Marty Allen is indeed alive and well! He just wrote an amusing autobiography, which I had the good fortune to buy recently. When I sent him an e-mail, he sent me not only an autographed photo (with the Beatles) but a CD by his wife, who's also a terrific singer. How about that? Definitely one of the good guys!
John makes a cryptic remark to Woody and Phyllis at the beginning about "being here on this particular occasion" (?) which I didn't completely understand. This is the first live broadcast they did in which the cast now knew that they were being cancelled. They all found out on Feb 14 when the New York Times leaked the story that CBS was cancelling all their gameshows due to low viewership, despite the fact the gameshows were still turning a profit due their low production costs.
As you can see from this video, Marty Allen was an icon of comedy in the second half of the twentieth century. He is known for his fast and intelligent ad-libs, and his unabashed often self-deprecating humor, all delivered with the most polished professionalism.
Young trapeze prodigy Master Ray Valentine of the Flying Valentines DID make trapeze work an adult profession. Following his parents' retirement, Ray continued the family act as "The Flying Romas" with wife Mary and another woman. When Ray was 30, he was seriously injured in a trapeze accident in San Antonio when, Texas. A cable holding their platform gave way and he fell suffering a broken bone in his hand, broken jawbone and a gash on his face. The other two managed to be ok. In the late 1990s Ray produced the Valentines Mighty American Circus
The little boy was so polite and well-behaved. Just like with the boy who did billiard tricks, Bennett used (for boys in that age) the difficult word 'dexterity'.
Johan Bengtsson In the 60s, I think a young child would be expected to know such words. Certainly in the UK....my sisters and I were reading books and singing songs before we went to any school. Nowadays a child will get praised for things that were basic in those days. In short, I think Cerf expected the kid to know the word 'dexterity'. Phyllis muttered a suggestion to him about using smaller words but in her case it diesn't surprise me!!
In the history of employed boys on WML, only columnist Henry Makow comes close in my mind to first contestant Ray Valentine. This episode has my vote for one of the most startling episodes of all WML. The kid has impeccable manners. Woody Allen’s first question to Ray is just hilarious.
The cast and crew spent the next 5 months, from March 5 to July 23, cranking out 24 episodes. 15 of them were live, and 9 of them were taped for broadcast. They took a five-week break after July 23, and came back on September 3, for the live broadcast of not only the final episode of the color season, but also the finale.
Allen and Rossi appeared 4 times on WML in 1964-7. I can't decide which of their appearances is the funniest. This one has the banter between the two Allens to recommend it.
Bits of this episode have bounced about YouTubia in cruddy shape for years. Again, kudos to Gary and associates for restoring it [despite some negative scratches] in one goodly piece .
I agree completely. Phyllis is wonderful to watch and very easy on the eyes. I've developed somewhat of a belated crush on her. Suzy doesn't fit in with the show at all.
I know he was such a word snob and you would think that since he had a son of his own that he would’ve known better than to use such lofty words with so young a child.
Oh come on! I’m that boy’s age, and in 1967 my mother bought one volume a week of Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia, just $2.89 each with her weekly groceries. After my chore folding the paper grocery bags for her (we reused them for garbage) I would sit down and read the new volume cover-to-cover. I remember being excited by volume “24 Turk-to-Wash” so I could learn about the history of the Union of South Africa, and close with the biography of the first President. My friends also read encyclopedias, and earlier, dictionaries - first to look up the curse words we’d heard in the playground, then to more serious stuff. Don’t patronize young Valentine for his ignorance - and speak up, not down, to children. If they hear a new word he can look it up, and grow a bit more worldly. My own young son throws many new scientific terms at me that I’ve never heard - I’m delighted and proud to look them up, and to attempt to keep up with him.
Bennett's Weekly Pun: "horse of a different cruller"... 16:39 haven't we heard that one before? Obviously Bennett thought it was time for a comeback. :) the lady from Kansas was not amused... :)
Paul Edelstein Seriously, Paul. Why do you do this? What benefit or entertainment does it provide to you to claim so many times that people appearing in these videos are related to you? It's so silly. Really.
The same week Woody Allen was on this episode, he was seen on "I've Got a Secret", as special guest. He was there to read definitions given by first and second graders, and it was up to the panel to guess the words. It may have been the inspiration for the short lived Mark Goodson Production of "Child's Play" (1982-1983).
Kind of an odd comment by Marty Allen at the 22:53 mark when he told Rossi: "You better laugh at me, I pay your bills". I know he was joking, but it kind of came across that he was telling his partner that he was the reason the act was successful.
Too bad G-T did not spring to record a half dozen WML 1967 episodes in color. Here’s one that should have been so preserved Arlene and Phyllis in their gowns, Woody Allen, Ray Valentine, and that hat of Marty Allen’s.
Sebastian Cabot did a few game shows in his time, but never WML. He would have been a "pip" with Master Valentine, although it would have been even better with Larry Blyden as the host.
Bennett Cerf sometimes be such a snob and so obtuse. He used the words dexterity and prowess with a 9 year old? 😖 He somewhat redeemed himself at the end with his compliment about the boy.
+Purple Capricorn I"m okay with Suzy K. but Mrs. Adolph Green..... She is my least favorite regular guest panelist. Even more horrifying is that if they had decided on a permanent replacement for Dottie Mae Killgallen, it would have been this one.
There is, or at least those of us in the States have been led to believe, an English dialect that adds an "h" in front of words starting with a vowel (as in the example above) and deletes the "h" in words that begin with one (example: "I'm 'enery the eighth, I am ..."). For those speaking with such an accent, one must take great care when ordering either an air conditioner or hair conditioner over the phone from a store that carries both.
Joe Postove I saw Allen and Rossi live in Las Vegas once. At Vegas World (which is now the Stratosphere). They were giving away free tickets - and they were worth the price. They're funnier here than I've ever seen them anywhere.
@@loissimmons6558 Near the beginning, John makes a cryptic remark to Woody and Phyllis about "this particular occasion". He may referring to the fact that they now knew they had been cancelled. I assume it was confirmed by now. Everyone was jolly on the set, but I bet there was a lot said among cast and crew backstage.
How often DID John get his hand kissed? John talking with Ray and with Marty tonight indicates how good an interview he could do when time permitted. A recent post on WML Facebook says Marty is still around and pushing 93. The gift of humor.
Hello Dere! I will say, without fear of contradiction (unless some of you savages want to contradict me) that Allan and Ross WERE funnier than Wayne and Shuster!
soulierinvestments I know comedy is like music, a matter of what moves you. But Allen and Rossi defining funny is like Ed Sullivan defining a nice smile.
I watched "Annie Hall" last Monday on TCM. Better than in the last few years I've seen it. It is easy to see why it is Woody Allen's most famous film of all.
Bennett's questioning of Ray Valentine. Wow. Apparently Bennett did not talk with many kids. He is brilliant in the second game. I am such a sucker for his horse of a different cruller pun. I laugh every time I hear pastry humor.
I have a feeling any kid back in the 1950's and 1960's who appeared on WML and misbehaved would likely have been in serious trouble with his or her embarrassed parents. It was the era where parents didn't blame the teachers when their kids had difficulty in class and they didn't tend to make excuses for their children. Not like nowadays.
ToddSF 94109 Having no kids of my own and then living with a family for a year and a half with eight kids reminded me how different children can be outside the home than they are inside the home. I want to be fair to the little bastards of the world too.
I suspect that, if there had been even a glimmer of such a possibility, such child would not have been put on the show in the first place. The production staff was certainly savvy about such things in the interview process. And, if one had "slipped through the cracks," Gil Fates would certainly have told the tale in his book about the series.....
Okay, Mr. Bennett, when I went to buy a new vehicle when my silver Camry, named Horace after the jazz pianist inventor of hard bop, I was asked if I would name my next car Horace. "Only if it's silver," I responded. "Otherwise it would a Horace of a different color."
No-- it was apparently director Franklin Heller's idea that the guests squeeze into one chair to make it easier to frame them both in closeup. It's extremely awkward!
I have a month's worth of WML-related "extras" to post in April, then I'll be upgrading shows that have a/v problems or are incomplete, and about 25 shows with original commercials to add back in. That should take us through at least May. Sometime very soon I plan on launching a channel for the nighttime version of "To Tell the Truth".
Ya know, he hadn't flipped over those cards for no reason in a while, I really thought the producers might have had a talk with him. But obviously not :(
Witty woody ? That was just for the alliteration's sake.... I always thought he had Woody wits, frankly. On RUclips, the most used word seems to be "underrated". I want to launch a new fashion, a new craze, like all those new 1960's dances that appeared in quick succession, by using the word.... over-rated.
Marty Allen is indeed alive and well! He just wrote an amusing autobiography, which I had the good fortune to buy recently. When I sent him an e-mail, he sent me not only an autographed photo (with the Beatles) but a CD by his wife, who's also a terrific singer. How about that? Definitely one of the good guys!
TheJonaco Marty recently passed away
John makes a cryptic remark to Woody and Phyllis at the beginning about "being here on this particular occasion" (?) which I didn't completely understand. This is the first live broadcast they did in which the cast now knew that they were being cancelled. They all found out on Feb 14 when the New York Times leaked the story that CBS was cancelling all their gameshows due to low viewership, despite the fact the gameshows were still turning a profit due their low production costs.
Thank You for posting all the old What's my line shows.
My pleasure, Paul-- glad you're enjoying the shows. :)
As you can see from this video, Marty Allen was an icon of comedy in the second half of the twentieth century. He is known for his fast and intelligent ad-libs, and his unabashed often self-deprecating humor, all delivered with the most polished professionalism.
Young trapeze prodigy Master Ray Valentine of the Flying Valentines DID make trapeze work an adult profession. Following his parents' retirement, Ray continued the family act as "The Flying Romas" with wife Mary and another woman. When Ray was 30, he was seriously injured in a trapeze accident in San Antonio when, Texas. A cable holding their platform gave way and he fell suffering a broken bone in his hand, broken jawbone and a gash on his face. The other two managed to be ok. In the late 1990s Ray produced the Valentines Mighty American Circus
Very respectful is that nine year old.
very serious young man.
intense concentration - no doubt.
One of the few times I have seen John Daly crack up so much. Great fun on this one.
John Charles Daly was good with all the contestants, including the children.
Cerf delivers his puns so authoritatively smug. I love it!
The little boy was so polite and well-behaved. Just like with the boy who did billiard tricks, Bennett used (for boys in that age) the difficult word 'dexterity'.
Johan Bengtsson In the 60s, I think a young child would be expected to know such words. Certainly in the UK....my sisters and I were reading books and singing songs before we went to any school. Nowadays a child will get praised for things that were basic in those days.
In short, I think Cerf expected the kid to know the word 'dexterity'. Phyllis muttered a suggestion to him about using smaller words but in her case it diesn't surprise me!!
In the history of employed boys on WML, only columnist Henry Makow comes close in my mind to first contestant Ray Valentine. This episode has my vote for one of the most startling episodes of all WML. The kid has impeccable manners. Woody Allen’s first question to Ray is just hilarious.
I remember watching this show when I was growing up and I loved it Cheri TN
A rare perfect game tonight. This was getting increasingly rare during the past few years, even when Dorothy was still alive.
I love how they are so formal! MASTER VALENTINE!
I'm fairly certain that "mister" derives from "master."
I love how Phyllis and Arlene talk to the young boy, as if he was a child of their own. John Daly, too. But as others have said, not Bennett.
Arlene never ages! Miss Dorothy here.
I like contestant #2's Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes hairdo.
The cast and crew spent the next 5 months, from March 5 to July 23, cranking out 24 episodes. 15 of them were live, and 9 of them were taped for broadcast. They took a five-week break after July 23, and came back on September 3, for the live broadcast of not only the final episode of the color season, but also the finale.
That little boy was so polite to day yes ma'am . Some kids these days don't know how..🤦
19:16 LOL at Phyllis!
Once again, Marty Allen & Steve Rossi are a riot! Marty's Father, Woody Allen!
Allen and Rossi appeared 4 times on WML in 1964-7. I can't decide which of their appearances is the funniest. This one has the banter between the two Allens to recommend it.
Bits of this episode have bounced about YouTubia in cruddy shape for years. Again, kudos to Gary and associates for restoring it [despite some negative scratches] in one goodly piece .
We need to bring manners back.
Young mister vmValentine 💝. Old school America 🇺🇸
I am certainly in the minority but I look forward to Phyllis Newman’s appearances. Suzy Knickerbocker on the other hand.....
I agree completely. Phyllis is wonderful to watch and very easy on the eyes. I've developed somewhat of a belated crush on her. Suzy doesn't fit in with the show at all.
Did Bennett Cerf think that little boy was going to know the word prowess or dexterity?
I know he was such a word snob and you would think that since he had a son of his own that he would’ve known better than to use such lofty words with so young a child.
Oh come on! I’m that boy’s age, and in 1967 my mother bought one volume a week of Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia, just $2.89 each with her weekly groceries. After my chore folding the paper grocery bags for her (we reused them for garbage) I would sit down and read the new volume cover-to-cover. I remember being excited by volume “24 Turk-to-Wash” so I could learn about the history of the Union of South Africa, and close with the biography of the first President. My friends also read encyclopedias, and earlier, dictionaries - first to look up the curse words we’d heard in the playground, then to more serious stuff. Don’t patronize young Valentine for his ignorance - and speak up, not down, to children. If they hear a new word he can look it up, and grow a bit more worldly. My own young son throws many new scientific terms at me that I’ve never heard - I’m delighted and proud to look them up, and to attempt to keep up with him.
Bennett's Weekly Pun: "horse of a different cruller"... 16:39 haven't we heard that one before? Obviously Bennett thought it was time for a comeback. :) the lady from Kansas was not amused... :)
My relative on right
Paul Edelstein Seriously, Paul. Why do you do this? What benefit or entertainment does it provide to you to claim so many times that people appearing in these videos are related to you? It's so silly. Really.
What's My Line?
If it comes down to it we are all related.
druidbros We're all brothers, man. Except women, who are all sisters.
What's My Line? What are brothers and sisters, then? Some strange intergalactic amalgam made of gum and auto parts?
R.I.P. Marty Allen. Heaven just got a liitle more funnier.
The same week Woody Allen was on this episode, he was seen on "I've Got a Secret", as special guest. He was there to read definitions given by first and second graders, and it was up to the panel to guess the words. It may have been the inspiration for the short lived Mark Goodson Production of "Child's Play" (1982-1983).
Credit to Nat "King" Cole who brought Allen & Rossi together. 22:00
you don't hear much about allen and rossi gonna have to check them out, i can't get over how beautiful phyllis newman is.
Another cute kid!
Kind of an odd comment by Marty Allen at the 22:53 mark when he told Rossi: "You better laugh at me, I pay your bills". I know he was joking, but it kind of came across that he was telling his partner that he was the reason the act was successful.
Either that, or he was active in helping to manage the business affairs of the act. Could be.....
I think it was a crass thing to say, no matter the truth of the statement.
Too bad G-T did not spring to record a half dozen WML 1967 episodes in color. Here’s one that should have been so preserved Arlene and Phyllis in their gowns, Woody Allen, Ray Valentine, and that hat of Marty Allen’s.
Sebastian Cabot did a few game shows in his time, but never WML. He would have been a "pip" with Master Valentine, although it would have been even better with Larry Blyden as the host.
Bennett Cerf sometimes be such a snob and so obtuse. He used the words dexterity and prowess with a 9
year old? 😖
He somewhat redeemed himself at the end with his compliment about the boy.
Phyllis Newman reminds me a lot of Marlo Thomas.
Me too
She was really pretty.
Had a huge crush on her. Wish I could have seen her in The Apple Tree.
20:07: "Are you urbane, sophisticated wits"? One, or both in unison, should have replied, "Half."
Watching Phyllis and Knickerbocker is like nails on the board....
+Purple Capricorn I"m okay with Suzy K. but Mrs. Adolph Green..... She is my least favorite regular guest panelist. Even more horrifying is that if they had decided on a permanent replacement for Dottie Mae Killgallen, it would have been this one.
Knickerbocker is vacuous. Newman is thick.
Well, it could be worse - we could have got Barbara Feldon.
John keep wanting pronounce "oats" as "hoats". Is there some thing in old English that calls for an "H" in front of oats?
There is, or at least those of us in the States have been led to believe, an English dialect that adds an "h" in front of words starting with a vowel (as in the example above) and deletes the "h" in words that begin with one (example: "I'm 'enery the eighth, I am ...").
For those speaking with such an accent, one must take great care when ordering either an air conditioner or hair conditioner over the phone from a store that carries both.
I don't think so. Every week he finishes the show with "HWOTS....my line." So it's an affectation.
Love the black and white television.
How long has it been since A&R were MG? It seems we suffered through them just a while ago.
7/31/66, significantly less than a year before this show.
What's My Line? To the dungeon go! Rule breakes thee! Citizen's arrest! Citizen's arrest! Citizen's arrest! Citizen's arrest!
Joe Postove Well, the producers knew WML was cancelled by this point. Now or never!
What's My Line? Never would have been ok with me.
Joe Postove I saw Allen and Rossi live in Las Vegas once. At Vegas World (which is now the Stratosphere). They were giving away free tickets - and they were worth the price. They're funnier here than I've ever seen them anywhere.
By this point, the cast and crew now know about the cancellation.
It had been reported in the NY Times. Had CBS confirmed it or were they denying it at this point?
@@loissimmons6558 Near the beginning, John makes a cryptic remark to Woody and Phyllis about "this particular occasion". He may referring to the fact that they now knew they had been cancelled. I assume it was confirmed by now. Everyone was jolly on the set, but I bet there was a lot said among cast and crew backstage.
How often DID John get his hand kissed? John talking with Ray and with Marty tonight indicates how good an interview he could do when time permitted. A recent post on WML Facebook says Marty is still around and pushing 93. The gift of humor.
Hello Dere! I will say, without fear of contradiction (unless some of you savages want to contradict me) that Allan and Ross WERE funnier than Wayne and Shuster!
Joe Postove Oy, Wayne and Shuster. Those specials they did on classic comedians. . . 100% insight free.
I cannot even remember Wayne and Shuster. So obviously there is no comparison. These guys nearly defined funny in the 1960s.
soulierinvestments I know comedy is like music, a matter of what moves you. But Allen and Rossi defining funny is like Ed Sullivan defining a nice smile.
Well, Ed's smile must have been good enough for his purposes. I'm trying to remember who was funny in the 60s. Was Jack E Leonard still around then?
I watched "Annie Hall" last Monday on TCM. Better than in the last few years I've seen it.
It is easy to see why it is Woody Allen's most famous film of all.
Vahan Nisanian I think his best film is his first....Take The Money And Run.
Are you urbane, sophisticated wits? Lol, John flipped a card for each of those descriptions.
Bennett's questioning of Ray Valentine. Wow. Apparently Bennett did not talk with many kids. He is brilliant in the second game. I am such a sucker for his horse of a different cruller pun. I laugh every time I hear pastry humor.
Is there a separate category for "pastry humor" soulier? If so, would you send me a dozen cimmaron buns?
"I am such a sucker for his horse of a different cruller pun" which the nice horse lady got not at all.
Well, you know. Sometimes it is hard to see the herd for the pony.
soulierinvestments I guess you had to go a fer piece for that'un Soulier, huh?
No. It was right there.
Marty Allen and Steve Rossi....boy did they disappear soon after this.
I wonder when John Daly knew the show was being axed by CBS later in 1967.
I will say the acrobatic youngster was very nice and polite. Has "What's My Line" ever had any horror stories of kids who were not so much?
Gee, I thought there was no such thing as a mean or impolite kid back then. ;)
I have a feeling any kid back in the 1950's and 1960's who appeared on WML and misbehaved would likely have been in serious trouble with his or her embarrassed parents. It was the era where parents didn't blame the teachers when their kids had difficulty in class and they didn't tend to make excuses for their children. Not like nowadays.
ToddSF 94109 Having no kids of my own and then living with a family for a year and a half with eight kids reminded me how different children can be outside the home than they are inside the home. I want to be fair to the little bastards of the world too.
I suspect that, if there had been even a glimmer of such a possibility, such child would not have been put on the show in the first place. The production staff was certainly savvy about such things in the interview process.
And, if one had "slipped through the cracks," Gil Fates would certainly have told the tale in his book about the series.....
Okay, Mr. Bennett, when I went to buy a new vehicle when my silver Camry, named Horace after the jazz pianist inventor of hard bop, I was asked if I would name my next car Horace. "Only if it's silver," I responded. "Otherwise it would a Horace of a different color."
Did they EVER put out a second chair...?
No-- it was apparently director Franklin Heller's idea that the guests squeeze into one chair to make it easier to frame them both in closeup. It's extremely awkward!
Woody Allen, UK
I don't remember hair styles of 1967 very well, so I do not know what to make of the second contestant's do. It seems top heavy.
Probably stuffed with hay.
+soulierinvestments about the time "beehives" became popular, especially with the country folk. phyllis newman has a similar do.
23:28 Phyllis looks smitten with Steve Rossi.
A question for you hairdo buffs. Wasn't the second contestants styles, well, maybe, a few years out of date?
Actually, Mrs. Kiehl's "Hay Stack" may have inspired Marge Simpson's hairdo.
I think it was, but I bet the show's hairdressers were responsible for that and THEY were out of date.
what a shy kid :)
FlavioGirl Not particularly. In fact, I'd say not at all. I thought he was clear, prompt and bold with his answers.
MARTY ALLEN IS 95 I BELIEVE?
what shows will you be downloading after you do the last WML?
I have a month's worth of WML-related "extras" to post in April, then I'll be upgrading shows that have a/v problems or are incomplete, and about 25 shows with original commercials to add back in. That should take us through at least May. Sometime very soon I plan on launching a channel for the nighttime version of "To Tell the Truth".
What's My Line?
ok.i will be looking forward to to tell thetruth channel.
God that woman who sells hay looks like she is wearing a helmet. Awful hair!
That 'do is called the Haystack. It's a local Kansas thing.
*_FLYING TRAPEZE ARTIST_*
*_BUYS AND SELLS HAY_*
Ya know, he hadn't flipped over those cards for no reason in a while, I really thought the producers might have had a talk with him. But obviously not :(
Why are you the only person on the planet who gives a damn about that?????
Witty woody ? That was just for the alliteration's sake.... I always thought he had Woody wits, frankly. On RUclips, the most used word seems to be "underrated". I want to launch a new fashion, a new craze, like all those new 1960's dances that appeared in quick succession, by using the word.... over-rated.
Those comedian ? we’re very unfunny.
Indeed. I agree.