The Love Experts was a show that was part talk show and part game show that ran from September 11, 1978 to September 7, 1979. It was hosted by Bill Cullen

Bill Cullen

William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...

 and Jack Clark was the announcer. The show was created by Bob Stewart. Bebu Silvetti

Bebu Silvetti

Juan Fernando Silvetti Adorno , professionally known as Bebu Silvetti or simply Silvetti, was an Argentine pianist, composer, conductor, arranger and record producer...

's "Spring Rain" was used as the show's theme song.

Premise

Three guests would appear and talk about their love lives - most of them were about love gone wrong and torn between two different people. After each guest told his/her story, a panel of four celebrities would give advice to the contestant.

Decision

After the guests told their stories, the celebrity panel would then choose which of the three contestants gave the most interesting story and that particular contestant won a prize (usually a trip).

Celebrity guests

Among the celebrities who appeared as panelists were David Letterman

David Letterman

David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...

, Elaine Joyce

Elaine Joyce

Elaine Joyce is an American actress.Joyce was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She made her film debut in 1961 as an extra in West Side Story and made uncredited appearances in several musical films, including The Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, and Funny Girl before being cast in Such Good Friends in 1971...

, Jo Anne Worley

Jo Anne Worley

Jo Anne Worley is an American actress. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. She is best known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.-Biography:...

, Geoff Edwards

Geoff Edwards

Geoffrey Bruce Owen "Geoff" Edwards is an American television actor, game show host and radio personality. Over the past decade and a half, he has been a writer and broadcaster on travel. He was born in Westfield, New Jersey....

, Soupy Sales

Soupy Sales

Soupy Sales was an American comedian, actor, radio-TV personality and host, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales; a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his...

, Nipsey Russell

Nipsey Russell

Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid...

, Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...

, Jay Johnson

Jay Johnson

Jay Johnson may refer to:* Jay W. Johnson * Jay W. Johnson, U.S. Democratic congressman from Wisconsin and Director of the United States Mint* Jay Johnson Detroit doo-wop bass-baritone singer* Jay L. Johnson, U.S...

, and Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal

William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...

.

Broadcast history

The Love Experts debuted on September 11, 1978 as a unique syndicated attempt – a talk show with a small game element added in. The series was somewhat of a precursor to the long-running Love Connection

Love Connection

Love Connection is an American television game show, hosted by Chuck Woolery, in which singles attempted to connect with a compatible partner of the opposite gender. The show debuted in syndication on September 19, 1983 and ended on July 1, 1994, after more than 2,000 shows. Reruns continued to air...

, however focused only on one person at a time.

The series was also the only time host Bill Cullen emceed a talk show format on a regular basis; prior to this, his only talk-show experience was as a guest-host for Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson

John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...

 on The Tonight Show

The Tonight Show

The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...

.

Critics panned The Love Experts as being too obnoxious as a relationship advice show, however, and it ended after one season. In more recent years, the series has gained positive reviews; not only are the panel chemistry and host Cullen cited as top-notch, the series has also been lauded for openly discussing relationship-based topics that were still considered somewhat "taboo" on television at the time.

Episode status

The show is believed to be intact, but is currently in the vaults of CBS Television Distribution

CBS Television Distribution

CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...

. The first two episodes taped, plus a third from later in the run (all studio masters) are on the trading circuit, plus a kinescope of the 1975 pilot hosted by Jack Cassidy

Jack Cassidy

John Joseph Edward “Jack” Cassidy was an American actor of stage, film and screen.His frequent professional persona was that of an urbane, super-confident egotist with a dramatic flair, much in the manner of Broadway actor Frank Fay...

. The Bill Cullen pilot, taped January 4, 1978, also exists.