It Had to Be You

Host

Ed McMahon

Announcer

Johnny Olson

Taped

Unsold Pilot for NBC: November 7, 1966

Packager

Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Productions

"(Introduction of Couple #1 and their occupations). (Wife #1), will you please say goodbye to your husband? (Introduction of Couple #2 and their occupations). (Husband #2), it's farewell time. (Introduction of Couple #3 and their occupations). (Wife #3), off you go. (Introduction of Couple #4 and their occupations). (Husband #4), please join the other three off stage. The rest of you stay right there as we play, IT HAD TO BE YOU! And here's your host, Ed McMahon!"

It Had to Be You was an unsold precursor to He Said, She Said as it was latter a precursor itself to Tattletales (and in the future About Last Night) but with civilian couples instead of celebrity couples.

Gameplay

Unlike He Said, She Said, Tattletales & About Last Night respectively, It Had to be You was played with civilian couples instead of celebrity couples. During the opening of the show, half the participants (the spouses seated upfront), were asked by announcer Johnny Olson to leave the stage and into a soundproof room.

The spouses still on stage were given three words one at a time. On each word, three of the spouses were required to play by raising their hands. Each of them responded with a one or two word clue s/he thought his/her mate might recognize. Also unlike the latters, they cannot use proper nouns or capitalized words as clues, but they can use the given word as part of their answer. After giving a clue the spouse who raised his/her hand gave a description associated with the phrase.

After the three words were played, the isolated spouses returned. The couples were given $50 to start and the returning spouses were given the same words. On each word, the answers given by the first set of spouses were given to the mates one at a time. If and when a mate recognized a clue, s/he raised his/her hand and gave his/her description to that clue. A correct match scored added $30 to their score but an incorrect mismatch lost $10. A couple will also lose $10 if they incorrectly raised their hand and/or the couple who's mate supposed to raise their hand but did it too late.

The second round was played the same way, but with the tables turned. This means that spouses in back headed back backstage allowing the front spouses to move to the back and respond to Ed McMahon's words.

The couple with the most money had their winnings doubled and supposedly returned on the next show to play again. The rest of the couples left with their final total winnings.

Trivia

Despite being an unsold pilot, this was the first game show where a mix of both genders were played instead of the same individually.
Originally, the pilot was uploaded from a YouTube channel called The W/O/C Archive on April 26, 2021. Six months later, the pilot was aired on Buzzr as part of their 6th Annual Lost & Found marathon on September 25, 2021.
NBC originally considered it as a choice for a replacement for the country show Swinging Country, but it got lost to Reach for the Stars. Ironically, McMahon would go on to host Snap Judgment, which replaced Reach for the Stars.

Music

Theme - It Had to be You (instrumental version)

See Also

He Said She Said
TattleTales
About Last Night

Taglines

Thank you very much for helping us/making it so easy to find out that It Had to Be You.

It Had to Be You is a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production, this is Johnny Olson speaking. This program was pre recorded.

YouTube Links

The W/O/C Archive Version (Full Pilot)
Buzzr's (6th Annual) Lost & Found Version (Full Pilot)