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The first and most famous version was hosted by Groucho Marx, of Marx Brothers fame, with the unflappable announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on radio in 1947, then made the transition to the NBC television network in 1950.
The television version was changed very little from the radio version . It was filmed before a studio audience, then slightly edited for television broadcast. In 1960 it was renamed "The Groucho Show" and ran one additional year.
Groucho would be introduced to the music of "Hooray for Captain Spaulding", his signature song introduced in the 1930 film Animal Crackers. Much of the tension of the show revolved around whether any of the contestants, in pre-contest conversation with Groucho, would say the "secret word", a common word seemingly selected at random and revealed to the audience at the show's outset. If a contestant uttered the word, a mustachioed toy duckDendrocygninae Oxyurinae Anatinae Merginae The word duck was also used as slang for the WWII amphibious vehicle called a DUKW. The word duck meaning the bird, came from the verb "to duck" meaning to bend down as if to get under something, because of the w (wearing eyeglasses and with a cigarThis page is about the tobacco product, for the horse Cigar see Cigar (horse). A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of tobacco leaves that have already been dried and fermented, which is lit for the purpose of inhaling (or merely drawing into the mouth rath in its bill, resembling Groucho) would descend from the ceiling to bring the contestant $50; Marx would sometimes slyly direct their conversation in such a way as to encourage the word to come up. The contestants were paired individuals of the opposite sex who were not married or involved in a relationship with each other; most frequently, both were married to other people.
In the contest itself, contestants would choose among available categories and then try to answer a series of questions dealing with the chosen category. One popular category involved attempting to name a United States state after being given a number of cities and towns within the state.
The play of the game was secondary to the interplay between Groucho, the contestants, and occasionally Fenneman. The program was hugely successful and was rerun into the 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around, and later in syndication, under the title The Best of Groucho.
One often-told story recounts the appearance a woman contestant who mentioned she had many children (17, in some versions). Groucho asks her, "Why so many children?" The woman replies, "Well, I just love my husband." Groucho replies, "Well, I love my cigar, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while." The remark was judged too risque to be aired at the time and was edited out before broadcast, but the audio of the audience reaction was used by NBC for many years whenever bring-down-the house laughter was called for in laugh trackA laugh track or canned laughter is a separate soundtrack with the sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into TV comedy shows and sitcoms. Laugh tracks are meant to be used as a "cue" for the viewing audience to laugh at the appropriate time durs. (The truth of this story is unknown; Groucho alternatively confirmed and denied it years later, and the original footage of the broadcast has not survived.)