To Tell the Truth
Pilot
TV Flash files “Pilot” as a desk essential hour — To Tell the Truth (1956–1968) on CBS, season 1, episode 1, aired 1956-12-18, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E01: listed hour 1 of 251 in the To Tell the Truth guide, first listed hour of season 1. It aired 1956-12-18 (30 min). No earlier hour is listed in this guide. Next is “Mitchell Parish, Hermaine Zawacki” (S01E02).
Essential hour: “Pilot”. Pilot: three people claim one identity, celebrities sweat, and the lie detector with manners is born on CBS.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Pilot sit in the To Tell the Truth guide?
S01E01 is listed hour 1 of 251 — first listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 1.
When did To Tell the Truth S01E01 air?
Pilot aired 1956-12-18 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Collyer's original CBS run and wait for the stand-up reveal. Three claimants, one identity, a sweating panel — that is the whole machine.
In the series
Why this series still plays
To Tell the Truth perfected the impostor panel: three people claim one identity, the celebrities sweat, and one phrase escaped into the language. Will the real blank please stand up still works because the format is a lie detector with manners. A 2026 viewer watches the original bluff-as-entertainment machine.
The look is three people claiming one identity — a lie detector with manners, celebrities sweating, a reveal line that escaped the show into the language. *To Tell the Truth*, CBS prime time 1956–1968, 251 episodes across six seasons in this catalog file: Bob Stewart's impostor format for Goodson-Todman, hosted by Bud Collyer, panel heat from Kitty Carlisle, Orson Bean, Tom Poston. 'Will the real ___ please stand up?' still works because the bluff is the entertainment. The timeline can meme the line. The…
Filed against
- Bud Collyer as Host
Bud Collyer’s host weather made To Tell the Truth a lie detector with manners — 1950s catalog impostor panel, will-the-real-blank-please-stand-up as a national phrase. Beat the Clock kept the smile in whipped-cream chaos. TV Flash files…
- Kitty Carlisle as Panelist
Kitty Carlisle sat To Tell the Truth as panelist weather — three claimants, one identity, celebrities sweating, a lie detector with manners. Will the real blank please stand up escaped into the language. TV Flash tracks her as 1950s…
- Orson Bean as Panelist
Orson Bean held the panel on To Tell the Truth, the 1950s impostor game where three people claim one identity and the celebrities sweat. Will the real blank please stand up still works because the format is a lie detector with manners. TV…
- Tom Poston as Panelist
Tom Poston’s panelist sweat helped To Tell the Truth mint “will the real blank please stand up” — impostor manners, celebrity guessing, a lie detector with a handshake — then innkept Newhart as Vermont ensemble comedy at refined volume,…