506     December 31, 1962 (LIVE)
Bill, Betsy, Henry, Margot Larink

With Bess in Pasadena to host the Rose Parade coverage, Garry selects a guest panelist from the studio audience.  Pretending to read minds, but actually clued in by the show’s diligent research staff, he picks Miss Larink, a Grand Rapids secretary who ends up doing a pretty nice job.   

Mr. X: “I’m Betsy Palmer’s leading man in South Pacific”                 
William Chapman stars in the Paper Mill Playhouse production, which had just opened on December 26.  He and Betsy had performed a matinee earlier in the day, and will have an evening performance immediately after this live program.  They perform “Some Enchanted Evening” together here.  Chapman appeared in many musicals, both on Broadway and on tours, but was primarily known as a leading baritone for the New York City Opera from 1957 until 1979.   

“Instant Balladeer” Steve DePass returns ( E412 , E413 ) to sing about the year in review, based on suggestions by the panelists.  Suggestions include the then-current New York newspaper strike, the orbiting of American astronauts, the successful resolution of the steel crisis, and FCC chairman Newton Minnow’s “Vast Wasteland” speech.   

In the final segment, assorted audience members appear on stage with musical instruments, and are led in a performance of Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo.  Before Ryan Seacrest, and before Dick Clark, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians were THE New Year’s Eve broadcast tradition for nearly 50 years.  They first performed a New Year’s Eve show on radio in 1928, and moved to television in 1956.  Lombardo’s last New Year’s special would be in 1976, but even after his death in 1977, his band performed in two additional specials.