Two contestants (everyday people for the first four seasons, celebrity guests were added in the show's final season) listened to four panelists give possible definitions to obscure words; winning a round consisted of guessing which panelist had given the correct definition.
Simple . . . except for the presence of panelist Scott Beach (local actor, disc jockey and raconteur, whose later screen career started with an uncredited appearance -- as a killer -- in "Bullitt"). Beach exerted an erudite, professorial authority as he held forth with informed, in-depth discussions that not only gave the origin of the word and its variations but also . . . were total fabrications; yet the contestants, as though mesmerized by a cobra's stare, invariably fell for his nonsense, time and time again. Except, of course, on those occasions when he almost apologetically offered what had to be the lamest excuse for a definition (as though he'd been caught flat-footed) -- at which time, of course, his WAS the correct definition.
"Oh My Word" was that wonderfully rare blend of fact and fun. You really didn't mind learning something here; it happened while you were laughing. The rest of the panelists, all local personages with the exception of June Lockhart (what was Lassie's mom doing here?) turned in yeomanlike performances, but Beach was the draw. Even host Jim Lange ("The Dating Game," etc.) often wore an expression as though wondering why he'd bothered to show up.
A minor classic.
Simple . . . except for the presence of panelist Scott Beach (local actor, disc jockey and raconteur, whose later screen career started with an uncredited appearance -- as a killer -- in "Bullitt"). Beach exerted an erudite, professorial authority as he held forth with informed, in-depth discussions that not only gave the origin of the word and its variations but also . . . were total fabrications; yet the contestants, as though mesmerized by a cobra's stare, invariably fell for his nonsense, time and time again. Except, of course, on those occasions when he almost apologetically offered what had to be the lamest excuse for a definition (as though he'd been caught flat-footed) -- at which time, of course, his WAS the correct definition.
"Oh My Word" was that wonderfully rare blend of fact and fun. You really didn't mind learning something here; it happened while you were laughing. The rest of the panelists, all local personages with the exception of June Lockhart (what was Lassie's mom doing here?) turned in yeomanlike performances, but Beach was the draw. Even host Jim Lange ("The Dating Game," etc.) often wore an expression as though wondering why he'd bothered to show up.
A minor classic.