Who was the first host of the game show "What's My Line?"?
What's My Line?
In 1980, Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, creators of "What's My Line?", produced "That's My Line" which also highlighted the unusual occupations of ordinary people. However, the show was developed as a reality show and had no panel or game elements. "What's My Line?" announcer Johnny Olson was the announcer, and Bob Barker was the host for the show which ran for two seasons on CBS.
What's My Line?
The syndicated series ran for 1,320 episodes over seven seasons. An attempt at an eighth season did not get off the ground as not enough stations were willing to pick up the series for an additional year. With this in mind, Goodson-Todman offered host Blyden the hosting position on "Showoffs," a charades-based game show that the company was developing for ABC's daytime lineup. He accepted and shot a pilot shortly after "What's My Line?" ended production. However, Blyden never got to host the series as he was killed in an automobile accident while traveling in Morocco just before taping was to begin. At the time of Blyden's death, a handful of new episodes of "What's My Line?" had yet to air in certain markets; by the fall of 1975, the last of these episodes had aired across the United States. (Comedian Bobby Van ended up hosting "Showoffs.")