''Say It With Acting'' is an American television game show that was broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from January 8, 1951, until May 1951, and on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from August 1951 until February 22, 1952.

Background

The program began in January 1949 as a local show, ''Look Ma, I'm Acting'', on

WNBT-TV WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...

in New York City. It was the first TV program for which

Bill Cullen William Lawrence Francis Cullen (February 18, 1920 – July 7, 1990) was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. His biggest claim to fame was as a game show host; over the course of his career, he host ...

was host. For each scene performed by actors, a viewer was called and asked to describe the scene in a single word, with a prize given for a correct answer. On February 20, 1949, the NBC network began to carry the show, with the new title ''Act It Out''. It ran until August 7, 1949.

Format

''Say It With Acting'' pitted two teams against each other in

charades Charades (, ). is a parlor game, parlor or party game, party word game, word guessing game. Originally, the game was a dramatic form of literary charades: a single person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the w ...

competition.

Bud Collyer Bud Collyer (born Clayton Johnson Heermance Jr., June 18, 1908 – September 8, 1969) was an American radio actor and announcer and game show host who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars. He is best remembered for ...

and Maggi McNellis were team captains each week.

Ben Grauer Benjamin Franklin Grauer (June 2, 1908 – May 31, 1977) was a US radio and TV personality, following a career during the 1920s as a child actor in films and on Broadway. He began his career as a child in David Warfield's production of ''The Retur ...

was the host. Each four-member team consisted of actors and actresses from a current Broadway play, and the winning team returned the following week to face a new opponent. Players' pantomimes had to communicate "tough sayings, or titles of books, plays, songs—things like 'The Dreadful Dragon of Hungry Hill,' 'Neurotic You and Psychopathic Me,' or 'As fluffy as a fleecy cloud.'" Teams competed against the clock, with the team that used less time being the winner.

Sponsor and schedule

Brown Shoe Company Caleres Inc. is an American footwear company that owns and operates a variety of footwear brands. Its headquarters is located in Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.Smilin' Ed McConnell Smilin' Ed McConnell (born James McConnell; 1882 – July 23, 1954) was a radio personality, best known as the host of the children's radio and television series, ''Smilin' Ed's Gang'', closely identified with its sponsor, Buster Brown shoes ...

's program. After it moved to ABC, it was broadcast on Friday nights from 7:30 to 8 o'clock, alternating weekly with ''Life with Linkletter''.

References

{{Reflist 1951 American television series debuts 1952 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming Black-and-white American television shows American English-language television shows NBC original programming

Background

Format

Sponsor and schedule

See also

References