You Bet Your Life: Ep. 50-22

You Bet Your Life: Ep. 50-22

Originally broadcast: Thursday, February 28, 1951 at 8 PM ET on NBC

Plot: An engaged couple, a postman and a stamp collector and a housewife and Louisiana State Senator Dudley LaBlanc compete for $3,000.

Analysis: First off, even though we’re in 1951 now, we still have the episode code 50- for the episodes since the season started taping in 1950. As for the episode itself, this one is a lot of fun, especially watching Groucho play off the engaged couple and Senator LaBlanc, who is quite the character himself. You get the feeling the show is starting to find its groove with Groucho and the contestants in the play by play, but the mechanics of the game itself still need to be fine tuned since it is more that likely the contestants will panic and end up betting all the money and losing it either too early or too late in the game. The show will later develop safeguards for that, as we will soon see.

The Bottom Line: This one is interesting, especially given we haven’t seen a politician using the television medium to promote his or herself yet to this point. That, of course, would change as television rolls along. That aside, it’s just an entertaining little quiz show and is always fun to test your brain power against the people actually playing the show. The original Desoto-Plymouth ads are included with the episode, but can only be watched independently of the show. Shame they were not included with the shows, but nice to have them at all.

This particular episode is included on Groucho Marx – You Bet Your Life: The Lost Episodes (http://www.amazon.com/You-Bet-Your-Life-Episodes/dp/B0000ALFZ0/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1285464137&sr=1-2), along with 18 other episodes of the show. Unfortunately, stock appears to have finally run out on the release, so the Amazon Marketplace or eBay may be your best bets in getting a copy at this point.

Next time, an episode of the Fred Waring Show with a look at the latest creation of the Walt Disney Studios.