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'You Bet Your Life' on DVD

Detail from DVD cover for 'You Bet Your Life: The Best Episodes'
Detail from DVD cover for 'You Bet Your Life: The Best Episodes'

Detail from DVD cover for 'You Bet Your Life: The Best Episodes.'
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Detail from DVD cover for 'You Bet Your Life: The Best Episodes.'

In the late 1950s and early '60s, legendary comedian Groucho Marx hosted the game show You Bet Your Life -- first on radio, then on television. Guests included average citizens and younger, up-and-coming celebrities, who would chat with Marx and answer questions for prize money.

The real prize was a chance to play the comic foil to one of the best ad-lib men in show business. Much of show was unscripted, which led to many classic exchanges between Groucho and his guests.

Robert Bader is the producer of a new DVD, You Bet Your Life: The Best Episodes, for Shout! Productions. He talks with NPR's Scott Simon about how Marx and his cohorts put together the show, and some of its on-air and off-air highlights.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.