You Bet Your Life: Ep. 50-01

You Bet Your Life: Ep. 50-01

Originally Broadcast: Thursday, October 5, 1950 at 8 PM ET on NBC

Plot: OK, so the term “plot” doesn’t really fit here, but here it is anyway – both the history of the show and the history of its host go hand and hand. Groucho Marx had been a mainstay in comedy for nearly half a century by the time the show went on the air, starting out with his brothers (Chico, Harpo and Zeppo initially) first on the vaudeville stage developing a comedy act that would play across the country until the jump to the movies in 1929. The movies are where the Marx Brothers would attain their greatest level of fame in movies ranging from Monkey Business to Animal Crackers to A Night at the Opera. But, by the late 1940s, after performing together for decades, the Marx Brothers as a team really had felt they run their course and were ready for a change.

Groucho had tried his hand at radio periodically during the 1940s, but, for whatever reason, had never really caught on as he had in vaudeville or in the movies. His luck took a turn during a radio guest spot with Bob Hope where, instead of sticking to the script, he and Hope ad-libbed their way through the entire appearance. The eventual producer of You Bet Your Life, John Guedel, saw an opportunity and encouraged Groucho to try his hand at hosting the game show, still in an embryonic stage at this point. Groucho was not interested, to say the least, feeling that this would be such a huge step down from where he was with the Marx Brothers that the public would, at best, reject it and, at worst, kill any career potential he had left. After much prodding, he agreed to record an audition show, the tape was played to the ABC network and it was accepting, going on the air starting in October of 1947.

The show was not an immediate success on radio, realizing that while Groucho was a great ad-libber, going live could still have moments of awkward silence and sometimes moments of brilliance could be lost. So, the producers decided to go to taped broadcasts, boiling the shows down to the best bits while still keeping the heart of the show, the ad-libs and the actual game portion of the show intact. That did the trick as You Bet Your Life caught fire on radio and, by 1950 it was an easy jump, much like with Gene Autry and Studio One before, to television. Keep in mind, it was all about increased exposure still, an “in addition to” radio as opposed to an “instead of”. For the time being, You Bet Your Life would continue its run on radio as well as television, actually airing different episodes on radio the day before the television show.

Analysis: So, now, to this particular episode: first off, as a rule, and I’ll keep this for sporting events in the future, I’m not going to give away the results. You’ll have to see the show for yourself for that, but I will share what really makes the show click: Groucho and his give and take with the contestants. Firstly, the show does look a bit crude in this format, featuring a very neutral background. As for the rules of the game itself, it’s pretty simple: three pairs of people will have a chance to win $1,000 depending on how they do in their individual pairings, starting with $20 and trying to earn more money by answering trivia questions with the couple having the most money left over at the end getting the shot at $1,000. And of course, if you say the secret word during the conversation with Groucho, you and your partner divide an extra $100 that does not count toward the earnings toward the shot at $1,000.

As for this episode, Groucho plays off very well against a soon-to-be married couple, the owner of a self-service Laundromat, and a woodcarver with a new economic plan for the United States. I can’t make this stuff up, folks, it has to be seen to be believed, to say nothing of Groucho’s give and take with them.

Bottom Line: Well, as you might well guess, the secret of the show’s success is not in the game portion but in the “Meet Groucho Marx” portion and the give and take. It’s hard to say what’s funnier: Groucho or the people he’s dealing with. Either way, it’s very entertaining. It’s also worth noting that the original DeSoto-Plymouth commercials are with the episodes, but can only be watched independently of the episodes themselves.

The episode is included in Groucho Marx – You Bet Your Life: The Lost Episodes (http://www.amazon.com/You-Bet-Your-Life-....85464137&sr=1-2), along with 18 other episodes of the show.

Next time, back to Studio One, with a new sponsor and an absolutely amazing acting performance.