The Game Show Moment That Helped Introduce An Unknown Jimmy Carter To America
deadline.comJimmy Carter, who turned 100 today, was governor of Georgia in 1973, but on the national stage, he was still Jimmy who? As he prepared for a longshot bid for the presidency in 1976, he and his advisers were already laying the groundwork that year, which included developing a national profile by non-traditional means, which meant a game show.
What’s My Line? had been on the air for nearly 25 years as one of the producer Goodson Todman’s most popular panel game shows, in which a celebrity panel tried to guess the occupation of a guest.
Typical programs were highlighted by a celebrity “mystery guest,” which required the panel to wear a blindfold to avoid instant recognition.
But when Carter’s office called the show suggesting him as a guest, the casting director agreed on the condition that he appear as “a Mr.
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