As was pointed out by an actor playing the role of a sound man on a promotional spot at the time, to be grammatically correct, the show should have been entitled, "Whom Do You Trust?" But Johnny Carson was aiming his tribute to Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life" at the mass audience, not school marms. As Groucho had done on "You Bet our Life," Johnny would engage in banter with two guests who didn't necessarily know each other, let slip a few mischievous double entendres which were cute, funny, and pushing the limits of TV censorship all at the same time, and then pull out his quiz cards so that the guests as contestants could now try to win some money. "The next category is famous middle names. Which of you feels confident with this category. Who do you trust? Here's the first one: Robert Louis Stevenson. Oh, sorry. I'm not supposed to say the middle name." And at Ed McMahon laughing in the wings: "Well, you try saying that name without 'Louis' in the middle!" I remember that partly because the contestant failed to get the correct answer for the name that was then substituted for the author of "Treasure Island."
The main difference to "You Bet Your Life" was that whereas the Marx show was broadcast in the evening, causing a lot of kids to beg to stay up, "Who Do You Trust" was broadcast (on the East Coast, anyway) at 3:30 PM, causing quite a few kids to get home from school early. Later, of course, prepared with his several years of seasoning on daytime television, Johnny Carson became the King of the Night and as such, according to statistical studies, was an alternative to other nighttime activities and therefore a recognized form of birth control across America.
The main difference to "You Bet Your Life" was that whereas the Marx show was broadcast in the evening, causing a lot of kids to beg to stay up, "Who Do You Trust" was broadcast (on the East Coast, anyway) at 3:30 PM, causing quite a few kids to get home from school early. Later, of course, prepared with his several years of seasoning on daytime television, Johnny Carson became the King of the Night and as such, according to statistical studies, was an alternative to other nighttime activities and therefore a recognized form of birth control across America.