I'm re-living my childhood watching WML and it's been a lot of fun now that I'm an adult in the age bracket of a lot of the folks on the panel as well as their mystery challengers. I didn't appreciate the dialogue among them as a child as much as I do now, and it gives me great insight to their personalities and what made them famous.
@@briane173 Same here, I was born the year the show aired and started watching abt age 4 or 5. It was a fav of my parents then mine all the way thru HS to its end in 1967. The dialogue was a tad high handed but was perfectly normal for educated people of the time. Appreciate WML for being part of my formative years for a dozen different reasons..
Dorothy's skill as an investigative reporter really shines through on this episode. She was easily the most skilled WML player... I've read that she took great pride in her success as a panelist on this program.
@@gregmoorhead7203 The Piccard family has been explorers, adventurers, scientists, inventors for generations, which is why Don could not safely give his name. They are Swiss in origin, though some lived other places. An interesting lot and their exploits have added to research data for science.
Mitch Miller came under enormous pressure to drop Leslie Uggams from his show's lineup. There were objections to her being "colored". He flatly rejected this; he bluntly told his producers he'd prefer to have no show than drop her from the show. He featured Leslie Uggams as a soloist with a fully integrated crew--something unprecedented for the 1960's US. She was forever grateful to him for his support and for launching her career.
Yes,I remember hearing this way back(I even used to watch his show when a little child)...,a lot of musicians were the 1st to break the color barrier and had "integrated" groups back then,notably Dave Brubeck & Benny Goodman. Mitch should be noted for his stand for equality at a time when it was difficult...,if he hadn't had a top-rated show he most certainly would have been canceled!
Mitch Miller was on the recording "Charlie Parker with Strings" as an oboist. That was a Mercury recording done on November 30,1949. Buddy Rich is on drums on that session. Parker and Rich certainly are considered virtuoso improvising musicians. (Rich is not featured)
Yes, very well-rounded and interesting man for all his admitted squareness. MItch Miller did a lot of positives for everyone from "sqaures" to African Americnas, and Leslie Uggams also was female and relatively young. These days, her big roles include the DEADPOOL franchise..:P
@@xtremenortherner I saw it,too, and and Dave weas on MIller's era's Columbia, Benny Goodman on that label before, but it was pre-Miller and Goodman seemed to be the guy, like Sinatra, who'd vomit if Mitch's name ever came out of the mouths of any poor soul..
@@keithhyttinen8275 No, Mitch Miller was never the band leader for Johnny Carson. You are confusing Mitch with with either Skitch Henderson or Milton DeLugg (who each had goatees), both of whom preceded Doc Severinsen as the Tonight Show band leader.
am a Rocknroll guy. Beatles , Bowie Zep, ZZ top. Mitch Miller called it musical baby food. I don't know. Before it took off maybe it was . Even if Mitch held his contempt for it through life ( some say he loosened up ) , why is it I have fond memories of this man as a child and enjoy seeing the You Tube clip of his show . I guess it is the same reason a famous Punk Rocker ( I forget who ) was a Burl Ives fan. Fun and good music regardless of the genres always have a place. and will extend across generations.
Milt Kamen was an accomplished musician who won a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music. Before he made his mark in comedy, he played French Horn professionally, including a chair at the Metropolitan Opera. Mitch Miller also played in classical music orchestras at one time. It's not that surprising that it would be Kamen who would correctly guess the MG.
It was sweet how Mitch Miller acknowledged the audience. As I’ve said in several other posts, there weren’t many celebrities who took the time to do that.
My parents knew him was a friend , when i was little he signed his Christmas album Sing Along With Mitch and gave it to me . Very nice man Sorry This is my daughters site ops lol
In the 2nd game they played with the woman who raises pigs, the question came up if they come in different colors? John should have been quiet about this because he didn't know what he was talking about. While some breeds are white, like theYorkshires and the Chester Whites, this lady raises Hampshire's which are black and white. Another breed called Durocs are red and another breed called Poland China's are usually a spotted breed of various colors. I was surprised when she didn't make more effort to correct him on this.
@@hopelewis5650 No, you are wrong about that too. The hogs she raised was pure bred Hampshires and they are always black with a white band that goes around their bodies just behind the front legs. Dorothy asked the question about if they came in different colors and she said "No". That answer was a little bit confusing, especially to someone who has never been around hogs. The breed she raises always come in the same black & white pattern.
When Sinatra was with Columbia, the emphasis on Mitch Miller stuff led to the label pushing him to sing all kinds of material for which he was not suited. Nearly destroyed his career.
That's always so sad that people had horrible teachers - I can relate - my kindergarten teacher told me at age 5 that I'd never be a symphony conductor. People talk about all the "great teachers" - there are a ton of crappy ones too.
Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 - July 31, 2010)[1][2] was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor and artists and repertoire (A&R) man.
I'm surprised that they talked a while with the balloon guy. Some times the celebrity rushes off without much of a word. A little interview enhances the show I believe.
They often don't have much of a colloquy with challengers just because it's a half-hour show and they try to shoehorn four challengers into each episode. Quite often they run out of time for the fourth one, particularly if the panel is having a hard time guessing an occupation. Mystery guests almost always get a minute or so to promote themselves and I think that's baked into the program.
+Gary Zerr Having been in kindergarten in the same New York City school system as Mrs. Shulman taught in (six years earlier), I can attest that the typical class size at that time was about 30-40 children. My educated guess is that when a person has faced 30-40 five year olds five days a week for about 35-40 weeks a year, there isn't much else that can faze them.
Milt Kamen asked if Mitch Miller was popular with the teenagers. As great as he was, Mitch Miller was as popular with teens as Lawrence Welk was. I'm surprised at that answer. He disapproved of rock 'n' roll - one of his contemporaries described his denunciation of it as "The Gettysburg Address of Music" - and passed not only on Elvis and Buddy Holly, who became stars on RCA and Decca respectively, but on The Beatles as well, creating a fortune in revenue for rival Capitol. Previously, Miller had offered Presley a contract, but balked at the amount Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was asking.
Frankly in the long view, Miller was even more "Square" musically than Lawrence Welk. Welk at least recorded "Calcutta" which made an attempt to sound 1960s contemporary. Leslie Uggams I think was wasted on the Miller program.
Miller passed on many hits of that era. He did hate rock and roll. By 1965 he was not able to adjust to the public taste for rock and roll and was replaced at Columbia by none other than Clive Davis. And Sinatra hated him and left Columbia because of him.
Joe Postove - I thought it was an odd answer, also. But I don’t agree that Miller was more square than Welk. The TV show (square) was a small part of Miller’s contribution to music. He helped singers develop. One of them as Rosemary Clooney, who acknowledged Miller’s importance to her career. Some people may think Clooney was square, but she was a fine jazz/pop singer.
To Columbia's credit, if not Miller's, they did snag Bob Dylan in 1962. In my head, I picture Miller approving the deal only because Bob was strictly a folk singer at the time.
There are several of Mitch Miller television programs out here on RU-vid and I've enjoyed watching/listening to them. In February 1964 a very pretty Shirley Temple (in her early thirties at the time) was his guest and that's a fun ("color") show to watch for anyone who might be interested.
Mitch's on-air personality was carefully crafted to show off his easy humor. This was a large part of his television appeal. As a music director at Columbia he was hardly popular. Several famous performers (Harry James, Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Clooney among them) resented Miller's heavy-handed methods, especially being made to perform cornball trash. Sinatra blamed his temporary fall from popularity on Miller; he felt that Miller forced him to record garbage like "Mama Will Bark" and "The Hucklebuck". Rosemary Clooney HATED having to sing "Come On-a My House."
The first time I ever heard of "The Hucklebuck" is when Art Carney sang a little of it on "The Honeymooners." I thought he made it up, how could such a song exist? Then many years later I heard Sinatra's recording. I couldn't believe it was a real song. Same with "Oh Chechornaya," the entire lyric to a crazy song sung in a wonderful and crazy movie called "My Man Godfrey." That is also a real song that predated the movie.
I seem never seem to get enough of these shows. I have around 40 of these shows on dvd. As a teenager I'd watch this program at 10:30 Sunday night and go to school the next day sleepy eyed, but it was worth it.
Milt Kamen was always wired, the following Columbus Day, he performed a stand up routine that included jokes about his school teacher and killer tomatoes.
Tom; That's one of those mass delusions. The lyrics were indeed at the bottom of the screen, but the bouncing ball was never used on Mitch Miller's program.
Joe Postove Could be. She was genuinely embarrassed that she did not recognize him. She seems to be apologizing when she greets him (with a kiss!) at 10:47. You can hear her say, "I'm so ashamed!"
With so many in that family who were explorers and record setters in travel (either in the air or deep in the ocean), I wonder if that is the basis for naming the captain of the Enterprise on Star Trek TNG?
Here's one pre-taped episode, in which the fact that it was as such, could not have been anymore blatantly obvious. Look at Arlene Francis. Her right-arm was still in a sling underneath a cape, from her car accident. This was taped on June 23, 1963, immediately prior to that night's live taping.
I'm not too sure who the Milt Kamen fellow is, but in the intro he looked rather concerned for Arlene. He was readily to pull her chair for her when Bennett was walking to his chair. Even Dorothy noticed it. Rather sweet don't you think?
I'm relieved to see Dorothy without that horrible bow of ribbon in her hair. If she had kept that certain image of a 'little nice girl', I'm afraid the psychologist in me, could have gone too far in a jungle of conclusions. Nice hairday Dorothy! :)
I think her best hair days are in 1964 - 1965. Big-haired Woman of the World period. As to her 1963 wiglet look [ as someone said in the play "The Women" ] , "I despise whoever does your hair."
SaveThe TPC I'm afraid I have to say "No, thanks" to be a contestant. It wouldn't help you a bit, because I have worked with almost everything, from traditional men's to women's work, and I'm still changing. You couldn't have nailed me anyway. Let's say people interest me, and that I live and learn ;)
SuperWinterborn Okey-doke. (That's another way of saying "okay." I used it to convey friendly acceptance of your reply but then realized that you might not be familiar with that expression.)
I need to get out of the house more. I do not know Milt Kamen at all. Miller was NBC's answer to Lawrence Welk, though Miller started as a music executive and Welk started as an accordionist. I remember the program's first run back in 1961 -1966. Welk was on TV from 1955 [if not earlier locally in LA] to 1982. When Welk recorded "Calcutta" in the early 60s, at least he made the effort to sound contemporary.
Actually, before Mitch Miller became the head of Artists and Repertory at Columbia Records, he started as an oboist and English horn player. In fact, he was featured as the English horn soloist in one of Leopold Stokowski's recordings of Sibelius' "The Swan of Tuonela" for RCA Victor in the late 1930s/early 1940s. AND he recorded a couple of albums of easy-listening instrumentals as an oboist, accompanied by Percy Faith and his orchestra, for Columbia. Those albums have been re-released on CD.
+soulierinvestments Lawrence Welk was a favorite of my parents. My brother and I were a captive audience unless we wanted to go to our rooms (which we did once we got our transistor radios). "Calcutta" was not a typical Welk song. Much later I read that he hated the song and had to be strongly urged to record it.
I notice than when a contestant signs in and John reads off the name, he is in camera range as soon as he finishes saying the name. He can't be at his mike and get there that fast. I wonder if he is using another mike just off camera before joining the guest? I suppose this might be too insy-poo.
I believe they held a mike above them. You can see the shadow at times. Also a reason as he is walking back sometimes he will say something you barely hear.
I was hoping Milt Kamen would ask if HE could eat this animal. He was a Jewish fella (oh really:>), and I wonder how John may have ruled on that. Oh, well, we'll never know.
The question about color for the pig raiser was wrong- they come in white, black, red- I believe they were probably talking about the meat. I too raised Hampshires as a 4-H gal in the 50s & 60s.
Joe Postove One must also notice that Don Piccard, besides being a salesman of the product, he grew up with it, and certainly tried to ride the balloon, already from childhood! ;)
What's My Line? Mr. Piccard clearly appreciated John's show of support for his "no" answer regarding the dangerous nature of ballooning, perhaps for business reasons, but I also think that as a lifelong ballooning enthusiast, he sincerely did not regard it as dangerous. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Piccard. According to the following articles, it was not until the year after this episode was taped that the first ever fatality in modern hot air ballooning occurred during a race in which Piccard was involved: www.balloonlife.com/9707/piccard.htm; www.balloonlife.com/publications/balloon_life/9801/0002/catalina0002.htm. (I have so far only skimmed the articles myself, but it's all pretty interesting.) He left the Raven Company (the company for which John said he worked) shortly afterward.
A kindergarten teacher? Couldn't they find another beautiful woman who jumps out of airplanes on horseback into a bucket of water filled with alligators?
Dorothy was in WML episodes since the very FIRST episode of WML on 2/2/50, until her death in November 1965. Dorothy was not in any WML episodes after her death in November 1965 to the final WML episode of 9/3/67.
And if it is a person with a funny profession which may induce some laughs, it will be one of the comedians and normally MG question starts with the guest panelist.
RE: second contestant post game interview. It is an instructive discussion all right. Notice a certain lowering silence in the audience. I found the discussion creepy: a competition where the animal is judged on looks, then slaughtered, and judged on its carcase as meat products. I mean Ick. City types tend to overlook that pork in a package was one a live pig on hooves and had to be killed and cut up.
You thought it was creepy. I thought it was disrespectful in the extreme, as I have never seen a guest this show treated (by the entire panel and not by Daly), in this way, egging each other on in making jokes at the guest's expense. This was like "This is how you play 'Get the Guest," and even predates "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" I believe. This woman was nationally recognized for her raising of this breed of pig. She described how the competition is judged, reflecting the market value of the product. This is a serious occupation. She was treated by these East Coast snobs as a subject for ridicule when they and their friends use agricultural products all the time. If they found some elements of what she did not to their liking, they should have kept a respectful silence, like they did to every other guest. They were the boors, not her.
You think it was creepy, all right. I thought it was the most disgraceful treatment of a guest in the hundreds of episodes I have seen of this show. Not Daly, but the panel, egging each other on, making jokes about what this woman did, at her expense. As John noted, this woman was nationally recognized for raising this breed of pigs. She explained how the competition was judged. These effete coastal elitists, who do after all eat agricultural products and do need people in flyover land to watch this show if they are to remain on the air, did nothing but insult her. It was like, "This is how you play 'Get the Guest" even before "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" If they did not care for what they did, if they could not in a fake way say how wonderful it was, then at least have the courtesy they would show to any other guest by maintaining a respectful silence. They were uncharacteristically boors here.
soulierinvestments - I know. If I had any character at all I would be a vegetarian. Because the animal is all cut up and packaged means that you can consume it and be in denial about what you are eating.
In fact they answered "yes" to that question. What received a "no" answer was when Arlene asked if they are found off of the farm (and particularly in one's home).
Had difficulty posting a response to a comment, so I am creating a new thread. Obviously others disagree, but in the hundreds of episodes I have watched, no guest was ever treated as disrespectfully as was the pig grower (by all the panelists, not by John). This woman has won national recognition for her work in this field, which is more useful and beneficial than a lot of other fields guests on this show have engaged in. When the panelists heard about how this woman won her competition, they made jokes at her expense, egging each other on. It was like "And that is how you play 'Get the Guest;" from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Their effete coastal cultural elite snobbery was so thick you could cut it with a knife. They needed her more than she needed them -- people like her were needed to watch the show for them to get their easy fat money paychecks. They needed ag products. If they found her competition to be distasteful, they should have either faked courteous interest, as they did with everyone else, or maintained a respectful silence. Instead, they were uncharacteristically boors.
ghshinn I was in third grade. Yes, there was the Kingston Trio, but Mitch? I used to watch this show with my grandmother. I always thought he was only a "slightly" better version of Lawrence Welk...My grandmother and I watched that, too...with the Lennon Sisters...Hard to believe that 5 years later, I'd be listening to Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplaine and Jimi Hendrix.
Yes and I crank up my Orange amp and my PRS budget guitar and crank out everything to Cream Crossroads to Johnny B Goode but sometimes I pull out my Uke and strum and Sing Along With Mitch. It can be done.
@@ghshinn I was a preschooler and I heard and still love those songs! Yes, Mitch Miller did indeed push the folk craze..and that started back in the 1950sv[ Burl Ives,f'r instance]. By 1960, he was still going strong, now with the new wave of folk [KIngston Trio, to name some more examples].
![What's My Line? - Mitch Miller; Milt Kamen [panel] (Sep 1, 1963)](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
