In Tribute: Arlene Francis Paved Way for Women in TV

By Steve Beverly

This week, when Katie Couric says "Good evening" on "The CBS Evening News," when Meredith Vieira sets the stage for a menu of guests on "Today" and when one of the quintet on "The View" utters another polarizing opinion, they all should offer a salute to Arlene Francis, who walked through the doors, set the barometers and wrote the rules for every woman in broadcasting who has since followed her.

Saturday marked the 100th birthday of Arlene Francis Kazanjian, whose signature identity originated from nearly 25 years on the panel of the game show "What’s My Line?," first on CBS for many seasons and later in syndication.

But Arlene Francis was not just a game show personality; she was a pioneer and a pathfinder. Every woman in television who has fought a battle for an anchor chair, pay equality or the right to be recognized as a credible voice owes a debt of gratitude to her. Ms. Francis wrote the rules for women in television when none existed.

"I don’t think my mother ever saw herself as a trailblazer," said her son, Dr. Peter Gabel, former president of New College in San Francisco. "But because of her ability as a communicator and with the acceptance the audience offered her in the early years of television, she was regarded in a status that was almost exclusively reserved for men."

In fact, Jackie Sanders Hayes, who is producing a documentary on the life and career of Ms. Francis, says she was unique in her status in television.

"She was the first woman to substitute as the host of the early NBC hit ‘Your Show of Shows,’" Ms. Hayes said. "I’ve talked to a number of men who performed on that show. One of them told me, ‘It’s true. A lot of us didn’t treat women as equals in those days. But not Arlene. She was different. She was the best."

Ms. Francis effortlessly segued from entertainment to news and information programming.

When Pat Weaver created NBC’s "Home" as the textbook morning magazine show in 1954, Fran Allison was the prime host candidate. When her contract demands stalemated negotiations, Ms. Francis stepped forward. Again, it was the right call. Ms. Francis was the first woman in TV to have the title of managing editor.

"The ‘Home’ show was the first of its kind in television to treat the woman as someone intelligent," Dr. Gabel said. "My mother was the catalyst for experts on the family, marriage, style and conflict. That’s a prime staple of television today, but ‘Home’ set the first bar."

The credibility factor was never more significant than on a Wednesday morning in 1965 when Ms. Francis was in the right place at the right time. She was filling in for Hugh Downs on NBC’s "Today." The East Coast was still in the midst of the most extensive power blackout in U.S. history. Ms. Francis, operating in a candlelit studio, was saluted by critics nationwide for her calm and steady questions to calm fears of sabotage.

Not until GSN’s recent documentary "The Women Who Changed Game Shows" did Ms. Francis receive long-overdue credit as the first woman game show host. The "Blind Date" of 1949 was far classier and more romance-driven than the sleazy incarnation of this decade. So talented was she that Mark Goodson did not hesitate to use her as a substitute for Bill Cullen on the original version of "The Price Is Right."

As for "What’s My Line?," its director Franklin Heller said in Max Wilk’s "The Golden Age of Television" that the chemistry of the panelists was more important than the game. Dr. Gabel said his mother’s onscreen gamesmanship flew in the face of her private life.
My mother loved people, but I never remember us playing games when I was growing up," Dr. Gabel said. "She just approached ‘What’s My Line?’ the way she did everything else. If it was a game, she was going to play it to the best of her ability. She never had any thoughts she’d be doing it for nearly 18 years on CBS."

The Television Academy has never seen fit to honor Ms. Francis with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award. However, in July, Game Show Congress established the Arlene Francis Panelist Legend Award. The first recipient: Betty White, who appeared many times with Ms. Francis.

"Arlene was just the best. That’s the greatest compliment you can give anyone. She was the best," Ms. White said.

Ms. Francis was still doing radio in New York well into her early 80s. When she died in 2001, she had fought a valiant battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

What Arlene Francis achieved in a career of five decades in radio and TV far eclipsed her familiarity guessing occupations and mystery guests.

Steve Beverly is professor of broadcasting at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and webmaster/originator of TVgameshows.net.