This Is Your Life

For the Switchfoot song, see This Is Your Life (song)

This Is Your Life was a television documentary series hosted by Ralph Edwards, which originally aired in the United States from 1952 to 1961, and again from 1972 on NBC. It originated as a radio show airing from 1948 to 1952 on NBC Radio. A version of it continued to air in the United Kingdom until 2003, and another version is still running in Australia.

The concept

The format of the show was simple: the host would ambush a celebrity or public figure, present them with a 'red book', and then conduct a biography of them in a television studio. The guest would be presented with family members and old friends, reunited with old acquaintances, and often shed a tear when a personal tragedy was recounted.

Officially, the celebrity guests were surprised by their appearance on the show, as they were ambushed by the show's cameras and made their way to the studio during the commercial break. (The show was initially aired live.) Advance planning for the broadcast meant that inevitably, some celebrities would know in advance about the surprise. Carl Reiner later admitted that he knew beforehand about his appearance. Some were notified in advance because of medical conditions, including Eddie Cantor, due to his heart condition, and Lillian Roth, who had recovered from alcoholism. Some celebrities were unpleasantly surprised. Angie Dickinson refused to appear ^*, and Laurel and Hardy were angered by being "tricked" into what would be their only television appearance on December 1, 1954. Laurel later said "I was damned if I was going to put on a free show for them".

Attempted revivals

Edwards would revive the series twice in syndication, the first one with Edwards again as host and in 1983 with Joseph Campenella. Both failed to capture the magic of the original series, mostly due to the series being filmed or taped and in the case of the '71-'72 version some stations that aired it gave away the 'surprising' elements in ads and promos for the show.

In November 2005, ABC announced that it was developing a new version of the show, which will be hosted by Regis Philbin. It is expected to debut in 2006. Coincidentally, the show's creator, Ralph Edwards, died not long after the announcement was made.

The UK version

The show was exported to several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it was launched in 1955 on the BBC and was presented by Eamonn Andrews (who also ended up being the first "victim"). It ended in 1964 when Eamonn Andrews moved to ABC, but it was revived on ITV (produced by Thames Television) in 1969, and Michael Aspel (himself a "victim" in 1980) became presenter after Andrews died in 1987. It returned to the BBC in 1993, though it was still produced independently by Thames Television, and was axed in 2003.

Guests on the UK version included Muhammad Ali,David Nixon, Frank Skinner, Joan Collins, Shirley Bassey, Peter Davison, George Best, Spike Milligan, Jon Pertwee, Eric Sykes, Marty Wilde, Paul Young and Barbara Windsor. Footballer Danny Blanchflower turned down the "red book" on the British show in the 1960s, as did author Richard Gordon (of Doctor in the House fame) in 1974, and pop star Gary Glitter (before he was accused of paedophilia). In 2001 Bill Oddie (of The Goodies) initially turned it down, but later changed his mind and appeared on the show, although he looked uncomfortable. Actor Richard Beckinsale was a feature on the show shortly after his 31st birthday, 20 months before his death. Jimmy Savile claims to be the only person to appear twice; the second time, the makers of the show were not aware that he had been on before and Savile chose not to tell them. A few others have appeared on the show twice, though, such as Bob Monkhouse and Eamonn Andrews himself. On 10 December 1969, the 20-year-old model Twiggy became the UK show's youngest "victim" - a record which still stood when the programme was axed. In later years, following a persistent criticism of only deeming celebrities worthy of being featured on the show, 'ordinary' people were featured, such as a red cross volunteer, and other charity workers.

The Australian version

In Australia, the show is currently aired on the Nine Network on Thursday nights for about half the year. It began in the 80s and was first hosted by Roger Climpson on the Seven Network, before being relaunched in the 1990s and hosted by Mike Munro.

Spoofs

Fairly Oddparents had a spoof of this show, with Cosmo as the guest star.
Sesame Street also had a spoof, showing the life and times of... a loaf of bread.
German sketch comic Loriot also spoofed the show.
Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast aired a spoof episode featuring Zorak.

External links