Down You Go
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''Down You Go'' is an American
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
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 demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...
originally broadcast on the DuMont Television Network. The Emmy Award-nominated series ran from
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...
to
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...
as a prime time series primarily hosted by Dr.
Bergen Evans Bergen Baldwin Evans (September 19, 1904 – February 4, 1978) was a Northwestern University professor of English and a television host. He received a George Foster Peabody Award in 1957 for excellence in broadcasting for his CBS TV series ''The La ...
. The program aired in eleven different timeslots during its five-year run. ''Down You Go'' is one of only six series — along with ''
The Arthur Murray Party ''The Arthur Murray Party'' is an American television variety show which ran from July 1950 until September 1960. The show was hosted by famous dancers Arthur and Kathryn Murray, and was basically one long advertisement for their chain of dance s ...
'', ''
Pantomime Quiz ''Pantomime Quiz'', initially titled ''Pantomime Quiz Time'' and later ''Stump the Stars'', was an American television game show produced and hosted by Mike Stokey. Running from 1947—1959, it has the distinction of being one of the few te ...
'', ''
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of ''Tom Corbett—Space Cadet'' stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Ast ...
'', ''
The Ernie Kovacs Show ''The Ernie Kovacs Show'' was an American comedy show hosted by comedian Ernie Kovacs, first shown in Philadelphia during the early 1950s, then nationally. The show appeared in many versions and formats, including daytime, prime-time, late-night ...
'', and ''
The Original Amateur Hour ''The Original Amateur Hour'' is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes, the originator of the program and its mas ...
'' — shown on all four major television networks of the Golden Age of Television (
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 ...
,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
,
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 ...
, and DuMont).Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1964). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (3rd ed.) p 1045. New York: Ballantine. .


Gameplay

''Down You Go'' was similar to " Hangman", with a group of four
celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
panelists who were asked to guess a word or phrase submitted by a home viewer. The host would give a
wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phon ...
-laden clue to the panel, who could then ask a question of any sort about the phrase, for which the host would have to '' ad lib'' an answer. After two questions, the second panelist would begin calling out a letter. Guessing a letter in the puzzle kept the panelist alive; if the panelist guessed a letter not in the puzzle, they would be eliminated and would pull down a lever on their lectern replacing their name with the phrase "DOWN YOU GO." Once two of the four panelists went down, the remaining panelists could ask another clue. At any time, a panelist could solve the puzzle and, if correct, end the game.McNeil, Alex (1980). ''Total Television'' (4th ed.). New York: Penguin Books. . The panel and host would then lightheartedly discuss the phrase for a minute or so before the next round began. Home viewers received a $5
wire transfer Wire transfer, bank transfer, or credit transfer, is a method of electronic funds transfer from one person or entity to another. A wire transfer can be made from one bank account to another bank account, or through a transfer of cash at a cash ...
and an encyclopedia set valued at $25 if their puzzle was used on-air, plus an additional $50 bonus if the puzzle was sent in along with a boxtop from one of the show's presenting sponsors and an additional $5 for each panelist they eliminated. Among the regular panelists were comedian
Fran Allison Frances Helen Allison (November 20, 1907June 13, 1989) was an American television and radio comedienne, personality, and singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show '' Kukla, Fran and Ollie'', which ran fro ...
, journalist Phyllis Cerf, editor Francis Coughlin, actress
Patricia Cutts Patricia Cutts (20 July 1926 – 6 September 1974)Patricia Cu ...
, actress Carmelita Pope, actor
Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...
, author
Jean Kerr Jean Kerr (born Bridget Jean Collins, July 10, 1922 – January 5, 2003) was an Irish-American author and playwright born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who authored the 1957 bestseller ''Please Don't Eat the Daisies'' and the plays ''King of Hea ...
, and athlete
Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to th ...
.


Broadcast history

On DuMont: *The series debuted on May 30, 1951, on DuMont, airing on Wednesday nights from 9 to 9:30pm ET until July, when it moved to Thursdays. *The program was moved to Friday at the start of the 1951–1952 television season. *During the summer of 1952, it aired on Fridays at 8pm ET. *In October 1952, it would be moved back to a 10:30pm time slot. *The series was shuffled around DuMont's schedule (Wednesdays at 9:30pm, then 10pm, and finally Fridays at 10:30pm) until May 20, 1955. ''Down You Go'' has been described as "one of the wittiest, most intelligent panel shows on television". The popular series was nominated for a "Best Audience Participation, Quiz, or Panel Program" Emmy in 1953. When the struggling DuMont network cancelled ''Down You Go'' along with most of its other series during the summer of 1955, rival network
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 ...
briefly picked up the series for the summer. Host Bergen Evans and some of the panelists stayed for the new version, which aired from June 11 to September 3. After twelve days, ''Down You Go'' returned to network television, this time on ABC, where it aired until June 4, 1956. NBC picked up the program on June 16 and made ''Down You Go'' more comedy-oriented, with new host Bill Cullen and a regular celebrity panel of
Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
, Jimmy Nelson,
Hildy Parks Hildy Parks (March 12, 1926 – October 7, 2004) was an American actress and writer for television programs. Early years Parks was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Cleo (Scanland) and Steve McNeil Parks. Parks pursued acting followin ...
, and
Arthur Treacher Arthur Veary Treacher (, 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet c ...
. The series ended on September 8, 1956.


British version

The
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...
aired their own version from January 1, 1953, to 1954. Originally hosted by Marcus Dick, Roy Rich took over the position beginning in April 1953, coinciding with a "refreshing" of the programme.UK Game Shows: ''Down You Go''
/ref> Notably, Evans-era regular Patricia Cutts was a regular on this version as well.


Episode status

One episode is known to exist. The panel for the episode was Francis Coughlin, Patricia Cutts,
Jerome Weidman Jerome Weidman (April 4, 1913, New York City – October 6, 1998, New York City) was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical ''Fiorello!'' with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldo ...
, and
Laraine Day Laraine Day (born La Raine Johnson, October 13, 1920 – November 10, 2007) was an American actress, radio and television commentator, and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract star. As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film sta ...
. The only indication of the date of the program was a brief and unusual promo advising viewers to tune in "on another network" to watch ''
The Loretta Young Show ''The Loretta Young Show'' (originally known as ''Letter to Loretta'') is an American anthology drama television series broadcast on Sunday nights from September 2, 1953, to June 4, 1961, on NBC for a total of 165 episodes. The series was hosted ...
'' the following night; as that show was only known by that name after 1954 and aired on Sunday nights, the promo sets this episode of ''Down You Go'' during the summer 1955 run on CBS, the only time the show ran on Saturdays. This episode is held by the
Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum, the stated mission of which is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain through our archi ...
in Chicago, circulates among collectors, and is available for viewing at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
(albeit mistakenly dated September 26, 1951). No episodes are known to have survived of the British version.


See also

*
List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network This is a list of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network, which operated in the United States from 1942 to 1956. All regularly scheduled programs which were aired on the DuMont network are listed below, regardless of whether they orig ...
*
List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts The DuMont Television Network was launched in 1946 and ceased broadcasting in 1956. Allen DuMont, who created the network, preserved most of what it produced in kinescope format. By 1958, however, much of the library had been destroyed to recove ...


References


Bibliography

* David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...
, 2004) * Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York: