{{Short description|American television series}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | alt_name = ''The Eyes Have It'' (original title)/<br>''Stop, Look, and Listen''/<br>''Riddle Me This''/<br>''Goodrich Celebrity Time'' | genre = Game show | creator = | presenter = Douglas Edwards (1948)<br>Paul Gallico (1948)<br>Conrad Nagel (1948-1952) | narrated = | theme_music_composer = | opentheme = | composer = | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = | num_episodes = | camera = Multi-camera | runtime = 25 minutes | company = World Video | channel = CBS (1948-1949; 1950-1952)<br>ABC (1949-1950) | first_aired = {{start date|1948|11|20}} | last_aired = {{end date|1952|09|21}} }}
'''''Celebrity Time''''' (initially known as '''''The Eyes Have It''''') is an American game and audience participation television series that was broadcast on ABC in 1949 - 1950 and on CBS in 1950 - 1952. The original host during its initial local New York run was Douglas Edwards.<ref name="brooks">{{Cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |author-link=Tim Brooks (historian) |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle F. |section=Celebrity Time (Quiz/Audience Participation) |section-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Celebrity+Time%22&pg=PA230 |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 |location=New York |page=230 |access-date=2026-04-17}}</ref>
==Rules== The show began as a battle of the sexes between teams made up of audience and celebrity panelists, who would be asked questions which involved such topics as guessing names from the news, to identifying film clips.
By June 1952, the program had become a typical musical variety show. Jack Gould, media critic for ''The New York Times'', wrote, "for the most part the change is for the better."<ref name="gould">{{cite news |last1=Gould |first1=Jack |title=Radio and Television: ' My Little Margie' Replaces 'Lucy' for Summer -- 'Celebrity Time' Alters Its Format |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/06/20/archives/radio-and-television-my-little-margie-replaces-lucy-for-summer.html |access-date=June 16, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=June 20, 1952 |page=33|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He explained that the quiz format had been "somewhat labored", whereas the variety format "is produced with a high degree of skill and moves along quickly."<ref name=gould/>
==Broadcasting history== ''Celebrity Time'' began as ''The Eyes Have It'' on CBS primetime, airing every Saturday and Sunday from November 20, 1948 to March 13, 1949. The show's title changed to ''Stop, Look, and Listen'' when Paul Gallico took over as host on November 28, then to ''Riddle Me This'' when Conrad Nagel took over the show on December 12; while Nagel hosted through 1952, the title was left behind after March 1949.<ref name="brooks" />
The show ran on ABC from April 3, 1949, until March 26, 1950, and on CBS from April 2, 1950, until September 21, 1952.<ref name="tt">{{cite book |last1=McNeil |first1=Alex |title=Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present |date=1996 |publisher=Penguin Books USA, Inc. |isbn=0-14-02-4916-8 |edition=4th |location=New York, New York |page=152}}</ref> The sponsor was B. F. Goodrich. It was replaced by ''The Web''.<ref name="ross">{{cite news |title=This Week -- Network Debuts, Highlights, Changes |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele24ross/page/n138/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=May 14, 2022 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=September 21, 1952 |page=1}}</ref>
Singer Betty Ann Grove and dancer Jonathan Lucas were regulars on ''Celebrity Time''. The program was produced by Richard Levine and directed by Rai Purdy. George Axelrod was the writer.<ref name="ross" />
===Panelists=== Panelists included, at various times, Shirley Booth, Gene Lockhart,<ref>{{cite news |title=Celebrity Time |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele05ross/page/n16/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=May 22, 2022 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=December 31, 1949 |page=4}}</ref> Roland Young,<ref>{{cite news |title=Celebrity Time |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele05ross/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=May 21, 2022 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=December 25, 1949 |page=4}}</ref> Kyle MacDonnell, Kitty Carlisle, Ilka Chase,<ref name=tt/> Sir Thomas Beecham, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, John Daly, Peggy Ann Garner, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Herman Hickman, Martha Wright, Mary McCarty, and Jane Wilson.
===Name changes=== The show had the following names during its run. * ''The Eyes Have It'' (November 20 – 27, 1948){{Citation needed |date=May 2023}} * ''Stop, Look, and Listen'' (November 28 – December 11, 1948){{Citation needed |date=May 2023}} * ''Riddle Me This''<ref>{{cite news |title=Debuts and Futures |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele01ross/page/n2/mode/1up |access-date=May 13, 2023 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=March 4, 1949 |page=1}}</ref> (December 12, 1948 – March 13, 1949){{Citation needed |date=May 2023}} * ''Goodrich Celebrity Time'' (April 3, 1949 – Unknown){{Citation needed |date=May 2023}} * ''Celebrity Time'' (Unknown – September 21, 1952)
==NBC version== {{Unreferenced section|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox television | alt_name = The Eyes Have It | image = | caption = | genre = Game show | creator = | writer = | director = | presenter = Ralph McNair | theme_music_composer = | opentheme = | composer = | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = | num_episodes = | list_episodes = | camera = Multi-camera | runtime = 25 minutes | company = | channel = WNBW (September–November 1948)<br>NBC (November 1948-June 1949) | first_aired = {{start date|1948|09|25}} | last_aired = {{end date|1949|06|19}} }}
''The Eyes Have It'' holds one footnote in television history – it is the only game show to debut as two unrelated programs with different formats, networks, producers, and hosts on the same day.
On November 20, 1948 another show with the same name began on NBC with Ralph McNair as host; NBC's ''Eyes'' had actually come first, having been a local show on Washington, D.C. affiliate WNBW since September 25. This version ran until January 27, 1949, with a Sunday-afternoon version running from March 13 (the same day CBS' version, now ''Riddle Me This'', ended) to June 19.
==Episode status== The series (including the unrelated NBC version) is believed to have been destroyed due to network practices. No episodes are known to exist under any of the program's five distinct names.{{Citation needed |date=May 2022}}
In 2016, a 16mm kinescope was discovered by a film archivist that contained lost footage from two live CBS television shows. In addition to a nearly complete broadcast of ''What's My Line?'', the reel of film also featured the final six minutes of ''Celebrity Time''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fragment of Celebrity Time Episode with Kyle MacDonnell Recovered|url=http://www.tvobscurities.com/2016/01/fragment-of-celebrity-time-episode-with-kyle-macdonnell-recovered/|website=Television Obscurities|accessdate=19 February 2016|date=25 January 2016}}</ref> Both shows were broadcast on October 1. 1950. Conrad Nagel and Kitty Carlisle were among the celebrities seen from the B F Goodrich sponsored program.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|id=0041016}}
Category:1948 American television series debuts Category:1952 American television series endings Category:1940s American game shows Category:1950s American game shows Category:American Broadcasting Company game shows Category:Black-and-white American television shows Category:CBS game shows Category:English-language American television shows Category:Lost television shows Category:NBC game shows