About Faces

{{Infobox television

| image = Ben Alexander 1959.JPG

| caption = Ben Alexander, the show's host.

| genre = Game show

| creator = Ralph Edwards

| writer =

| director =

| presenter = Ben Alexander

| narrated = Tom Kennedy

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme =

| composer =

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons =

| num_episodes =

| list_episodes =

| camera = Multi-camera

| runtime = 25 minutes

| company = Ralph Edwards Productions

| network = ABC

| first_aired = {{start date|1960|01|04}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1961|06|30}}

}}

About Faces is an American game show that aired from January 4, 1960, to June 30, 1961, created by Ralph Edwards.{{cite book |last1=Hyatt |first1=Wesley |title=The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television |date=1997 |publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications |isbn=978-0823083152 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat/page/XXX/mode/2up|accessdate=22 March 2020|page=5}} The host was Ben Alexander and the show's announcer was Tom Kennedy.Schwartz, David - The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, 1987

Gameplay

Competitors were selected from the studio audience.{{cite book |last1=Terrace |first1=Vincent |title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. |date=January 10, 2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8641-0 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX_daEhlnbsC&dq=%22About+Faces%22+ABC&pg=PA5 |access-date=April 3, 2023 |language=en}} Each pair of contestants was challenged to recall how the two of them had come into contact with each other previously. The first to do so won a prize. The program was similar to Place the Face.{{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.|location=New York, New York|isbn=0-14-02-4916-8|page= 12|edition=4th}}

For guest stars who appeared on the program, Alexander interviewed the star briefly before a "mystery person out of the star's past" was shown inside a picture frame. The star then heard a series of clues to help him or her identify the person in the frame.{{cite news |title=Mayor Is 'Surprise' Guest on 'About Faces' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/747513761/?terms=%22About%20Faces%22%20Alexander&match=1 |access-date=April 3, 2023 |work=The Desert Sun |date=March 3, 1961 |location=California, Palm Springs |page=12|via = Newspapers.com}}

Schedule and production

About Faces was broadcast from 1 to 1:30 p. m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday.{{cite news |title=2d Godfrey show on tv postponed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/12/11/archives/2d-godfrey-show-on-tv-postponed-jan-15-program-called-off-with-no.html |access-date=April 3, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=December 11, 1959 |page=67|url-access=subscription }} The show was recorded on videotape.{{cite news |title=Local Banker, Wife to Be In TV Show |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122217845/about-faces-tv-show/ |access-date=April 3, 2023 |work=The Shreveport Journal |date=November 12, 1960 |page=3|via = Newspapers.com }} After the show's run on ABC ended, its reruns were broadcast in some local markets.{{cite news |title=Ben Alexander Spends Money On Own Shows, as a Sponsor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122217417/ben-alexander/ |access-date=April 3, 2023 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=March 20, 1960 |page=132|via = Newspapers.com}} Joe Landis was the producer and director.{{cite magazine |date=April 1, 1963 |page=136 |title=Programming |magazine=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1963/1963-04-01-BC.pdf#page=136 |accessdate=April 4, 2023}}

Guest stars

Guest stars who appeared on the show included Barbara Nichols, Joan Blondell,{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Matthew |title=Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes |date=September 28, 2009 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62674-432-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQgbBwAAQBAJ&dq=%22About+Faces%22+ABC&pg=PT254 |access-date=April 3, 2023 |language=en}} Rosemary Clooney, Jose Ferrer,{{cite news |title=(photo caption) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122216887/ben-alexander/ |access-date=April 3, 2023 |work=The Modesto Bee |date=August 7, 1960 |page=G-12|via = Newspapers.com}} and Olaf Odegaard.{{Cite news |date=1961-05-05 |title=The Carroll Echo |url=https://archives.carrollu.edu/digital/collection/News/id/882/rec/1 |work=Carroll Echo |via=Carroll University Archives |volume=VI |issue=13}}

Episode status

The UCLA Film and Television Archive lists among its holdings the premiere episode with Zsa Zsa Gabor, Red Schoendienst (and family), Fred Haney, and Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan.[http://cinema.library.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=2&ti=1,2&Search_Arg=about%20faces&SL=None&Search_Code=FTIT&CNT=50&PID=xq_MH-g0qtjL6UUmkt3Owa3xD&SEQ=20090407161635&SID=1 UCLA Archive: About Faces]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The March 17 edition exists on YouTube with Tom Kennedy as substitute host.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-cTyrQhz2o|title = - YouTube|website = YouTube}}

The Paley Center for Media lists among its holdings the series pilot, taped May 6, 1959. Ferrer and Clooney are listed as the celebrity guests for that episode.[http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=About+Faces&p=1&item=B:26972 Paley Center: About Faces]

References

External links

{{IMDb title|0053477}}

Category:1960 American television series debuts

Category:1961 American television series endings

Category:1960s American game shows

Category:American Broadcasting Company game shows

Category:Black-and-white American television shows

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:Television series by Ralph Edwards Productions