''It Could Be You'' is a television game show produced by

Ralph Edwards Productions Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...

in the late 1950s in the United States, broadcast daily in the weekday daytime schedule for five years 1956–1961, and weekly in the evening on-and-off over three years 1958–1961.

Bill Leyden William Leyden (February 1, 1917,Born in 1917 peSocial Security Death Index under name William Leyden/ref> in Chicago, Illinois – March 11, 1970, in Hollywood, California) was a television game show host and announcer who emceed six game shows ...

was the host, and

Wendell Niles Wendell Niles (December 29, 1904 – March 28, 1994) was an announcer during the American golden age of radio and later in television. Early years Niles was born in Livingston, Montana and grew up there. He attended New York University and t ...

was the announcer.

Details

''It Could Be You'' used a variation of the format made famous in another popular show of the time, ''

Queen for a Day ''Queen for a Day'' is an American radio and television game show that helped to usher in American listeners' and viewers' fascination with big-prize giveaway shows. ''Queen for a Day'' originated on the Mutual Radio Network on April 30, 1945, in ...

'', where a woman who had gone through many hardships in her life was selected and awarded prizes. However, ''It Could Be You'', though still awarding prizes, focused most often on a woman's more embarrassing moments — for example: being seen by a neighbor while getting out of a bathtub, or engaging in a romantic interlude with a boyfriend while parked next to a bus full of tourists. Sometimes, the contestant had to perform a stunt or activity to claim the prize. The title of the series was part of the show, in that the woman called to the stage was from a studio audience which had been told ... "It Could Be You".Brooks, Tim and March, Earl (2007) "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946–Present", Random House, p. page 507 Prizes were often more humorous than useful — a woman who complained about moving from city to city so much that she could never get used to her new bathtub received a bathtub on wheels. At times, though, the producers of the show were much more sensitive, bringing about reunions of relatives long thought dead, or re-uniting families torn apart by the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

. Online archive
of review of "It Could Be You" newspaper article in Ocala Star-Banner (September 25, 1960), page 53 Guest celebrities would sometimes appear to aid the host. Among those appearing were: *

Lex Barker Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. (May 8, 1919 – May 11, 1973), known as Lex Barker, was an American actor. He was known for playing Tarzan for RKO Pictures between 1949 and 1953, and portraying leading characters from Karl May's novels, notably as ...

Annette Funicello Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Funicello began her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve. She was one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the orig ...

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

"It Could Be You"
webpage on Steve McQueen Online website NBC broadcast both a daily weekday daytime version (1956 through 1961), and a weekly primetime evening version that appeared on various days at various times over the summer of 1958, within the 1958-59 and 1959-60 television seasons, and over the summer of 1961. The show was produced from Studio D of NBC Radio City in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and later from Studio 1 of the NBC Studios in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

. The producer of the show was

Stefan Hatos Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions is a television production company responsible for producing several American game shows in the 1970s and 1980s. The company is best known for its hit series ''Let's Make a Deal'', which aired in several company- ...

, best known for his later collaboration with Monty Hall on the famous 1960s and 1970s TV game show ''

Let's Make A Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...

''.

Daytime schedule

The daily daytime version of the show premiered June 4, 1956 on the NBC daytime schedule in the 12:30–1 PM (EST) timeslot, and continued every weekday at that time through December 30, 1961.

Prime time schedule

The primetime evening version of the show was also broadcast by NBC.

Summer 1958

The weekly evening version of the show premiered July 2, 1958, in the 10:30–11 PM (EST) timeslot on Wednesday nights, where it continued until September 1958.

1958–59 season

The weekly evening show began again in November 1958 in a new timeslot, 8:30–9 PM (EST) on Thursday nights, and continued there until the end of March 1959. The evening show was not broadcast in the summer of 1959.

1959–60 season

In September 1959, the weekly evening show appeared in another new timeslot, 10:30–11 PM (EST) on Saturday nights, until January 1960. The evening show was not broadcast in the summer of 1960.

1960–61 season

The evening show did not appear within the 1960–61 season.

Summer 1961

The evening show began again June 1961 in a fourth timeslot, 10–10:30 PM (EST) on Wednesday nights. The last prime time show was broadcast September 27, 1961.

Critical reception

Although the viewing public enjoyed the show and appreciated host Bill Leyden's quick wit,Television Highlights article in Deseret (Utah) News (September 1, 1956) page 7
in the online Google archive critics of daytime television found fault with what they called the patronizing and condescending behavior the host had toward the women brought on stage.Cassidy, Marsha Francis (2005) "What Women Watched: Daytime Television in the 1950s" University of Texas Press , pages 195-202

References

External links

"It Could be You"
subsection of SHOWS webpage on Ralph Edwards Productions website
"It Could Be You"
webpage on the IMDB website {{DEFAULTSORT:It Could Be You (Us Game Show) 1956 American television series debuts 1961 American television series endings NBC original programming Television series by Ralph Edwards Productions 1950s American game shows 1960s American game shows