Fred Allen--What's My Line

[ShermansAlley]

Fred Allen: best ad-libber ever.

[Gnillob802]

Apparently "Homemaker of the Year" includes choosing the right cooks and maids since Arlene has already talked about doing both on this show.

[BattlingNewt]

What occupation was Dorothy pursuing that allows people to pound others as a form of therapy? LOL I think she got lost there right before she solved the puzzle.

What's my line is a great show for any number of reasons & my discovery of Fred Allen's sense of humor is a revelation. I recall watching the late 60's, early 70's version as a child. Watching these older video's is truly a wonder & thank you to those who posted them.

[shakenednostir]

@BattlingNewt With regards to your inquiry of the occupation Dorothy was pursuing that allows people to pound others, my thought was she was ruling out bounty hunter, a criminal investigations officer, something along that line to affirm work in a mental capacity (mental pounding??) since she alluded to a service in conjunction with Alcohol Anonymous in her prior question.

[carolineorchange21]

DK looks particularly lovely in this episode. Nice shoulders, babe!

[tomkes100]

the great Fred Allen on tvs legendary Whats my Linbe. IM a tv film historiasn i. knew many greats from show biz. Im sorry i never knew Fred Allen. But i knew the cast of WMY. This is classc Fred on a medium he would had mastered had he lived. great comedian ad libber one of a kind. We need more giants like him. Thanks fred 7 YOUTUBE. TOMK this man knows great comedy when he sees it. WHats My Line & Fred Allen is prime example.

[tallpaul521]

@tomkes100 You said it Toots! Fred Allen -- what a marvel.

[OldTimerGoGetter]

So I guess Mr. Miller is about my father's height...and that 521 on your tallpaul521...my birthday is on May 21st!

An interesting night for me as well :)

[tallpaul521]

The 521 refers to a joke I do in my show.

I'm 6' 9" -- I joke that I'm 5 feet 21 inches.

My birthday is May 16th.

[OldTimerGoGetter]

Pure fun...and boy, Mr. Miller is tall!

[tallpaul521]

I'm six foot nine, so I'd guage Mr. Miller at six foot six. What a great night on WML?

[OldTimerGoGetter]

Oops.　I thought I replied to your comment, but I guess I didn't :(

Either way, I liked the number at the end of your name!

[martinimerlin]

Dorothy is the perfect straight man, setting up Fred for the punch line.

Dorothy: "Now if Fred came to you..."

Fred: "This is my third visit Dorothy"

[coyotedrunkoncognac]

'this is my third visit dorothy"  fred beautiful as usual

[martinimerlin]

Fred -- perfect is right!!!

[soulierinvestments]

Daly and Cerf both stood 6 feet tall, so Dr. Miller filled a doorway. Gil Fates wrote that Fred Allen never quite understood how to play the game: in this period, Allen sometimes sounded as if his lack of winnings hurt his ego.

However, the producers valued Allen for his funny intros, dry wit, and caustic observations. Darkly ironic that Kilgallen brought up the topic of AA. Also typical of Kilgallen that she won the game; she played bad cop to Arlene's good cop and to win. You go girl.

[martinimerlin]

I remember Fred's first time as a regular panelist, replacing Steve Allen. He quipped that he was only there as a money saving measure -- the producers wouldn't have to make a new sign -- they could keep the "Mr. Allen" sign on the panel table. Fred Allen was not a great monologist or sketch comic. His wonderful gift was his razor sharp and quick mind that could play off what other's said and did...something that was hard to bottle and market on TV at that time.