Two for the Money (1952–1957) User Reviews

Patronizing perception inaccurate

[drexelgal · 7/10 · 23 April 2007]

Herb Shriner was not a "Southerner", as a previous commenter so patronizingly stated. He was actually born in Toledo (Ohio), one of the Northernmost points in the contiguous 48 states, and grew up in Indiana. His "slow drawl" was actually a Midwestern twang that put him in the company of Will Rogers. His sons, Wil and Kin, were also successful in television --- Wil, as a comedian who was highly touted by another Hoosier, the gap-toothed neurotic David Letterman, and Kin, as an actor in TV soap operas.

Television was different in the 1950s, with the new medium finding its way and relying upon stage performers and radio personalities who were accustomed to working live. And, even then, the Civil War had ended 90 years previous, so the South was once again part of the US.

Interviews OK, game is better

[bpatrick-8 · 8/10 · 22 April 2010]

Herb Shriner wasn't the interviewer Groucho was. Groucho had a knack for finding the humor in a contestant's occupation, demeanor, or whatnot, and went from there. So what if he had a script? Shriner wasn't quite as adept at this. Another thing: Groucho's show was filmed and edited to its best moments; film might have helped the interview portion of "Two For The Money." I've seen one show where Shriner got so involved talking to a cartoonist that he totally ignored the man's partner, and she looked as if she'd like to kill Shriner right there on live TV. The game, however, is something else. Under the pressure of time the partners have to alternate naming items in a category (15 seconds and they can't help each other), and some of those categories are really tough. One couple was asked to name all the states that border Canada, in order from east to west. They managed to get one right: Maine. Since GSN no longer has the Goodson-Todman library I'm afraid we'll never see this gem again; too bad, too, because I'd like to see the appearance of a teenage Tom Brokaw from 1957, when Sam Levenson had replaced Shriner. But if anyone does get the idea to revive this show, they could go back to the Shriner family: son Wil would be perfect to host this show. In short, the interviews are funnier on Groucho's show, but Shriner has the more challenging game.

And by the way, although Shriner was born in Ohio, he grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and his first network radio show was called "Hoosier Hop."

An Old Game-Show That Needed More Attention Than What It Got (SPOILERS)

[I_Am_The_Taylrus · 8/10 · 16 August 2007]

SPOILERS

Every now and then on the Game Show Network they show an incredibly old game-show that probably has not been on in a while and I am extremely fascinated by them. Two For the Money was one of those old game-shows. Now, I found myself to be enjoying this show. You have your strange, dated humor, your simple game-play, and the small cash prizes that were a lot back then.

This game-show is definitely not in the same league as What's My Line, Beat the Clock, or some more of those classic game-shows that came out in the 40's and 50's, but this is impressive and better than I thought it would be. I actually thought this would be reminiscent of shows like To Tell the Truth, or Body Language. This turned out to be an old-fashioned quiz show that happened to have some odd, zany humor with some actually difficult questions every now and then.

Here is the basis of this game-show. Two contestants come out and are asked some questions like "Name all of the U.S holidays in order." Then, the contestants take turns naming the answers within a time limit. With all the answers they get right, they win money. There are a couple rounds. Then that team leaves with their money and another team comes. There are about three teams in an episode. The teams usually win about $1000, which was a lot back then. Even if they do not win anything, they will still receive a carton of cigarettes, frighteningly enough.

Overall, this is actually a quite good and well-done game-show. The host sometimes drags on for about five minutes to learn more about the contestant's background and their is only about five minutes of game-play but this is very good. Anyway, they could have made it more of a competition instead of asking questions and leaving but with that aside I enjoyed this show and wish it was one more often.

8/10

Recommended Shows: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

My odd late-night discovery

[selfhelpradio · 24 April 2000]

The Game Show Network is an amazing thing. I wasn't feeling sleepy tonight & I happened upon this old game show, made in the 50's when corporate sponsors and relatively low production costs made a lot of prime time game show-oriented. Some things about this show were neat - I liked the questions, which I'll talk about below - but the show had some quirky qualities.

The host of the show I saw, Herb Shriner, was a down-home Southern comedian, with a slow drawl and not quite finding punch lines in his long attempts at jokes. His comments to the guests - reminiscent of how Groucho Marx interacted with his own guests on "You Bet Your Life" - seemed scripted, but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because he was constantly forgetting the contestant's names, referring to the cards he nervously curled in his hands.

It was sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes, & every contestant got a free carton just for being there. Imagine! Imagine how freaky it seems to me, way too young to even remember a time when cigarettes were considered safe for TV! The expert "questions guy" - with some degree from an Ivy League school - smoked all through the show.

But the competition was neat. It's called "Two For The Money" because an unrelated pair, a man & a woman, had to answer a series of questions with multiple answers, each taking a turn. For example, one question was, "Name a president who did not have facial hair." They alternated, over the course of fifteen seconds, giving as many answers as they could, & whatever total they got became the base total for the next question. I personally think that's a groovy idea - with the modern day game show revival, it might be a nice middle ground between the dopiness of a "Wheel Of Fortune" & the braininess of a "Jeopardy."

In all, the cornball humor was a little off-putting but the contestants & the game itself were a lot of fun. I see it was on for five years. I hope the Game Show Network shows it regularly. Maybe I'll even get used to the free cartons of cigarettes for every player.

Herb Shriner, an early television version of Will Rogers

[krorie · 13 February 2006]

My father had three favorite comedians, Red Skelton, Bob Hope, and Herb Shriner. Herb Shriner was unlike the former two in that his humor was more topical, similar in many ways to the humor of Will Rogers. Just as Will Rogers spoke with a strong Oklahoma accent, so Herb Shriner spoke with a pronounced Hoosier accent. He often talked of Indiana even though he was actually born in Toledo, Ohio. Whereas Will Rogers used a newspaper as a prop, Herb Shriner used a harmonica, which he sometimes played.

Most viewers such as my father tuned in to "Two for the Money" not for the game but for Herb Shriner's humor, much as they tuned in to "You Bet Your Life" to hear Graucho Marx's wisecracks. I only remember "Two for the Money" with Herb Shriner (1952-1956) since we got our first TV set in 1953. Herb was the show so I don't really remember much about the game itself.

Being a youngster in those days, I enjoyed games such as Monopoly and Clue. The television game programs also marketed board games based on their shows. I had several of them including my favorite "A Dollar a Second." As I recall there was a game board marketed for "Two for the Money." Television quiz shows were all the rage in the early 50's before they got out of hand leading to the scandals later in the decade.