Narrated by Don Pardo Original language(s) English Camera setup Multi-camera Final episode date 11 May 1954 Genre Game show | Country of origin United States No. of seasons 1 First episode date 18 August 1953 Presented by Fred Allen Executive producers Mark Goodson, Bill Todman | |
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Starring Dennis James
Terry Gibbs
Bob Carroll
Marian McPartland Similar Game show, It's News to Me, The Name's the Same, Showoffs, Play Your Hunch | ||
Judge for yourself w fred allen debut show intro by orson bean august 18 1953
Judge for Yourself, at first subtitled The Fred Allen Show, is a Mark Goodson and Bill Todman nontraditional court show/quiz show, with comedian Fred Allen as the emcee. It aired on NBC from August 18, 1953, to May 11, 1954. Don Pardo was the show's announcer, with Dennis James doing plugs for primary sponsor Old Gold.
Contents
- Judge for yourself w fred allen debut show intro by orson bean august 18 1953
- Judge for yourself w fred allen final show intro by frank gorshin may 11 1954
- References
Each week three performers – singers, dancers, musicians, or comedians – were judged by two panels, one of professional entertainers and the other from the studio audience. If one of the amateur judges rated the acts 1, 2, or 3 in the same order as the celebrities, that individual would win a $1,000 prize. Two instrumental jazz groups that appeared on Judge for Yourself had considerable success thereafter, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and the Marian McPartland Trio.
The original intent of the series was to allow Allen to interact with guests, much as Groucho Marx did on his own NBC series, You Bet Your Life. The complicated format first employed, however, was revamped in the middle of the season. On the episode which aired on January 5, 1954, the professional judges were dropped, and the studio audience panel rated new songs to predict future hits, the comparable format of ABC's Jukebox Jury, which also aired in the 1953–54 season.
The songs were performed by a regular cast of Bob Carroll, the Skylarks, Kitty Kallen (two episodes), and Judy Johnson. The winning judge of the songs was selected on the basis of applause meter voting by the studio audience, a format also adopted thereafter on the NBC/ABC daytime reality show, Queen for a Day, hosted by Jack Bailey.
Judge for Yourself aired at 10 p.m. EST on Tuesdays, opposite The United States Steel Hour, then on ABC. It followed The Armstrong Circle Theatre. After Judge for Yourself folded, Allen appeared for the last two years of his life from 1954 to 1956 on What's My Line, a long-running CBS game show in which a celebrity panel try to determine the occupation of contestants through yes-or-no questions, as well as identify (while blindfolded) the mystery guest (a celebrity of note).