Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, we’re celebrating the 74th anniversary of What’s My Line?, which CBS-TV debuted on February 02, 1950. What’s My Line? is my favorite panel game show — largely due to the main panelists, which included, at various times throughout its initial 17-year primetime run, Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf, Steve Allen, and Fred Allen. Their efforts to uncover players’ occupations — and detect disguised celebrities — were fun because of the panel’s humor, charm, and wit. And thanks to a friend of this blog, the entire surviving collection of What’s My Line? is currently available to see on YouTube, where it’s a real time capsule for two decades of American culture.

I was prompted to make a post about this series after receiving a “Q&A” submission in November from Kevin D., who says… I notice from the recent Broadway post that you are a fan of Arlene Francis and also probably “What’s My Line?” I am curious to know if you have any favorite episodes of that classic game show. 

As a matter of fact, I do have an unofficial list of favorite episodes — I’ve seen every upload from the official channel on YouTube and have casually kept track of the installments that stand out to me, mainly because they’re funny, with good mystery guests and/or interesting contestants, and often memorable moments with the panelists and host John Charles Daly. Here’s a playlist of the broadcasts I’ve noted over the years, and below is my absolute favorite.

Come back next week for another Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for Two And A Half Men!