You Bet Your Life

You Bet Your Life
Logo for the 2021 revival
Also known as	The Groucho Show (1960–1961)
Genre	Comedy Quiz show
Created by	John Guedel
Directed by	Robert Dwan Bernie Smith
Presented by	Groucho Marx Buddy Hackett Bill Cosby Jay Leno
Narrated by	Jack Slattery George Fenneman Ron Husmann Robbi Chong Kevin Eubanks
Composers	Jerry Fielding (1947–1952) Jack Meakin (1952–1961)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	14
No. of episodes	529 + 1 unaired
Production
Producer	John Guedel (1950-1961)
Production locations	NBC Studios Burbank Hollywood, CA (1980–1981) WHYY-TV, Philadelphia (1992–1993) Fox Television Center Los Angeles (2021–2023)
Running time	24–25 minutes
Production companies	John Guedel Productions, in association with NBC (1950–1961) Otter Creek Productions (2021–2023)
Original release
Network	ABC Radio (1947–1949) CBS Radio (1949–1950) NBC Radio (1950–1960) NBC-TV (1950–1961) First-run syndication (1980–1981, 1992–1993, 2021–2023)
Release	October 27, 1947 (1947-10-27) – May 26, 2023 (2023-05-26)
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You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio^[1] and television.^[2] The original version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and sidekick George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, and went to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950. Because of its simple format, it was possible to broadcast the show on both radio^[1] and television but not simultaneously. Many of the laughs on the television show were evoked by Groucho's facial reactions and other visual gimmicks. So the two versions were slightly different. The last episode in a radio format aired on June 10, 1960. The series continued on television for another year, recording the last season, beginning on September 22, 1960, with a new title, The Groucho Show.

Gameplay on each episode of You Bet Your Life was generally secondary to Groucho's comedic interplay with contestants and often with Fenneman. The show was so popular that it was the first primetime series to be shown in reruns during the summer months. The common practice at the time was to have a series go on hiatus during the summer, being replaced temporarily by a 13-week comedy or variety series before the main series returned in the fall. The You Bet Your Life summer reruns were broadcast as The Best of Groucho, to make clear to viewers that these were repeat broadcasts.

After the show went off the air, NBC prepared a syndicated version for local stations in 1961. Because the reruns were already established as The Best of Groucho, the syndicated version retained this title.^[3] NBC removed all references to the original sponsors by cropping the image whenever the sponsor's logo appeared, along with using a bright light to blur the "NBC" mark on Groucho's microphone.^[3] This is why some shots in the syndicated versions appear grainy and less focused. By deleting the sponsor's logo, the image zoomed in on what remained on the screen, sometimes cropping out a contestant while the screen showed only Groucho.^[3]

You Bet Your Life has been revived three times since the original series ended, the most recent being a version hosted by Jay Leno that aired in first-run syndication from 2021 to 2023.