To Tell the Truth (1956-1968)

This is chronicling the original version of To Tell the Truth.

Game format
To start, three contestants all of whom claim to be the same person introduced themselves (most of the time the contestants are of the same sex, on rare occasions there would be a mixture of both sexes), then the host read the sworn affidavit of the real person. After the affidavit was read and when the challengers went over to their desk, the panelists one by one asked a series of questions to the challengers based on the affidavit in some way for an unmentioned amount of time. The impostors were allowed to lie, but the real person was game bound to tell the truth (hence the name of the show). Once one panelist's time was up, another panelist started questioning. Once the entire panel's time was up, they started to vote for whoever was the real person. Each panelist showed his/her vote, and regardless of whoever they voted for, the appropriate panelist's vote for the appropriate contestant was signified by an "X" Once all the votes were cast, the real person then revealed himself/herself by standing up by virtue of the host saying "Will the real (insert person's name) please stand up?". After the real person revealed himself/herself, the impostors told everyone their real names & occupations; then there was a brief chat (sometimes a stunt) to the real person. For each incorrect vote, the team of challengers won some money.

Panelist's Disqualification
Sometimes, a panelist would recognize or actually know one of the challengers, not necessarily the real person. If and when that happened, the panelist can disqualify himself/herself causing an automatic wrong vote and giving the challengers money for that vote.

Audience Vote
In the 60s daytime version and the 50s pilot, the audience got in on the fun by making a vote themselves. The challenger with the majority vote got that vote. In case of a two-way or three-way tie, it worked the same as the panelist's disqualification; for that vote was considered wrong and the challengers picked up the incorrect vote value.

Payoffs
Here are the payoffs for the incorrect votes according to the version:


 * 50s Nighttime Version - Each incorrect vote was worth $250 meaning that a complete stump was worth $1,000. If the entire panel chose the same challenger and was correct, the challengers still won $150.
 * 60s Daytime Version - Each incorrect vote was worth $100 meaning that a complete stump was worth $400. When the audience vote was instituted in the original CBS daytime version, the maximum prize was raised to $500.

Panelists
Regular Panelists included:
 * Tom Poston
 * Peggy Cass
 * Orson Bean
 * Kitty Carlisle
 * Johnny Carson
 * Polly Bergen
 * Jayne Meadows
 * Don Ameche
 * Hy Gardner
 * Dick Van Dyke
 * Hildy Parks
 * John Cameron Swayze
 * Ralph Bellamy