To Tell the Truth

To Tell the Truth is an American television game show that has been seen in various forms on and off since 1956.

The basic premise consists of three contestants, each of whom claims to be the same person, being interrogated by a panel of four celebrities in an attempt to identify who is the real one and who is bluffing. The contestant in question usually holds an unusual occupation or has done something noteworthy. After each celebrity has had a turn to question the guests, they each vote as to who they think is the real person.

When this is finished, the moderator says, "Will the real ________ please stand up?" The real person stands, the other two then reveal who they really are, and money is awarded to the players based on how many incorrect votes were placed.

First edition (1956-1968, CBS)

To Tell the Truth (or TTTT), created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions, premiered on Tuesday, December 18, 1956 on CBS in prime time (as Nothing But the Truth, but changed its name to To Tell the Truth the following week), and a daytime edition was introduced on Monday, June 18, 1962.

Bud Collyer was the host of this version; major panelists by the 1960s included Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean and Kitty Carlisle. Earlier regular panelists had included Johnny Carson, Polly Bergen, Don Ameche, columnist Hy Gardner and Ralph Bellamy.

The daytime show featured a separate panel its first three years with actress Phyllis Newman as the only regular. The evening panel took over the afternoon show in 1965 and in early 1968 Bert Convy replaced Poston in the first chair. In the prime time version, three panel games were played per show; that reduced to two games for the daytime show. Typically (but not always) one of the games would be played for laughs while the other two had more serious subjects. Each incorrect guess from the panel paid the challengers $250 on the primetime run for a possible $1000. But if the entire panel was correct, the challengers split $150.

On the daytime run, each wrong vote paid the team $100. During the show's last year and a half, the studio audience also voted, with the majority vote counting equally with that of each of the celebrity panelists. If two or all three challengers tied for highest vote from the audience, that counted as an incorrect vote and a guaranteed $100 for the contestants.

Bern Bennett, Collyer's announcer on Beat the Clock, was the lead voice of To Tell the Truth in the 1950s. Upon Bennett's transfer to CBS' Los Angeles studios Johnny Olson signed onto the show in 1960 and stayed with it through the end of its CBS runs. Other CBS staff announcers filled in as the show's voices during various times.

Second edition (1969-1978, syndicated)

This first version of the show was cancelled on September 6, 1968, but returned only a year later in fall 1969, again based in New York. Truth was filmed at CBS-TV Studio 50 (the Ed Sullivan Theater) until 1971, when it moved to the NBC studios in Rockefeller Center. (Truth had moved to Studio 50 late in its CBS network run after having been based at CBS-TV Studio 52, now the disco-theatre Studio 54.)

Garry Moore hosted until 1977. Regular panelists included Orson Bean during the first year (he would reappear as a guest panelist into the 1990-91 edition) and for the entire 1969-78 run, Peggy Cass, Kitty Carlisle and Bill Cullen, who subbed for Moore when needed.

Many of the earlier regulars appeared, including Tom Poston and Bert Convy. Other quiz-show hosts, including Tom Kennedy, Kennedy's brother Jack Narz, Hugh Downs, Allen Ludden, Gene Wood, Joe Garagiola and Goodson-Todman stalwarts Larry Blyden and Gene Rayburn, appeared as occasional guest panelists and proved themselves to be inquisitive, well-read cross-examiners. Cullen, Rayburn and Garagiola were all interviewer/presenters on the NBC radio show Monitor at the time, and Downs was on The Today Show.

Each incorrect vote in this version was worth $50 to the challengers. (Unlike many game shows, the appeal of TTTT had very little to do with the amount of money at stake.) Fooling the entire panel won the challengers a total of $500.

In late 1976, Moore went to the hospital with what was diagnosed as throat cancer. His place was taken by Bill Cullen until Joe Garagiola took over on an interim basis. At the beginning of the 1977-78 season, Moore appeared for one last time to explain his sudden absence, banter with the panel after the first game and to formally hand the show over to Garagiola. (Moore's introduction that day prompted one of the longest, loudest segments of audience applause in daytime TV history.)

While there were two panel games per episode, fans and critics widely praised the 1969 version for two reasons: the use of a live demonstration or video (to illustrate the story) after many of the games and the panel banter during and after games. Fans also fondly remember the soft rock-lyrical theme ("It's a lie, lie, you're telling a lie ...") that was used throughout the run.

Johnny Olson, the show's lead announcer in the 1960s CBS run, stayed with To Tell the Truth when it moved to syndication. He left in 1972, when he was appointed announcer of the revivals of The Price Is Right and I've Got a Secret on the West Coast. NBC staff announcer Bill Wendell replaced Olson until 1977; Alan Kalter took over during the final season.

TTTT used three distinctive sets throughout its nine-year syndicated run. The first set, dubbed by some as the "psychedelic" set, was used from 1969 to 1971; a toned-down set was used from 1971 through early 1973. The longest-lived set – a blue-hued, gold-accented set with the show's name in large block letters – was used for the remainder of the run.

The early success of the Moore TTTT, and the Jack Narz-emceed Beat the Clock, on the heels of the Wally Bruner (and later Larry Blyden)- hosted What's My Line?, convinced Goodson-Todman their old chestnuts still had some life. They revived Password in 1971 and I've Got a Secret for the 1972-73 season, the same year they also brought back what became TV's longest-running game, The Price Is Right. Summer 1973 saw Goodson-Todman revive Rayburn's The Match Game which ran for nine consecutive years in its network and syndicated runs.

1,715 episodes of this version had been produced by the time the show's final first-run season stopped airing in September 1978. Because this version of the show was syndicated, markets that added the series after its 1969 release often opted to carry the show for another season or two in order to catch up on the episodes that had not aired in their viewing area.

Third edition (1980-1981, syndicated)

To Tell the Truth returned for a brief one-year run from September 8, 1980 to September 11, 1981 with Canadian game show host Robin Ward emceeing. Each wrong vote paid the challengers $100. $500 was awarded for fooling the entire panel.

This version was disliked by many fans because a lot of the panel banter of the 70s version was ditched in favor of more game play. This is because in addition to the regular panel games, a minigame called "One on One" was added to the program. In the One on One segment, the four impostors from the previous two games returned to play this game. While a lot is known about the impostors, one piece of information is purposely withheld from the panel until now. After revealing that information, each of the panelists questioned the impostors directly across from them. After 20 seconds, the panelist was asked if that person did or didn't do whatever information was revealed here. An incorrect vote was worth $100 and a full stump was worth $500. This show was also known for its very disco set.

Also, it had no regular panel, though Cullen, Cass, Carlisle, Soupy Sales, Dick Clark and others showed up occasionally. Alan Kalter, who was the off-camera voice of the show late in the Moore-Garagiola run, was its main announcer. This version of To Tell The Truth (along with The $50,000 Pyramid) was the last New York City-based game show to air on television until Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 1999 on ABC-TV.

Fourth edition (1990-1991, NBC)

TTTT returned again for a year from September 3, 1990 to May 31, 1991 with Gordon Elliott, then football player Lynn Swann and then finally Alex Trebek of Jeopardy! (and at the time Classic Concentration) in the host's seat. The reason for all of these changes was because Elliott was fired eight weeks into the run because of a contract dispute with his former employers. Because of this dispute, Elliott could not appear on television for some time. Swann, a former football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers had formerly been a panelist and took over as host in the interim. After 14 weeks as emcee, Swann was replaced at the helm by the producers of the show with Trebek.

Besides Swann, the celebrity panelists for TTTT during this period included Carlisle and other stalwarts (see last paragraph of this section) Also serving were former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley columnist Cindy Adams, actor Ron Masak, actress Betty White, producer David Niven Jr. (son of David Niven), actress Polly Bergen, attorney Gloria Allred, TV personality Sarah Purcell and actor Tom Villard. The panelists were introduced in twos with the male panelists escorting the female panelists down the staircase.

There are two more hosting oddities related to this show. On the first day of the show's run, NBC inadvertently aired (in the East Coast feed only) the pilot episode of the show which was hosted by actor Richard Kline. The second oddity occurred during Trebek's run as host when his wife went into labor just before airtime. So Mark Goodson guest hosted the show (which turned out to be his last TV appearance before his death in 1992). (Goodson had previously filled in for an ailing Bud Collyer during TTTT's original daytime run in the 1960s.)

Hosting Truth made Alex Trebek the first and as of yet only person to host 3 national (American) game shows simultaneously, as he was also hosting Classic Concentration on NBC and Jeopardy! in syndication. (If other countries' shows are counted, Jim Perry joins Trebek on the list- while hosting the Canadian shows Definition and Headline Hunters in 1978, he also took the reigns of the first Card Sharks.)

Fooling the whole panel won the challengers $3000. Three wrong votes won $1500, while any less than that awarded $1000.

Two games were played followed by a reworked One on One feature. In this version of One on One, one additional contestant presented two stories, of which only one was correct. Each panelist asked one question of the person on each story. After this was completed, a selected member of the audience tried to guess which story was true. If they were correct they won $500, otherwise the contestant gets $1000 for stumping that audience member.

The show could be considered more "retro" than the 1980 edition: octogenarian Carlisle appeared more often than anyone else and old regulars Bean, Bergen, Cass and others made frequent appearances. By the end of the run, Masak and Bean alternated at the downstage end of the panel desk, with Carlisle regularly in the upstage seat. Additionally, the show's theme music was an orchestral remix of the 1969-78 theme (minus the lyrics), and the show utilized the block-letter logo from 1973-78.

TTTT, after spending many years originating from New York, originated for the first time from NBC Studios in Burbank, California. Burton Richardson was its main announcer, however, Charlie O'Donnell also announced on occasion.

Fifth edition (2000-2002, syndicated)

TTTT had a two-year run in syndication starting in 2000 with John O'Hurley as the host. Kitty Carlisle made a guest appearance for one show in 2000. The 2000 edition made TTTT the second game show (besides The Price Is Right) to exist in six decades — the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and 2000s. Carlisle also gained a distinction of being the first to appear on the same show in each of those decades, as a regular or occasional panelist or guest.

Comedian Paula Poundstone and actor Meshach Taylor were regulars both seasons on this edition. Kim Coles, Brad Sherwood and Brooke Burns joined the panel as regulars for season two. Richardson, the off-camera voice of the NBC edition, returned as the regular announcer for the two-year run, and the series was produced in Burbank at the NBC Studios.

As on the CBS daytime run, the studio audience voted. Each wrong vote awarded the challengers $1,000 meaning that $5,000 could be split by the challengers for fooling the panel. Sometimes the team would split $10,000 for fooling the entire panel.

Theme music

Metropole Orchestra leader Dolf van der Linden composed the original series theme, "Peter Pan", used from 1956-1961. From 1961-1967, the show switched to a Bob Cobert-penned theme (with a beat similar to "Peter Pan"), then to a Score Productions anthem during its final CBS daytime season. For the 1969, 1980, and 1990 versions, the music was again composed by Score Productions. Gary Stockdale supplied the score for the 2000 edition.

The 1969 version is known by many for its original psychedelic set and its lyrical theme song; the psychedelia was toned down somewhat in 1971, and replaced altogether with a more conservative blue-toned set in early 1973. However, the lyrics - much in the style of British Invasion bands of the day - remained throughout the run. The 1990 score was an orchestral rendition of the 1969 theme, no lyrics.

Contestants with later, further notoriety

Several people who would go on to fame appeared on the various incarnations of this show:

Frank Abagnale, Jr. - He appeared on the show years after he had given up his con artistry. The biopic based on his life, Catch Me If You Can opens with his appearance on the show, with actors (Leonardo DiCaprio—playing Abagnale—taking the place of the contestants. Footage of panelist Carlisle and host Garagiola from the original TTTT is used.
Sissy Biggers - When she was 16 years old, she was one of the impostors on a 1973 show in which she was pretending to be a baton twirling magician named Abbey Lee Green. When she became an adult she later hosted her own talk show alongside veteran game show host Marc Summers on The Lifetime Television Network called Biggers & Summers. Then beginning in 1996 she replaced Robin Young and became host of Ready.. Set... Cook! (the US version of Ready... Steady... Cook!) on the Food Network.
John E. DuPont- the heir to the DuPont fortune, appeared on a 1966 broadcast. He was training in the sport of modern pentathalon and was hoping to make the 1968 Olympic team that was to compete in Mexico City. He later would gain infamy for murdering Olympic wrestling champion Dave Schultz.
Teenage track athlete Mary Decker appeared on the show in the 1970s, on an episode in which her coach was a contestant; she would go on to famously collide with Zola Budd in the women's 3000m race at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Figure-skater Peggy Fleming, track star Wilma Rudolph and baseball player Don Drysdale also appeared as contestants in the Bud Collyer era.

Legacy

To Tell the Truth is the most enduring of the panel-based Goodson-Todman game shows—the type also exemplified by What's My Line? and I've Got A Secret—having been in active production at least once in every decade since the 1950s. (The only other game show that can claim this distinction is The Price is Right.) It has been seen first–run either on network television or in syndication a total of 25 seasons, just exceeding the 24 of Line and outpacing the 20 of Secret.

To Tell the Truth's place in American culture is such that the show's famous catch phrase—"Will the real ________ please stand up?"—was adapted for the hook of rapper Eminem's breakout single "The Real Slim Shady" in 2000 as "Won't the real Slim Shady please stand up?"

Almost as famous is the line used by the announcer to begin each game: "Number One, what is your name, please?"

Prince, in his 1992 song My Name Is Prince, uses the lyric "To Tell The Truth, tell me What's My Line."

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