TV Q&A: Cullen was 'Right' before Bob Barker

Question: I have a bet with a lady who I used to work with. She says that "The Price Is Right" is approximately 30 years old and that Bob Barker has always been the emcee. I say the show goes back to at least the 1960s, was originally broadcast in black and white, and Bill Cullen was the first emcee. Please settle this once and for all!

Answer: Darn these whippersnappers whose memories only go back to the 1970s! Of course, there was a version of "The Price Is Right" in the days of B.B.B. (before Bob Barker). The original version, as you say, featured Cullen and ran on NBC (and then ABC) from 1956 until 1965.

Question: As a teenager in the mid-1950s, I recall watching "The Jimmy Durante Show." I seem to recall that Durante always closed his show with the word "Umbriago." Do I recall correctly? What is the translation and the significance of his closing comment?

Answer: Actually, Durante's trademark closing line was "Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are." There are various theories as to who Mrs. Calabash was, including a former lover and a waitress at a diner in Calabash, N.C., who once served Durante. As for "Umbriago," it was a name that Durante used as a joke in his routines. Umbriago was a friend of his who always showed up at the wrong time or whose shady dealings got Durante in trouble.

Question: Will Simon Baker and "The Guardian" be back on the air soon? We miss him!

Answer: Sorry, but "The Guardian" was canceled.

Question: Who is that foxy, sexy girl who plays Kate on "Lost"? My wife says she came from a daytime soap. I say no way. Also, I say that Tom Cruise's brother is on that show. My wife says no way. Who gets to do the cooking next weekend?

Answer: She's cooking; you're eating and gloating. Evangeline Lilly plays Kate on "Lost," and her previous work includes no daytime soap. She was a regular on last season's "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital," but that wasn't a soap and it aired at night, so ha-ha- ha. And William Mapother, who plays Ethan on "Lost," isn't Tom Cruise's brother, but his cousin. That's close enough for at least a meal or two, I'd think.

Question: I'm hoping you can help me. I have been watching the new series "Veronica Mars" on UPN, and I absolutely love it. I would like to know about the theme song. Who sings it, and is it out on CD? Thanks for your help.

Answer: It's "We Used to Be Friends,' performed by the Dandy Warhols.

Question: My wife and I were watching "ER" and were wondering about Shane West, who plays a new doctor. What other series was he a regular on? We think he was in a series with Sela Ward, and we can't remember the name of it.

Answer: West, who plays Dr. Ray Barnett on "ER," played Eli Sammler on "Once and Again," which ran on ABC from 1999 until 2002. It featured Sela Ward and Billy Campbell as two divorced folk who found looooove.

Question: I love watching sci-fi. As a kid, one of my favorite shows was the short-lived "UFO." The lead character was a Col. Straker, who was the head of an organization called SHADO. Any idea what his real name was and whatever became of him?

Answer: That fellow is Ed Bishop. "UFO" was a Canadian-produced series that aired from 1970 until '73, and most of Bishop's work since then has been in Canadian movies and TV shows.

Question: There was a song on this season's first episode of "Nip/ Tuck" that I loved. It has to do with one character's cell phone and wanting someone to call him. I really loved the song and would love to have the CD.

Answer: The song is "Vibrate" by Rufus Wainwright. It's on his "Want One" CD.

Question: Do you know who does the music for the new HP digital camera commercial? It's the one where people hold up white frames against live people and when the frames are moved they become photos.

Answer: That's "Picture Book," by the Kinks, and it can be found on their CD "The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society."

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