poof
10-01-2011, 10:37 AM
Christmas Day, 1990. That morning, an episode of a short-lived revival of the hit TV game show "To Tell the Truth" aired on NBC.
The panelists included Kitty Carlisle, Chris Lemmon (Jack's grown son), Peggy Cass, and Fred Burrows (real name of actor Orson Bean).
After 2 regular games, a new segment for this version was added called "One on One," this one featuring Barbara Cohen, an audience member from El Toro, California.
The guest, identified for this episode only as Mr. X, had 2 stories to tell, only one of which was the actual truth: 1. He was Hank Ketcham, the man who created "Dennis The Menace," and 2. He was Johnny Marks, the man who wrote the song "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."
The panelists, for the first segment, asked Mr. X such questions as, when asked by Chris, "What inspired the character of Dennis The Menace?," to which Mr. X responded, "My son." Peggy followed with "Who Played Dennis on TV?," Mr. X responded, "Jay North." When asked by Fred, "What's the first name of Mr. Wilson, whom Dennis drives crazy?," Mr. X responded, "George Wilson," to which the host, Lynn Swann, who retired from pro football to host this revival, joked, "He's in an insane asylum right now."
The panelists, for the second question, asked Mr. X such questions as, when asked by Chris, "How many chord changes are there in the first verse?," to which Mr. X responded, "There are only 4 chord changes in the entire song." Peggy followed with "Was the song written for the special or was the song written first and then the show came later?," to which Mr. X responded with this interesting tidbit, "It was written from a book by Robert May, in 1949 I wrote it, and the book was given away by the Montgomery Ward Company as a freebie." And lastly, when asked by Fred, "Do you have a favorite artist who recorded the song besides Gene Autry the original?," to which Mr. X responded, "Bing Crosby did a pretty good job."
At the end of the segment, Barbara Cohen guessed based on Mr. X's looks and sense of humor that he was the man who created Dennis The Menace.
Lynn asked after Cohen's guess, "What is your true story, Mr. X?," to which Mr. X confidently stated, "To Tell the Truth, My name is Hank Ketcham and I created Dennis The Menace." And Cohen, for guessing correctly, won $500.
The panelists included Kitty Carlisle, Chris Lemmon (Jack's grown son), Peggy Cass, and Fred Burrows (real name of actor Orson Bean).
After 2 regular games, a new segment for this version was added called "One on One," this one featuring Barbara Cohen, an audience member from El Toro, California.
The guest, identified for this episode only as Mr. X, had 2 stories to tell, only one of which was the actual truth: 1. He was Hank Ketcham, the man who created "Dennis The Menace," and 2. He was Johnny Marks, the man who wrote the song "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."
The panelists, for the first segment, asked Mr. X such questions as, when asked by Chris, "What inspired the character of Dennis The Menace?," to which Mr. X responded, "My son." Peggy followed with "Who Played Dennis on TV?," Mr. X responded, "Jay North." When asked by Fred, "What's the first name of Mr. Wilson, whom Dennis drives crazy?," Mr. X responded, "George Wilson," to which the host, Lynn Swann, who retired from pro football to host this revival, joked, "He's in an insane asylum right now."
The panelists, for the second question, asked Mr. X such questions as, when asked by Chris, "How many chord changes are there in the first verse?," to which Mr. X responded, "There are only 4 chord changes in the entire song." Peggy followed with "Was the song written for the special or was the song written first and then the show came later?," to which Mr. X responded with this interesting tidbit, "It was written from a book by Robert May, in 1949 I wrote it, and the book was given away by the Montgomery Ward Company as a freebie." And lastly, when asked by Fred, "Do you have a favorite artist who recorded the song besides Gene Autry the original?," to which Mr. X responded, "Bing Crosby did a pretty good job."
At the end of the segment, Barbara Cohen guessed based on Mr. X's looks and sense of humor that he was the man who created Dennis The Menace.
Lynn asked after Cohen's guess, "What is your true story, Mr. X?," to which Mr. X confidently stated, "To Tell the Truth, My name is Hank Ketcham and I created Dennis The Menace." And Cohen, for guessing correctly, won $500.