TV Shows in the '40's and '50's (Part 3) Quiz

Answer: Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts

"The Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" started in 1948. It was the "American Idol" of that era. Some of the talent on that show included Pat Boone, Tony Bennett, Lenny Bruce, Roy Clark, Patsy Cline, Rosemary Clooney, Wally Cox, Vic Damone, Eddie Fisher, Connie Francis, Don Knotts, Steve Lawrence, and Leslie Uggams. Both Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly were turned down!

Answer: The Life Of Riley

Chester A. Riley was played by Jackie Gleason (and later, William Bendix) and his wife Peg was played by Rosemary DeCamp. This was Jackie Gleason's first TV part and this show was the first comedy to win an Emmy.

Answer: Suspense

The show first aired on TV in 1949 and remained until 1954. Most of the TV shows were done live. There were big stars like Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, John Carradine, Grace Kelly, and Cloris Leachman that showed up for the radio version.

Answer: The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show

Burns and Allen were husband and wife and started in vaudeville. Gracie was the living embodiment of 'blonde jokes'. She played a ditzy woman that got everyone around her confused. There were running jokes and skits on the show. The sponsors' products would get worked into conversations. I don't remember if this cut down on the number and length of commercials or not.

Answer: Charlie Chan

This show aired from 1956 through 1957 and starred J. Carrol Naish as the detective. It was filmed in England and the detective's 'home base' was changed from the US to London. Charlie had teenage sons that usually got involved in the cases Charlie was working on. Somehow, they always seemed to mess up and make things worse. Charlie Chan was on radio, TV, and the movies but was never played by a Chinese person.

Answer: The Honeymooners

The early episodes ('52, '53, '54) started out as short skits on the "Jackie Gleason" show. After that, the show was called "The Honeymooners".

Answer: The Millionaire

This show first aired in 1955. By 1960, either Mr. Tipton ran out of money or the audience was tired of seeing everyone else become a millionaire, so the show was cancelled. I remember anxiously waiting for Mr. Anthony's knock on my door.

Answer: This Is Your Life

The original show ran from 1952 to 1961. Most of the surprised guests were celebrities but some were ordinary joes like me. The staff tried very hard to keep everything a secret from the guest so they would truly be surprised by the person being introduced. One guest celeb had a heart condition so they made sure he knew everything that was going to happen.

Some people were not all that happy to be reunited with people from their past and the host, Ralph Edwards, said he would fire anyone who tried to pull this off on him.

Answer: You Bet Your Life

Here's a real bit of trivia for you. William Peter Blatty won $10,000 on this show and said he would use it to take time off to write a novel. The novel was "The Exorcist". Some other contestants included Ray Bradbury, Phyllis Diller, Liberace, and Edith Head. And of course, the host of the show was Groucho Marx.

Answer: The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show

"Rocky And His Friends" ran from 1959 to 1961 and "The Bullwinkle Show" ran from 1961 to 1964. Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose were best buds from Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. Mr. Big was the sinister commander of Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale.

When R & B weren't on screen, we were entertained by Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties, Peabody's Improbable History, Fractured Fairy Tales, Aesop & Son, and Mr. Know-It-All. The episodes had funny titles and were usually puns. I think I learned about double entendres from watching Rocky and his friends.