Several newspaper sources indicate Henry was absent but do not indicate a guest panelist. Henry's new late-night TV talk show would debut locally on KCOP Los Angeles this very night, and while accommodations were in place for him to pre-record Monday episodes of his new show in the future, his debut was probably live. A couple of newspaper listings even suggest that Henry's very absence here was a "gimmick" that would work its way into the show somehow. Henry's late-night foray would only last about six months.
As far as Secret is concerned, there are a great many changes for this, the official season premiere. For the first time since 1953, the show moves to a new date and time. Secret is now seen on Mondays at 10:30pm. With that change also comes a change in the approach to sponsorship of the program. No longer is a single sponsor's product and image on display at the desks. The show also drops its long association with RJ Reynolds, the makers of Winston cigarettes, though they would occasionally sponsor a few more individual shows by the end of the run. Among the sponsors in this early going are Hertz Rent-A-Car, Polaroid Instant Camera, Contac Pain Reliever and Dream Whip. Live commercials with Garry and the panelists are still part of the mix. Finally, this is also the point at which they stop referring to themselves as "America's #1 Panel Show." What's My Line? had been outscoring Secret in the overall ratings for the past two seasons.
Doren Bumgardner of Burlington, Iowa: "My small plane flew for over an hour...without a pilot!"
But not on purpose. Bumgardner was tinkering with the plane on the ground when it broke free of its mooring blocks and went aloft without him. It circled the city for a while before straightening out, ultimately reaching an altitude of 12,000 feet before it ran out of gas and crashed in a bean field 33 miles away. The plane was destroyed and the beanfield damaged, but there were no human casualties.
Special Guests Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf
and Dorothy Kilgallen
According to one source, the What's My Line? trio played I've Got a Secret, and our Secret team played What's My Line?.
This episode has not been reviewed. Information comes from a variety of alternate sources.