Game Play
Three challengers are introduced, all claiming to be the central character. The announcer typically asks the challengers, who stand side by side, "What is your name, please?" Each challenger then states, "My name is ." The celebrity panelists then read along as the host reads aloud a signed affidavit about the central character.
The panelists are each given a period of time to question the challengers. Questions are directed to the challengers by number (Number One, Number Two and Number Three), with the central character sworn to give truthful answers, and the impostors permitted to lie and pretend to be the central character.
After questioning is complete, each member of the panel votes on which of the challengers they believe to be the central character, either by writing the number on a card or holding up a card with the number of their choice, without consulting the other panelists. Any panelist who knows one of the challengers or has another unfair advantage is required to recuse himself which, for scoring purposes, is counted as an incorrect vote.
Once the votes are cast, the host asks, "Will the real please stand up?" The central character then stands, often after some brief playful feinting and false starts among all three challengers. Rarely, the central character would be asked to do something else related to their story instead of standing up. The two impostors then reveal their real names and their actual occupations. Prize money is awarded to the challengers based on the number of incorrect votes the impostors draw.
Read more about this topic: To Tell The Truth
Famous quotes containing the words game and/or play:
“My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly say “I do not play bridge” is allowed to go over in the corner and run the pianola by himself, while the poor neophyte, no matter how much he may protest that he isn’t “at all a good player, in fact I’m perfectly rotten,” is never believed, but dragged into a game where it is discovered, too late, that he spoke the truth.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“D--n me, stranger, ef you can’t stay as long as you please, and I’ll give you plenty to eat and drink. Play away, stranger, you kin sleep on the dry spot tonight!”
—Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)