Celebrity Time
Encyclopedia
Celebrity Time was an American game
and audience participation television series which aired originally aired on CBS
and ABC
from November 1948 to September 1952. The original host was Douglas Edwards
.
between teams made up of audience and celebrity panelists, who would be asked questions which involved such topics as guessing names from the news, to identifying film clips.
Eventually, the show segued into a more general variety and performance show. In its later years, it was strictly a celebrity variety show.
primetime, airing every Saturday and Sunday from November 20, 1948 to March 13, 1949.
During this time, the show's title changed when the host did – to Stop, Look, and Listen when Paul Gallico
took over as host on November 28, then to Riddle Me This when Conrad Nagel
took over the show on December 12; while Nagel hosted through 1952, the title was left behind after March 1949.
On April 3, 1949 ABC
took the show and ran it until March 26, 1950, after which CBS ran it again from April 2 to June 27 and from October 1, 1950 to September 21, 1952. During this long period the series was known as Goodrich Celebrity Time.
, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, John Daly
, Ilka Chase
, Peggy Ann Garner
, Kitty Carlisle, Boris Karloff
, Kyle MacDonnell, Herman Hickman
, Martha Wright
, Mary McCarty
, and Jane Wilson
.
On November 20, 1948 another show with the same name began on NBC
with Ralph McNair as host; NBC's Eyes had actually come first, having been a local show on Washington, D.C. affiliate WNBW
since September 25. This version ran until January 27, 1949, with a Sunday-afternoon version running from March 13 (the same day CBS' version, now Riddle Me This, ended) to June 19.
due to network practices. No episodes are known to exist under any of the program's five distinct names.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
and audience participation television series which aired originally aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
from November 1948 to September 1952. The original host was Douglas Edwards
Douglas Edwards
Douglas Edwards was America's first network news television anchor, anchoring CBS's first nightly news broadcast from 1948–1962, which was later to be titled CBS Evening News.-Early life and career:...
.
Rules
The show began as a battle of the sexesBattle of the sexes
-Films:*The Battle of the Sexes , American film directed by D. W. Griffith*The Battle of the Sexes , American remake of the above, also directed by D. W. Griffith...
between teams made up of audience and celebrity panelists, who would be asked questions which involved such topics as guessing names from the news, to identifying film clips.
Eventually, the show segued into a more general variety and performance show. In its later years, it was strictly a celebrity variety show.
Broadcasting history
Celebrity Time began as The Eyes Have It on CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
primetime, airing every Saturday and Sunday from November 20, 1948 to March 13, 1949.
During this time, the show's title changed when the host did – to Stop, Look, and Listen when Paul Gallico
Paul Gallico
Paul William Gallico was a successful American novelist, short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures...
took over as host on November 28, then to Riddle Me This when Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well-known television actor and radio performer.-Biography:...
took over the show on December 12; while Nagel hosted through 1952, the title was left behind after March 1949.
On April 3, 1949 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
took the show and ran it until March 26, 1950, after which CBS ran it again from April 2 to June 27 and from October 1, 1950 to September 21, 1952. During this long period the series was known as Goodrich Celebrity Time.
Panelists
Panelists included, at various times, Sir Thomas BeechamThomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, John Daly
John Charles Daly
John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly (generally known as John Charles Daly or simply John Daly (February 20, 1914 – February 24, 1991) was an American journalist, game show host and radio personality, probably best known for hosting...
, Ilka Chase
Ilka Chase
Ilka Chase was an American actress and novelist.Born in New York City and educated at convent and boarding schools in the United States, England, and France, she was the only child of Edna Woolman Chase, the editor in chief of Vogue magazine, and her first husband, Francis Dane Chase.Chase made...
, Peggy Ann Garner
Peggy Ann Garner
Peggy Ann Garner was an American actress.A successful child actor, Garner played her first film role in 1938 and won the Academy Juvenile Award for her work in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...
, Kitty Carlisle, Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, Kyle MacDonnell, Herman Hickman
Herman Hickman
Herman M. Hickman was a Hall of Fame college football player for the University of Tennessee and later a head football coach for Yale University. He played pro football for the NFL's Brooklyn Dodgers. He later was a TV and radio analyst and broadcaster, a writer and a professional wrestler.-...
, Martha Wright
Martha Wright (actress)
Martha Wright is a retired American actress best known for her performances on Broadway and on television.Beginning to sing in radio, musical theatre and opera in her native Seattle as a teenager, Wright moved to New York City and debuted on Broadway by age 21, where she soon had a major success...
, Mary McCarty
Mary McCarty
Mary McCarty was a County Commissioner in Palm Beach County, Florida from November 1990 until her resignation - announced on January 8, 2009. Along with her husband, Kevin McCarty, she steered bond deals with the county government, the county's Housing Finance Authority, the city of Delray Beach,...
, and Jane Wilson
Jane Wilson
Jane Wilson is an American painter associated with both Abstract Expressionism and landscape painting.- Life :Wilson grew up on a farm in Iowa during the Great Depression. In 1941, she enrolled at the University of Iowa, where she studied both painting and art history...
.
Name changes
The show had the following names during its run.- The Eyes Have It (November 20 – 27, 1948)
- Stop, Look, and Listen (November 28 – December 11, 1948)
- Riddle Me This (December 12, 1948 – March 13, 1949)
- Goodrich Celebrity Time (April 3, 1949 – Unknown)
- Celebrity Time (Unknown – September 21, 1952)
NBC version
The Eyes Have It holds one footnote in television history – it is the only game show to debut as two unrelated programs with different formats, networks, producers, and hosts on the same day.On November 20, 1948 another show with the same name began on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
with Ralph McNair as host; NBC's Eyes had actually come first, having been a local show on Washington, D.C. affiliate WNBW
WRC-TV
WRC-TV, channel 4, is an owned and operated television station of the NBC television network, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
since September 25. This version ran until January 27, 1949, with a Sunday-afternoon version running from March 13 (the same day CBS' version, now Riddle Me This, ended) to June 19.
Episode status
The series (including the unrelated NBC version) is believed to have been destroyedWiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
due to network practices. No episodes are known to exist under any of the program's five distinct names.