I've Got a Secret

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I've Got a Secret (abbreviated as IGAS) was a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television and was created by Allan Sherman as essentially a knockoff of What's My Line?. The original version of the show premiered in June 19, 1952 and ran until April 3, 1967. It was then revived for the 1972-1973 season in once-a-week syndication and then again from June 15 to July 6, 1976 for a summer run. Another production ran on the Oxygen cable channel in a daily version, with original episodes airing through 2001.

GSN premiered a new version on April 17, 2006. This version has an all-gay panel. So far, this aspect has not been played up on the show or in GSN's promotions for it, although host Bil Dwyer is introduced as the "straight man" at the top of every show.

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Hosts and Panelists

This show was a production of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman and was created by comedian Allan Sherman. The show was originally hosted by radio and television personality Garry Moore. After several months of an ever changing panel, the show settled down to include game show host Bill Cullen, acerbic comedian Henry Morgan, tv hostess Faye Emerson and actress Jayne Meadows. In 1958, Emerson left the show to star in a play. She was replaced by actress Betsy Palmer. The following year, Meadows moved to the West Coast to live with her husband Steve Allen. She was replaced by former Miss America Bess Myerson. In addition, Moore was replaced by guest hosts off and on throughout the run of the show (usually, but not always, in the summer). These guest hosts included panelists Henry Morgan and Betsy Palmer, among others.

On September 14, 1964, Garry Moore left the show and was replaced by Steve Allen on September 21, 1964 who also hosted the show during the 1972-1973 season. Former panelist Bill Cullen hosted the show during the brief 1976 CBS summer revival.

The Oxygen channel version of the show was hosted by Stephanie Miller until August 2001. Regular panelists in the Oxygen version included JM J. Bullock, Amy Yasbeck, and Terri Garr.

The GSN version is hosted by Bil Dwyer, who's called "the straight man to our panel": ex-baseball player Billy Bean, Sirius Satellite Radio host Frank DeCaro, Broadway performer Jermaine Taylor, and comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer. All four of the listed panelists have made their homosexuality public.

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Gameplay

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Standard Rounds

Each show contained two regular contestant rounds. Occasionally (but far less often than sister show What's My Line?), an extra contestant would appear after the guest round. A round was basically a guessing game where a panel tried to ascertain the "secret" held by the contestant. A contestant (often more than one) would enter. The host would introduce the contestant and ask their name. He would then say "OK whisper your secret to me and we'll show it to the folks at home" and then the contestant would lean in and whisper his secret to Moore. When the show first started and up until the middle of 1954, each panelist would have 15 seconds of questioning time. When that finished, the contestant was awarded $10 and 2 times around the panel would end the game. Later on, they merely went once around the panel. The contestant received $20 each time time ran out on the panelist for a total of $80. They would also often receive a carton of Winston cigarettes or a supply of whatever product was sponsoring the show at that time. Unlike the big money "quiz shows" which were soon to follow and then become a major scandal, the money and prizes were always secondary by far to the play of the game and the interaction between the panelists. On Oxygen's version, the challenger earned $200 for each stumped panelist, while stumping the entire panel earned a total of $1,000 for the challenger.

GSN's current edition awards $1,000 and dinner for 2 to challengers who stump the panel.

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Guest Rounds

Once a show, a celebrity came on with a secret. At the beginning of the show, the celebrity had opened the show with "My name is ______ and I've Got a Secret!". Early on, the celebrities' secrets could be real ones, or made up by the staff. Eventually this segment wasn't a game at all. Instead the celebrity would be there to demonstrate something, such as how men and women react to each other or the panel discussing their first dates. They even went so far as the panel putting on a play or singing a song. Until the end of the series, however, real secrets were sometimes done. Sometimes, the secret was that the panelists were being sent to some far off location to film a news report, which whould be shown the next week.

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Style of the Show

As opposed to its sister show, I've Got a Secret was played mostly for laughs. Yes, they did occasionally have serious secrets, such as a pilot who was saved from drowning by a civilian, but more often than not, the game was not played seriously. The panel was always referred to by their first names and everything was done informally. Also, demonstrations were often done after each secret, which was strictly taboo on What's My Line?. Also, Garry was much more likely than John Daly was to throw the towel in if the panel was very far off the secret. What was important was the entertainment value, not the game itself, which is also why often the celebrity "secret" really wasn't a secret at all.

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Super Secrets

Most of the best remembered secrets were segments where things just got out of control. One memorable secret had actor/comedian Wally Cox using a box full of wood furniture to make an entire bedroom set. Chaos ensued when everything started to fall apart, despite the lengthy rehearsals that they had done before the show. On another occasion, one of the contestants was supposed to be able to blow up an inner tube to the point of explosion just by blowing into it. Great idea, but it took him so long that celebrity Andy Griffith finally just came out and watched the spectacle with everyone else. Other well remembered secrets included actor Paul Newman serving a hot dog at a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball game at Ebbets Field to Henry Morgan. Another one had then-actor Ronald Reagan making multiple different entrances, each to thunderous applause. There was also a memorable stunt for Easter which ended with children chasing rabbits all over the stage. At other times, a cow was brought onstage to be milked by Bess Myerson, but wound up defecating on camera, and the great illusionist Michel de la Vega suspended Garry Moore from shoulders to heels between ordinary table chairs and levitated Betsy Palmer over three upended sabres. They also sometimes had historical secrets, such as the one told by Samuel J. Seymour, who appeared two months before his death in 1956. Seymour was the last surviving person who had been at Ford's Theatre in Washington when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.

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Miscellaneous

The 1st theme used on the show was "Plink, Plank, Plunk" by Leroy Anderson.

The 2nd theme used was the Theme to "A Summer Place" by Max Steiner.

The 3rd theme used was an instrumental version of "This Might Be the Start of Something Big" by Steve Allen.

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External links

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