| Bill hosted this early
game in which
a team of actors performed a scene, then a viewer contacted by phone
attempted
to describe the nature of the scene being performed. Actors were
celebrities, frequently from the casts of current Broadway shows. This was almost certainly
a local
NYC series, although nearly every reference book that mentions it
offers
conflicting information. Sources have it airing as early as 1947
(unlikely), as a NBC network series, and under a variety of different
names.
The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows says the show began
January 19,
1949 as Look Ma, I'm Acting before changing to Act It Out
on February 20. That same source also says the show changed its
name
to Say it With Acting on May 22, and continued under that title
until October 22, 1950. Say It With Acting was also the
name
of the 1951 network version that Bill did not host. We don't know exactly how
much of
the original run Bill hosted, but in any case, this appears to be his
first
television series even if it wasn't a network program. Strangely,
no vintage newspaper or magazine profiles of Bill make mention of the
show. VIDEO
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