What's My Line? - Toots Shor; Johnny Carson; Tony Randall & Martin Gabel [panel] (Feb 11, 1962) 

Johnny was the king of late night and no other will ever come close to his legend.

How gorgeous, polite and well dressed were the people in the 50s and 60s. Love every episode.

Wow, Johnny did one of the best disguise voices ever!!

I love the fun Arlene has pretending to be jealous of Martin when he compliments the ladies. Arlene is a class act!!!

Johnny Carson was a class act who went on to rightly claim to being “King of Late Night TV”.

Johnny Carson. That voice! You forget sometimes how talented Johnny was because he hosted the Tonight Show for so long and dropped a lot of his comic bits as time passed. Bravo. And this was right before taking over on Tonight. Who could predict he would stay on for 30 years afterwards?

Johnny has to be the most missed man in television history.

These shows are absolutely historic. Thank you so much for allowing those of us who were too young at the time to have seen these shows, to watch them now.

I love Johnny Carson’s laugh. It and his reactions on his show always made me laugh out loud 🤣😂LOL😂🤣🥰‼️

I instinctively shouted 'polo!' after Marco signed in - 21:15 - and it was quite surreal to hear a handful of audience members follow suit! Glad to hear that *some* things haven't changed in the near 60 years that seperated us.

Omg Johnny Carson's segment was hysterical LOL

October of 1962 Johnny Carson took the late night world by storm and stayed for thirty years

"I have affidavits" is arguably the funniest line in WML? history!

Love how Arlene tries to mimic the voice of the mystery guest! She did this quite often.

When the final guest signs in, after John Daly says "Marco", you can hear an audience member quietly say "polo". LOL!

To this day, what stands out the most about Carson was his depth and range of intelligence, interests, genuine modesty and graciousness with guests, and dedication and discipline of work ethic. (And the dignity of his tightly held right of privacy.) As the host of the Tonight Show, and as millions know, few can hold a candle to him, then or now. His humor ain't half bad, either.

Wow! The beginning of a nighttime legend. No one will ever match Johnny Carson.

Momentous occasion. Tony Randall would appear on Johnny Carson a record 105 times! Who knew.

Martin Gabel says at 1:55 "One of the principal reasons this show is in its thirteenth year" when introducing John Daly. He spoke nothing but the truth there.

They had no clue just how successful he would be on The Tonight Show and that it would run for 30 years. My sisters and I would beg our parents to let us stay up late to watch his show when it first came on.

Tony Randall would appear on many Carson Tonight Shows in the following 30 years.

Funny thing about Carson's camouflage here is that I could listen to 'his' softly lisped, dainty-smooth voice all day long! The man just made everything he did flow. An entertainer bar none. A national treasure. My lord was this man brainy-witty, mischievous sexy as all get out - not just early in his career but throughout its entirety.

Im like "why didnt the roof get blown off the joint when Johnny came out?" then at the end "he will be replacing Jack Paar" meaning this was before he was the king of all late night. crazy seeing him right before his status exploded

I don't know why, but it has always been funny to me when Mr. Gabel replies "yes, John" when John asks everyone if their Masks are on. It's the way he says "Yes John" that's funny to me.

... Johnny Carson will replace Jack Paar.. wow! Who could have guessed how huge Carson would become!

I am losing so much work time watching these great WML shows :). Kudos and thanks for posting them!

My Father was a regular Toots Shor back in the day , where many a famous person in town and out of town would go to Toots . It was a great institution.

Started watching Johnny Carson when I was 16, laughed so so hard many a night for twenty years.

Geez, Johnny was a looker in his youth!

Johnny has STAR written all over him already.

John Daly saying that Johnny's good news was "good news for all of television" turned out to be quite prophetic!

It would be neat to see the menus from these old places like Toots Shor, Romanoffs, Perino's and Brown Derby

Martin says at 8:30 that Toots was the only restaurant man famous enough to be a Mystery Guest, and as another commenter here has said, he probably thought of his "store" as a bar that also served food. This was just before the foodie world began to go mainstream, with writers like Julia Child, Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and so on beginning to awaken us to the possibilities of fine cooking. Not many years later New York would be full of celebrity chef restaurants.

Tony Randall is someone who never aged.

I don't like that they never have enough time for last guest...have the "MYSTERY GUEST " last!!!

Johnny was so beloved, so talented and such a gentleman. The late night talk shows up today don’t come anywhere close and aren’t even in the same universe as Johnny l miss him. ❤

When Mr. Daly announced that Carson was taking the Tonight Show, I wonder if anyone had any clue how huge Carson would be.

Johnny Carson is a legend He hosted the tonight show from the point where my grandparents watched him to two years into my marriage. Such a great talent and icon.

I hope Johnny's new gig will last.

Very special to see the great Johnny Carson as guest celebrity now knowing that he had decades ahead as the leading late night chat show host. The last voice and words most Americans heard before going to sleep were Johnny’s. A true legend.

I'm addicted to what's my line. I love it!! I was very, very young was it was on. Now I watch it on utube

Huge cheers and he didn't even have his show yet.

I was unfamiliar with the word "tanbark" that Dorothy Kilgallen used at 13:19. According to Google, the definitions are: "1. A bark rich in tannin bruised or cut into small pieces and used in tanning. 2. A surface (such as a circus ring) covered with spent tanbark."

Arlene hosted "The Tonight Show" on various occasions. Tony was a guest many times. And John Daly was a guest in the summer of 1962, when Arlene took a week of hosting duties between the Paar reign and the Carson accession. I don't know if Dorothy or Martin were ever on the show.

Fantastic seeing Johnny here. Wow!

I miss those days that will never come again, the TV shows, the fashions, the cars, the music, I just miss what used to be. It was a better world back then.

Who was the first woman to host The Tonight Show? Arlene Francis of course! Johnny here had just signed to take over for Paar and Paar was gone. But Johnny had 6 months left on his ABC contract, so in the interim, many guests hosted The Tonight Show, and one of them was Arlene.

Johnny Carson, the greatest host ever....Miss him still...

Having watched Lilly Yokoi perform so magnificently in a 1980 performance, it is a humbling thought that I was never able to master the art of even riding a bicycle. It reminds me of a remark that the great Tom Lehrer once made: "It's people like that who make you realize how little you've accomplished. It is a sobering thought, for example, that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years."

I wonder what color Arlene's gown is -- because it is stunning. And the back and forth between Martin and Arlene is a charming as ever. "My husband has covered your figure." Guffaw. We can only hope, dear.

RE: Carson. One of the funniest vocal disguises, ever. And the way he asks for repeats to double his laughs. Obvious why WML used him on the panel as regularly as it did. This would all be great enough, but then he casually tosses off my vote for the best comeback to -- how shall we say? -- a Dorothy Kilgallen dumb question for good measure. Bravo.

I love the sweet way they all say goodnight to each other, and Dorothy's frequent "come again" to the guest panelist. She says "my dear" here. I can just hear her after hosting a dinner party. ( i try to forget the waltons). I feel all tucked in.

Johnny Carson was awesome and so cute!

J Daly mentioned Toot's name so many times on this show over the years- -I doubt he ever had to pay for a drink there...

Oh god bless this day came and went ☺ for us all to enjoy for our journey through time .

I LOVE THIS SHOW. :)

Note how Dorothy moves from, "Have I ever met you at dancing class?" directly to "Are you Toots Shor?" She could have inserted a whole series of in-between questions, but she didn't.

Man, that audience welcome for Johnny, and this was even before he took over the Tonight show.

zAlthbough I am not so young, this show is older than me. So, thank you for uploading. I love this show...

so..he's taking over for Jack Parr? I have a feeling that will work out very well for him. Just a hunch.

This will be the first time I've seen Toots. Read about him and saw a caricature of him but I just happened to stumble upon this on Thanksgiving night.

I so appreciate all these episodes of WML. The magnitude of the mystery guests was staggering. THANK YOU

Thank you for all these fun videos

Johnny Carson AND Tony Randall on the panel.... wow

I struck me when the Japanese lady was on. 17 years after the end of WW II. There was a conscious effort to forgive, also demonstrated by the Italian gentleman. Where did all the tolerance go in this country? Not to pretend everyone in the US was so open minded. But those who weren't were mostly men who had been in combat. I remember 1962 quite clearly. I also remember watching Steve Allen and Jack Paar back then. It was really an experience to have the host mention Johnny was taking over from Paar. All the people on the show had no idea, nor did anyone else, what Carson would turn The Tonight Show into. He was one of the best.

Thanks very much. Excellent as usual.

Always happy to see Tony Randall

"...I think it's good news for all of television...Johnny will replace Jack Parr come the fall on NBC..." Read between the lines - people were getting fed up with Jack Parr's maelstrom of corny, off-key weirdness and undercutting of his own guests if they were funnier than him (which was never hard). It was good news for all of television indeed. Carson became television's undisputed moral anchor all the way up to Alan Alda's glory days on M*A*S*H.

Love reading on Toots and his social life. I mean, to drink Gleason to the floor is great.

I've been around long enough to have vague memories of Who Do You Trust being on TV. Who'd have imagined who Johnny (and Ed) would become. A real icon and realizing this episode is before the Carson Tonight Show even started makes it seem sooo long ago. 😳 It's ironic we can see him on WML a number of times this early but NBC criminally destroyed and wiped years of Tonight Show tapes from the 60s that are gone forever.

One of the things I love about "What's My Line" is how honor and dignity are afforded all people on the stage; and it doesn't seem to matter what kind of work the guests do that have brought them onto the program. What seems more important is that Dignity has been given to every occupation, every talent; to every dream and every desire, whether it's making scissors, doing a bicycle act or being a famous person running a fancy, notable restaurant in the (expensive) heart of New York City. There was a level playing field in place on that show, where the main concerns were centered around being respectful, honest and reverent towards each other. Having been born in 1948, I have been both "quietly" and intensely aware of people's behaviors and demonstrations of respectful decorum toward each other in various environments over these subsequent decades. In 2024, now, I think we live in a more "relaxed society" (and define that as you wish) than in the 1950s. There isn't as much formality in customs, in dress, speech or physical appearance. If you want to go to church wearing Bermuda shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and flip-flops, you are welcomed in. If you are a 300-plus pound woman wearing short-shorts in the grocery store, you are "allowed in," and you are left alone to be who you want to be. If I want to go to the market, and I haven't shaved in 4 or 5 days, so what. (But in my father's time, and he was born in 1917, you didn't go anywhere unless you were cleanly shaved. You shaved in the morning before going to work; and if you went out at night to catch a movie or visit friends, you shaved again. But I can't speak for women here.) I still hold onto some of the values of that time, because I grew up with them. The 1950s era, and into the mid-1960s, is still a part of my personal culture that has contributed in defining my perspectives and attitudes toward society, toward people in general, and toward individuals. But I also keep an open mind, as I am always looking for Common Sense [sic] to be a major guide in how and/or when I want to, or need to, make any changes in my perspectives, my thinking. I do like that we have moved into a more "liberal" kind of society where there is much more openness; but I still miss the fact that we no longer call our parents' friends "Mr. and Mrs." before saying their last names. ~drs (08/17/24)

His show was long running! He set the standard for Late Night Talk shows.

I can't get over how handsome Johnny was then.

What is interesting about the scissors, they can be used as tools in all the arts they mentioned :)

21:18 As John Daly reads off the last contestant's name while he signs in, Daly says "Marco", then pauses while he writes his last name. I think someone in the audience says "Polo". I've listened to it several times with headphones, but I'm not completely sure if I'm hearing it or just wishing to hear it. The best indication that it must be so is an audible murmur of laughter that does follow.

I find Martin such a breath of fresh air compared to Cerf. Martin is so refined and elegant and knows how to communicate without being a brute like Cerf. He's such a darling and I love his interactions with Arlene.

Toots Shor's is a cool name for a restaurant!

You could see the wit of Johnny Carson. He was destined for superstardom. Toots Shor was great. Lilly Yokoi was very attractive and she was an amazing performer and yes great legs. Check her out. Thanks for the video.

These episodes are all just so fascinating to watch. We know what happened to all of these folks over the years. But, of course, at the point these shows were aired their futures were simply their futures.

After Johnny's prime-time show on CBS was canceled in 1956 he moved to New York and spent a year doing various TV guest appearances, stand-up comedy and even starred in a short-lived Broadway play before he was named host of Who Do You Trust in 1957. That's why he could say he had been on Broadway.

This was around the time Toots Shor opened his new location on West 52nd Street in New York. He had sold his original location on West 51st Street a couple of years earlier. Sadly, it did not fare as well as the original although he tried to recreate the original in the new location. His clientele from the old location really did not frequent this location (or his subsequent location on West 53rd Street) as much as the original. The 52nd Street location was padlocked in 1971 for non-payment of taxes and by 1977 became a disco. Toots died in 1977 as an indigent man.

My late Dad had 2 buddies from California who were in the U.S. Navy with him in WWII, their nicknames were, "Blackie" and "Burnsy". And when you add Toots Shore to the list, one realizes that the best nicknames E-V-E-R were in the 1940's. And we've never had cool nicknames like that since!

"Johnny Carson would replace Jack Paar on the Tonight show in the fall" Little did they know what they hath wrought..

Lilly Yokoi was considered the world's best on the bicycle. She taught her four daughters and son to also do bicycle tricks.

Dorothy: "Are you sure it's a man?" Johnny: "I have affidavits" I'm dying, lol. Absolute class and hilarity. Such a different time from modern late night TV.

I understand they had a time limit back then as it was filmed live I believe, but it seems the best things were always on last and the panel never had enough time to figure it out.

Wish they would bring these type of shows back.....

Toots Shor had arguably the most famous restaurant in all of NYC during the 1950's-1960's! I remember when Jackie Gleason made his only appearance on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show" (I think in 1985) that Jackie Gleason said that Toots Shor always said he owned a saloon ( he didn't call it a restaurant).

It was interesting when John Daly was chatting with Lilly Yokoi right after she signed in. Having ascertained the interesting fact that she was born in NYC and was now living in Tokyo (where it would have been more typical for it to be in the reverse order), he starts asking Lilly how this came about. Then when she starts to answer, he suddenly realizes that her answer would give a huge clue as to her profession. John knew that she came from a family of circus performers and that's why she was born in NYC. And apparently based on this story about her, this would have kept her entire family out of Japan during WWII (although it probably put a damper on their popularity for some time). Lilly appears to be the best of them all, the highest paid circus artiste at one time and a two year waiting list to book her act. www.visiontimes.com/2015/06/17/this-ballerina-on-the-golden-bicycle-performs-epic-moves-50-years-ago.html Born in 1929 and retired in 1982, apparently she is still alive. According to this article, the man she eventually married added to the training she received from her parents and enabled her to expand her act tremendously. And her beautiful shape and stage presence was also a big part of her audience appeal. www.circopedia.org/Lilly_Yokoi

In 1975, Gil Fates wanted to use this mystery guest episode as a clip in "What's My Line? at 25." Carson refused to sign the legal waver: the show would have run in competition with "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson." 3 years later when Fates appeared on "Tonight" to plug his then new WML book, all was forgiven. Fates brought this mystery guest video to show. It got big laughs as it still does.

Lilly Yokoi on the Ed Sullivan Show (from the Stardust Hotel, Las Vegas) and the Hollywood Palace Lilly Yokoi - balancing act on a bike (1961) Lilly Yokoi, ballerina on bicycle / Kunstfahrrad / велофигуристка

Late night legend in a legendary show.....

This guy's pretty talented I wish him best of luck on his new show

Johnny Carson was so handsome

The Toots Shor obsession continues! It's a wonder the guy ever went broke!

what a beautiful Japanese lady! !

Toots Shor on WW2 evening early closings, "Any bum that can't get drunk by midnight just ain't tryin'"

There is a certain irony in the fact that when Jack Paar made his second mystery guest appearance here, he used virtually exactly the same voice disguise as Johnny Carson did ( What's My Line? Jack Paar (1960) ). It was very effective in both cases.

Mr Carson, cool and hilarious!! ha ha ha

How in the world did Martin guess Johnny Carson with the voice!