''That's My Line'' is a summer

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 ...

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

developed by

Mark Goodson Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions. Early life and e ...

. Conceived in response to the success of

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 ...

's ''

Real People ''Real People'' is an American reality television series that originally aired on NBC from 1979 to 1984, Wednesdays from 8 pm to 9pm Eastern Time. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central time zones. ''Real People'' featured "r ...

'' and ABC's ''

That's Incredible! ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of ''You Asked for It'', '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and ''Real People'', the show featured people p ...

'', ''That's My Line'' borrowed its name from one of Goodson and

Bill Todman William Selden Todman (July 31, 1916 – July 29, 1979) was an American television producer and personality born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest-running shows with business partner Mark Goodson, with whom he created ...

's earlier productions, the panel game ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'', and shared its central conceit of highlighting average people with unusual occupations. Unlike the earlier show, ''That's My Line'' had no panel or game components, instead being centered around interviews and demonstrations. The series ran as a summer replacement series for two abbreviated seasons in 1980 and 1981. It was hosted by

Bob Barker Robert William Barker (born December 12, 1923) is an American retired television game show host. He is known for hosting CBS's '' The Price Is Right'' from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American tele ...

and announced by

Johnny Olson John Leonard Olson (May 22, 1910 – October 12, 1985) was an American radio personality and television announcer. Olson is perhaps best known for his work as an announcer for game shows, particularly the work he did for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman P ...

, both associated with Goodson-Todman's hit game show, ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

'' (Olson had also been the ''What's My Line?'' announcer for many years). The series was co-hosted by Suzanne Childs and Tiiu Leek, and joined during the 1981 run by Kerry Millerick. The thrust of the show during the 1981 season also changed from unusual occupations to an emphasis on the funny, bizarre, or ridiculous. Notable moments included voice artist

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy r ...

having a contest with an audience member on who does voice acting the best (the "audience member" being his son Noel) and magician

James Randi James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Rodrigues 2010 ...

contesting James Hydrick's psychic abilities.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 1641156 CBS original programming 1980s American reality television series 1980 American television series debuts 1981 American television series endings Television series by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions English-language television shows