Six down and four to go

Game Show Network just aired the final episode of the original "What's My Line?", originally broadcast September 3, 1967. Even though it was a mere seven years before I was born, watching it today, it almost seems like it originated from a different planet. The premise was that a regular person would show up and could win up to $50 if a panel consisting of men in tuxedos and/or women in evening gowns couldn't guess their occupation by asking yes-or-no questions, and it lasted for 17 1/2 years. These days, the only regular people who show up on prime-time TV are bachelorettes in Alaska, or something like that.

Instead of going back to the beginning of "What's My Line?", Game Show Network is replacing it with reruns of "To Tell the Truth," a show which was most recently revived with host John O'Hurley and regular panelists Meshach Taylor and Paula Poundstone, and trust me, that's a lineup that's going to be the answer to a "Tough TV Trivia" quiz in the year 2014. But as it now turns out, the problem with that version of "To Tell the Truth" is that they were never able to convince any corporate executives to appear. ('Cause, see, on "To Tell the Truth," one contestant has to tell the truth, and two others impersonate the first contestant and get to lie all they want, and we know now that corporate executives are really good liars. Come on, I'm trying to tie game shows into current events here. Up next: camping trailers given away on "The Price Is Right" and how they can be linked to the wildfires currently plaguing the western U.S.)