Celebrity Time

Celebrity Time (also known as The Eyes Have It) is an American game and audience participation television series that aired originally aired on CBS and ABC from November 1948 to September 1952. The original host was Douglas Edwards.

Celebrity Time
Also known asThe Eyes Have It (original title)/
Stop, Look, and Listen/
Riddle Me This/
Goodrich Celebrity Time
GenreGame show
Presented byDouglas Edwards (1948)
Paul Gallico (1948)
Conrad Nagel (1948-1952)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time25 minutes
Production companyWorld Video
Release
Original networkCBS (1948-1949;1950-1952)
ABC (1949-1950)
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseNovember 20, 1948 (1948-11-20) –
September 21, 1952 (1952-09-21)

Rules

The show began as a battle of the sexes between teams made up of audience and celebrity panelists, who would be asked questions which involved such topics as guessing names from the news, to identifying film clips.

Eventually, the show segued into a more general variety and performance show. In its later years, it was strictly a celebrity variety show.

Broadcasting history

Celebrity Time began as The Eyes Have It on CBS primetime, airing every Saturday and Sunday from November 20, 1948 to March 13, 1949.

During this time, the show's title changed when the host did – to Stop, Look, and Listen when Paul Gallico took over as host on November 28, then to Riddle Me This when Conrad Nagel took over the show on December 12; while Nagel hosted through 1952, the title was left behind after March 1949.

On April 3, 1949 ABC took the show and ran it until March 26, 1950, after which CBS ran it again from April 2 to June 27 and from October 1, 1950 to September 21, 1952. During this long period the series was known as Goodrich Celebrity Time.

Panelists

Panelists included, at various times, Sir Thomas Beecham, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, John Daly, Ilka Chase, Peggy Ann Garner, Kitty Carlisle, Boris Karloff, Kyle MacDonnell (1922-2004), Herman Hickman, Martha Wright, Mary McCarty (1923-1980), and Jane Wilson.

Name changes

The show had the following names during its run.

  • The Eyes Have It (November 20 – 27, 1948)
  • Stop, Look, and Listen (November 28 – December 11, 1948)
  • Riddle Me This (December 12, 1948 – March 13, 1949)
  • Goodrich Celebrity Time (April 3, 1949 – Unknown)
  • Celebrity Time (Unknown – September 21, 1952)

NBC version
The Eyes Have It
GenreGame show
Presented byRalph McNair
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time25 minutes
Release
Original networkWNBW (September–November 1948)
NBC (November 1948-June 1949)
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseSeptember 25, 1948 (1948-09-25) –
June 19, 1949 (1949-06-19)

The Eyes Have It holds one footnote in television history – it is the only game show to debut as two unrelated programs with different formats, networks, producers, and hosts on the same day.

On November 20, 1948 another show with the same name began on NBC with Ralph McNair as host; NBC's Eyes had actually come first, having been a local show on Washington, D.C. affiliate WNBW since September 25. This version ran until January 27, 1949, with a Sunday-afternoon version running from March 13 (the same day CBS' version, now Riddle Me This, ended) to June 19.

Episode status

The series (including the unrelated NBC version) is believed to have been destroyed due to network practices. No episodes are known to exist under any of the program's five distinct names.

In 2016, a 16mm kinescope was discovered by a film archivist that contained lost footage from two live CBS television shows. In addition to a nearly complete broadcast of What's My Line?, the reel of film also featured the final six minutes of Celebrity Time.[1] Both shows were broadcast on October 1. 1950. Conrad Nagel and Kitty Carlisle were among the celebrities seen from the B F Goodrich sponsored program.

References
  1. "Fragment of Celebrity Time Episode with Kyle MacDonnell Recovered". Television Obscurities. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  • Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle; The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, ISBN 0-345-45542-8
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