You Bet Your Life

Quizmaster: Groucho Marx

The show opens with Fenneman whispering:
Fenneman: Ladies and gentleman, the secret word tonight is HAND -- H - A - N - D
Groucho: Really?
Fenneman: You Bet Your Life!
music up
Fenneman: [sponsor] present Groucho Marx in You Bet Your Life ... And here he is, the one, the only...
Audience: GROUCHO!
Groucho: [witty remark] Hey, That's me! Groucho Marx!

Before the show, the studio audience chooses 6 contestants, and two at a time they talk to Groucho, who misconstrued's everything, then they play the game. If anyone mentions the secret word -- at any time -- they win $100 on the spot (or a movie projector during part of Elgin's sponsorship).

During the game, the contestants are given $20. They can bet any amount on each of 4 questions from a subject they chose before the show and would either add or subtract the amount bet, depending on the result of their answer. They could win a maximum of $320. If the contestants loose everything, Groucho asks one last question for $10 or $25, like "Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?" or another equally banal question. The couple that wins the most money tries for the jackpot question, which starts at $1000 and is increased by $500 each day it isn't won.

In this list, the jackpot was won on days with '*' after jackpot amount. The rules changed on 12/09/53 because many people would 'shoot the works' on each question and were going broke by missing one. Groucho now has a list of 10 questions, worth from $10 to $100, the higher the number, the harder the question. The contestants would pick questions by dollar ammount, and they keep everything they won, $340 max.

Then on 3/03/54 they added another wrinkle. The contestants now start with $100 and for each question they miss, they loose half of their current bankroll. The max is now $440.

The ability to stop after any question was added on 3/17/54 In 1955, the Secret Word jackpot increased from $100 to $101 because, as Groucho put it, "we've added a little money on account of the other shows."

The television show started on October 5, 1950. The entire show, uncut, would generally run about 45 to 60 minutes. It would then be edited to 28 minutes, creating a fast moving show. Even though the shows came from the same taping, the radio and TV version had differences. For example, sight were gags left out out of the radio version. It wasn't until 1955 (maybe '54) that the duck so prominent in the TV version was left in the radio show.

The audition show has only the first couple, the other couples are edited out. It therefore only runs about 15 minutes. At the end, the winning couple is given the chance at the $1000 question, and answer correctly. The announcer is Jack Slatery. After the show, Groucho and Fred Allen banter with the audience, bringing the entire show to about 25-28 minutes.

During some summer seasons, reruns of the show were broadcast as The Best of Groucho. Sometimes these reruns are the existing shows, which are marked with '*' after the date.