"Hi, I'm (celebrity guest), and I've Got a Secret!"

Bill served as regular panelist & occasional guest host for almost fifteen years on this immensely popular game from Goodson-Todman.


A contestant came onstage and whispered his/her secret to emcee Garry Moore—later Steve Allen—while the audience saw it superimposed on the screen.

One at a time, each of the four panelists had about 30 seconds to cross-examine the contestant asking only yes-no questions. Each panelist whose time elapsed without figuring out the secret paid $20, for a top possible prize of $80 (plus a carton of cigarettes sometimes, depending on who was sponsoring the show that week). A celebrity guest also dropped by with a secret on each show.


The show came into existence when a pair of writers, Allan Sherman & Howard Merrill, came into Goodson-Todman’s offices and pitched an idea for a show that was noticeably similar to “What’s My Line?” Mark Goodson & Bill Todman flatly rejected the idea, telling them that they didn’t want to steal their own idea. Sherman famously responded, “You might as well, because if you don’t start copying your shows, somebody else will.” Producer Gil Fates recalled later that Goodson & Todman were impressed by such a promise/threat, and “I’ve Got a Secret” set sail in the summer of 1952.

 
To offset comparisons to “What’s My Line?” the premiere episode had a courtroom setting, with Garry Moore acting as “judge” and the panelists each acting as prosecutors, standing and approaching the contestants for questioning. The result looked so awful that the set was burned immediately afterward and replaced by two desks placed across stage from each other.

This is one example the surprising trouble that “I’ve Got a Secret” had getting onto the right footing early in its run. It was originally presented as a straightforward game with panelists seriously attempting to win. The problem with the straightforward secrets was that they just weren’t that interesting. If a contestant’s secret was, for example, “I shook hands with the president”…well, who cares?

Two changes helped the show find its groove within one year, however. One was the addition of Henry Morgan, who played the game but clearly didn’t care about winning. Bill followed that lead as time went by, and eventually new panelists were told to simply stop caring if the game got too difficult. The other change was looking for wilder secrets (for example, a woman named Ivy Ivy whose secret was “I have poison ivy”).

As time passed by, it seemed to become less of a game show and more of a variety show pretending to be a game show. (There was at least one episode, a Christmas episode, with no secrets whatsoever.) As the show evolved, the time limit for each panelist was not taken seriously (one of the show's funnier moments was when panelist Henry Morgan said, "I think I have it!", only to be buzzed by the judge immediately and lose his turn). Also, more and more often, contestants' secrets involved music, dancing, or some other type of performance (always followed by a demonstration of course). If the secret wasn't performing, it at least entertaining ("I'm wearing a suit made of dollar bills," "Our names are the months of the year", etc.)

Gradually, the celebrity appearances didn't involve secrets but rather parlor games or silly stunts to perform with the panel. (In the above images we see Betsy trying to maintain her balance on a makeshift seesaw; Bill spinning plates; and the entire panel doing a marionette dance performance.)


Garry Moore remembers some of the wilder secrets of the series during a 1984 ABC special.

Bill joined on the third episode as a substitute panelist but was such a superb player that he stayed for 15 years. His glib, silly manner ended up being the ideal counterpoint to fellow panelist Henry Morgan's grumpy demeanor, and his interaction with fellow panelists Faye Emerson, Bess Myerson, Betsy Palmer, and Jayne Meadows was always good for a laugh.

Bill also had an excellent intuitive mind here, and, while no track records were kept over the years, I would wager that he guessed more secrets than any other panelist. And every now and then, he was even the subject of a contestant's secret!