<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Chronology </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Related shows </Th> <Td> British version Australian version New Zealand version </Td> </Tr> <P> This Is Your Life was an American reality documentary series broadcast on NBC radio from 1948 to 1952, and on NBC television from 1952 to 1961 . It was originally hosted by its creator and producer Ralph Edwards . In the program, the host would surprise guests and then take them through a retrospective of their lives in front of an audience, including appearances by colleagues, friends, and family . Edwards revived the show in 1971--1972, and Joseph Campanella hosted a version in 1983 . Edwards returned for some specials in the late 1980s, before his death in 2005 . </P> <P> The idea for This Is Your Life arose while Edwards was working on Truth or Consequences . He had been asked by the U.S. Army to "do something" for paraplegic soldiers at Birmingham General Hospital, a California Army rehabilitation hospital in Van Nuys, Los Angeles (a site later converted into a high school). Edwards chose a "particularly despondent young soldier and hit on the idea of presenting his life on the air, in order to integrate the wreckage of the present with his happier past and the promise of a hopeful future ." Edwards received such positive public feedback from the "capsule narrative" of the soldier he gave on Truth or Consequences that he developed This Is Your Life as a new radio show . In the show, Edwards would surprise each guest by narrating a biography of the subject . The show "alternated in presenting the life stories of entertainment personalities and' ordinary' people who had contributed in some way to their communities ." The host, consulting his "red book", would narrate while presenting the subject with family members, friends, and others who had affected his or her life . </P>

Who was the mc on this is your life