Back when TV was interesting…

Thinking about old commercials and how many TV shows were literally owned by their sponsors, I got to wondering why some of the silliest events on these shows tend to stick in my memory. One of the sponsors, Winston Cigarettes, had such influence they once used their slogan, “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should,” as the secret on their show, “I’ve Got a Secret.” The premise of the program, which ran from 1952 to 1976, was that the panel of four celebrity types had to guess the occupation, hobby, fame, or whatever secret of the guest. One example was a man who was the very first person to appear on television, in 1925.

The event I remember was when six people sat with the host and the panel had to guess their secret, which was that their names spelled out the sponsor’s slogan. But not exactly. Their names were: Winston, Tase, Good, Lika, C. Garret, and the final name — Schultz! It sure got a laugh, and it sure has stuck with me.

Another TV show of that era was “What’s My Line?” Salvador Dali is the guest in the following clip, which runs a bit over nine minutes. Worth watching what TV was like when panel shows were more, well, more smarter like.



The host, John Daly, had a long career in broadcast news; he was the first person to publicly announce the death of Franklin Roosevelt. Regarding his skill as a panel show host he said, “The art of conversation lies not only in saying the right thing at the right time, but in leaving unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”

Notice the sponsor’s name all over the set. That isn’t done anymore since shows make more money being re-played in syndication than when first shown, and their sponsors may not even exist after a few years. Cigarette brands that used to sponsor big shows include Chesterfield, Raleigh, and Old Gold. They’ve all since gone up in smoke.