What's My Line? - Tom Poston; David Niven [panel] (Jan 3, 1960) [UPGRADE]

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9 жыл бұрын

Replacing the original version of this show, which had significant dropouts due to satellite outages during recording.
MYSTERY GUEST: Tom Poston
PANEL: Arlene Francis, David Niven, Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf
NOTE: This video uses two sources in order to patch multiple portions where the satellite signal dropped out in my primary copy. Because the glitched version was in generally better video quality otherwise, I preserved as much of it as possible. As a result, you'll see the video quality change throughout the video, due to the splicing in of segments from the alternate copy.
Here's a link to the original video if you'd like to see the comments already left there: • Video
Many thanks, as always, to epaddon for providing his copy of this show, which enabled me to to patch the missing bits from my prior copy.
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Пікірлер: 147

@moonlightray8493 Жыл бұрын

5:28 John explaining the mishap with the cards all being mixed up *and* backwards was so endearingly funny, haha 15:08 David Niven passing naughty notes to Arlene was also adorable! I simply love these candid moments of hilarity with our beloved WML cast :)

@Noone58319 2 жыл бұрын

David Niven is class and charm personified.

@drumbum3.142 Жыл бұрын

Always Has been; Far as I'm Concerned Always Will Be.. 👏👏👏 While, technically.. not of thoroughbred pedigree - -- I for one have A.) ALWAYS Considered him a Bona-fide, Legitimate 007.. . 👏👏👏👏👏

@yawlltube 8 жыл бұрын

No fake laughter like on today's shows; people genuinely amused and amusing. Formal but never stiff; easy elegance.

@poetcomic1 4 жыл бұрын

All the 'talent' in WML came out of radio with live shows and live audiences and you can still get that 'electricity' of 'its happening now'.

@griffinpatrick8286 3 жыл бұрын

i know I'm quite randomly asking but does anybody know of a good place to watch new movies online?

@davianabel3381 3 жыл бұрын

@Benson Jordan Yea, been using Flixzone for since april myself =)

@griffinpatrick8286 3 жыл бұрын

@Benson Jordan thanks, signed up and it seems to work :) I really appreciate it !

@bensonjordan103 3 жыл бұрын

@Griffin Patrick You are welcome xD

@iamintheburg 8 жыл бұрын

Perhaps it's I ( as Dorothy, Bennett, Arlene and John would say, oh-so-correctly) in my admiration of him, but it seems to me that Mr. Niven's presence elevated the polish and glamour of the panel. And that ain't no small feat, as me and my kin would have averred, down there in Wytheville on a cold January evening.

@shirleyrombough8173 3 жыл бұрын

I couldn't but agree as me and my kin hunker down and try to become elevated as to our general level of erudition.

@shirleyrombough8173 3 жыл бұрын

Especially on a cold January evening in Texas.

@Charlottemadeleinec 9 жыл бұрын

David Niven is so cute!

@soulierinvestments 9 жыл бұрын

Last of 8 WML appearances of one of my favorite guest panelists -- the suave, the debonaire, the English David Niven.

@philippapay4352 4 жыл бұрын

soulierinvestments - A Scotsman born in London, who served in WWII with the Highlands Light Infantry. He'd probably have preferred to be called British.

@philippapay4352 4 жыл бұрын

@Aritosthenes I'm so confused. David Niven was Scottish, but never James Bond that I recall. Sean Connery was the greatest & Scottish James Bond. Did you confuse Niven and Connery? Or did I miss a whole series of films?

@lemorab1 3 жыл бұрын

@@philippapay4352 David Niven wasn't Scottish. This somehow got started either by him or a film studio publicity department. His ancestry was English going way back. He went to Sandhurst and he came from generations of British military men.

@philippapay4352 3 жыл бұрын

@@lemorab1 You may well know more than I about this. It has been my understanding, lifelong now, that he was born in England of Scottish ancestry, was the cousin of Patrick Macnee, another actor who identified as Scottish (as does Emma Thompson who was born in England of Scottish blood), and he served, commanded a Scottish military division during WWII. Thank you for informing me. I will have to check further into how this all came about, if he was (other than born in England) not a Scottish chap, lad.

@lemorab1 3 жыл бұрын

@@philippapay4352 I got information about his British ancestry from Graham Lord's biography, "Niv." I highly recommend it. It is considered to be the most comprehensive biography to date about David Niven. If you have read only "The Moon's A Balloon" and "Bring On The Empty Horses," as I had before reading "Niv," then you are in for many surprises and discoveries. Niven was posted to the Highland Light Infantry upon graduating from Sandhurst. In WWII, he was in the Commandos (headed by the Duke of Kent) and trained soldiers at a remote location in western Scotland. He did have Scottish ancestry, but if you believe Graham Lord's research, he was mainly of British ancestry. (I would love to have heard Niven talk, after a few scotches, about what he thinks happened to the Duke Of Kent. His death remains one of the murkier episodes of WWII.)

@soulierinvestments 9 жыл бұрын

1:40 >> I adore Arlene Francis's gown, but I am amazed that she manages to stay upright given that she is wearing my nomination for the heaviest necklace ever seen on WML

@iamintheburg 8 жыл бұрын

+soulierinvestments I wondered if her heart necklace was under all that hardware.

@sandybruce9092 7 ай бұрын

@@iamintheburgI was just thinking about her heart necklace -

@robertmelson2130 9 жыл бұрын

The score cards are on backwards, and we finally see what's on the back of them. No surprises: handwritten notation 'x' down 'y' to go. And they stay backwards the entire show; with its being live, there's no opportunity to fix it. John has a pad on which he keeps track of the score.

@ToddSF 9 жыл бұрын

Robert Melson -- J.C.P.C.D. did the right thing in explaining to the audience and the panel what the problem was. I have to wonder who took the cards off their rings and reassembled them. The initial question mark card was fine and so was the $5 card, but from $10 onward they proved to be a problem. Taking the rings off their mountings to sort out the cards must have been enough of an undertaking that they couldn't do it during a commercial break.

@robertmelson2130 9 жыл бұрын

ToddSF 94109 The cards need to be swapped out every week, or at least every time there's a change of sponsor. Sunbeam percolator this week, silhouette of Florida next week. A lowly job for as lowly a prop assistant as there can be. And much too complicated for JCD.

@ToddSF 9 жыл бұрын

BTW, I find those Sunbeam cards to be interesting, because each one has a different small appliance on it, including the excellent 1950's version of the Sunbeam Coffeemaster vacuum coffeemaker. I grew up with one of those -- way better than any percolator as to the quality of coffee they brewed. That one is on the initial question-mark card. Also one of their self-lowering toasters where you'd put the bread in, and that would move a "trigger" and a motor would lower the toast and raise it when the toast was done, without a sudden "pop up". Sunbeam made great appliances back then . . . .

@robertmelson2130 9 жыл бұрын

ToddSF 94109 I had not noticed--that "each one has a different small appliance on it"! I'll be sure to watch for it now. Thanks for that observation.

@neilmidkiff 8 жыл бұрын

+ToddSF 94109 I opened up my mother's 1950s Sunbeam toaster recently to get it working again - all it needed was cleaning out crumbs after all these years. The smooth raising and lowering of the toast is not motorized, but rather is actuated by levers and springs controlled by a heat-sensitive bimetallic strip as in thermostats. As the heating elements are switched on (a little trigger under one of the slots actuates the switch when the bread is inserted) the bimetal strip flexes and the levers "amplify" that movement to lower the platforms under the bread slots. At the end of the toasting cycle, the process works in reverse and the toast quietly and smoothly rises. It's a clever design and far more durable than a motor would be near that kind of heat.

@jacquelinebell6201 Жыл бұрын

The panel were all in a jolly mood today!😁

@yawlltube 5 жыл бұрын

"This stream-of-consciousness is very interesting. Can we have a question?"

@lsubandtrumpet2014 8 жыл бұрын

TOM POST ON i laughed out loud lol

@loissimmons6558 6 жыл бұрын

A nod to the role he regularly played on the Steve Allen Show: the man on the street who could never remember his own name.

@michaelclark6223 4 жыл бұрын

The dental assistant, Norma Brooks, I could not find, but the oral surgeon she worked for, Thomas J Nidiffer, is retired, but still alive as of Sept 28, 2019

@Walterwhiterocks 4 жыл бұрын

If you back to the beginning of these comments and read down, you will find more info on Mrs. Brooks.

@oldhippie81 Жыл бұрын

She past away 16 Dec 2012.

@preppysocks209 5 жыл бұрын

A one degree of separation element of Golden Fleecing is that a young Suzanne Pleshette was also in the cast. In the 1970s of course, she played Bob Newhart's wife on "The Bob Newhart Shoe" and in the 1980s, Tom Poston appeared with Bob on "Newhart." When this show aired, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" had yet to be recorded.

@lla788 4 жыл бұрын

Tom Poston & Suzanne Pleshette were a couple during this time. Of course, years later they ended up married

@jldel615 2 жыл бұрын

And Suzanne Pleshette appeared as did Poston on the last episode of Newhart.

@ToddSF 9 жыл бұрын

And here I thought that "Doggie Downers" were a fake product on a comedic TV commercial satire from "Saturday Night Live", along with "Puppy Uppers".

@loissimmons6558 6 жыл бұрын

One of many great bits from the early days of SNL. As I recall, it featured Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman.

@robertfiller8634 4 жыл бұрын

@@loissimmons6558 Actually, the product was "Vali Yum Yum" - that line is my creation, hope you like it!

@shirleyrombough8173 3 жыл бұрын

Now you're giving NBC ideas. Make them pay to use your idea.

@soulierinvestments 9 жыл бұрын

Lorenzo Semple, who I remember as a writer of Batman 1966-8, wrote "Golden Fleecing." Abe Burrows directed this before he got involved in the huge hit "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying." Poston appeared in a number of Broadway hit shows in the 50s and 60s. "Golden Fleecing" lasted from Oct. 15, 1959 to Dec. 26, 1959. Since this program was videotaped before the "Golden Fleecing" Christmas holiday closing, all the praise from John, Bennett, and Dorothy did it no good.

@dizzyology7514 9 жыл бұрын

soulierinvestments A very short run for so good a show. I can vouch for its funniness -- I saw it done by a touring company the following summer. Back in the early 60s, computers were the size of battleships, and this show is about just such a computer.

@keithhyttinen8275 2 жыл бұрын

Dorothy is good at rooting out the truth. She made J Edgar Hoover very nervous....

@bettymiller1929 9 ай бұрын

Good one!!

@MKIVWWI 9 жыл бұрын

Very nice opening theme! Thanks for posting.

@robertfiller8634 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for posting Poston!

@bbailey7818 Жыл бұрын

Love the card blooper!

@chuckschillingvideos 10 ай бұрын

Mrs. Norma Brooks was a drop dead beauty.

@MooseCall 4 жыл бұрын

Omg Tom Poston was so cute!! I love George Utley.

@SuperWinterborn 9 жыл бұрын

Even when I didn't know what they were laughing at, I found myself laughing through most of the show too. Laughter is really contagious. I would like to know what Niven wrote in that note, though. ;)

@WhatsMyLine 9 жыл бұрын

SuperWinterborn One of the enduring mysteries of WML, the contents of Niven's note, yes. :)

@SuperWinterborn 9 жыл бұрын

What's My Line? It was Dorothy's indignant "I didn't write it!" that really made me curious. David Niven's contributions didn't make this episode less entertaining. ;)

@dizzyology7514 9 жыл бұрын

SuperWinterborn And did you notice Bennett sticking his neck way out to get a glimpse of it? :-)

@SuperWinterborn 9 жыл бұрын

dizzyology Yes, in fact, I did! But I thought I'd better leave that one to a possible reply to my comment. My English isn't of that kind, allowing many literary antics, although it was tempting to comment on Bennett's obvious curiosity. ;)

@dizzyology7514 9 жыл бұрын

SuperWinterborn Your English beats my Norwegian any day! :-)

@kerrytaylor491 2 жыл бұрын

Lol I cracked up when Mr. Daly had a conference with the first contestant.

@dianepowers9643 2 жыл бұрын

Love Tom Poston. He's very cute

@jayrice5156 4 жыл бұрын

Love Dorothy's dress!

@EndingSummerwithRalph 8 жыл бұрын

SCTV "What's My Shoe Size" skit, must watch for WML? fans. Search it on YT.

@randylovering24 8 жыл бұрын

thus the pitfalls of live television when someone puts the cards the wrong side

@Walterwhiterocks 4 жыл бұрын

What surprised me is that some stage hand was not directed to fix the cards during a commercial break.

@sleb99 3 жыл бұрын

Greg .Patrei maybe one minute commercials were not long enough.

@shirleyrombough8173 4 жыл бұрын

I just love them!

@michaelmallon8013 3 жыл бұрын

If this episode aired on January 3, that would’ve been eight days after the play The Golden fleecing closed.

@elisabethanderson8654 Жыл бұрын

I crossed paths with David Niven on Park Avenue in NYC and he was so freshly clean, like talcum powder.

@dianepowers9643 2 жыл бұрын

I just noticed something. When John flipped the card after Dorothy's no response what should up was a question mark, they cut over to David Niven and then back to John and it said 5

@dianepowers9643 2 жыл бұрын

He just said the cards were all mixed up

@rmelin13231 Жыл бұрын

Norma Brooks' tiara fell down.

@1jamyc Жыл бұрын

For all the sleuthing in these comments about when this episode was recorded, my guess it was on or about 12/13/59 - the date that David Niven also appeared on the panel.

@tjbnyc76 9 жыл бұрын

I'm STILL dying to know what was in the "nahhhsty" note that David wrote during the 2nd segment!

@sbalman 4 жыл бұрын

It was a joke. Geez.

@gailjackson8941 4 жыл бұрын

Me too

@bluecamus5162 Жыл бұрын

I was curious to see if they would mention the tragedy that befell Martin Gabel two nights before, Jan. 1. The play he was producing was in it's pre-Broadway run when it's star, Margaret Sullavan died. The show would not go on. I didn't think they'd mention it, and they didn't, even though they had touted the play the week before.

@jldel615 2 жыл бұрын

Sadly, though obviously very funny in content as per the panel members, Tom Poston’s play, “The Golden Fleecing” only ran from October 15-December 26 of 1959, and then closed. So I am guessing, based on the date, this episode was not filmed live, but rather before Christmas when the show was still playing.

@jacquelinebell6201 Жыл бұрын

That would account for why there were no merry christmasses or happy new years like they usually did. Then the announcer said that it was pre-recorded, right at the end.

@davidarcudi230 5 жыл бұрын

The handy man is so young

@steveburrus9347 6 жыл бұрын

Does anyone know anything about that lovely dental assistant, the first guest? Information like how much longer she worked at that job and when she died.

@dizzyology7514 3 жыл бұрын

See comment from Mark Richardson, above.

@MrYfrank14 3 жыл бұрын

if it was that easy the crew would have fixed it during a commercial.

@mell6398 2 жыл бұрын

Rare instance of a younger Niven not wearing a toupee?

@roberttelarket4934 Жыл бұрын

Can’t believe the cards were backward!!! Someone is going to get it!

@ChrisHansonCanada Жыл бұрын

*_Dental Assistant_* *_Sells Tranquilizer Pills for Dogs_*

@magnificentfailure2390 7 жыл бұрын

Ta dah!

@roberttelarket4934 Жыл бұрын

If you want to laugh your head off forget about The Golden Fleecing play with Tom Poston and watch What’s My Line!

@roberttelarket4934 Жыл бұрын

Very good Dorothy: Are you a dental assistant?

@TheBraveIntrovert 9 жыл бұрын

Wonder what the "nahsty" note said...

@sleb99 3 жыл бұрын

The Brave Introvert Arlene may have been teasing David rather than anything exceptional really being in the note. Just a thought observing her mildly perverse sense of humor, which I find delightful!

@Baskerville22 Жыл бұрын

I'm surprised that Bennet stood to shake hands with that attractive dental assistant.

@roberttelarket4934 Жыл бұрын

Dorothy had to look at her notes on the desk to introduce David Niven.

@JD-jc8gp Жыл бұрын

Dorothy was not an entertainer and I think the pressure of having to "perform" live on air was hard on her.

@adamodeo9320 2 жыл бұрын

these 2 women were so smart - outsmarting the men

@roberttelarket4934 Жыл бұрын

Tom Poston was still alive in 2007.

@beadyeyedbrat 8 ай бұрын

He died in April 2007

@randylovering24 8 жыл бұрын

and our mystery guest got $10

@marycleary7810 3 жыл бұрын

I think it was a tiara that didn't stand up.

@soulierinvestments 9 жыл бұрын

Of course, nowadays David Niven's nasty note to Arlene would get read on live modern TV.

@sleb99 3 жыл бұрын

soulierinvestments remember this was Arlene’s funny remark. There may have been nothing naaasty in it!

@susanmoon8043 2 жыл бұрын

@@sleb99 if you listen when it's revealed that it's tranquilizers for dogs david niven says "that's what I wrote!" Drugs for dogs were not as common back then as they are now. Hence Arlene's remark that it was nasty.

@roberttelarket4934 Жыл бұрын

What is that jewelry on the forehead of Mrs. Brooks(dental assistant)?

@RichardHannay Жыл бұрын

Now I wanna know what the “nasty” note David Niven wrote

@LarsRyeJeppesen 6 жыл бұрын

In the last episode they didn't mention the end of the 50s, and here not a word about the beginning of the 60s...

@sandrageorge3488 3 жыл бұрын

Maybe it was prerecorded.

@randylovering24 8 жыл бұрын

our second challenger gets $50

@shirleyrombough8173 3 жыл бұрын

In 1950s - 60s money. Considering inflation it's a lot more money than you'd think.

@randylovering24 8 жыл бұрын

the first contestant gets $25

@yeahnoonecaresifyouarefirst 4 ай бұрын

Shame there was no mention in how he signed in 😂

@Compromised-yk9mc 6 жыл бұрын

I wonder if someone on the production staff got fired because the score cards were messed up?

@dizzyology7514 3 жыл бұрын

@gcjerryusc Goodness, your standards are pretty high. Most days I make two or three equally serious errors before lunch.

@toddmccreary4579 Жыл бұрын

I really don't think so when John Daly couldn't even figure out how to fix them

@drumbum3.142 Жыл бұрын

He's Shaken.. ...but Not Stirred.. . 😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂😂😍😂😂😂😂

@jaengen 7 ай бұрын

Was Tom Poston famous in 1960?

@hot88s18 7 жыл бұрын

Dick Wilson, except for David Niven, a Brit, the other accents were definitely an affectation.

@sdacj 3 жыл бұрын

John Daly was raised by his British mother in South Africa for the first decade of his life, then upon his father’s death moved to the US and attended prep school where he was often teased about his accent and would say he had to be taught to “speak American”. His accent was quite real.

@kristabrewer9363 4 жыл бұрын

Ok, now can someone explain to me WHY it was so hard for John to take those cards off that ringer and switch them over? It's just like a Binder; you open it up and switch them (looks simple enough to me)!

@teddytodorova 4 жыл бұрын

You can check at 17:50

@keithhyttinen8275 2 жыл бұрын

The show was broadcast live on Sunday nights. Perhaps at the Commercial break.

@toddmccreary4579 Жыл бұрын

Sometimes you are too busy to look at them in detail

@galileocan 5 жыл бұрын

As seen by the first contestant, was it a fashion style in the early 1960s for women to wear necklaces draped across their forehead????

@accomplice55 2 жыл бұрын

I have no idea what the first contestant saw.

@bigwilson8794 8 жыл бұрын

What is it with the British accents, either real or affected.

@sdacj 3 жыл бұрын

John was born and raised in South Africa by his British mother. His father died when he was 10 and he and his brother were brought to the US and enrolled in prep school in New England where he was often teased about his accent.

@ct6410 2 жыл бұрын

And David Niven was, in fact, British. Moron.

@ChrisHansonCanada 11 ай бұрын

Arlene Francis was taught to speak that way, as were other actors who began in the 1930s.

@geeeeeeo 9 жыл бұрын

For the first contestant, John is just making up the scores there. I mean, where did the first $5 come from?

@rickcuster 4 жыл бұрын

It was the very first question. Bennett asked if it had anything to do with entertainment, because she was so pretty. Answer was no.

@bettymiller1929 9 ай бұрын

Why the elaborate gowns? It’s only a game show not the opera. Just trying to draw attention to themselves

@poetcomic1 4 жыл бұрын

That dental hygienst was very pretty and ruined it with weird junk jewelry.

@michaelclark6223 4 жыл бұрын

Wardrobe was often used to distract or confuse the panel. May not have been her choice.

@robertfiller8634 4 жыл бұрын

@@michaelclark6223 A sensationally pretty female, one of the prettiest I have ever seen! - a knockout (as my dad would have put it)

@dizzyology7514 3 жыл бұрын

It's curious that there were no wolf whistles from the audience as she signed in. Although they would be considered incredibly rude today, they were regarded as acceptable in WML's era, and they commonly occurred when an attractive female contestant entered.

@shirleyrombough8173 3 жыл бұрын

I liked that weird look of a necklace pinned across the dental assistant's forehead. It might have been weirder if she had not been so attractive.