Can Do
{{Short description|American TV game series (1956)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
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| genre = Game show
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| developer = Elroy Schwartz
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| presenter = Robert Alda
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| country = United States
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| producer = Joe Cates
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| network = NBC
| first_aired = {{Start date|1956|11|21}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1956|12|21}}
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Can Do is an American television game show that was broadcast on NBC from November 21, 1956, until December 31, 1956.{{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= 140|edition=4th}}
Format
Each contestant had to guess whether a celebrity could perform a specific stunt successfully after hearing statistics from the American Standard Testing Bureau about what percentage of people had successfully completed the stunt during tests. Housed in an isolation booth, the contestant pressed a button to indicate his or her decision.{{cite news |last1=Coppola |first1=Jo |title='Can Do' Just Didn't |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition/131872773/ |access-date=September 16, 2023 |work=Newsday (Nassau Edition) |date=November 28, 1956 |page=3 C}|via = Newspapers.com}} A correct guess in the first round earned $1,500 for the contestant. The person then had to choose whether to leave with what he or she had earned. Continuing meant doubling the earnings with a correct guess, but if the guess was wrong, he or she received approximately 20 percent of his or her winnings. Each successive round offered the same option, with a maximum prize of $50,000.
Robert Alda was the master of ceremonies. Guest celebrities included Martha Raye, Gypsy Rose Lee, Rocky Graziano, Polly Bergen,{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=David C. |title=Martha Raye: Film and Television Clown |date=24 June 2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9583-2 |page=173 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Wi_DAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Can+Do%22+NBC+%22Robert+Alda%22&pg=PA173 |access-date=September 16, 2023 |language=en}} Rory Calhoun and Sal Mineo. Stunts included pulling a tablecloth from under dishes, shooting at moving targets with table-tennis balls, and hitting balloons with beanbags.
Production
Can Do was broadcast on Mondays from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time,{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle F. |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present |date=June 24, 2009 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-48320-1 |page=215 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Can+Do%22+NBC+%22Robert+Alda%22&pg=PA215 |access-date=September 16, 2023 |language=en}} replacing Medic.{{cite magazine |date=November 14, 1956 |page=28 |title='Can Do' Subs 'Beautiful Girl' |magazine=Variety |url=https://archive.org/details/variety204-1956-11/page/n91/mode/1up |accessdate=September 16, 2023 }} Its competition included I Love Lucy.{{cite magazine |date=November 17, 1956 |page=2 |title='Can Do', New Quiz Show, Built on Contestant Stunts |magazine=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Can+Do%22+NBC+%22Robert+Alda%22&pg=PA4 |accessdate=September 16, 2023 }} Revlon was the sponsor.{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Val |title=N.B.C.-TV to Offer Contest Program: 'Can Do,' With Robert Alda and Sponsored by Revlon, Will Bow on Nov. 26 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/11/13/archives/nbctv-to-offer-contest-program-can-do-with-robert-alda-and.html |access-date=September 15, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=November 13, 1956 |page=58|url-access=subscription }} Joe Cates was the producer. He and Elroy Schwartz developed the program. Revlon originally planned to have another new program, Most Beautiful Girl in the World, in the time slot, but three postponements caused the company to change plans.
Can Do
Critical response
Jack Fitzgerald wrote in the Hartford Courant that Can Do did not seem to be a strong program, but it was likely to attract "that large number of viewers that watches any program which doles out big sums of money to contestants."{{cite news |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=Jack |title=Newest TV Quiz Program Boasts Bagful Of Tricks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/131873575/ |access-date=September 16, 2023 |work=Hartford Courant |date=December 2, 1956 |page=TV Week - 7|via = Newspapers.com}} He described Alda as "personable" but "appearing somewhat nervous on the first program". In summary, Fitzgerald said the program "is 30 minutes of clowning and fun, but not a whole lot more."