''The Name's the Same'' is an American

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

produced by Goodson-

Todman Todman (7 October 1954 – 1976) was one of the greatest Australia, Australian Thoroughbred racehorses and an important sire. He was perhaps best known as the winner of the inaugural STC Golden Slipper in 1957, being the first of Star Kingdom ...

for the

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 ...

television network from December 5, 1951 to August 31, 1954, followed by a run from October 25, 1954 to October 7, 1955. The premise was for contestants to guess the names of persons whose actual name corresponded to a famous person, celebrity, a place, common object or action. It was alternately sponsored by

Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...

and

Johnson Wax S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. (commonly referred to as S. C. Johnson) is an American multinational, privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, Wisconsin. In 2017, S. C. Jo ...

for the majority of its run. It was also sponsored by the Bendix home appliance division of

Avco Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...

early in its run, and

Clorets Clorets is a line of chewing gum and mints made by Cadbury Adams. It was introduced in 1951. Clorets gum and candy contain Actizol, a proprietary ingredient that contains chlorophyll, which purportedly acts as an active ingredient to eliminate m ...

and

Chicken of the Sea Chicken of the Sea is a packager and provider of seafood, owned by the Thai Union Group in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. The brand is attached to tuna, salmon, clams, crab, shrimp, mackerel, oysters, kippers and sardines in cans, pouches and cups, as a ...

tuna midway through its run. The show's second run sponsor,

Ralston Purina Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's Fri ...

, also sponsored ''

Ethel and Albert ''Ethel and Albert'' (aka ''The Private Lives of Ethel and Albert'') was a radio and television comedy series about a married couple, Ethel and Albert Arbuckle, living in the small town of Sandy Harbor. Created by Peg Lynch (1916–2015), who scr ...

'', the program that replaced ''The Name's the Same'' on the ABC schedule.

Moderators

Robert Q. Lewis Robert Q. Lewis (born Robert Goldberg; April 25, 1921 – December 11, 1991) was an American radio and television personality, comedian, game show host, and actor. Lewis added the middle initial "Q" to his name accidentally on the air in 1942, ...

was the original host and moderator from December 5, 1951 to August 31, 1954. During three separate personal vacation breaks, in 1953 and 1954,

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in ''The Barretts of W ...

and

Clifton Fadiman Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman (May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality. He began his work with the radio, and switched to television later in his career. Background Born in Bro ...

substituted for Lewis. After Lewis' final show, where he implied the show's future was in doubt, ''The Name's the Same'' went on hiatus, giving Lewis more time to devote to his daytime variety shows on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

which Swanson decided to sponsor in place of this show. (Announcer

Lee Vines Lee Vines (April 11, 1919 – July 9, 2011) was a Canadian-born American radio and television announcer and actor. He was best known to television audiences in the 1950s as the announcer on the ''What's My Line?'' game show. Television anno ...

continued with Lewis on CBS.) ''The Name's the Same'' returned on October 25 with a new set and

joined as the sponsor. During this 39-week run the moderators changed thrice:

Dennis James Dennis James (born Demie James Sposa, August 24, 1917 – June 3, 1997) was an American television personality, philanthropist, and commercial spokesman. Until 1976, he had appeared on TV more times and for a longer period than any other televi ...

hosted for 18 weeks, through April 4;

Bob and Ray Bob and Ray were an American comedy duo whose career spanned five decades, composed of comedians Bob Elliott (1923–2016) and Ray Goulding (1922–1990). The duo's format was typically to satirize the medium in which they were performing, such ...

shared the moderators' duties for 10 weeks, from April 11 to June 21;

returned to the emcee's chair on June 28, hosting for 11 weeks through the final episode on October 7.

Panelists

The only panelist to remain for the show's entire run was

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based actress and

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

Joan Alexander Joan Alexander (born Louise Abrass; April 16, 1915 – May 21, 2009)
''

Abe Burrows Abe Burrows (born Abram Solman Borowitz; December 18, 1910 – May 17, 1985) was an American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage. He won a Tony Award and was selected for two Pulitzer Prizes, only one of which was awarded. Ear ...

and composer

Meredith Willson Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flutist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 195 ...

. Burrows left the show in November 1952, a victim of the

Red Scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...

and comedian

Jerry Lester Jerry Lester (born Lester J. Goldberg; February 16, 1910 – March 23, 1995) was an American comedian, singer and performer on radio, television and the stage, knows for playing the father of the main characters, Mike Firpo, in the comedy ...

took his seat, followed by comedian

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

on April 14, 1953. Willson stayed on until July 1953, and his place on the panel was taken by ABC sportscaster

Bill Stern Bill Stern (July 1, 1907 – November 19, 1971) was an American actor and sportscaster who announced the nation's first remote sports broadcast and the first telecast of a baseball game. In 1984, Stern was part of the American Sportscaster ...

. On September 15, 1953, Reiner left and Alexander and Stern were joined by New York radio personality

Gene Rayburn Gene Rayburn (born Eugene Peter Jeljenic; December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the American television game show ''Match Game'' for over tw ...

. On February 9, 1954, the panel's makeup was adjusted and

Bess Myerson Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model and television actress who in 1945 became the first Miss America who was also Jewish. Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an af ...

, Miss America 1945, was added to the panel to replace Bill Stern and a fourth panelist was added to the game. That fourth panelist was originally Sherlock Holmes portrayer

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

, but he left on April 6 and was replaced by ''

Texaco Star Theater ''Texaco Star Theater'' was an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave Mi ...

'' regular

Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''The New York Times'', 22 December 2 ...

. Stang then left on May 18 and was replaced by humorist Roger Price, who stayed on until the final episode. In January 1955, Rayburn and Myerson left the panel and were replaced by ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

Audrey Meadows Audrey Meadows ( Cotter, February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress best known for her role as the deadpan housewife The Honeymooners#Alice Kramden, Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy ''The Honeymooners''. ...

and ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' columnist and future '' To Tell The Truth'' regular

Hy Gardner Hy Gardner (December 2, 1908 – June 17, 1989) was an American entertainment reporter and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Herald Tribune'', host of ''Hy Gardner Calling'', ''The Hy Gardner Show'', and ''Celebrity Party'', and an orig ...

. Gardner was replaced by actor

Walter Slezak Walter Slezak (; 3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian-born film and stage actor active between 1922 and 1976. He mainly appeared in German films before migrating to the United States in 1930 and performing in numerous Hollywood producti ...

in March 1955, who in turn left in July due to a time slot switch.

Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...

, then a fledgling journalist, took over as the last permanent panelist. Many familiar faces of the era were guest panelists, including

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 ...

Morey Amsterdam Moritz "Morey" Amsterdam (December 14, 1908 – October 28, 1996) was an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. He played Buddy Sorrell on CBS's ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' from 1961 to 1966. Early life Amsterdam was born in Chicago ...

Dane Clark Dane Clark (born Bernard Zanville; February 26, 1912September 11, 1998) was an American character actor who was known for playing, as he labeled himself, "Joe Average." Early life Clark was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Jewish imm ...

and

Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's ''Dudle ...

and

Cliff Norton Clifford Charles Norton (March 21, 1918 – January 25, 2003) was an American character actor and radio announcer who appeared in various movies and television series over a career spanning four decades. Early years Norton was born in Ch ...

Game play

Each standard round featured a contestant who had a "famous name": the contestant's full name was the same as either an actual person ("Jane Russell," "Abraham Lincoln," "Napoleon Bonaparte"), a place ("Virginia Beach," "Monte Carlo"), a thing ("A. Lap," "A. Table," "Ruby Lips", “A. Mattress”), or an action ("I. Draw", "Will Kiss"). It was always made clear that the names used on the show were authentic. The show's legal experts would check birth certificates, hospital records and other forms of verification to affirm the names' authenticity. The contestant was introduced and referred to throughout the game as "Mr. X" (or "Mrs./Miss/Master X"). A small curtain was opened to the audience, showing a placard with the contestant's name, along with a drawing depicting the namesake; famous people were often

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

d. The

panelist {{Short pages monitor