To Tell the Truth

Network: CBS
Episodes: over 1,319 (half-hour)
Seasons: 12

TV show dates: December 18, 1956 — May 22, 1967
Series status: Cancelled/ended

Performers include: Bud Collyer (host), Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean, Kitty Carlisle, Johnny Carson, Polly Bergen, Jayne Meadows, Don Ameche, Hy Gardner, Dick Van Dyke, Hildy Parks, John Cameron Swayze, Ralph Bellamy, Betsy Palmer, and Bert Convy.

TV show description:
This classic game show involves a panel of celebrity judges who try to guess who is being truthful from a group of three contestants. The host reads a descriptive statement from the real contestant, which usually involves details of a strange job or unique experience. Then, the judges try to determine who of the three is the telling the truth.

After briefly interviewing the contestants, the judges cast their vote. A cash prize is awarded to all the contestants for each incorrect guess that the judges have made, so the better the imposters are at bluffing, the more they win. To reveal the actual contestant, the host asks the trademark question, “Will the real (contestant’s name) please stand up?”

Several versions of the show have run over the years both during daytime and primetime. Hosts over the years have included original host Bud Collyer, Garry Moore, Joe Garagiola, Robin Ward, Gordon Elliott, Lynn Swann, Alex Trebek, and John O’Hurley.

In early seasons, reoccurring celebrity judges are Kitty Carlisle, Orson Bean, Tom Poston and Peggy Cass and in later seasons Mary Ann Mobley, Betty White, Polly Bergen and Gloria Allred. More recently, judges have included Dave Coulier, Brad Sherwood, Cindy Margolis, Brooke Burns, Melody Thomas Scott, Patrick Duffy, Kermit the Frog, Richard Kind, and Greg Proops.

Many famous contestants have also appeared during the show’s runs, including Orville Redenbacher, Rosa Parks, Caroll Spinney (Sesame Street’s Big Bird alter-ego), actress Ally Sheedy, and comic-creator Stan Lee.