The Ralph Edwards Show was a short-lived variety game show. It aired Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Broadcast[]
NBC Daytime: 1/14/1952 – 5/16/1952
Host[]
Ralph Edwards
Co-stars[]
Steve Reeves
Sara Berner
Carole Richards
The Varieteers
Premise[]
In a manner similar to Truth or Consequences, members of the studio audience competed in stunts to win prizes (example: a man tried to earn $50 by tying balloons to his wife's hair).
Trivia[]
Steve Reeves was on the show to serve as an exploitation for housewives by dressing in an old shirt to show off his abbs (Reeves was a professional bodybuilder who would later star in the Hercules movies). Other regulars included singer Carole Richards, a three-piece instrumental combo called the Varieteers, and Sara Berner, who did a character segment throughout the show.
There was one stunt in the first month that almost completely failed. Contestants had to guess how many oranges were in a giant wire crate (the actual number was 5,106). After two weeks, however, the oranges on top had crushed the bottom ones to a stinky pulp. Shortly afterwards, when a woman guessed 5,183 oranges, Edwards declared her the winner regardless.
Cancellation[]
The show was rerun in the fall of 1952, but NBC had it in a morning slot, where they couldn't find advertisers. The network was forced to accept cheaper shows resulting in the cancellation of the show.
Four years later, Edwards brought Truth or Consequenses to NBC Daytime, where it remained until 1965 when it moved to syndication.