Robert Rose writes…
Nice point about overdoing things on taping game shows. But, for the counter-argument, pretty much everyone involved with the original You Bet Your Life thought that recording and editing the show rather than doing it live was a major factor in its success. It gave Groucho time to probe the contestants until he got the good lines out, and it also meant that if they happened to get two dull sets of contestants in one show, they could swap them with another episode so that at least half of every show would be good. (Which is why Groucho is always seen wearing the same jacket.)
Of course, on the other other hand, Groucho did insist that he not meet the contestants prior to their walking out on stage; he had tried that in a few early episodes and found it ruined the spontaneity So I guess he kind of had it both ways.
And, of course, on the other, other, other hand….there's only ever been one Groucho.
Good point. And of course, a lot of Groucho's ad-libs were composed by folks who were listed under other titles in the credits but were actually gag writers. For that matter, a lot of game shows had planted gags. While trying to identify the occupation of a contestant on What's My Line?, Bennett Cerf didn't know that the person sold mattresses but he was told by the staff that he'd get a huge laugh if he asked, "Is your product something that men and women can use together?" They did a lot of that kind of thing.
But at least most shows (Groucho's was an exception) were live so there was the chance of an unplanned moment.
I heard an interview once with Henry Morgan, who was a panelist for years on I've Got a Secret. The show was done live for most of its run except for two periods. Once videotape was available, they'd sometimes do two shows an evening — one aired live and the other was "banked" to be used later during vacation periods. Then the last few years of the show, Steve Allen took over from Garry Moore as host. Allen lived in Los Angeles so to cut down on the number of times he had to fly in, they'd go into the studio every other week and do two shows. One would air live and the other would air the following week.
The taped shows were done in real time — no stopping, no editing — but, Morgan said, there was always something different about them. He said — this is not a precise quote — "There's a difference I can't explain about doing the show and thinking 'America is watching me right now' and doing the show and thinking, 'America is going to see this in three weeks.' We were all just sharper and faster on the live shows, and it was funnier and more interesting when things didn't go right."
He also said that the live shows were a bit duller once they started taping some. If the producers had a segment that was a little dangerous — meaning that things might not go as planned — they'd move those to the taped shows.
Of course, people have tried a few live game shows lately but they're all so full of pre-taped segments and tricky video effects that they don't feel live. I have a feeling one of these days, someone's going to do it right, probably involving some component where America can play right along with the contestants via the Internet, and it'll be a big hit.