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Truth or Consequences

16 episodes · 1945–1952 · NBC · Variety & Music

Play Truth or Consequences on Radio Days

Ralph Edwards created and hosted radio's great stunt show, which began on NBC on March 23, 1940, and ran on radio until 1957. He took the idea from the old parlor game of Forfeits. A contestant had about two seconds to answer a question, usually a joke or impossible, before Beulah the Buzzer sounded, and then had to pay the consequences: some zany, embarrassing stunt. "Aren't we devils?" Edwards would say. A town in New Mexico was named for the show.

Sources: Wikipedia: Truth or Consequences; RadioGOLDINdex

Episodes

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1945

• Imitating Airplane Sounds June 23, 1945 · NBC · 28 min
  Ralph Edwards brings the show to San Francisco's Civic Auditorium for the Seventh War Loan; a woman must mimic airplanes with her mouth, and two cousins meet after more than thirty years apart.

1947

• The Los Angeles Glee Club October 18, 1947 · NBC · 29 min
  Ralph Edwards launches the "Miss Hush" contest, and a woman sings lead with a men's chorus of fifty.
• Crackers in the Mouth October 25, 1947 · NBC · 29 min
  On Ralph Edwards' show, a couple performs a skit full of unpronounceable names with mouths full of crackers, as the "Miss Hush" contest goes on.
• The Hot Seat November 1, 1947 · NBC · 29 min
  From Chicago, Ralph Edwards keeps up the "Miss Hush" hunt as a wife somewhere in America is put in the "hot seat," a chair wired with electricity.
• Squirtless Seltzer Bottle November 8, 1947 · NBC · 30 min
  Broadcasting from Chicago, Ralph Edwards' first consequence involves a seltzer bottle that won't squirt, and the "Miss Hush" search goes on.
• Instructions for Milking a Cow November 16, 1947 · NBC · 29 min
  Ralph Edwards, in Chicago, has a contestant translate directions on how to milk a cow, given to her in Italian, as the "Miss Hush" contest goes on.
• Suspended Over a Water Tank November 22, 1947 · NBC · 16 min
  Only the first 15 minutes survive. Ralph Edwards hangs a woman above a tank and dunks her whenever husbands are criticized, while the hunt for "Miss Hush" goes on.
• Sing 'Rockabye Baby' November 29, 1947 · NBC · 30 min
  Contestants dress as babies, climb into bed and sing "Rockabye Baby" while Ralph Edwards' "Miss Hush" contest goes on.
• Christmas Seals December 20, 1947 · NBC · 29 min
  Ralph Edwards' Christmas show centers on Hubert Smith, a soldier recovering from wounds at a veterans hospital.

1948

• William Bendix and the Walking Man Contest January 17, 1948 · 29 min
• Walking Man Revealed: Jack Benny March 6, 1948 · NBC · 29 min
  Ralph Edwards has a soldier lecture a civilian, secretly a retired general, on battle tactics, and the Walking Man is unmasked as Jack Benny, who comes on the show.
• Boris Karloff October 30, 1948 · NBC · 30 min
  From Milwaukee, Ralph Edwards' Halloween show tries to name Papa and Mama Hush, and guest Boris Karloff takes part in a stunt.
• Spike Jones December 11, 1948 · NBC · 30 min
  On Ralph Edwards' show, a contestant attempts "Glow Worm" backed by Spike Jones and His City Slickers, and another wins the whole studio audience.

1949

• Sit in a Crow's Nest and Find Husband in the Audience October 8, 1949 · 28 min
• The Laughing Boy Is Correctly Guessed October 22, 1949 · NBC · 29 min
  A listener finally names "The Laughing Boy" for a $2,500 prize. George Jessel competes as toastmaster against a toaster, and a stunt fails when a hookup from Nome, Alaska, can't be heard.

1952

• Man Sealed in Room for One Week July 29, 1952 · NBC · 28 min
  From Chicago, Ralph Edwards checks on a man shut away for a week in a closed room, who misses the air time by three minutes; an Englishman tries calling a baseball game play-by-play.