted so often.

[@66605]

Does anyone know the joke at 6:30 ? I'd love to know what's so funny.

[@user-iv9xw3vs6c]

66605 I think "I don't remember ending" is the punchline

[@filmguymike]

So the next day they got together sat down waiting for the bus one of the two men had brought a dog but the dog was missing a nose. The man looks at it and says hey your dog is missing a nose how does he smell? The other man replys...terrible

[@compartsrecoveries2048]

Greeks bearing gifts...

[@vernebr]

IT'S ABOUT TWO MEN.........

[@david-pb4bi]

Do you know that Jon 19:20

[@thomassenior8578]

😢😮😮

[@marc108]

Grouch & George were not the best of friends ..btw, grouch was a condescending chauvinistic person

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

The capital of Columbia was asked in an earlier show.

[@joeambrose3260]

So what ?

[@InobuZ]

It appears that the Black Knight was really Black when she kissed him, hence all the uproar.....looks like they switch the Knight and they opened his helmet again. If you compare the two images you can see the segment was spliced in........Our history...

[@jamespicklehead5610]

Yes I notice that too. They definitely switched and edited it. God forbid you kiss a "negro" on tv in 1957. The horror!!!

[@mattmexor2882]

@@jamespicklehead5610 A certain segment of the population would have gotten offended and made a pressure campaign so there was punishment for it. The more things change the more they stay the same. In fact, the last time we were anywhere close to being as hemmed in as we are now was in the 50s, and even then only half as much.

[@michaelkottler]

​@@mattmexor2882 You'd benefit from learning how to express yourself clearly and with a higher level of precision. I seem to agree with your thesis, but it's so poorly expressed, one can't be certain. Re-write using standard thesis-support-summary model? Or is that asking too much?

[@mattmexor2882]

@@michaelkottler It seems pretty straightforward to me.

[@getlostyougoofball]

I don't think they switched the knight per se. They spliced a scene in where Fennerman lifts the end to reveal his face and then closes it again, before they go back to the original filming of the show.