Leave It to the Girls

Last updated
Leave It to the Girls
Genre Talk show
Created by Martha Rountree
Presented by Paula Stone
Maggi McNellis
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time23 minutes
Original release
Network NBC (1947–1951)
ABC (1953–1954)
Syndicated (1961–1962)
Syndicated (1981-1982)
ReleaseAugust 21, 1947 (1947-08-21) 
March 27, 1954 (1954-03-27)

Leave It to the Girls is an American radio and television talk show, created by Martha Rountree, and broadcast, in various forms, from the 1940s through the 1980s.

Contents

Broadcast details

Radio version

The series was originally a radio program airing on the Mutual radio network starting in 1945 with hostess Paula Stone. The show was created by Meet the Press creator Martha Rountree as a serious-minded discussion of the problems of career women, but soon became a comedic commentary on love, romance, and marriage from an almost-all female panel – one man was always on the panel to provide the male viewpoint. [1]

In addition to Rountree and Stone, women heard on the program regularly included Dorothy Kilgallen, Elissa Landi, Maggi McNellis, Constance Bennett, Robin Chandler, Hedda Hopper, and Eloise McElhone. Ted Malone posed questions. Andre Baruch and Tiny Ruffner were the announcers. [2]

Television versions

The NBC television network broadcast the show August 21, 1947, to December 30, 1951; Maggi McNellis replaced radio show hostess Paula Stone. [3] Later, the series left NBC and was picked up by the ABC television network, who broadcast it from October 3, 1953, to March 27, 1954. [3] An article in Time magazine said the program "features a panel of four intimidating ladies in low bodices, who alternate between badgering a male guest and solving such deep questions as 'Can a romance that is dead be revived?'". [4]

A syndicated weekday daytime version, also hosted by Maggi McNellis, was broadcast 1961–62. [5]

Another version, called Leave it to the Women, produced by Chuck Barris, and hosted by Stephanie Edwards, aired 1981–1982 in syndication. [1]

Cast

Stage and film actress Paula Stone was one of the hostesses for the radio version of the show, along with Elissa Landi and Maggi McNellis. The NBC, ABC, and the 1960s television versions were all hosted by McNellis, a 1930s supper club singer, a 1940s radio show hostess for her own shows, and a New York City society hostess through the 1980s. All the female panelists could be characterized as "glamorous, well-dressed, showbiz types". [5] Some of the female television panelists were Eloise McElhone (1921-1974), Vanessa Brown, Florence Pritchett, Lisa Ferraday, Ann Rutherford, Harriet Van Horne, and Janet Blair. McElhone was also host of the DuMont series Quick on the Draw and Eloise Salutes the Stars .

Among the men appearing as the solitary male presence on the television panel were George Brent, Burt Lancaster, Morey Amsterdam, Henry Morgan, and George Jessel John Henry Faulk was the permanent male panelist in the primetime television show's last year, 1954. The male seemed to be at a disadvantage against the chattering women, as the only way he could manage to break into their constant babbling was to toot a toy horn. [6]

Stephanie Edwards was the hostess for the all-female version of the show in 1981 and 1982. Producer Chuck Barris originally had filmed the pilot for sale to the NBC network, but later bought back the rights and syndicated the show. A sampling of the guests from one show [7] were TV journalist Shana Alexander, singer/actress Della Reese, and 1966 Playboy Centerfold (and wife of Dick Martin), Dolly Martin.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Match Game</i> American television game show

Match Game is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelists to fill-in-the-blank questions. Beginning with the CBS run of the 1970s, the questions are often formed as humorous double entendres.

<i>The Gong Show</i> American television series

The Gong Show is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to 1980 and 1988 to 1989, and was revived in 2017 for broadcast on ABC. The show was created and originally produced by Chuck Barris, who also served as host for the NBC run and from 1977 to 1980 in syndication. Its most recent version was executive-produced by Will Arnett and hosted by Tommy Maitland, a fictional character performed by Mike Myers. The Gong Show is known for its absurdist humor and style, with the actual competition secondary to the often outlandish acts presented; a small cash prize has typically been awarded to each show's winner.

<i>Meet the Press</i> American news/interview television program

Meet the Press is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since the debut episode on November 6, 1947. Meet the Press specializes in interviews with leaders in Washington, D.C., across the country, and around the world on issues of politics, economics, foreign policy, and other public affairs, along with panel discussions that provide opinions and analysis. In January 2021, production moved to NBC's bureau on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Barris</span> American game show creator, producer, and host (1929-2017)

Charles Hirsch Barris was an American game show creator, producer, and host. Barris was known for hosting The Gong Show and creating The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game. He was also a songwriter who wrote "Palisades Park", recorded by Freddy Cannon and also recorded by the Ramones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panel show</span> Radio and TV genre

A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on Match Game and Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. The genre can be traced to 1938, when Information Please debuted on U.S. radio. The earliest known television panel show is Play the Game, a charades show in 1946. The modern trend of comedy panel shows can find early roots with Stop Me If You've Heard This One in 1939 and Can You Top This? in 1940. While panel shows were more popular in the past in the U.S., they are still very common in the United Kingdom.

To Tell the Truth is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual occupation or experience has been read aloud by the show's host. When the panelists question the contestants, the two impostors may lie whereas the "central character" must tell the truth. The setup adds the impostor element to the format of What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret.

<i>Whats My Line?</i> American panel game show

What's My Line? is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists to question contestants in order to determine their occupation. The majority of the contestants were from the general public, but there was one weekly celebrity "mystery guest" for whom the panelists were blindfolded. It is on the list of longest-running U.S. primetime network television game-shows. Originally moderated by John Charles Daly and most frequently with regular panelists Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf, What's My Line? won three Emmy Awards for "Best Quiz or Audience Participation Show" in 1952, 1953, and 1958 and the Golden Globe Awards for Best TV Show in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Charles Daly</span> American journalist and game show host (1914–1991)

John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly was an American journalist, host, CBS radio and television personality, ABC News executive, TV anchor, and game show host, best known for his work on the CBS panel game show What's My Line?

Information Please is an American radio quiz show, created by Dan Golenpaul, which aired on NBC from May 17, 1938, to April 22, 1951. The title was the contemporary phrase used to request from telephone operators what was then called "information" and later called "directory assistance".

<i>Quiz Kids</i> Radio and television series

Quiz Kids is a radio and TV series originally broadcast in the 1940s and 1950s. Created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan, and originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from Chicago, June 28, 1940, airing as a summer replacement show for Alec Templeton Time. It continued on radio for the next 13 years. On television, the show was seen on NBC and CBS from July 6, 1949, to July 5, 1953, with Joe Kelly as quizmaster, and again from January 12 to September 27, 1956, with Clifton Fadiman as host.

<i>It Pays to Be Ignorant</i> US radio and television parody of panel quiz shows

It Pays to Be Ignorant is a 1942–51 radio comedy show which maintained its popularity during a nine-year run on three networks for such sponsors as Philip Morris, Chrysler, and DeSoto. The series was a spoof on the academic discourse on such authoritative panel series as Quiz Kids and Information Please. At the same time, the beginning of the program parodied the popular quiz show Doctor I.Q. The show featured announcers Ken Roberts and Dick Stark. The program was broadcast on Mutual from June 25, 1942 to February 28, 1944, on CBS from February 25, 1944 to September 27, 1950 and finally on NBC from July 4, 1951 to September 26, 1951. The series typically aired as a summer replacement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Spivak</span> American journalist and Meet the Press host

Lawrence Edmund Spivak was an American publisher and journalist who was best known as the co-founder, producer and host of the prestigious public affairs program Meet the Press. He and journalist Martha Rountree founded the program as promotion for Spivak's magazine, The American Mercury, and it became the longest-running continuous network series in television history. During his 28 years as panelist and moderator of Meet the Press, Spivak was known for his pointed questioning of policy makers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Rountree</span> American broadcast journalist

Martha Jane Rountree was an American pioneering broadcast journalist and entrepreneur. She was the creator and first moderator of a public-affairs program, first on radio as The American Mercury from June 24, 1945 to 1947, and as Meet the Press on the NBC television network from November 6, 1947 to November 1, 1953. Until Kristen Welker took over on September 17, 2023, Rountree was the only female moderator in the seven-decade history of the show.

<i>Juvenile Jury</i> 1947 American TV series or program

Juvenile Jury was an American children's game show that originally ran on NBC from April 3, 1947, to August 1, 1954. It was hosted by Jack Barry and featured a panel of children aged ten or less giving advice to solve the problems of other children. Celebrity guests appeared on the show, including Eddie Cantor, Red Skelton and Milton Berle.

Keep Posted (later known as The Big Issue is an American public affairs TV series on the DuMont Television Network which was sponsored by The Saturday Evening Post for its first two seasons.

<i>Quick on the Draw</i> American TV game show (1952)

Quick on the Draw is an American game show that aired on the DuMont Television Network beginning January 18, 1952, to December 9, 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggi McNellis</span>

Maggi McNellis was an American radio and television personality and talk show hostess from the 1940s through the 1960s. In the latter part of her life, she became a New York City society hostess.

Who Said That? is a 1948–55 NBC game show that ran on radio and television, in which a panel of celebrities attempted to determine the speaker of a quotation from recent news reports.

Eloise Salutes the Stars is a talk show hosted by Eloise McElhone (1921-1974) which aired on an 8-station network including the DuMont flagship station WABD. The series started on WABD in November 1949. The series aired Tuesdays at 7:30pm ET in 1950 and early 1951. Other stations in the network such as WXEL-TV in Cleveland showed the series on Thursdays at 7:30pm ET, and other stations, such as WPIX-TV chose to air the show at 5:15pm ET.

Eloise McElhone was an American radio and television personality in the 1950s.

References

  1. 1 2 Biography of Martha Roundtree Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine on the She Made It sub-website within the Paley Center for the Media website
  2. Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 195. ISBN   978-0-7864-4513-4.
  3. 1 2 McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4 ed.). Penguin Books. p. 474. ISBN   978-0-14-024916-3.
  4. "Ladies' Night". Time. January 15, 1951. p. 46. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Brooks, Tim and March, Earl (2007) "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946–Present", Random House, ISBN   0-345-45542-8,page 587
  6. Sies, Leora M. (2012). The Encyclopedia of Women in Radio, 1920-1960. NC, USA: McFarland. p. 168. ISBN   978-0-7864-6439-5.
  7. "Leave It To The Women", a civil precursor to "The View"? weblog dated September 23, 2009, from the Buffy W's blog website