I continue to savor the late night black-and-white programming on the Game Show Network, though I've Got a Secret hasn't been nearly as enjoyable since they ran out of episodes hosted by Garry Moore. His replacement, Steve Allen, was extraordinarily gifted at many things but game show hosting was not among them, and the contrast points up how good Moore was. With Garry, the game was the most important thing and he knew how to keep it going and when to drop a hint. He also made the panel look good and, if and when those two causes had been served, he might drop in his own funny comments. On the Steve Allen Secret, the priorities were exactly reversed. You can even sense the occasional annoyance of panelist Henry Morgan, who clearly did not like finding himself on The Steve Allen Show.
When I get a moment, I'll write something here about Henry Morgan, who probably deserves a lot better than to be remembered only for game shows. He was, like Fred Allen, a brilliant radio humorist who never quite found a place in television to do what he did best. But he was brilliant on radio to the extent of inspiring countless others. To cite but one example, a lot of the running gags in Harvey Kurtzman's seminal MAD were right off the Morgan program. Can anyone remind me of some others before I write my big piece on him?