"Okay, whisper your secret to me and we'll show it to the folks at home" - Garry Moore
"I've Got A Secret", one of the most entertaining of all game shows, started on this date in 1952. The show was produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman but how many of you know who the creator of the show was ? Well, I'll tell you then. It was none other than Allan Sherman. Yes, that Allan Sherman who must have envisioned a Camp Grenada of game shows when he came up with the idea for the show. Actually the weekly panel game show was a knockoff of "What's My Line", which of course asked contestants to "sign in please". Like "What's My Line", "I've Got A Secret" had a celebrity contestant who would introduce him/herself with "My name is ____________ and I've Got A Secret"...
The original version of the show ran 15 years with Steve Allen replacing host Garry Moore in 1964 and after several months of panelists playing musical chairs the show settled on Bill Cullen, Henry Morgan, Faye Emerson and Jayne Meadows. Bess Myerson and Betsy Palmer would replace Emerson and Meadows in later years...
One of the more memorable segments in the long history of "I've Got A Secret" was a setup for Betsy Palmer who was on a long losing streak. A man came on stage with a carrot in each ear. His secret of course was...that he had carrots in his ears. The show's producers were ready to drop confetti and balloons when Betsy would of course guess his secret, right ? Wrong. Betsy figuring that secret to be too obvious, fanned on the secret and Garry had to disclose the obvious. Then there was the time that Bess Myerson was to milk a cow on stage but all she was able to "milk" were cow chips...live, on the air...
The original version of "I've Got A Secret" ran for the last time on April 3, 1967 but was revived for the '72-'73 season and then again in 1976 for a summer run. Oxygen later ran a daily version through 2001 and a new version just started in April of this year with an all-gay panel. "Not that there's anything wrong with that" to quote Jerry Seinfeld...
More June 19 Memories...
1846] Alexander Cartwright's New York Knickerbockers baseball team plays a game at Elysian Field in Hoboken (NJ) which is considered by some as being the 1st baseball game ever played. Of course if you read our June 12th blog it's believed that baseball was played earlier in the 19th century than 1846...
1862] Slavery is outlawed in U.S. territories...
1867] Ruthless ridden by Gilbert Patrick wins the 1st Belmont Stakes which was run at Jerome Park in da Bronx (Belmont wasn't built yet)...
1934] Congress establishes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The original duties of the FCC were to "regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest". Radio and TV came later...
1943] Henry Kissinger becomes a naturalized United States citizen...
1951] President Harry S. Truman signs the Universal Military Training and Service Act which extends Selective Service until July 1, 1955 and lowers the draft age to 18...
1952] Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine pitches a 5-0 no-hitter against the Cubs at Ebbets Field...
1952] "I've Got A Secret" makes its debut on CBS-TV (feature story)...
1953] Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing prison in Ossining (NY) on charges of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to Russia...
1956] Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin end their 10 year, 16 film career together as a team...
1961] The Supreme Court strikes down a provision in Maryland's constitution requiring state officeholders to profess a belief in God...
1964] The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the U.S. Senate...
1965] KYW which originated in Chicago in 1921 and moved to Philadelphia in 1934, only to move to Cleveland in 1956 (following me so far ?) returns to Philadelphia in 1965 (where it still resides). (Only Scotty Brink has moved more than KYW)...
1966] The Beatles are #1 with "Paperback Writer"...
1970] Jim Bouton publishes the 1st "tell-all" baseball book, "Ball Four"...
1971] Don Kirshner, who mostly had success in the music biz (Monkees, Archies, etc.) signs a group called Tomorrow. Anyone ever hear of them ? Anyone ever hear of one of the members of the group named Olivia Newton-John ?
1977] Carl Yastrzemski hits a homer 460 feet to rightfield at Fenway Park. It strikes the facade to the right of where the retired numbers now hang and is the only home run ever to reach Fenway's right field roof facade...
1978] Jim Davis' "Garfield" 1st appears as a comic strip...
1979] The reign of "Billy Martin 2" begins as the Yankee manager returns for the 2nd of 5 trips back...
1980] David Geffen's 1st signing to his new Geffen label ? Donna Summer...
1981] "Superman II" sets the all-time, one-day record for theater box-office receipts, taking in $5.5 million. Christopher Reeve (Superman), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) & Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor) starred...
1986] University of Maryland basketball star, Len Bias, the Celtics choice and 2nd pick in the NBA draft, suffers a fatal cocaine-induced seizure...
1987] The Supreme Court strikes down a Louisiana law that states that any school teaching the theory of evolution must also teach creationism as well...
1987] Ben and Jerry and the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia announce a new ice cream flavor...Cherry Garcia (their #1 most popular flavor)...
1988] A throng of East Germans gather at the Berlin Wall to hear Michael Jackson perform a concert in West Berlin...
1989] "Batman" starring Michael Keaton as B'man and Jack Nicholson as the Joker premieres...
1992] "Batman Returns" starring Michael Keaton, Michelle ("Catwoman") Pfeiffer and Danny (the "Penguin") DeVito opens...
1992] Guardian Angel founder Curtis Sliwa is ambushed and shot twice in a cab (2 John Gotti II trials have ended in mistrials and a 3rd trial is possible and likely)...
1999] Stephen King is struck from behind by a mini-van while walking in North Lovell (ME) near his home. King will spend 3 weeks in the hospital recovering...
2000] The Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling, bars officials from letting students lead stadium crowds in prayer before football games...
2000] Phil Jackson, Laker coach, wins his 7th NBA title in 9 years, his 1st with Los Angeles which was led by Shaquille O'Neal...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
1930] Gena Rowlands...
1936] Tommy (Four Seasons) Devito...
1942] The singing Spanky McFarlane...
1947] Salman Rushdie (who had a fatwa placed on him, something you don't ever want)...
| 1948] Phylicia ("The Cosby Show") Rashad... 1950] Ann Wilson (Heart)... 1954] Kathleen Turner... 1962] Paula Abdul (who will celebrate her birthday crying a lot and throwing darts at the picture of Simon Cowell she has over her bed)... 1975] Poppy ("Without a Trace") Montgomery... [Today is the 170th day of 2006 with 195 days remaining in the year and 15 days until July 4th] ... |
