Trivia for
"You Bet Your Life" (1950) More at IMDbPro »

• The author William Peter Blatty once won $10,000 on this show. When Groucho Marx asked what he planned to do with the money, he said he planned to take some time off to "work on a novel". The result was The Exorcist (1973).
  
  
• Usually a prop duck came down on a cable with the prize money when the secret word was spoken. On one occasion however, Groucho Marx's brother, Harpo Marx, came down instead.
  
  
• Gag writers used a Tele-Score bowling alley projector located stage left and out of camera range to feed Groucho Marx one-liners.
  
  
• Originally was a radio show starring Groucho Marx, premiering on ABC radio in October 1947.
  
  
• One of the first TV variety shows to be pre-recorded. Eight 35mm cameras were used, duplicated in pairs, in four locations. While one set af cameras shot the program with 10-minute reels, the other set were re-loaded and put into action as the reels ran out.
  
  
• Reportedly, the reason why this show was pre-recorded for broadcast is because the network was afraid that Groucho Marx's ad-libs would run afoul of the censors.
  
  
• It is part of Hollywood legend that one of the source recordings for the "laugh track" sounds heard on sitcoms since the 1960s originated from a particularly long bit of laughter that erupted during an episode of this series.
  
  
• The main reason why they used a duck to come down whenever someone said the secret word was that Groucho Marx didn't like the sound of sirens going off when a contestant said it.
  
  
• Phyllis Diller received her first national exposure as a contestant on the show.
  
  
• Groucho Marx stated that the biggest laugh he ever got on the show was when he was talking to a female contestant. He asked about her husband, and she replied earthily, "Have you ever been made love to by a Frenchman?" The audience went into gales of laughter, and Groucho answered, "Not that I can recall!"
  
  
• Groucho Marx would always cite Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez as the most popular contestant the show ever had. Gonzalez Gonzalez went on to a long career as a character actor in movies after his appearance.
  
  
• George Fenneman, Groucho Marx's announcer on 'You Bet Your Life (1950)', was once asked if Groucho ever embarrassed him on the air. "Each and every show," Fenneman replied.
  
  
• Although the ratings were still solid, the show stopped production because the producers wanted to begin syndicating reruns of the series. At the time, it was unusual to syndicate reruns of a series that was still on the air. So they replaced it with "Tell It to Groucho" (1962).
  
  

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