What's My Line following death of Fred Allen

Beginning and ending of What's My Line episode filmed less than a day following death of comic and WML panelist Fred Allen.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• What's
• My
• Line
• Fred
• Allen
• Steve

[martinimerlin]

Mr. Allen was the quickest wit in the business. I often think, why can't they do a modern version of WML? Of course they can't. The "celebs" of today do not have the talent, minds and knowledge.

[thursdaysrecords]

What a touching eulogy to a great entertainer!

[WaltGekko]

@martinimerlin Actually, I disagree. They could easily do a new version of "WML?" today as especially for the mystery guests, there are enough older actors in particular who in some cases actually go back to the original CBS run (1950-'67) along with others who grew up when the original or syndicated (1968-'75) version ran that I think can help make a new version work. Just takes the right mix of panelists and moderator.

[GhotiMr]

@americanmanhood I want to agree with you and to a certain extent I do. But in this age of the mindless celebrity, the person famous only for being famous (and famous for what?) it's rare to hear articulate, smart, witty and elegant repartee such as we have here these days. These people celebrate achievement and worth. I'm not sure we do that now. Or, as you infer, perhaps we all become grumpy old men, hankering after a golden age that never really was.

[Juliaflo]

@martinimerlin I totally second that.

[porthousevike07]

Incredibly sad stuff.

And a tragedy to know that they would, much too soon, lament the death of Dorothy Kilgallen in much the same fashion Dorothy and the rest of the crew mourned the death of Fred Allen during this episode.

[americanmanhood]

@martinimerlin I don't blame you for your feeling, but this is most certainly not true. Every age produces its share of "talent, minds and knowledge." I'm afraid you've fallen into the "golden age gone by" syndrome, or as it is more commonly known, "the way it never was."

[Vitte4]

The dry, droll wit of Fred Allen fit the more reflective, receptive medium of radio than it did TV -- although he shone in his inimitable way on this show. The visual mania of the Milton Berles and Lucille Balls ushered in a whole new comic universe. Alas, with exceptions, such comedians lacked the internal imaginative genius of this great and underappreciated showman.

[calihartley2010]

@dplomin1954 Yes that shows how we have degraded as a society when we use bad language to make people laugh. We also let crappy ghetto people like these rappers and so called singers who are nothing but harlots to come on talk shows. Make you want to get into a time machine and go back to the 50s.

[calihartley2010]

@calledartist Spoilsport

[calihartley2010]

@berezin99 Spoilsport

[calihartley2010]

@MisterEvasion You are so mean.