To Tell the Truth 

Five-day-a-week syndicated revival of one of Goodson-Todman's most durable and longest-lived formats: A celebrity panel determines which of three contestants is the actual person associated with a given story.

Stars:

Peggy Cass, Bill Cullen, Kitty Carlisle

Cast

Series cast summary:
Peggy Cass	...	Herself - Panelist / ... 44 episodes, 1970-1978
Bill Cullen	...	Himself - Panelist / ... 40 episodes, 1970-1978
Kitty Carlisle	...	Herself - Panelist / ... 39 episodes, 1970-1978
Garry Moore	...	Himself - Host / ... 38 episodes, 1969-1977
Johnny Olson	...	Himself - Announcer 19 episodes, 1970-1972
Bill Wendell	...	Himself - Announcer 19 episodes, 1973-1977

Storyline

The 1969 version of "To Tell the Truth" was among the best known of all versions of this durable format. Many game show fans fondly remember this version for the colorful, "groovy" set (used from 1969-1973, after which a conservative, blue-accented set was used) and its soft rock-flavored lyrical theme. The format, however, remained the same as always: A team of three contestants, one the actual person associated with a story and two imposters, tried to fool the four-member celebrity panel. An affidavit relating a person's story is read sometimes funny; sometimes serious; sometimes inspirational; sometimes having to do with their profession, political activity or cause they were actively involved in; but always interesting. The celebrity panelists, one at a time, question the three contestants (addressing them by No. 1, No. 2. and No. 3) in an attempt to expose the liars and determine who was telling the truth. After all four celebrities have had their turn to question the team, they ...

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Plot Keywords:

non fiction | 

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Genres:

Family | Game-Show

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1969 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Ed Sullivan Theater - 1697 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (1760 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the premier episode of the final season, Garry Moore acted as host. However at the end of that episode, Moore announced that he was retiring as host and handed over the reigns to then panelist Joe Garagiola.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Madeline Kahn/Taj Mahal (1977)

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Soundtracks

To Tell The Truth Sig Theme
Syndicated Theme 1
Composers: Paul Alter (ASCAP) and Susan Otto (ASCAP)
Original Publisher: Goodson-Todman Associates, Inc.(ASCAP)
Current Publisher: Mark Goodson Productions, LLC
c/o All-American Communications, Inc.

User Reviews

Classic Game Show is a Bigger Syndicated Success

One year after Mark Goodson and Bill Todman rescued their company from potential layoffs with a daily revival of "What's My Line?" they struck gold again with a new version of "To Tell the Truth." To me, it had all the qualities for a hit, a simple format that was popular in the original Bud Collyer run that stayed the same and perfect casting. Garry Moore was outstanding as the show's new host, replacing Collyer who passed away the day TTTT returned and the panel with regulars Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass and Kitty Carlisle had outstanding chemistry, even with the banter between them and Moore. What also made this version of TTTT stand out was like "What's My Line?", there were demonstrations and film clips after the game.

The show had a good healthy run until Moore developed throat cancer, sending him out of action. Bill Cullen did a great job filling in for him and should have become the new host but the producers didn't want to ruin the panel's chemistry so that's why Joe Garagiola was brought in to replace Moore. He wasn't a bad host but it came at a time when the show pretty much ran its course. Nine years was an outstanding run for a syndicated game show.

I'll wrap this up by mentioning the show's theme song was one of the few that had lyrics. It is best remembered for its Britishlike beat.