Say It with Acting

*Say It with Acting*
Say It with Acting
	Bud Collyer, a team captain
Genre	Game show (charades)
Presented by	Ben Grauer
Starring	Bud Collyer; Maggi McNellis
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	NBC (1951); ABC (1951-1952)
Release	January 8, 1951 –; February 22, 1952

Say It With Acting is an American television game show that was broadcast on NBC from January 8, 1951, until May 1951, and on ABC from August 1951 until February 22, 1952.^[1]

Background

The program began in January 1949 as a local show, Look Ma, I'm Acting, on WNBT-TV in New York City.^[1] It was the first TV program for which Bill Cullen was host. For each scene performed by actors, a viewer was called and asked to describe the scene in a single word, with a prize given for a correct answer.^[2] On February 20, 1949, the NBC network began to carry the show, with the new title Act It Out. It ran until August 7, 1949.^[3]

Format

Say It With Acting pitted two teams against each other in charades competition. Bud Collyer and Maggi McNellis were team captains each week.^[1] Ben Grauer was the host. Each four-member team consisted of actors and actresses from a current Broadway play, and the winning team returned the following week to face a new opponent.^[4] Players' pantomimes had to communicate "tough sayings, or titles of books, plays, songs—things like 'The Dreadful Dragon of Hungry Hill,' 'Neurotic You and Psychopathic Me,' or 'As fluffy as a fleecy cloud.'"^[5] Teams competed against the clock, with the team that used less time being the winner.^[4]

Sponsor and schedule

Brown Shoe Company's Naturalizer division sponsored Say It With Acting from 6:30 to 7 o'clock on Saturday nights on NBC. The show alternated weekly with Smilin' Ed McConnell's program.^[6] After it moved to ABC, it was broadcast on Friday nights from 7:30 to 8 o'clock, alternating weekly with Life with Linkletter.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 1200. ISBN 9780307483201. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^ Baber, David (2015). Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. McFarland. p. 52. ISBN 9781476604800. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 13. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
^ ^a ^b "If At First ..." (PDF). Radio and Television Mirror. 33 (4): 6. March 1950. Retrieved 28 March 2019 – via AmericanRadioHistory.Com.
^ Newton, Dwight (April 19, 1951). "Day and Night with Radio and Television". The San Francisco Examiner. California, San Francisco. p. 48. Retrieved 29 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Smilin' Ed Moves To CBS-TV Aug. 11". Billboard. May 5, 1951. p. 8. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
^ "Network Accounts" (PDF). Television Digest. June 2, 1951. p. 6. Retrieved 28 March 2019 – via AmericanRadioHistory.Com.