What's My Line? - Arthur Godfrey; PANEL: Digby Wolfe, Peggy Cass (Apr 17, 1966) 

Peggy is adorable! It’s delightful when she claps at revelation of the drum tester’s profession. She’s regularly enthusiastic and kind to everyone. Not every celebrity is this gracious.

Wow, I really am missing Dorothy more than I thought that I would.

Peggy Cass is SO cute, I love her. No wonder we couldn't get enough of her on TV panels back then!

I used to enjoy Peggy Cass as a panelist on "To Tell the Truth" back when I was a kid or teenager, after Polly Bergen left that panel. It was only as an adult that I saw "Auntie Mame", which became one of my favorite films -- Rosalind Russell in the title role was simply marvelous -- and I think Peggy Cass as Agnes Gooch was just perfect.

On my second viewing, I notice that at 23:26 Arthur Godfrey calls John by the familiar form of his middle name: "Charlie, we're getting old." We've been told that JCD was "John" professionally and "Charlie" to friends and longtime colleagues, and this corroborates that.

So funny when Peggy Cass opens the questioning of the second challenger and starts to ask "number one". For a moment her mind had teleported back to "To Tell The Truth". I always enjoyed Peggy Cass. She was funny, a very good game show player (one source on IMDB credits her as having an encyclopedic mind) and she was hip. When the other panelists were turning up their noses at the baby boomers music, she appreciated it and showed she was knowledgeable about the topic. I remember her quoting lyrics to "MacArthur Park" when Jimmy Webb was on TTTT and she seemed particularly infatuated with him. But my favorite part was her repartee with Orson Bean. It was more fun watching them snipe at each other than watching Bennett and John. In fact, they were HS schoolmates. And Orson is the only one that Digby Wolfe asks Peggy to say hello to at end of this episode of WML. IMHO she would have made an excellent regular panelist on WML. She knew the format, she was comfortable in game show settings and would have been a good counterpoint to Arlene Francis, but in a different way than Dorothy Kilgallen. But that would have meant either losing her chemistry with Orson and needing to find a replacement for her on TTTT (in essence just kicking the can down the road) or bringing both of them over to WML and then needing to find two new panelists on TTTT or having rotating guest panelists on that show (and again kicking the can down the road). (Had they brought over both Peggy and Orson, WML would have had 4 of the 5 regulars who were raised in Boston with Bennett the lone New Yorker.) Oh well, back to the drawing board on how to replace Dorothy.

I never really thought that WML suffered specifically from the loss of Dorothy on the panel until I began watching these post-Dorothy episodes chronologically, back to back. They really need her incisive, intuitive questioning; they seem to strike out far more often without her than they ever did with.

Nice to hear Arthur Godfrey address Mr Daly as Charlie. John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly was Charlie to his friends.

Arthur Godfrey once tried his hand at hosting game shows. He was the host of the original pilot for a Heatter-Quigley game show for CBS called "People Will Talk" (the series was then picked up by NBC, and Dennis James became the host).

Godfrey, such a huge star at the time and today totally forgotten.

I love this hairstyle on Arlene; it's incredibly feminine and flattering. I wish she'd employed it more often, as lovely as always looked.

Arlene Francis and Ross Martin did a whole week of daytime "Password" episodes, and these aired from April 18-22, 1966.

Arthur Godfrey, like Milton Berle, was in his comeback mode. He still did his midday five day a week CBS Radio program. He hosted some sort of talent program the next year. He did act in Frank Tashlin's "The Glass Bottom Boat" this year. I saw it as a kid and thought it was hugely funny. Speaking of hugely funny, his 1952 WML appearance was one of the most funny mystery guest appearances in all history.

Thank you for the upload. It surprised me but I guess this was common in 1966 that someone would light a cigarette on camera.

I still can't get over how wild Arthur's first appearance in 1952 was. Before his controversial firing of Julius La Rosa.

Mr.Wolfe sang the tune"Pass Me By"for Cary Grant's next to last film"Father Goose".

Testing drums is not a product. It's a service to the drum manufacturer. The drum manufacturer has a product.

according to the book TV Game Shows by Maxene Fabe, one of Arthur Godfrey's Mystery Guest appearances almost didn't happen as he was home in his pyjamas watching TV when the show was announced as coming up next. Godfrey suddenly remembered he was supposed to be the Mystery Guest that night and raced over to the TV studio, making it just in time. It would be nice to find out which of his (at least 3 ) appearances this is in reference to.

John and Arthur in the late 1930s both worked at the CBS Radio affiliate in Washington DC. In October 1939 that station recorded a full day of its broadcast schedule. Arthur and John featured in it. Arthur was early morning radio personality. Discussing George Cukor's new film "The Women," Arthur said in that style of his, "Talk about style, wait til you see the 250 dollar nightgown in the Technicolor fashion show in "The Women." Imagine that, 250 dollars for a nightie."

Weird....as soon as I saw Don Friedman's name being chalked on the board I thought 'MUSICIAN!' because of the 70s song 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' but then I thought 'ahhh no that's DEAN Friedman!!'......thrn he turns out to be a musician anyway!! Weird.

Out of all the comments about the loss of Dorothy on a game show I can only think of the loss to her family. A show is farthest from their minds.

The Glass Bottom Boat is one of my faves!!

I started to think about voices. I wondered why I didn't find Peggy Cass's raspy voice annoying. I came to the conclusion that she has such a likable personality and gives off so much positive energy that I can't help but like the voice that comes with it. OTOH, Suzy Knickerbocker is glamorous. But her voice is a dull. not very feminine near monotone. And maybe it's the gossip columnist in her (although Dorothy Kilgallen didn't come across this way), but her personality comes across to me as icy cold and calculating. And that nullifies any glamour appeal she may have as far as becoming a permanent panel member.

"That's like Ringo... He doesn't play them, he tests them." LOL

An addition to my last post: According to the CBS Television City website, the pilot was taped at CBS Television City Studio 31 in August 1962. The actual series aired from July 1 to December 27, 1963, taped at NBC Studios Burbank.

Look at Arthur suddenly kiss Arlene at 23:45!

Arlene blew all the stops with that dress. Wow !

DOG CATCHER TESTS DRUMS FOR A MUSICAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY MG: ARTHUR GODFREY

Boo for Digby! He slammed Ringo! 😡

When I think of Arthur Godfrey I think of Lipton tea and soup.

Bennett - you have something to do with drums. Contestant - yes. Digby Wolfe - I know what it is! It has to be CYMBALS! Nice one Dumby...I mean..Digby

Does anyone know what happened with John's first marriage? There's surprisingly very little available. Today everything down to his breakfast would be online. But to watch him happily married in the beginning of the show, to going through a divorce and having babies, is very odd.

I am not a fan of personalities that are vindictive types and Arthur Godfrey fits the bill.

First time in ages anyone has smoked on the panel, Digby.

Peggy Cass is alright here. She replaced Polly Bergen on "To Tell The Truth" in March 1961. Come to think of it, I can't decide which one was better. One thing I liked about Polly, was that she would play dumb ("I voted for so and so, but I know in my mind it's so and so").

Daly asks Godfrey if he has seen the rushes. "Rushes" is another word for the filmmaking term "Dailies".

Digby Wolfe created Laugh In.

20:25; I was stunned.

They got to dogs eventually, but come on now--dogs both give milk (like all mammals) and can be eaten (I know we don't like to think about it here, but it happens)!

The drum tester's face looks like Pete Townsend

Arelene dear....its Digby WOLFE not Digby WOOD

*Is it my imagination or did I hear someone in the audience boo when Arthur Godfrey signed in?*

Digby lighting up a cigarette on the panel

Technically it gives milk, they are eaten in my country and in China I believe.......

Godfrey was a putz.

It's funny when panelists used to smoke on theses shows back in the day...

Oh, oh! Digby Wolfe just lit up a cigarette. I thought they had stopped smoking during this show. This is two years after the Surgeon General warned Americans about the health risks of smoking.

Man it must be annoying when the person beside you suddenly starts smoking. 😩

Godfrey was lucky I wasn't around. He'd have gotten punk-slapped on a regular basis. 🗣️💥👋

A panelist smoking!