The Girl in My Life

I can't remember how I was duped into going to the studio, but it was a complete surprise when they came down to the audience and brought me up on stage. I was one if the organizers of a group that was planning a wagon train across the US to celebrate the bicentennial. I had also written a theme song for the group. Anyway, I would kill for a copy of the show but, apparently, the masters were lost.

ABC-TV's "The Girl In My Life" was a schmaltzfest featuring Fred Holliday rewarding women nominated by viewers as worthy of receiving prizes and the national spotlight. This non-game show originally aired afternoons around during roughly the same period as games like the (then) new "You Don't Say", "The MoneyMaze" and "Rhyme and Reason".

Being a guy, I wasn't able to get into this lovefest but, for some reason, I can still hum the theme song.

If memory serves me, the show was a Carruthers Company production (the folks behind the 80's hit "Press Your Luck") and Tom Naud Productions (the folks behind the not-so-popular "Rhyme And Reason").

I won the biggest prize ever on the show. It was a VW Bug they customized with my name on the side. A bright yellow VW that said "Cindy's Bug" prominently on the side! They flew my sister to L.A. from Detroit after judging her letter "Show worthy and/or good TV" for that year. It was a complete surprise to me and my mom got me to the studio on the pretext of possibly meeting David Carradine. At that time I would have jumped off a pier just to swim where David Carradine fished! The show usually ended up as a "tear jerker" and this one followed tradition. Fred Holliday was cheerful and debonair as he asked "Would you like to take a trip down memory lane?" Wow, I was still looking for David and why did this guy think I had some memories? I didn't have any idea that it was my sister in silhouette on the stage reading that heartfelt letter about me, nor did I identify her voice (It didn't sound like David). I was completely overhauled when I heard "My name is Nancy, Cindy is my sister".

The premise of the show was a good one, to honor women and girls for doing something kind, generous or memorable. Of course, as always happens in the entertainment business, things are not always as they seem. Mostly it was a sincere attempt to give a woman a gift to make her happy in a dramatic situation. Sometimes the result of our cross between Queen for a Day and This is Your Life did not please the woman who had been secretly brought to the show to be surprised. And some of the gimmicks were just dreamed up by the writers to add interest to the show - fiancé who had proposed to his girlfriend by scoreboard at Dodger Stadium, etc. But sometimes wonderful things occurred, such as bringing together siblings who had not seen each other since they were toddlers, giving a woman her dream grand piano after she had given so much to a group of foster children, bringing a soldier back from Vietnam for a few days to see his dying mother, etc. It was great fun to work for this show and many women did benefit, even in the midst of a "game show" and attempt to be commercially successful.

I was a guest on this TV show back in 1975. The show re-united me and my sisters after 17 years of separation. We 5 girls were placed in an orphanage in 1958 and left there by our father. My 2 youngest sisters were adopted (by the same family). We remaining 3 stayed in the orphanage until we were 18. We were in the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Children's Home in Knightstown, Indiana. In 1975, we were united on national television!! What a fantastic moment for 5 little orphans.

Unfortunately, we did not tape the show. If anyone out there would have a taping of this show, I will be most happy to hear from you.

Thanks. Mona