You Bet Your Life #57-14 Fenneman inhales helium (Secret word Water, Dec 26, 1957) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2026-09-20 | You Bet Your Life #57-14 Fenneman inhales helium (Secret word Water, Dec 26, 1957)
RARE AUDIO: Groucho hosts The TONIGHT SHOW. . . with guest Lillian Roth! (1962) [EXCLUSIVE!] Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2017-12-21 | Brand new exclusive material: An incredibly rare find of extremely valuable audio of Groucho Marx hosting the TONIGHT SHOW in 1962! (more info below. . . )Virtually none of the TONIGHT SHOW prior to 1972 survives in any form, let alone from the week of shows hosted by Groucho just before Johnny Carson took over the program. But not only is this a very special recording due to the rarity of any pre-1972 TONIGHT SHOW material, but due to the enormous Marxian significance of the first guest featured: Lillian Roth, romantic lead of The Marx Bros second film, "Animal Crackers"! They even sing a duet (of sorts). George Fenneman reunites with Groucho, too, sitting in as temporary announcer, a year after the end of YOU BET YOUR LIFE.The audio here is pretty rough, and the recording far from complete. Whoever recorded this originally was clearly uninterested in anything but The Marx Bros, since he didn't even bother to record the Barbra Streisand segment. But we're extremely lucky to be able to hear this in any form, thanks to a near-miraculous series of serendipitous events, which began with my friend (Patrick Barr) buying a bunch of reel to reel tapes at a garage sale without having any idea what he was buying, just because the label on one, "Groucho - Tonight Show", sounded intriguing. The heavily damaged reels were then expertly and carefully brought back to listenable quality by another friend, Steve Garland, via a very delicate and risky tape restoration process known as "baking". (I'm not making that term up: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky-shed_syndrome#Baking )I've been sitting on this recording for far too long, because the audio needed a lot of work, most of which is well and truly beyond my amateur skills. I'm certain a true digital audio expert could make this sound quite a bit better than it does, but after countless hours of my own tinkering around with this for more than a couple of YEARS, I felt it was long overdue to get this posted once and for all in some semi-listenable form.I hope you enjoy this historically important and immensely entertaining recording, despite the effort required to decipher the some of the dialogue. I feel incredibly honored to have been trusted to shepherd along this process, and to finally make it available to the the public here on YouTube.Many thanks to Patrick for trusting me with the recording, to Steve for rescuing it from the dead, and most of all, to whomever made this home recording of the original broadcast in the first place! The odds were astronomically against this recording existing in the first place, let alone its having gotten into the hands of the right people so that it could be transferred, cleaned up, and made availble to fans everywhere. . . as it should be.(PS: Please excuse the crappy slideshow. I don't have even remotely good software for this, now that YouTube decided to remove their "just slightly better than awful" slideshow creation feature.)---------------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some other rare material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks
Groucho does the Polka - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Apr 2, 1959) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2016-10-10 | Another funny bit of spontaneous dance from a surprisingly limber-for-his-age Groucho, this time doing the polka, with a few signature Captain Spaulding leg kicks thrown in for good measure.Complete show: youtube.com/watch?v=VSy7UM_1rEgMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
You Bet Your Life #57-25 Sammy Cahn / The Private Life of George Fiddeman (Mar 13, 1958) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2016-09-17 | COUPLE #1: Louise Pierson (columnist) & Sammy Cahn (famed songwriter)COUPLE #2: Sandee Silen & Delores OlsonThe segment with Sammy Cahn is a treat, but for me the real highlight of this show is when Delores Olson mistakenly refers to George Fenneman as "Mr. Fiddeman". Groucho uses this ripe opportunity to humiliate Fenneman yet again, this time accusing him of making up an alias.Many thanks to viewer James C. for sending me his copy of this episode!-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
The Private Life of George Fiddeman - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Mar 13, 1958) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2016-09-17 | Groucho once again engaging in his favorite sport on YBYL: humiliating George Fenneman. The moment Groucho heard the young contestant mistake George's name as "Fiddeman", you can tell Groucho knew he'd just struck comic gold.Complete show: youtube.com/watch?v=CBkIU5vBoGoMany thanks to viewer James C. for sending me his copy of this episode!More great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Thats the longest quiz segment I ever saw! - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Oct 24, 1957) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2016-08-28 | If you think the quiz segment seems prolonged as presented here, check out the version that aired-- it lasts almost 5 full minutes! Given the strange format of the quiz in this phase of this series (four in a row right to win, with two wrong in a row ending the game, which, theoretically, could go on forever), I'm surprised this didn't happen more often. Or maybe when it did, they edited out some of the questions. My guess is that they left intact all the reversals this time to be able to include Groucho's quip at the resolution of the game, which is perfection.To top it all off, Mr. Belognini almost fluffs the consolation question!Complete show: youtube.com/watch?v=P21YQSUyAQUMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Tell It To Groucho - Rod Serling (April 2, 1962) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2016-02-16 | You Bet Your Life was retooled as "Tell It To Groucho" and sold to CBS for one short season in early 1962. Here's half of one of the very few episodes available to view today, featuring Rod Serling.-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
The segment that inspired You Bet Your Life: Groucho and Bob Hope on The Walgreens Hour Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-11-07 | From March 27, 1947, here's the fabled radio segment with Groucho and Bob Hope exchanging ad libs-- many of which were totally unacceptable for radio-- that inspired producer John Guedel to create a quiz show for Groucho. This is a funny bit-- and clearly has a lot of ad libs. But the way it's been described over the years-- by Guedel, by Arthur Marx, and practically anyone else-- is typically far removed from the reality. One legend goes, the script fell out of Hope's hands, and Groucho took the cue to toss away his script, leading to a 10 minute totally off script, wild ad lib session. Another version claims that Groucho was fuming offstage because he was called onto the program far later than expected, which led to him being surly and complaining, "Desert? Hell, I've been been waiting in the dressing room for an hour." Both stories have grains of truth, but it's undeniably clear from this clip that (a) They were still reading from a script, both of them, however many deviations. No one dropped a script. Nonsense. (b) This had nothing to do with Groucho being angry over being kept waiting offstage too long. But it's still a funny, funny bit. ----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks
You Bet Your Life - OUTTAKES (Complete!) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-08-13 | These hilarious outtakes from YBYL have been posted around YouTube before, but scattered around in pieces. Here are all the known surviving outtakes together in one video, 90 minutes of Not-Safe-For-1950s-TV Groucho. Sometimes the material is so tame it's hard to figure out what prompted it to be removed, but it's all side splitting! Lots of pure gold in these clips. These survive only because the film editor on YBYL saved them. As I understand it, they would play these outtakes at the annual YBYL Christmas party.-------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1Facebook group for You Bet Your Life and Groucho's other game shows! facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks
Those Wonderful TV Game Shows (Carl Reiner, Host): Tribute to You Bet Your Life with George Fenneman Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-08-12 | Excerpt from a retrospective special on game shows hosted by Carl Reiner, featuring an interview with George Fenneman. Originally aired Feb 27, 1984.imdb listing: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805629/reference------------------------------------------
You Bet Your Life - BEHIND THE SCENES (Apr 7, 1952) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-08-11 | Special film made for a gathering of DeSoto-Plymouth dealers showing how YBYL was put together. Features on camera appearances by producer John Guedel and directors Bernie Smith and Robert Dwan, plus some interesting shots showing how the program was filmed, and an excerpt from an early episode not in circulation, the premiere of the 6th season (including an outtake not included in the YBYL stag reels). ---------------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1Facebook group for You Bet Your Life and Groucho's other game shows! facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks
TOMORROW with Tom Snyder - George Fenneman, Don Wilson & Harry Von Zell (Apr 4, 1978) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-09 | Three of the greatest announcers of all time sat down for an hour-long chat with Tom Snyder on Apr 4, 1978, because this is the kind of interesting program they actually used to have on television. So here's George Fenneman, Harry Von Zell, Don Wilson, and some fourth guy named John Reed King who must have sneaked in when no one was looking. Von Zell comes off a bit incoherent and addled at times, but to be fair, that's no worse than Tom Snyder on any average evening.
Groucho - Short-lived British follow-up to You Bet Your Life (Jul 1, 1965) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-08 | ...
Tell It To Groucho - Fabian (April 26, 1962) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-08 | You Bet Your Life was retooled as "Tell It To Groucho" and sold to CBS for one short season in early 1962. Here's one of the very few episodes available to view today, this one featuring teen heartthrob and singing star Fabian.-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
Tell It To Groucho - Jayne Mansfield (Apr 19, 1962) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-07 | You Bet Your Life was retooled as "Tell It To Groucho" and sold to CBS for one short season in early 1962. Here's one of the very few episodes available to view today, this one featuring Jayne Mansfield and her husband Mike Hargitay. -----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
Tell It to Groucho - Pilot (1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-06 | When the pilot for "What Do You Want" failed to sell, John Guedel retooled the format for this pilot called "Tell It To Groucho", dumping George Fenneman in favor of Joy Harmon and Jackson Wheeler. The retooled "Tell It To Groucho" sold to CBS and debuted in early 1962, but wasn't renewed for a second season.-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
What Do You Want? - Pilot episode (1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-06 | Groucho's first attempt at a retooled version of You Bet Your Life, still with Fenneman on board. It didn't sell, and the format was tweaked again to become "Tell It To Groucho", which had a very short run on CBS.
You Bet Your Life #60-38 Final episode! (Table, Jun 29, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-03 | Well, this is it: the last episode of YBYL. There's no reference made to this being the final episode, primarily because no one at the time knew that it would be.Groucho would continue to limp along in unsuccessful follow-up formats for the next few years, but the end of YBYL basically meant the end of Groucho's time as a major force in television. It was poor scheduling rather than genuine audience disinterest that caused the ratings to plumet prematurely in the last two years, which is a real shame: Groucho was as sharp as ever, the era of prime time game shows was still going strong, and this whole final season demonstrates that the program still had plenty of juice left in it. So where are the rest of the episodes? There were over 400 episodes produced for television. Of these, around half are totally unaccounted for and quite possibly lost forever. The films we know to survive are the 16mm prints made for syndication. After many years of dedicated collecting I'm still missing a few *dozen* of these. This is an impossibly difficult series to track without a good log, which makes filling in missing episodes a major uphill battle. No one knows what episodes they have (not unless they have a copy of Mark Petty's log, "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", and too few people have it.)I've shared all the shows I've been able to find-- if anyone out there has episodes that I haven't posted yet and is willing to share them, please send me a message. This series has been all but totally inaccessible to the public for over 20 years, and deserves to be much better remembered and more widely seen than it is!COUPLE #1: Jackie Niles, restaurant hostess / Mal Merritt, father of 11 children who runs a rooming house, and does a nutty dance number that would have made Rowena proudCOUPLE #2: Molly Magruder / Jerry Sherman, USC student-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-35 Frankie Avalon and Harry Ruby (Smile, Jun 8, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-03 | One highlight of this show is Groucho singing a duet with Frankie Avalon of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", getting in a few more impromptu dance moves before the series wraps up. But for die-hard Marx Bros fans, the real highlight is in round two: a brief glimpse of Harry Ruby, one of the key writers of the Marx Bros movies in their heyday, and a lifelong friend of Groucho's. He doesn't get to say a whole hellof a lot, but it's nice to see him anyway.COUPLE #1: Frankie Avalon / Joyce DeHardt, Miss Junior Achievement. Alex Costa, Jr., a sailor from the audience, subs for Frankie in the quizCOUPLE #2: Caryl Briscoe / Harry Ruby, comedy writer & song composer-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-33 Melinda Marx & Bobby Van (Paper, May 25, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-02 | This was Melinda's last appearance on YBYL. Though you'd never be able to tell from what's on screen, she wasn't very happy being pushed into the spotlight this way by her father (just as Groucho wasn't very happy being pushed into show business by his mother). Here she does a charming duet of "Put on a Happy Face" with Broadway song-and-dance star (and later game show host) Bobby Van.Bobby Van: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_VanCOUPLE #1: Lydia Valenzuela, wife of a diesel mechanic / Alexander Von Mirbach, Russian noblemanCOUPLE #2: Melinda Marx / Bobby Van-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-25 The McKeever Twins (Book, Mar 30, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-07-01 | More info on the McKeever twins:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin_McKeeveren.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_McKeeverCOUPLE #1: William Harmon, former navy yeoman who sings "The Old Gray Mare" in Russian / Patricia Marks, final contestant in the demented "Mrs. Housing Development U.S.A." beauty pageantCOUPLE #2: Marlin & Mike McKeever, pro football playing identical twin brothers, and their wives Suzie & Judy-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-23 The Fabian Society (Skin, Mar 9, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-06-30 | Thanks to Groucho, I now know that, in addition to being a teen heart throb of the 1960s, Fabian was also a form of socialism: en.wikipedia.org/?title=Fabian_SocietyThis show is nothing if not educational. COUPLE #1: Audrey Kaufman, another contestant in the insane "Mrs. Housing Development USA" beauty contest / Stephen "All Flash and No Cash" WayneCOUPLE #2: Lillie Knighton, school teacher / Judy Krotzer, fan of Fabian (the singer, not the economic system)-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-21 Lou Nova, the Yogi Boxer (Water, Feb 16, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-06-29 | Special guest Lou Nova was a championship boxer: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_NovaCOUPLE #1: Gertrude Bagwell / John SmithCOUPLE #2: Lou "The Cosmic Punch" Nova, boxing champ and Yoga proponent, who recites Shakespeare while standing on his head / Jeanne Snyder, contestant in the ongoing (and bizarre) "Mrs. Housing Development USA" contestNOTE: The opening and closing are missing from this recording.----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #59-11 Tor Johnson [Incomplete] (Chair, Dec 3, 1959) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-06-28 | For reasons I will never understand, this episode has been impossible to find. It's not a lost show-- Ed Wood aficionados have apparently been passing this episode around for years-- but all I've been able to get my grubby little hands on is this incomplete copy in horrific video quality. I'm still grateful to have it, though-- prior to this, all that was available from this show was a 3 minute clip. At least we get to see (sort of) the full Tor Johnson segment here, including the quiz!If anyone has a complete and/or better quality copy of this one, please let me know!COUPLE #1: Gail Van Der Most / Mike Dini [NOT INCLUDED]COUPLE #2: Tor Johnson / Stassa Damascus-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #57-30 The Tap Dancing Septugenarian Landlady (Shoe, Apr 17, 1958) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-06-27 | Highlight of this show is the rousing tap dance number performed by 70 year old Mabel B. Porter @ 17:30. Groucho looks genuinely impressed.COUPLE #1: Jean Hudson, 18 year old secretary, who thinks Groucho is a different kind of cute than Fenneman / David H. Brown, trainer for MarinelandCOUPLE #2: Mabel B. Porter, 70 year old landlady / Vladimir Babishvili from Georgia (the Asian country, not the U.S. state). Groucho shows what a softie he was when he saw how badly they did in the quiz, calling up a member of the audience (Corrine Peacoff) to substitute for Babishvilli in the quiz.-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #56-26 Betina Consolo returns (Chair, Mar 21, 1957) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-06-26 | Thanks to the kind contribution of a friend in Australia, I'm finally able to post the middle of Italian husband hunter Betina Consolo's three classic appearances on YBYL. COUPLE #1: Caryl Jost, Newspaper Poetress / Emmanuel W. Klein, Antique DealerCOUPLE #2: Betina Consolo, Italian husband hunter, returns / Oreste Seragnoli, retired Italian actor-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
Groucho Dances! (Highlights from rare episodes of You Bet Your Life) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-06-25 | Groucho was prone to spontaneous bursts of dance any time there was music being performed on You Bet Your Life. Here's a 5 minute video compiling many of these great moments. Whether he's doing an Irish jig, the flamenco, a hep cat jitterbug step, a waltz, a tango, or the bunny hop, it's hard to believe the guy in these clips was around 70 years old. And remember: 70 years old in 1960 was not what 70 years old is now. 70 years old in 1960 was *old*. Some of these bits I've already posted in longer form as their own highlight clips, but there are several great segments included in this montage that I haven't excerpted before. In closing, I sincerely apologize for using the word "montage". --------------------------------------More great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life and Groucho's other game shows! facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks
You Bet Your Life #51-08 A Georgeopolis By Any Other Name (Tree, Nov 22, 1951) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-06-25 | COUPLE #1: Walter Haggenah, architect / Sheila CrystalCOUPLE #2: Richard R. MacIntosh / Katherine George, whose husband's name was Georgeoplis, but she "just dropped the opolis"COUPLE #3: About To Be's: Jackie Lervo / Peter Hamburger, whom Groucho offers money to kiss his future wife -----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-20 The Arab Prince who wrote The Exorcist (Work, Feb 9, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-06-20 | The title is a spoiler, but I figure it's okay for a show that's 54 years old. The guy in the first round became famous for a great deal more than impersonating Arab Princes. Bill Blatty was, in fact, William Peter Blatty, future author of "The Exorcist".COUPLE #1: Arlene Di Fraia / Prince Something-Or-OtherCOUPLE #2: Margaret Nicholson / Simon Argevitch, Shoe salesmanNOTE: The opening is missing from this copy.-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-19 Princess Margarets temporary butler (Dress, Feb 2, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-05-16 | Thomas Cronin, who was temporarily the butler to Princess Margaret, has a whole lot more to his story than we get to hear on this program. Turns out he may have actually been. . . a KGB spy??? http://not4attribution.blogspot.com/2012/02/kgb-spies-from-archives.htmlAnd here's an interesting contemporary news article on Cronin leaving the employ of the Princess: news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19600920&id=OekxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4uQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4442,898144&hl=enCOUPLE #1: Marie McClay, former Paris fashion model / Aden Lowry, interior decorator and tambourine playerCOUPLE #2: Thomas Cronin, butler to Princess Margaret for 25 days / Jo Ann Zebell, plumber's wifeNOTE: The opening couple of minutes are cut off.---------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life and Groucho's other game shows! facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-15 Groucho the Telemarketer (Face, Jan 5, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-05-12 | From the moment Groucho makes his wager with Jack Schwartz, it feels like we're in for a totally preplanned bit, but the payoff phone call appears genuinely spontaneous to me. The startled reactions of the woman on the other end of the phone call are priceless. COUPLE #1: Eden Ryl, president of the EdenRyl Organization (naturally), which trains salesmen / Jack Schwartz, "greatest telephone insurance salesman in the country", who makes a sales call to demonstrate his skillCOUPLE #2: Barbara Winklepleck / Lloyd Kino, who we don't learn anything about at all, but they get to play the quiz with the absolute most boring category they had on YBYL, "Spelling". Great way to completely kill the pacing of the end of the episode, squeezing this in. They should have just had Groucho make another phone call. . . NOTE: The opening couple of minutes are cut off. ----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life and Groucho's other game shows! facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks----------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
Groucho learns proper sales technique - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Jan 5, 1961) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-05-12 | Groucho learns how salesmen are trained to speak properly, and then tells a very funny joke. This whole episode is a hoot, including a very funny phone call by Groucho to a random stranger to sell her a 4 cent postage stamp for a quarter. Complete episode: youtube.com/watch?v=LTGtUWuXvj4More great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
You Bet Your Life #60-13 Mr. Dempsey, the Amazing Talking Chihuahua (Paper, Dec 15, 1960) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-05-09 | NOTE: The audio goes out of synch with the video for about a minute around 20 minutes in. It's back in synch by the final segment (I couldn't correct it any better than this - sorry.)COUPLE #1: Joyce McCardigan, contestant in the staggeringly awkwardly named "Mrs. Housing Development" beauty contest / Phil Brooker, who "fixes" spedometersCOUPLE #2: Charles Vespia, who dated practically every female member of his wife's family / Shirley Rause and her wonder dog, Mr. Dempsey. Shades of Raffles the talking myna bird from this earlier episode: youtube.com/watch?v=1DOfeUY-eJoCharles's wife Leona-- who looks like a very young Sylvia Sidney-- comes onstage at one point and convinces Groucho to let her husband sing "Arrivederci Roma". -----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life and Groucho's other game shows! facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks-------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
You Bet Your Life #60-12 The Man Who Shot Khrushchev (Smoke, Dec 8, 1960) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-05-03 | Highlight of this show is @16:30, George Wood singing his original composition, "The Ballad of Groucho Marx". I don't think I've ever seen anyone else tell Groucho to shut up, in song or otherwise.NOTE: The last few minutes are cut off, which apparently consisted of a display of female swimwear since no one won the quiz. Sorry, folks. COUPLE #1: Priscilla Larson, who doesn't like drive-ins / George Finfrock, retired mail carrierCOUPLE #2: Toby Lowenstein, dentist's wife / George Wood, TV cameraman and folksinger-----------------------------------Click here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1New Facebook group for You Bet Your Life! If you've already been sucked into the Facebook vortex, you might as well check it out, right? facebook.com/groups/1643223392577688/?ref=bookmarks-------------------------------Episode identification and basic description based on "Tell 'em Groucho Sent You", © 1997 by Mark Petty. Used by permission.
Chop My Head Off - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Dec 27, 1956) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-05-02 | This clip belongs to Halo Meadows, a songwriter who performs (I wouldn't exactly call it "singing") her, um, "song", entitled "Chop My Head Off". Groucho appears too startled by it all to offer much of a comeback (he does get in a few good early insults via slyly chosen song titles, which fly right over Halo's head). As I was informed in the comments on the full video, Halo Meadows "was married to the flamboyant TV psychic Criswell, who is perhaps best known today as part of director Ed Wood's stable of actors and hangers-on." (thanks to maynardsmoreland for that bit of interesting trivia, which actually explains a whole hell of a lot about this song).Complete show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDMEPqijQ0YMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else, as well as some rare Burns and Allen material that doesn't really belong there:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Burns and Allen - Classic Scenes #1 - Gracie gets serious (rare dramatic moment) [clip] Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-22 | Here's a great scene from season 6, episode 28 of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (April 9, 1956). In this episode, George is staging a vaudeville show to raise funds for son Ronnie's dramatic school, when one of the young performers, Dianne, decides that comedy is beneath her and refuses to appear. It's up to Gracie to convince her the show must go on.This is an exceptional scene, as there's scarcely another moment in Gracie's entire career where she plays anything outside of her usual dizzy character, let alone delivers a full blown dramatic speech.
Burns and Allen - Classic Scenes #3 - Gracie humiliates George at gin rummy [clip] Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-22 | An absolutely classic bit from The Burns & Allen Show, Season 4 Episode 38 (Aug 9, 1954). Gracie thoroughly humbles George at gin rummy after he clobbers Harry Von Zell in a game. One of my all time favorite routines from the entire series, this is a great example of how the universe always seemed to bend in Gracie's favor, as if she were virtually a force of nature.
Burns and Allen - Classic Scenes #4 - Gracie becomes a magicians assistant [clip] Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-22 | One of the funniest scenes Gracie ever did is when she destroys the act of Mendoza the Great, the magician she's been hired to assist. The lead up makes it all the funnier, so I've included it as well. Note that the video quality changes drastically at 2:03 for about 30 seconds. This is due to my having spliced in material from an old recording to cover a bit that's been deleted from current reruns.
Burns and Allen - Classic Scenes #5 - Gracies birthday present for Harry Morton [clip] Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-22 | Here's a brief but very funny moment with the Mortons, where Harry opens an unusual birthday present from Gracie. This gag never fails to make me smile.
Burns and Allen - Classic Scenes #6 - Gracie applies for a drivers license [clip].mpg Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-22 | An absolutely classic scene: Gracie applies for a new driver's license and encounters a nasty DMV clerk. Wonderful for many reasons, among them, displaying how impossible it was for anyone to ever make Gracie feel insulted. The bit with card over the eye always cracks me up.
Burns and Allen - Classic Scenes #7 - Gracie thinks Von Zell is flirting [clip] Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-22 | George has agreed to take care of neighbor Chester Vanderlip's talking parakeet, which Gracie mistakes for an anniversary present. This whole episode is a classic.
Burns and Allen - Classic Scenes #8 - Would a sane man do that? [clip] Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-22 | Here's a brief, but hilarious, scene that's deleted from the currently syndicated versions of the Burns and Allen show. Here, Gracie is trying her best to convince George that he's lost his mind so that he'll buy a boat (don't ask-- the plot will only make sense if you see the rest of the episode).Sorry about the video quality-- this comes from an old VHS recording of reruns back in the 1980s. Tried to clean it up as best I could. Bear in mind, the scenes like this one that have been deleted from currently rerunning episodes will likely never see the light of day again unless this series (miraculously) gets a proper DVD release some day. Why anyone would edit out such a hilarious moment as this is completely beyond me!
Burns and Allen - Classic Scenes #2 - George & Gracies last musical number together [clip] Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-22 | Here's a great scene from season 6, episode 6 of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (Oct 3, 1955). In this episode, George is trying to find backers for a musical version of his book, ""I Love Her, That's Why"". Everything looks all set till the investors find out George wants to play the lead role. Here, George and Gracie sing a song based on the book's title, in a delightful duet with some charming dancing thrown in. This is a historically significant scene, as it's the last musical number George and Gracie ever performed on film together.
Groucho sings a duet with John Charles Thomas - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Dec 5, 1957) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-17 | Groucho joins in with some impromptu harmony as popular vocalist John Charles Thomas sings a song about golf.This is a particularly great show, also featuring some impromptu dancing by Groucho while another contestant sings "All Shook Up," and the start of a debate over the artistic merits of Rock and Roll music that spilled over to the following week. Complete show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=askyshysvbwMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Groucho does an Irish jig - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (May 19, 1955) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-17 | Groucho danced a lot on You Bet Your Life, and it was always magical. The shame here is that so many of these clips come from TV reruns in which the frame was cropped in order to eliminate the sponsor's sign on the back wall of the set. For a static show like YBYL this doesn't usually matter too much. But when Groucho's dancing a jig and we can't even see his legs, I cry foul. It's still great, though. Amazing that he's almost 65 years old here.Complete show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgy7PUcvmdwMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Groucho conducts a phone survey - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Mar 6, 1958) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-17 | Imagine getting a call one early evening asking what your favorite television show is, and finding out the guy conducting the survey is none other than Groucho Marx! This whole segment is great, but to keep it under 5 minutes, I've started the clip after they had already made two unsuccessful attempts to call a random stranger. Complete show: http://youtu.be/k68lhj9JmAcMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Groucho takes a polygraph test - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Oct 4, 1956) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-17 | Groucho subjects himself to a polygraph test, and then turns the tables on his examiner. Earlier in this same episode: one of the contestant's was Groucho's then-current father-in-law!Complete show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq8cGikyGA8More great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Groucho learns what snogging means - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Feb 6, 1958) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-17 | Here's a very funny bit where Groucho is talking to a woman originally from England, Muriel Forth. Muriel is telling him about fixing her sister up with her future husband's brother.Complete show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APRqbl24jqMMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Crazy Legs Rowena - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Oct 16, 1958) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-17 | "Crazy Legs" Rowena was a very famous contestant on You Bet Your Life, so popular she returned in a show at the end of the season. She does a dance that lives up her to name. It's all the funnier after having met her quiet, gentle Dutch parents, who are quite entertaining in their own right.Complete show: youtube.com/watch?v=3Gy4S7CblQEMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Groucho ties the knot - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Oct 30, 1958) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-17 | Meet Carl Eddington, contestant on You Bet Your Life. Carl is a swimming instructor who demonstrates his sideline as an escape artist, leading to a totally unexpected action from Groucho I can't spoil here! Must be seen to be believed. This show also contains an appearance by Salvadore Consolo, son of the very popular contestant Betina Consolo, the Italian husband hunter.Complete show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AshMLH3kQBUMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
Groucho gets All Shook Up - Rare clip from You Bet Your Life (Dec 5, 1957) Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life 2015-04-17 | Groucho shows he still has the moves, doing some impromptu dancing while a contestant sings "All Shook Up". Popular vocalist John Charles Thomas registers his rather close-minded reaction affably enough, but he was still close-minded!This is a particularly great show, featuring the start of a debate that spilled over to the following week over the artistic merits of Rock and Roll music, between Thomas and a member of the audience who was the president of the Elvis Presley Fan Club. Complete show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=askyshysvbwMore great clips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHaioNpr_GDbDCk-9VD2aTm_j4Qxm01ebClick here to subscribe to the YBYL channel, where you'll find well over a hundred complete episodes you can't find anywhere else:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIbTdEI7D1AMyLATIdKq5w?sub_confirmation=1
