Shark Bytes

Groucho never jumped. I was 12 when his version went off the air in 1951 so I'm sure I didn't see more than 2/3 years of the original. I just remember thinking that Groucho had to be one of the funniest men ever. Rapier fast wit, can you imagine Groucho and Robin Williams in the same room? Remember that old question of if you could have four people from history to dinner? Well Groucho would be one of my guests.

I too weas on the Cosby version of "Ypu Bet Your Life." My partner and I won $14,000.00 Michael Jordan's father was also a contestant - what a gentleman. Cosby did not speak to any of us - he sat in his director's chair with a big cigar and had his assistants cater to his every whim. Once the cameras roled, he was a different and more sociable person. Does anyone know how to get copies of this show? It seems that I am one of the very few who did not see the episode in which I appeared. I wish I had kept in touch with my partner - he was splendid.

Speaking of the Buddy Hackett version of this, I was fortunate to see the last episode of the show back in the day. Buddy was morose and not funny, and at the end of the show said something like, "This is the last show, and if I see so-and-so, the guy who got me this job, I'm gonna punch him in the eye." That's not a direct quote, but whatever he really said, it made me gasp, and wonder why they left it on the tape.

Groucho's "cigar" joke never, ever made it on the air. The show was pre-recorded during its radio years and filmed during its TV run. Do people really think a gag like that would have made it past the censors during the years 1947-1961?!? However, unlike most urban legends, this one has a kernel of truth to it. Groucho did indeed make the quip during the early radio years, but the line was edited out for broadcast. It was such a great line that the story took on a life of its own. See the book "The Secret Word is Groucho" or the liner notes on the YBYL DVD collections for the complete story.

This show NEVER jumped. Groucho was as great the last episode as he was the first. And the show is as fresh and amusing now as when it first aired.

Never jumped. A television station in Canada showed reruns a few years ago. Groucho was brilliant--probably unsurpassed in verbal comedic talent. By the way, a Toronto newspaper ran an article a couple of years ago about TV myths. It claimed that Groucho's classic "cigar comment" was actually made on the radio version of the show in 1947--not the TV version. Can anyone verify this?

I remember the joke about the 11 kids and Groucho's cigar, and it actually aired on TV. I remember wondering if my parents would say something. They didn't. My parents and brother and I always watched the show. They also like Red Skelton, and he could do double entendre with the best of them. Do you remember the YBYL contestant with the name Gonzalez Gonzalez? An Hispanic guy? Groucho had fun with him and his name. The last time I saw Groucho was when he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show in Philadelphia. Douglas asked him why he had never been on his show. Did he not like Philadelphia? Groucho replied, "I don't like you; I love Philadelphia."

I was on the revival version that Bill Cosby did while in college. While I won just over $1,000 and had a great time meeting the staff of the show and a few of the contestants as well (one of which I still keep in touch with 12 years later), I just never thought that Bill Cosby was that great of a host. I was so incredibly nervous when I was on the show and he played on it and made me even more nervous to the point that when I knew the answer of a question before he finished reading it and had whispered it in my partner's ear, he twisted the ending of the question to something else to pretty much to make me look like a fool for knowing the answer before he was done...while the money helped me finish college, it wasn't the highlight of my life and something I rarely tell people about.

For those of you fortunate enough to listen to "You Bet Your Life" on the radio I think there's no question that the radio shows were superior to the television shows. The TV version of YBYL lacked the spontaneity of the radio version, and the fact that you could not see Groucho on the radio made him a lot less self-conscious, which made it easier for him to ad-lib. Frankly I'm surprised that the televised version of Groucho's show lasted as long as it did. When I heard that Bill Cosby was going to star in a new version of the show I thought it would die quickly and I was proven right. Cosby wasn't to blame...it's just that this kind of show never really worked well on television and with Groucho the producers essentially captured lightning in a jar.

WIth Julius "Groucho" Marx hosting, it could never jump! (As an addition to earlier comments, the early radio episodes aired live, and, on them, Groucho was uncomfortable. By taping in advance, he felt free, and less inhibited.) However, this show couldn't make with the likes of Buddy Hackett (the only good thing he's ever done was "The Music Man") hosting the revival. Bill Cosby could have been the greatest host in game show history, and it wouldn't have removed the stain Buddy left!

Groucho was a gem, the likes of which we won't see again.With the tight censorship rules TV had back then its a wonder they ever considered him to reprise the role.There was a documentary some years ago on groucho and the show and they addressed the problem of his sometimes off color wit.They said each show was filmed for 1 hour (I think) then edited down to the 30min. broadcast we saw. That allowed him to go off on tangents or say whatever came into his head without getting into trouble.I've heard that story of the 11kids/cigar but doubt that it came from a BROADCAST Y.B.Y.L. He may have said it during the filming or elsewhere but if that got past the sensor there would be jobs lost and product endorsements lost.

How could this show jump with Groucho hosting? He was the funniest man who ever lived. I don't know if it's true, but the rumor is that YBYR was cancelled after this exchange between Grouch and a contestant who had eleven children: "I love my husband!" "Ma'am, I love my cigar, but I take it out now and then." What a shame that Groucho's best years were well before the downfall of censorship, since a lot of his best lines were off-color, like when he wrote in a letter: "Did you ever notice that Peter O'Toole has a doubly phallic name?"

This classic show never actually jumped the shark, but, it showed signs of approaching the ramp. This show was at it's best between the years of 1955-57. The seasons before that were okay, but, didn't have the "kick" the middle years did. 1959 to '61 were already getting a little dry, probably due to the fact that De Soto sponsorship was on it's way out and Groucho probably was getting bored with this venue! Although "You Bet Your Life" managed a smooth transition from radio to television, somehow, it never quite lived up completely to it's original radio days. The 70's and 80's revivals were pathetic at best!! NOBODY can take the place of Groucho!! He truly was "The one, the only...GROUCHO!!!

Re-runs of the show appeared through the 70's on WSBK- Boston I used to roll on the floor laughing. I still remind people to say the secret word, generally to a blank response.

The original show with Groucho was, of course, the best game show ever!! However, I'm not sure many people remember this (and there are good reasons why not), but the show has been "revived" at least twice...once in the late 70's/maybe early 80's with Buddy Hackett(!) as the host, and later on (early 90's or so?) with Bill Cosby... Both versions totally sucked, of course, but I believe that both shows were in fact called "You Bet Your Life"...but as the above poster correctly noted, there is one, and ONLY one.... GROUCHO!!