What's My Line? The show was initially called Occupation Unknown. The original series, which was usually broadcast live, debuted in 1950 & the panel attempted to determine the line (occupation), or in the case of a famous "mystery guest", the identity of the contestant. It was a weekly panel game show which ran from 1950-1967 whose objective was to guess the unusual occupations of contestants. It is the longest-running game show in the history of prime time network television. Hosted by John Charles Daly.
Unknown to the public, mystery guests were paid $500 as an appearance fee, whether they won or lost the game. This was in addition to the maximum $50 game winnings, which guests sometimes donated to charity. Guest panelists were paid $750 as an appearance fee.
