To Tell the Truth: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Will the real John Doe please stand up? That's the famous catchphrase associated with one of the most enduring games of all time, To Tell the Truth. That's where a team of celebrity panelists attempted to determine which of three contestants is the actual person associated with a story. A team of three people, only one of which is actually associated with a story, introduce themselves. The host relates the person's story through an affidavit (which could be funny, serious, inspirational, having to do with their profession, political activity or cause they were actively involved in, etc.). The celebrity panelists, one at a time, question the three contestants (addressing them as No. 1, No. 2. and No. 3) in an attempt to expose the liars and determine who is telling the truth.

Series details

• Title: To Tell the Truth
• Format: Game Show
• Language: English
• Premiere date: 1956-12-18
• Final broadcast date listed: 1962-05-14
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ABC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 7023
• IMDb ID: tt0048907
• TVDB ID: 75871

Cast and credited roles

• Orson Bean — Panellist
• Tom Poston — Panellist
• Polly Bergen — Panellist
• Kitty Carlisle — Panellist
• Peggy Cass — Panellist
• Bud Collyer — Host
• Bern Bennett — Announcer

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1956-12-18; final listed air date 1957-12-31.
• Season 2: premiered 1958-01-07; final listed air date 1958-12-30.
• Season 3: premiered 1958-03-10; final listed air date 1959-12-31.
• Season 4: premiered 1960-01-07; final listed air date 1960-12-26.
• Season 5: premiered 1961-01-02; final listed air date 1961-12-25.
• Season 6: premiered 1962-01-01; final listed air date 1962-05-14.

Source and licence

Adapted from To Tell the Truth on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.