What's My Line?
Premise: Contestants try to stump a panel of celebrities as to guessing what their job is.
The host brings out a contestant, with the instruction, "Will our next guest enter and sign in, please?" The guest signs his or her name on a provided chalkboard, then sits down next to the host. The host provides a small clue ("Our guest is self-employed," or the like) then opens the game to the questioning. The format is simple enough. One by one, the panelists may ask any question they like, as long as it can be answered with either yes or no. As long as the questions were answered in the affirmative, that panelist could continue, but a "No" answer counted against the team, and control passed down the line. A panelist could also pass at any time. If someone on the panel guessed the occupation of the guest, the game ended at that point. If ten "no" answers were accumulated, the game ended in favor of the challenger, who won a small cash prize (later none at all, but won merchandise prizes for appearing). If time in the segment was running short, the host could pre-emptively cancel the game. After the game ended, the panel was free to ask questions to the guest about his or her occupation, making the second portion more like a talk-show than a game show.
As the last segment of the show, a "mystery guest" would come on during the show to attempt to foil the panel, who had two minutes, each getting one question per turn, and they were blindfolded. A panelist who guessed wrong was out. The mystery guest was typically a celebrity of late, and after the game, the panel, host, and guest would chat amiably until time ran out. During the "Mystery Guest" segment, 'Fates' Law' was in play: if a panelist tried to guess the person, but failed, that person was out of the game. Soupy Sales usually knocked himself out, trying voraciously to guess the identity of the guest.
At various points during the run, the host would offer each panelist a "wild guess" to the occupation in question before the game proper began.
On the daily run, if the challenger had a particularly interesting occupation or collection, he or she would give a demonstration of the activity, and the panel would be invited to try their hand at the task, such as making pizzas, or showing off an impressive model display, or invisible ink.
WHO'S WHO?
Also on the syndicated daily version, a "Who's Who" game might be played before the Mystery Guest comes in. Four people plucked from the audience came on stage. Their occupations were written on cards, and shuffled around. Each panelist had one chance to assign the proper occupation to each challenger. If one missed, the next panelist would try, without knowing which was right or wrong. If the panel did not match up all four jobs, the challengers won a bonus prize in addition to the free stuff they won for playing the game.