What's My Name? (radio program)

Format

On the radio game show What's My Name?, contestants had up to ten clues from two hosts to figure out a celebrity or historical figure. In the early years, a correct answer on the first clue paid $10, with the prize dropping by a dollar for each clue used. By 1948, the top prize had jumped to $100, with $50 for a second-clue guess and $25 for a third. Listeners could also get involved by sending in questions for the show; each question used earned the submitter $10.

The first episode got a lukewarm review, called "a rather drab show." The critic noted that contestants often took far longer than the audience to catch on, though the hosts—Bud Hulick and Arlene Francis—were praised for handling things well. Francis was the one constant across all eight radio versions, while her male co-hosts changed. Hulick hosted three of those runs. Other hosts included Fred Uttal, John Reed King, Ward Wilson, and Carl Frank. Harry Salter and his orchestra supplied the music.

A later review in 1942 was far more positive. Writing in The Billboard, Paul Ackerman said the show was "well produced, moves quickly and manages to maintain an informal atmosphere directly traceable to Miss Francis's and Mr. King's manner with the contestants." One source noted that the program "helped make a broadcasting fixture out of Arlene Francis."

Television

The television program that eventually became the Paul Winchell-Jerry Mahoney Show originally aired under the name The Speidel Show, from September 18, 1950, to May 23, 1954. In its first few seasons, each broadcast opened with a comedy routine by Winchell and his dummy, followed by a quiz called What's My Name?, which mirrored the radio version. Ted Brown hosted this segment. The TV adaptation did not match the popularity of the radio show. A Billboard review from August 1951 noted that the effort to blend the Winchell-Mahoney act with the What's My Name? format had not worked, and that the ventriloquist’s talents were being wasted. By 1953, the quiz portion was dropped entirely.