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Who Do You Trust? (originally titled Do You Trust Your

Wife? until July 1958) is an American television game
Who Do You Trust?
show.

Under the title Do You Trust Your Wife?, the show

premiered in prime time on CBS in January 1956 and was
hosted by Edgar Bergen. The show lasted in this form until
March 1957. In September of that year, the show (while
keeping the title Do You Trust Your Wife?) was revamped
as a daytime program, and Johnny Carson was installed
as host. This version aired from September 30, 1957 to
November 15, 1957, at 4:30 pm Eastern on ABC, and from
November 18, 1957 to December 27, 1963 at 3:30 pm
Eastern.

The title was changed to Who Do You Trust? in July 1958,

which outraged English teachers, who preferred "Whom
Do You Trust?" Johnny Carson and Jane Baldasare in a show
stunt, 1961
Carson was host for five years, until he left to take over
The Tonight Show in September 1962. He was replaced Created by Don Fedderson
by Woody Woodbury as host for the show's final 16 Presented by Johnny Carson (1957–1962)
months. Woody Woodbury (1962–1963)
Narrated by Bill Nimmo (1957–1958, 1962–
Broadcast history [edit] 1963)
Ed McMahon (1958–1962)
Who Do You Trust? began as a CBS prime time game
titled Do You Trust Your Wife?, emceed by ventriloquist Country of United States
Edgar Bergen, which ran from January 3, 1956, to March origin
26, 1957. On the original show all the contestants were
Production
married couples chosen for their unique backgrounds. The

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Who Do You Trust? - Wikipedia

show was produced at the Little Theater on 44th Street in Producer Art Stark
New York (today known as the Helen Hayes Theater). Running time 25 minutes (prime-time)
22–24 minutes (daytime)
Gameplay (Bergen era) [edit] Original release

After a brief chat with Bergen (and his dummies "Charlie Network ABC
McCarthy", "Mortimer Snerd" and "Effie Klinker") the Release September 30, 1957 –
couples would try to answer four questions. The first was a
December 27, 1963
match question, where the spouses tried to match each
other's answer to a question about their married life. The
remaining questions were of general knowledge, where Do You Trust Your Wife?
after the category was revealed, the husband chose
whether to answer himself or "trust" his wife to do so,
hence the name of the show. The first correct answer won
$100, the second added $200, and the third $300. For the
fourth question they could wager any of their winnings by
answering a question from one of six categories ranging in
value and difficulty from $100 to $600. If the couple won
no money, they would answer a very easy $100 question.
The couple with the most money competed with the
winners from the previous week's show to name as many Edgar Bergen and Mortimer Snerd with a
items as possible in a category with the couple coming up contestant couple including a bizarre Snerd
with the most answers receiving $100 a week for a year.
doppelgänger, 1956
Couples could return to the show until defeated; one
couple, Erik and Helena Gude, remained on the show long Created by Don Fedderson
enough to amass $120,800. Directed by Jim Morgan
Presented by Edgar Bergen
Change to daytime [edit] Narrated by Ed Reimers (1956)
The prime time version ended in March 1957, but was Bob LeMond (1956-57)
soon revamped as a daytime show to air on ABC and Country of origin United States
feature Johnny Carson. In 1957, Carson's career was in
Production
serious trouble due to the cancellation of his prime time
CBS variety series The Johnny Carson Show. This series Executive producer Fred Henry
immediately launched him into the public consciousness. Producers Don Fedderson
When the series launched as a daytime show on ABC on
David Lowe
September 30, it kept the Do You Trust Your Wife? title
until July 1958, changing its title to expand the scope of Running time 30 minutes
contestants beyond married couples. Original release

The initial Carson-era shows were announced by Bill Network CBS

Nimmo. A year into the run, Nimmo was replaced by Ed Release January 3, 1956 –
McMahon, and from that point until 1992 Carson and
March 26, 1957
McMahon would spend the majority of their careers
together.

Gameplay (Carson era) [edit]

Three couples competed on each show, nearly always a
man and a woman chosen for their unique backgrounds;

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Who Do You Trust? - Wikipedia

the announcer would introduce couples one at a time,

and Carson spent more time interviewing the contestants
than quizzing them.
In the quiz portion, Carson would tell the male contestant
the category of the upcoming question; the man would
then have to decide whether to answer the question
himself or "trust" the woman to do so.
Who Do You Trust? audio sample
Johnny Carson interviews Atlanta, Georgia
native, Rubye Posner in Summer 1958 - 11.3
MB
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Three questions were played per couple, worth $25, $50, and $75; if two or all three couples tied in the
cash winnings, they were asked a question involving a numerical answer; the couple coming closest to
the correct answer moved on to the bonus game.

Bonus round [edit]

From 1957 until the quiz-show scandals in 1959, the bonus round pitted the day's winners against the
winners from the previous day. One partner from each team, usually the man, was placed in an isolation
booth and asked a question with several answers. The one who got the most correct answers won $500
and the right to return the following day.

After the scandals, in which Who Do You Trust? was not involved, the bonus round involved the winning
couple attempting to unscramble a name or phrase in fifteen seconds.

Other show elements [edit]

One major difference between Carson and NBC's You Bet Your Life host Groucho Marx was that
Carson often participated in demonstrations of the contestants' interests or hobbies. On one memorable
show he tried his hand at driving a miniature race car (and crashed into a wall), while on another he
donned scuba gear and dived into a tank of water. Groucho, on the other hand, almost never left his
desk, letting his announcer, George Fenneman, take part in the demonstrations.

As was almost always the case in daytime television programs of the era, including soap operas and
even children's shows, all of the background music on Who Do You Trust? was supplied by a single
organist, which was John Gart for this series.

When ABC picked up Do You Trust Your Wife?, it created a scheduling conflict with the popular
American Bandstand, hosted by Dick Clark, in the afternoon lineup. At the time American Bandstand
(which had just premiered) aired for ninety minutes from 3 PM to 4:30 PM daily and was popular enough
that ABC did not want to move it out of its timeslot, so a compromise was reached. Do You Trust Your
Wife? was placed in the 3:30 PM timeslot that ABC had originally intended for the show, with the
remainder of American Bandstand following it at 4 PM. This lasted until 1961, when ABC reduced
American Bandstand by thirty minutes and started it immediately after what was now Who Do You
Trust?. In Philadelphia, ABC affiliate WFIL-TV, which produced Bandstand continued to air the show
locally at 3:30. The station ran Who Do You Trust? on a one-week delay earlier in the afternoon.

Woody Woodbury era [edit]

Carson and McMahon departed after the show of 7 September 1962, when Carson was hired to take
over from Jack Paar on NBC's Tonight. Carson and McMahon would spend the next thirty years together
as host and sidekick on that show.[1] Meanwhile, Woody Woodbury took over the Who Do You Trust?
hosting position while Bill Nimmo, Carson's original announcer in 1957-58, returned to announce.

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The series continued with Woodbury and Nimmo until December 27, 1963.

International versions [edit]

A British version of Do You Trust Your Wife? was produced by ATV in September 1956 and was hosted
by Bob Monkhouse (making this his first time hosting a game show) and Denis Goodwin. The show was
based on the Edgar Bergen version and featured a top prize of £2 per week for a whole year (for a grand
total of £104). The show was cancelled after one series and replaced with a loose remake called Bury
Your Hachet (also hosted by Monkhouse and Goodwin), which proved to be even worse and was gone
by the end of 1957.

An Australian version aired in Melbourne from 1957 to 1958 on station GTV-9, at a time when Australian
television series often aired in just a single city. Based on the Edgar Bergen version, the Melbourne
version was hosted by ventriloquist Ron Blaskett and his three dolls.[2]

References [edit]

1. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television . Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 464 .
ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
2. ^ "The Age - Google News Archive Search" .
David Schwartz, Steve Ryan, and Fred Wostbrock, The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (3rd
edition, 1999)
Laurence Leamer, King of the Night (1989)

External links [edit]

Who Do You Trust? at IMDb

Do You Trust Your Wife? (Australian version) at IMDb
Media offices
Succeeded by
Preceded by Television show hosted by Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring
The Johnny Carson Show 30 September 1957 – 7 September 1962
Johnny Carson

Categories: American Broadcasting Company original programming 1950s American game shows
1960s American game shows 1957 American television series debuts
1963 American television series endings English-language television shows
Black-and-white American television shows Black-and-white Australian television shows
Television series by CBS Studios

This page was last edited on 1 May 2023, at 19:57 (UTC).

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