Follow the Leader

Follow the Leader is an American television prime-time game show that was broadcast July 7, 1953 - August 18, 1953, on CBS with Vera Vague as hostess. It was on Tuesdays from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Premise Follow the Leader was based on the children's game of the same name. Contestants selected from the studio audience tried to imitate scenes acted out by Vague in pantomime. Each correctly reproduced movement earned $10 for the contestant and added $10 to the jackpot for that episode. Contestants' efforts were complicated by addition of "exaggerated props" that were not in Vague's original activity. Episodes typically included three two-minute skits enacted by Vague, followed by contestants' efforts to re-enact them. In the premiere episode: Vague packed for a weekend trip, with the contestant "hindered by collapsing props". A man who tried to imitate Vague's skit about a private investigator also found props collapsing. A woman imitating Vague's Apache dance with a dummy discovered that the "dummy" she hit over the head with a bottle was a live actor. An applause meter was used to determine which contestant would be invited to participated in the next episode. Production The program originated from Hollywood, with Bernie Gould and Paul Harrison as producers and writers. John Claar was the director.