Bruce Sidlinger
of Cedar Rapids, Iowa: “I accidentally broke Garry Moore’s ribs last year”
Sidlinger
is a trampoline artist. He was the Big
Ten trampoline champion while a student at the University of Illinois. He tours the country playing sports shows,
conventions, nightclubs and the like. He
eventually made it to a show at Radio City Music Hall, where he gained the
attention of Garry’s morning show staff.
Last April, he performed on the morning show with Garry, where a stunt
went awry. The two perform again here
without incident and would also perform the next day on Garry’s morning show.
Tony Belcher of
Coral Gables, Florida: “I caught a live 9-foot shark with my bare hands”
Belcher
is 13 years old. The story goes that
Tony saw the shark approach his small boat about 500 yards from shore. He grabbed the shark by the tail and called
for help. Two other boys came alongside
and the three of them roped the shark and hauled it to shore. There are pictures.
Special Guest
Dennis O’Keefe stages a movie fight with a stuntman
The panel
is blindfolded for this game. O’Keefe is
a friend of the program who subbed for Garry in the summer of 1954 during
Garry’s vacation. After appearing in
dozens of 1930s movies as an extra or in tiny roles, he eventually made a name
for himself in the 40s, mostly as a lead in B-pictures. He was equally adept at comedy and
drama. His current project is Inside Detroit (1956), a crime drama
about corruption inside the United Auto Workers union. This game was likely inspired by that and
other film noir roles O’Keefe has played over the years.
In addition to these guests, newspapers in Maine reported that their popular governor Edmund Muskie was to appear on this show. It would have been part of a whirlwind media tour in New York, which would have included an appearance on Arthur Godfrey's show as well as interviews with Steve Allen on Tonight and Dave Garroway on Today. In the end, only the Garroway appearance took place, with Muskie's team vaguely admitting later that nothing else had been definitely pinned down. Muskie would become a leader in late 20th century politics. He would serve in the senate for over 20 years, run as the vice-presidential candidate on Hubert Humphrey's ticket in the 1968 election, serve briefly as Jimmy Carter's Secretary of State, and remain active in politics and diplomacy until his death in 1996.
This episode has not been reviewed. Details come from alternate sources, including thumbnail descriptions of the episodes in GSN documentation. Except where noted, “secrets” are not exact quotes.