What's My Line? - George Burns; Martin Gabel [panel] (Jun 18, 1961) 

Well, I'm surprised no one has offered this theory yet, so I guess I will after all. I was hoping someone else would say this first and then I could just concur. :) In my opinion-- just opinion, mind you-- John Daly is a bit tipsy in this program. Here's my "evidence", such as it is: (1) He's acting a bit oddly from the very start of the program, kicking things off by noting how much he didn't want to be there due to Father's Day, (2) He barely let anyone else talk (except George Burns of course), (3) He got a basic piece of information about the first guest wrong (he wasn't the pilot of the Caroline), (4) His speech and his movements feel, to me, overly measured, as if trying to compensate for any mild intoxication through sheer concentration (5) His moderation of the questioning segments was a bit off, too. One example: during the golf pro segment, he stretches the point of whether the sport could be played indoors to the point of absurdity, such that even *Dorothy*-- who was always trying to wheedle a partial yes by modifying what she meant by her questions-- volunteers to take a simple "No" on that question! Just my take, of course-- but I've watched this one 4 times in the past couple of months, and I'm convinced a bit more each time that John had a couple of drinks more than usual before the show. He's not the sort of guy who'd ever appear on national TV totally snookered-- but I do think he's just a bit tipsy. Regardless, we'll never know for sure-- but I'd sure love to see what Gil Fates had to say about this episode in his production notes. TV.com's listing for this show doesn't note anything out of the ordinary about John's performance here.

At 9:48, John mentions that LtCol Swindal "flew the hump" during WWII. He was referring to a supply operation in which allied aircraft flew cargo over the Himalayas to resupply Chiang Kai-shek and American Army Air Corps bases. Those flights from India to China were difficult and dangerous due to violent turbulence, winds from 125-200 miles per hour, icing, and less than adequate navigational equipment. Occasionally, Japanese fighter planes attacked the transports, which were unarmed and unescorted. A total of 373 aircraft were lost during the operations. Hats off to LtCol Swindal and his fellow pilots for their incredibly heroic work.

Martin: "Except in my marriage, I've had no instinct for success in my life." Awwwwwwwwww I need my own Martin

Such a classy show, always.

I truly enjoyed this episode, because they didn't have to rush through the mystery guest, and because I love George Burns, and I love that he got to converse for a while.♡

Arlene Francis went to Germany to film the movie "One, Two, Three" with James Cagney, Horst Bucholz and Pamela Tiffin. James Cagney was a riot with lots of fast talking and great one liners.

George Burns would have been 65 years old here. He looks Great, and as always... impeccably dressed. An entertainer's entertainer.

John Daly is such a delight to listen to. So gracious !

Burns was a character. Funny as hell. I'm 62. Hope I live as long as he did.

I love Dorothy's comment about the feudal systems and serfs/Cerfs. She certainly was knowledgeable.

Mr. Burns is a riot without even trying. Genius.

George Burns was a naturally funny man, a sweetheart, and truly loved Gracie to whom he gives ALL credit for his success. Of all of his books my favorite was, Gracie: A Love Story. I can watch him and Gracie all day long, their movie shorts, their TV shows, his stand-up, all of it. He was in every sense of the word a mensch.

Colonel Swindal was still flying Air Force One for the flight down to Dallas on November 22, 1963 and the sad flight back to Washington after the assassination. That particular aircraft, the Boeing 707 tail number 26000 is at the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH and you can walk through it and out the same door the casket was removed from.

Good God! George was amazing!

I saw George Burns "live" one time. I think I knew about ninety percent of the material by heart. Thus, nearly each time he offered up another piece of schtick, I was falling out of my seat laughing by the time he'd finished the first sentence.

Yeah. Wow. 65. That's 2 years b4 I was even born. I grew up with George Burns. Love him and Gracie Allen. Love their show. She was absolutely one 9d the funniest ladies in comedy. I know she was intelligent, but man did she play dumb, just, so spot on. I think that shows how smart, and of course, how talented she was. May they both R.I.P. They will always b missed and treasured. At least in my heart.

George was 65 here. Lived to 100. Passed in 1996. Missed.

George Burns and the word institution go hand in hand.

Arlene Francis -- bless her heart -- very often wore the most complicated outfits for this program. Dorothy Kilgallen was always considerably more conservative in what she chose to wear.

I would have liked to have appeared on this show. For 15 years I operated a caterpillar farm.

Saying glass of "worter" with that cigar burning, how could they not get George Burns!

I was surprised when George walked in front of the panel they didn't smell the cigar smoke & figured out who he was right away.

The great George Burns!

What I liked about this episode is that the two contestants as well as the mystery guest had ample time to chat with John Daly after their profession or identity had been revealed. All too often in other installments they just leave or have a very short exchange, so I think having just two contestants rather than three would've been the ideal way to assure that each person got a fair amount of airtime.

I don't know why but I like how even when they know who it is they ask one more question.

George Burns sounded like Walter Mathau from the Odd Couple during mystery guest segment.

Martin Gabel used the six-syllable word "ratiocination" at 13:19. He knew what it meant, logical reasoning, but he didn't know how to pronounce it. The first syllable is pronounced "rash".

By George going over to the panel as he was walking on, especially with the lighted cigar should have given them a clue who it could've been.

Eisenhower called his official airplane the "Columbine" but Kennedy did not name the plane, so it was called by its call sign "Air Force One". LBJ also did not name the plane but Nixon called it "The Spirit Of '76". But since the Ford Administration the Presidential plane has always been called "Air Force One" - when the President is aboard.

I’m guessing that Arlene’s going to Germany was to film the hilarious movie 123 with James Cagney. Highly recommended as it’s a great movie 👍

22:59 "Jack laughs at a red hat." 60 years ahead of his time.

At 16:41, John Daly asks the golfer if she is going to play at the "Baldersol". In fact, she was going to play in the Women's U.S. Open at the "Baltusrol Golf Club" in New Jersey. The winner of the open was Mickey Wright. "Baltusrol" is not an easy name to get right. I remember that when the men's US Open was played there, the write-up in my hometown newspaper used a different spelling almost every time the name was printed. They only got it right occasionally.

George has ZERO chance of fooling anyone with his voice, he should have whistled or barked

Daly wasn't acting at all strange or unusual; he conducted himself quite normally.

I like that Arlene can engage just as enthusiastically with a fish counter and a pilot for the President. DK always comes off as 'exclusively' very snobbish, and acted all coy around "influential" people. I know, her job. But Arlene pulled off the diplomacy with such grace and tact, never looking down her nose at people.

George Burns didn’t disguise his voice well enough. Loved the signature cigar.

I have never seen GB except as a very old man. Hardly recognised him this young.

Bennet often used the word "dexterity" in his questions. I especially remember one episode of WML from the middle of the 1960s with a young boy (I think he was 8) who was a trick billiard shooter. Bennet asked him if his speciality needed dexterity and the boy whispered to John Daly "-What's that?" And all laughed and applauded. Maybe you can't expect a young child to know a difficult word as 'dexterity'! Steve Lawrence was one of the panelist I think.

Just watched martin Gabel in the film goodbye charlie ,funny ,

Arlene sounds like she's had a few goblets of wine.

One of George Burns’ answers caught my attention. “Yes, but I’m still speaking to Jerry Lewis.” I wonder if he could be referencing the rift that developed between Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.

Wow; the pilot for the president!

What an interesting man George Burns was. So witty and intelligent.

Arlene went to Germany to film Billy Wilder's "One Two Three" Nice work if you can get it. RE: First contestant. Eisenhower's pilot also appeared on WML.

How dare he call Gracie ,' stupider,' oh, Mr. Cerf!

When it's revealed that Ms. Francis is heading off to Germany for a few weeks, no reason was forthcoming. Clearly, she was wending eastward to co-star in the great Billy Wilder's One Two Three. She was essaying the role of James Cagney's wife. Flash forward a year-or-so later---no surprise---and she was wonderful in the finished film.

Given the standards of today's educational system (of which I am a part), there is almost no one brought up who could understand Dorothy's pun about the feudal system and "Cerfs".

I love this show.. it was a bit before my time but I enjoy this immensely…

The BURNS & ALLEN show was WAY AHEAD of it's time...It was really about nothing.

Arlene looks exhausted during the introduction of her husband. It's odd.....seen it time and time again. So often she looks WONDERFUL, freshfaced, glamourous and bright. Then every so often, the dark shadows appear along with the crows feet and her eyes are like narrow slits. I suppose that's life!!

Daly seemed to be more relaxed in this episode. Maybe because he knew there wouldn't be any contestant after the MG sequence, and didn't have to rush anything this time.

How tragic. I love to hear news of the Kennedy family in its time but it is so heart breaking.

Bennett knew that it was George before he said a word. Must've smelled the cigar and had some inkling that he was in the neighborhood.

I would always wonder if this show could be revived today, but I think it's impossible with the increase use of machine or artificial intelligence to do work. Sigh, gone were the days.

I think the word for Arlene is "Vivacious "..a fabulous panellist and beautiful charismatic lady!!⚘️⭐️✨️🌟

Man, Mr. Cerf just called Mr. George Burns wife, Gracie, stupider. Interesting. Wrong choice of words he may have thought as the words came out of his mouth. Lol! Poor choice of words. Mr. Burns knew what he met I'm thinking. Lovely couple and nice act.

I heard George Burns say once his career for 40 years consisted of one joke and then she died. While there was some truth to that, it wasn't entirely true. George was funny on his own.

13:05 Martin Gabel casually drops "ratiocination." Nice.

I'm watching this because it aired less than one month before I was born.

I was taken aback when John Daly referred to the golfer as performing a "service". What service?

The passage of time: Marleen Hagge, age 27 here, died 5/16/23 at age 89. Batlusrol Golf Course is named after the farmer who used to own the land, Mr. Baltus Roll.

Yes, John does seem very...reflective.

When Bennett Cerf told Arlene not to go to the wrong side of Germany, he was referring to Communist East Germany. East Germany distanced itself from Communism, when it was reunited with West Germany, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and has been Communist-free ever since.

George Burns was born in 1896. He lived to be 100. He was very young looking when he was on this show in 1961.

RE: " Murder One" by Dorothy Kilgallen. It's too bad that Dorothy's concentration, time scheduling, and health issues did not let her finish the whole book herself. Bennett finally published "Murder One" two years after Dorothy died. Her father wrote part of the book based on her outlines.

RE John's comment about working on Father's Day. Since WML had videotaping available to it, I wonder if Daly and Cerf discussed with G-T doing a tape for use on Father's Day. If they did, they lost.

John Daly name-dropping stories.... "Skip ahead!" Useless air time.

I don't think Daly is acting all that weird. And I don't think he's "tipsy". I think the others are correct in their guess that Daly is just trying to stretch the program due to the lack of a fourth contestant. It's interesting, though, that this is one of the times that we can hear a bit of one of the "small conferences". When he's having a conference with the golfer after Bennett asks about whether there's any connection with the water, you can clearly hear at 12:25, Mr. Daly says "...just to confuse them some more".

I'm not going to weigh in on the "tipsy or not" debate just now, but just want to make a suggestion to those considering the question. I've just watched the July 2, 1961 episode with Yogi Berra, and there is no fourth challenger that night either. See if you get the same impression about John's condition or approach that night that you get from this episode.

Just to show the range of George Burns' skills, watch the 1981 movie "Going In Style". It also includes Art Carney and Lee Strasbourg. It's a remarkable film that could have been played for silly laughs; instead it was rendered as a gritty drama. Fantastic acting from those three, with Burns as the ringleader.

Daly does indeed seem drunk as some have said. Even now at 3:33 trying to get to his chair he seems off balance. Being it was Fathers Day maybe he was VERY upset for not getting time off. Maybe he wanted a guest MC/HOST....

They mentioned twice that Arlene was going to Germany for a couple of weeks. She was going to play James Cagney's wife in the film; One, Two, Three which was directed by Billy Wilder. Great show. In the show synopsis above it states that John Daly was acting strange. He was long winded, and they didn't get to a 3rd guest.

Did Lt Col Swindal fly President Kennedy to Dallas in Nov 63?

PILOT FOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY PROFESSIONAL GOLFER 🤪14:12 Dorothy could clearly be heard whispering while John spoke to the golfer. When asked what his sex life was like in his eighties, George Burns said it was like trying to put an oyster in a slot machine.

I think John Daly was 'padding'/stretching his material because there was no 3rd challenger after George Burns. Mr Daly is normally quick to thank people and to bring on the next person but in this episode he tells a rather boring story about golf, he flatters the President as if he wants a job from him and he lets George Burns talk till nearly the end of the show. Maybe the final challenger was ill, nervous or absent - there is something odd and aimless about the moderator's time-filling behaviour.

Hold it... hold it. John asked if George called Jack Benny recently, and George responses that he called *Gracie.* Did John ask the wrong question??

interesting that the term "air force one" was never used. the term was invented in the 50s but I guess it hadn't entered general public knowledge yet by 1961..

George Burns alway burns a cigar!

i just cant believe some of these guests come on the show and cant answer the simplest questions about their occupations.

Its a wonder George Burns lived so long with all those stinky cigars. Seemed he out-punned Bennett. I wonder if Gracie was retired from illness since died so young.

OK , no doubt about it now. The panel definitely gets advance hints about the professions, at least sometime. The show started with Arlene asking the pilot about working for a non-profit organization. I realize its one of the standard questions, but never first. Why else would she ask that then?

John is off the mark in this episode...??

Mr. Swindal had to change his flight plans to Texas!

Arlene Francis is so hot. So smooth and classy. They don't make them like that anymore.

I live in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.

At 13:00, Miss Arlene seems a tad lizard-lidded and again at 15:35 - maybe she and Mr. Daly had their postprandials together before the broadcast. Or she's maybe just more glamorous than usual.

116 golf score !! WOW.. That's not good..

George looks like Charles Lane in the thumbnail.

7:56 to 8:03 Hilarious!

all these references to President Kennedy are very poignant.

Wasn't Johnny Olsen the regular announcer by this time?

Well John does seem to be rambling over the golf course a bit!

Mrs. Robert....Hag? 11:07

Maybe adding to the "tipsy" theory: On the 2nd guest, the female pro golfer, John should have ended it right away when Bennett said "champion golfer," either by just giving a "YES!!" or "Flipping over the cards." It was overly obsessional to say "no" and leave it for Dorothy (or anyone) to say "pro golfer." ALTHOUGH.....this is hardly the only time there was such over obsessionality about a guess being not 1000% right and letting it go on. IMO it was the onliest occasional thing about the show that wasn't great.

Why does George Burns when he smiles look like Robert De Niro here?

Oh how heartbreaking. This was while President Kennedy was still alive.

This IS an unusual episode. We get to see George Burns's entertainment style at length. He appeared on WML 3-or-4 times and was hugely funny every time. His 1954 appearance with Gracie was in a comedy class all its own, exploring the comic potential of knocks on wood. Interestingly enough, we also get to see at length John as interviewer. He can hold his own with Larry Blyden [who Gil Fates wrote was WML's great interviewer host] very good as always. I wonder if John stretched his post-game small talk because --- for whatever unexpected reason -- the show did not have a fourth contestant on hand. You know -- got hit by the plague in the green room sort of thing.

Is this slowed down?

What was the word Martin Gabel used? 🤔

Arlene seems slightly drunk.. lol