Anyone Can Win

1 9 5 3 (USA)
30 minute episodes

Well-known cartoonist and humorist Al Capp (the creator of the Li’l Abner comic strip) hosted this CBS summer replacement prime-time game show, which was broadcast from New York City and seen biweekly on alternate Tuesday nights (alternating with Follow The Leader) for most of its short run.

On each show, four celebrity contestants – actors, authors, sports stars – competed in a question-and-answer segment, with three of the celebs fully visible to viewers, while the fourth wore the mask of a Capp cartoon character, “Hairless Joe”.

Members of the studio audience could back any of the celebrities, with those who backed the contestant who correctly answered the most questions splitting $2,000 among them.

Periodically through the show, calls were placed to home viewers, who were given the opportunity to identify the masked contestant.

In later years, Capp (born Alfred Gerald Caplin) was accused of sexual assault and harassment by a number of women, including Goldie Hawn and Grace Kelly. In 1972, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted adultery, though charges of indecent exposure and sodomy were eventually dropped.

Capp died in New Hampshire on 5 November 1979, aged 70.

Host
Al Capp
Announcer
Joe O’Brien