Whodunnit? (1)

'Whodunnit? 'loosley based on a british format of the same name, where actors play victims, suspects and investigators in a staged mystery, during which three contestants along with a panel of experts gather clues to identify the mystery murderer.

Broadcast
NBC primetime April 12-May 17, 1979

Host
Ed McMahon

Panel of the first Show
Jim Conway

Yvonne Braitwaite Burke

F. Lee Bailey

Gameplay
Three contestants and a panel of three experts watched a dramatization of a murder mystery featuring popular guest stars like Erik Estrada and Loni Anderson for example. just before the villiain was revealed, the action was stopped and all of the suspects were brought before the panel and interrogated, The contestants could win up to $10,000 by correctly guessing who the culprit was and their motive.

Trivia
NBC billed the series as the first mystery game show, even though the first mystery game show was CBS's Armchair Detective in 1949.

The original british version of the show ran on ITV from 1973 to 1978.

Link
[http://www,youtube.com/watch?v=BWqDTVAwv-g NBC promo for Whodunnit? from 1979]