Many radio and television game shows have their origin in parlour games and it is no surprise to realise that I've Got A Secret was based on the game of "Secret, secret,who's got the secret". The format was simple but very durable. Sitting together on one side of a plain, unadorned set, each of four panelists took a 30-second turn questioning and then guessing a contestant's secret. The contestants were a mixture of ordinary people and celebrities and the panellists were invariably celebrities. Each episode used four contestants and, in the American original, one contestant in each episode was a celebrity. Ordinary contestants received a small money prize if they stumped the panel. In the case of the celebrity contestant, the secret was very often related to some element of their fame. Thus the first episode of Secret in 1952 featured the actor Boris Karloff's revelation was that he was afraid of mice.

    The U.S. version of the program was the longest running and most popular game show in the history of the genre. It began in June 1952 and ran on the CBS network until 1967. However it was not quite an overnight success. The premiere episode used a courtroom as the set. Host Garry Moore was pesented as a judge, the contestants as witnesses under cross-examination, and the panellists as the questioning lawyers. CBS cancelled the program after its first season but almost immediately changed its mind and the program resumed after its summer break. Secret became enormously popular and ran for 15 years on network television, a record never equalled by another game show. By the late 1950s it was consistently in the top ten of U.S. television programs; it survived the quiz scandals of 1958-59; its popularity remained intact through the first part of the 1960s. The program was revived for syndication from 1972 to 1973 and also played a short summer stint on CBS in 1976.

    I've Got A Secret had three hosts in its time on U.S. television--Garry Moore, Steve Allen, and Bill Cullen. Cullen, a long-time panellist was made famous by the program, but many other panellists were already well-known. Among them were Laraine Day, Orson Bean, Henry Morgan, Jayne Meadows, Faye Emerson and Betsy Palmer. Secret featured several producers including Allan Sherman who was to have his own career in the early 1960s as a comic singer cum satirist.

    The program was originated and produced by the inimitable Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Their partnership in developing successful game show formats had begun in radio in 1946 and I've Got A Secret was one of their earliest programs in television.

    -Albert Moran

    HOSTS

    Garry Moore (1952-1964)

    Steve Allen (1964-1967)

    Bill Cullen (1976)

    PANELISTS

    Louise Allbritton (1952)

    Laura Hobson (1952)

    Walter Kiernan (1952)

    Orson Bean (1952)

    Melville Cooper (1952)

    Bill Cullen (1952-1967)

    Kity Carlisle (1952-1953)

    Henry Morgan (1952-1976)

    Laraine Day (1952)

    Eddie Bracken (1952)

    Faye Emerson (1952-1958)

    Jayne Meadows (1952-1959)

    Betsy Palmer (1957-1967)

    Bess Myerson (1958-1967)

    Pat Collins (1976)

    Richard Dawson (1976)

    Elaine Joyce (1976)

    PRODUCERS

    Mark Goodson, Bill Todman, Allan Sherman

    PROGRAMMING HISTORY

    CBS

    June 1952-June 1953   Thursday 10:30-11:00

    July 1953-September 1961   Wednesday 9:30-10:00

    September 1961-September 1962   Monday 10:30-11:00

    September 1962-September 1966   Monday 8:00-8:30

    September 1966-April 1967   Monday 10:30-11:00

    June 1976-July 1976   Tuesday 8:00-8:30

    FURTHER READING

    Blumenthal, Norman. The TV Game Shows. New York: Pyramid, 1975.

    Fabe, M. TV Game Shows. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1979.

    Graham, J. Come on Down!!!: The TV Game Show Book. New York: Abbeville Press, 1988.

    Schwartz, D., S. Ryan, and F. Wostbrock, The Encyclopedia of Television Game Shows. New York: Zoetrope, 1987.

    Thumbnail of Steve Allen

    Steve Allen on Goodson-Todman's Gil Fates asking him to host I've Got a Secret

    01:40
    Thumbnail of Jayne Meadows

    Jayne Meadows on appearing as a panelist on I've Got A Secret and projects she turned down

    07:36
    Thumbnail of Betty White

    Betty White on appearing on What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret, and To Tell the Truth

    01:52
    Thumbnail of Elma Farnsworth

    Elma Farnsworth on her husband Philo T. Farnsworth's appearance on I've Got a Secret

    03:18
    Thumbnail of Jayne Meadows

    Jayne Meadows on her favorite show on which she's worked, I've Got a Secret

    01:19
    Thumbnail of Jayne Meadows

    Jayne Meadows on memorable moments on I've Got a Secret

    04:53

    Steve Allen

    Steve Allen on Goodson-Todman's Gil Fates asking him to host I've Got a Secret

    01:40

    Elma Farnsworth

    Elma Farnsworth on her husband Philo T. Farnsworth's appearance on I've Got a Secret

    03:18

    Jayne Meadows

    Jayne Meadows on getting a job as a panelist on I've Got a Secret and meeting Steve Allen

    06:38

    Jayne Meadows on appearing as a panelist on I've Got A Secret and projects she turned down

    07:36

    Jayne Meadows on memorable moments on I've Got a Secret

    04:53

    Jayne Meadows on leaving I've Got a Secret for Broadway

    02:28

    Jayne Meadows on her favorite show on which she's worked, I've Got a Secret

    01:19

    Betty White

    Betty White on appearing on What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret, and To Tell the Truth

    01:52

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