August 10, 1948: “Candid Camera” Debuts

Allen Funt

August 10, 1948: Candid Microphone debuts on ABC. It is renamed Candid Camera the next year. It has been on and off the air ever since, including on all 3 of the classic U.S. TV networks: ABC in its 1st season, NBC until 1951, in syndication from then until 1958, on NBC again for 1958-59, CBS from then until 1967, then off the air until 1974, back on in syndication from then until 1979, a comeback on CBS in 1987, a season in syndication in 1991-92, and most recently on cable network TV Land in 2014.

The show involved concealed cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims were told the show's catchphrase: "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."

Allen Funt created the show, and hosted it until 1992. He died in 1999. Among the show’s writers and "correspondents" were Arthur Godfrey, Durward Kirby, Bess Myerson, John Bartholomew Tucker, Woody Allen, Fannie Flagg, Phyllis George, Joann Pflug, Dom DeLuise and Eva LaRue. Funt’s son, Peter Funt, revived it from 1996 to 2004, with correspondents including Suzanne Somers, Dina Eastwood (one of Clint’s ex-wives) and Mayim Bialik.

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August 10, 1948 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 9-6 at Yankee Stadium. Bucky Harris took starter Eddie Lopat out after 2 batters and Frank Hiller out after 4, allowing 3 runs. He then let Tommy Byrne pitch through the 7th. Then he let Vic Raschi pitch the 8th, and he allowed 5 runs. In other words, Harris, who had led the Yankees to the World Series the year before, was managing in 1948 like Aaron Boone in the 2020s.

Don't blame the loss on Joe DiMaggio: He went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Or Yogi Berra: 2-for-4 with an RBI. Or Phil Rizzuto: 2-for-4. Blame Joe's brother, Dom DiMaggio, going 3-for-6 with 3 RBIs; Vern Stephens, 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI; and Ted Williams, 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 6-5 at Braves Field in Boston. Bobby Thomson went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. It was the most productive day of his career. But it would not remain the best one. Alvin Dark went 4-for-5 with an RBI for the Braves. After the 1949 season, the Giants acquired him in a trade.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Ebbets Field. Rex Barney outpitched Lynwood Rowe -- the "Schoolboy" was 38 at this point. Pee Wee Reese hit a home run. Jackie Robinson went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and an RBI.

* A doubleheader was split at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Washington Senators won the opener, 8-2. The Philadelphia Athletics won the nightcap, 11-2.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ralph Kiner hit a home run.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-3 at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Ted Gray outpitches Bob Feller.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The game was never made up.

April 20, 1977: "Annie Hall" Premieres

April 20, 1977: Annie Hall Premieres. It is often considered Woody Allen's best film, as both an actor and a director.

This is in spite of the fact that it just missed the record of having the earliest spoiler in film history: While Death of a Salesman gives away the ending in the title, Woody's character, Alvy Singer, says in the 1st minute of the film that he and Annie had already broken up. So you know, going in, that it's being told in flashback, and that the relationship has failed.

The film is basically "Woody's Allen's Greatest Hits": Musings on sex, relationships, pop culture -- bringing the real Marshall McLuhan in to shut up a guy who thinks he knows about McLuhan's work is a classic -- and being Jewish, his own perception of it and other people's perceptions of it.

Annie is played by Diane Keaton, who was born as Diane Hall. Art was imitating life: She and Woody had been an unmarried couple for a few years, but had since broken up, and yet remained friends. She would also stay friends with ex-boyfriends and ex-co-stars Al Pacino (The Godfather) and Warren Beatty (Reds). That would not be the case with Woody and his later partner, actress Mia Farrow, with very nasty results.

Annie Hall won 4 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director for Allen, Best Actress for Keaton, and Best Original Screenplay for Allen and Marshall Brickman. Allen was nominated for Best Actor, but lost to Richard Dreyfuss for The Goodbye Girl.

The Best Picture win was over fellow nominees The Goodbye Girl, Julia, the ballet-themed film The Turning Point, and, to the dismay of the film's passionate fans, Star Wars. It reached the point where, when Mad magazine parodied Star Wars, imagining it as a musical, it had Obi-Wan Kenobi say he felt a great disturbance in The Force. When Luke Skywalker asks him if it's over the destruction of Alderaan, he says, no, it's fans of the original film whining over losing Best Picture to Annie Hall.

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April 20, 1977 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

Football was out of season. There were 3 games in the NBA Playoffs:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, 113-101 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets, 101-100 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors, 115-106 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Of course, the Warriors view the Lakers as their arch-rivals, but it's never been the other way around: The Lakers' rivals are the Boston Celtics. In this game, in defeat for the Warriors, Rick Barry scored 40 points, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Lakers with 27.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, but no games were scheduled. There were 2 games in the World Hockey Association Playoffs. The Winnipeg Jets beat the San Diego Mariners, 3-0 at the Winnipeg Arena. And the Houston Aeros beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

February 25, 1950: Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" Premieres

February 25, 1950: Your Show of Shows premieres on NBC. It is a 90-minute variety show, specializing in sketch comedy, hosted by Sid Caesar. It may have been the funniest show that the young medium of television had yet seen.

It may still be the funniest TV show of all time.

Isaac Sidney Caesar was born on September 8, 1922 in Yonkers, just north of New York City. When his father immigrated from Poland, the family name was "Ziser." As a teenage waiter in his parents' luncheonette, Sid learned how to mimic the customers' various accents, and developed a flair for language.

He learned the saxophone and the clarinet, and played in dance bands at the resort hotels in the Catskill Mountains, which led New York Jews to "the country" in the Summer. He served in the Coast Guard during World War II. While serving, he married Florence Levy, and they had 3 children: Michele, Rick and Karen.

While playing in a military revue, the show's director, Max Liebman, noticed that Sid's comedy got bigger applause than anyone's music. Liebman got him movie roles, and a spot as the opening act for comedian Joe E. Lewis at New York's famed Copacabana nightclub.

In 1949, Caesar and Liebman met with Pat Weaver, vice president of television at NBC (and eventually the father of actress Sigourney Weaver). They put together Sid's 1st TV show, The Admiral Broadway Revenue, which also starred Imogene Coca. The show became a victim of its own success: Admiral, an appliance company that was one of the first manufacturers of TV sets, could not keep up with the demand for new sets, and the show was canceled after 1 season.

But Weaver knew he had a genius on his hands, and convinced NBC to try again. Your Show of Shows debuted in 1950, with Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris and James Starbuck. The 90-minute show was a mix of sketch comedy, satires of movies and TV shows, Caesar's monologues, musical guests, and big production numbers.

And the writers. What writers the show had. Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, his brother Danny Simon, Mel Tolkin, Lucille Kallen, Selma Diamond, Joseph Stein, Michael Stewart and Tony Webster. Webster was the only one who wasn't Jewish, and Jewish humor was vital for the show.

The show seemed to take special joy in parodying situation comedies, or "sitcoms," with Caesar and Coca playing "The Hickenloopers." Just the title was a funny-sounding name, and their arguments, predating I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners, were a big reason why the overall show was popular.

Caesar loved wearing various uniforms, and one of his best-known sketches involved him putting on what looked like a military uniform. When he was done, he looked in the mirror, and said, "Mirror, mirror, on der vall, who's der schlickest of dem all?" (Not "the fairest," but "the slickest.") And then, after all his preening and posturing, comes the twist: He's not a general, he's a hotel doorman.

One of his recurring characters was the Professor, a shabby, top-hatted, double-talking, German-accented (of course) expert on, well, everything. In my lifetime, he would reprise this character on the PBS kids' show Sesame Street and in commercials for Saran Wrap.

After 4 years, the show was cut back to 60 minutes, and was renamed Caesar's Hour. There were fewer sketches, but that allowed for longer ones. Larry Gelbart and Woody Allen joined the writing staff. Cast additions included Janet Blair, Milt Kamen and Nanette Fabray. The show lasted 3 more seasons, until May 25, 1957.

In 1961, Reiner created The Dick Van Dyke Show, and wrote for it, based on his own experience having written for Your Show of Shows. So, essentially, Alan Brady was (hopefully, a very exaggerated version of) Sid, Rob Petrie was Carl, Laura Petrie was Carl's wife Estelle Reiner, and Richie is their son, actor and now director Rob Reiner. Though I don't think anybody ever called Richie, or his portrayer, Larry Matthews, a "meathead."

Carl and Mel would combine for "The 2,000-Year-Old Man." Carl would play an interviewer, and Mel played a 2,000-year-old man, not in old-age makeup, but wearing a hat and a cape, telling of his long and funny life:

Carl: What did you do for a living?
Mel: What didn't I do? I was a ten-of-all-trades!

Carl: A what?

Mel: A ten-of-all-trades!

Carl: You mean, a jack-of-all-trades?

Mel: I wasn't that good!

From there, Mel co-created the spy spoof series Get Smart with Buck Henry, and then became a film director, specializing in genre spoofs: Broadway shows with The Producers in 1968, Westerns with Blazing Saddles in 1974, horror films with Young Frankenstein in 1974, silent movies with Silent Movie in 1976, Alfred Hitchcock's films with High Anxiety in 1977, historical epics with History of the World Part I in 1981, and science fiction with Spaceballs in 1987.

In 1965, Neil Simon wrote the Broadway play The Odd Couple, basing the character of fussbudget Felix Ungar on his brother Danny. (The character's name would become "Felix Unger" for the 1970-75 TV show based on the play.)

In 2001, NBC aired its 75th Anniversary special. Sid Caesar, age 79, was brought on as a special guest, but he looked terribly old, was hunched over, with his mouth open, and walking on a cane. I thought this was terrible: Clearly, he wasn't well enough to do this. Then he started talking, and it was clear that his mind was still clear, as he went into his dialects, cracking the audience up as he had half a century earlier, and paid tribute to absent friends who were early NBC legends. He lived until February 12, 2014, at the age of 91. 

Selma Diamond died in 1985, while she was playing court matron Selma Hacker on the NBC sitcom Night Court. Milt Kamen died in 1977, Tony Webster in 1987, James Starbuck in 1997, Lucille Kallen in 1999, Imogene Coca in 2001, Howard Morris and Danny Simon in 2005, Janet Blair and Mel Tolkin in 2007, Larry Gelbart in 2009, Joseph Stein in 2010, Nanette Fabray and Neil Simon in 2018, Carl Reiner in 2020. As of February 25, 2022, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen are still alive.

In 2002, with TV Guide preparing for its 50th Anniversary the next year, Your Show of Shows was ranked Number 30 on their list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, for their 60th Anniversary, it was ranked Number 37 on their 60 Best Series of All Time. In 2007, Time magazine named it one of its 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time, although it didn't rank any. In 2013, Entertainment Weekly ranked it Number 10 on its Top 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. The same year, the Writers Guild of America ranked it Number 41 on its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time.

In 1989, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of television, People magazine named him #4 on their list of the Top 25 TV Personalities of All Time. The article asked 2 questions: "Is he still funny? Yes. As funny as he was? Nobody may ever be that funny again."

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February 25, 1950 was a Saturday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Stags, 86-79 at the old Madison Square Garden. This would be the Stags' last season.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Baltimore Bullets, 82-66 at the Baltimore Coliseum. This version of the Bullets went out of business in 1954. A new version started in 1963, moved to Washington in 1973, and is now known as the Washington Wizards.

* The Philadelphia Warriors beat the Washington Capitols, 92-80 at the Uline Arena (now the Washington Coliseum). The Capitols folded in 1951, and the Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962, taking the name "Golden State Warriors" in 1971.

* The Rochester Royals beat the Minneapolis Lakers, 66-64 at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester, New York. The Royals moved to Cincinnati in 1957, became the Kansas City Kings in 1972, and became the Sacramento Kings in 1985. The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

* And the Tri-Cities Blackhawks beat the Sheboygan Red Skins, 74-66 at the Wharton Field House in Moline, Illinois. (Moline and Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa are usually known as the "Quad Cities.") The Red Skins went out of business in 1951. That year, the Blackhawks became the Milwaukee Hawks, became the St. Louis Hawks in 1955, and the Atlanta Hawks in 1968.

And there were 2 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at the Chicago Stadium. The Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins were not scheduled.