Talk:What's My Line?

Editing to condense

I did a lot of editing to condense this article. In many places the writing style seemed excessively wordy, with trivial needless detail, repetitive facts, etc. I'm hoping I didn't step on too many toes as I tried to retain content. I did the editing in short stages so I could explain each change. Also I notice that there is language here that's very informal.

I also think the section "Syndicated revival (1968–1975)" is far too long. The status of WML comes primarly from the original run and not the later syndicated version. It may have had a decent run, but it doesn't deserve anywhere near this much detail. It deserves a couple paragraphs and certainly not details about set design and who designed it!! Even the section on "New Versions of WML" was long. I removed details about how To Tell the Truth has continued on, because why is that relevant to WML even if it is the "sister" show? BashBrannigan (talk) 02:14, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

I think you've done a good job in condensing. At one time, a lot of content was added in a less than encyclopedic manner and while some editing of it has been done, there still remained too much fluff. This is a move in the right direction. Wildhartlivie (talk) 02:34, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Citations

I'm trying to verify the citations referenced in Fates book. Unfortunately there is only one reference copy available where I live. In the hour I had with the book I was able to verify several and have updated the article. To do all, I'll likely have to read the entire book. In my limited time with the book the citations do seem to be valid with only one exception. In the 25th Anniversary section the story is told that several kinescopes were accidentally destroyed. I was unable to find this reference in the appropriate part of the book. For example, the book mentions Candice Bergan and F.Lee Bailey, but only that their appearances were excluded from the show, not that they were destroyed. Also, the index of the book does not mention Betty Grable at all. However, I will need to read the entire book to confirm this.

If the reference of the kinescope destruction is from somewhere other than Fates book, please let me know here.BashBrannigan (talk) 16:29, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Improving Style

I thought I should clarify recent edits. If anyone feels I've done wrong on anything, please let me know. Too much of the style seems to be a succession of point-form and excess detail. I’m not much of a writer, but I’ve tried to keep the content but make it more integrated instead of point-form. With the excess detail, too much detail is needless and boring and should stay in the source material. For example, if specific dates are given, then it should be in the case of significant dates; when the show began or ended, but not when it switched from Wednesdays to Thursdays. Or, is it important that Ernie Kovaks was on the show for 9 episodes? If we’re going to include that, then there is a lot more far more interesting detail that could be added. BashBrannigan (talk) 19:59, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I thought I should make special comment on my last two edits on the Standard, Mystery rounds and the Syndicated version. It would appear there were massive changes, however it was just a re-organization. With minor exceptions, all content has been retained. BashBrannigan (talk) 18:22, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

I've removed the issues dealing with tone/style. I've worked on improving the style of the article, to make it more encyclopedic and believe this issue has been mostly resolved. However, if anyone feels there are still problems in this area, please express specifically where improvements can be made. If memory serves it was Wildhartlivie who added that Article Issues so their input would be welcome.

It seems to me the problems with the article made still be length and some content. I do believe the section on the syndicated version is too long, but I'm uncertain as to how to shorten it.BashBrannigan (talk) 02:11, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I made another major reorganization, but it is likely the last. I think it makes the article easier to read. The sections "US Versions" and "See Also" appeared to be "artificial". The material in both should be worked into the main article. This is what I did with the Radio Version info. It was also apparent that a new section could be created for WML post-1975. I moved 25th Anniversary special, Live Stage version, "Episode Status" and "That's My Line" into here (from the "See Also"). The only serious deletion was the "Front Page Challenge" reference in See Also. I was a huge fan of FPC but i can't see it's relevant to WML. I would welcome comments about this reorganization. BashBrannigan (talk) 02:01, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

You've made some marvelous improvements to this article, and although I haven't posted here about them, I've been watching as often as I could. I made some very minor style changes, mostly correcting punctuation placement (which needs to come before references), some italics, etc., but no content edits. I removed a couple of tags that were placed a long time ago by someone else. While a good article nomination might bring issue with the YouTube cites, unless you're thinking of that, I think they're helpful for anyone who wants to see them and don't take issue with them here now. I'd also note that there is a {{cite episode}} template for individual broadcast references if one were inclined to use them, but they aren't required. I removed a few cite tag qualifiers (asking for page numbers) that are probably not necessary now, they were placed for entirely different reasons due to an editor who worked on the page who is now blocked. It wasn't always clear what was actually in the cites that were placed at the time. I've also removed the header tags since the article doesn't run too long and a great many cites have been added. The remaining inline citation tags are fine for what's left. If you happen to have citation information about any of the books used for citations, those would be great to add to a Further reading section or just a Works referenced section in the References section. You've done some great work here, Bash. Congratulations! Wildhartlivie (talk) 03:05, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

longest-running game show in the history

I've modified this restrict the claim to the US. The linked source only makes this claim about the US. There seems to be some evidence that it there are other longer running game shows in other parts of the world. I am not sure how the claim relates to other US game shows such as Wheel of Fortune, since What's my line was a syndicated show for 8 of 26year run. 60.240.207.146 (talk) 00:41, 10 October 2010 (UTC)