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- Lynde: "Humble."
Q: "How many men on a hockey team?"
- Lynde: "Oh, about half."
Q: "Who's generally better looking, a fairy or a pixie?"
- Lynde: "Looks aren't everything! (pause) I think I'll take the fairy."
Q: "Is it against the law in Texas to call a Marine a 'sissy'?"
- Lynde: "I guess I'll have to take the law into my own hands."
Q: "What unusual thing do you do if you have something called 'the gift of tongues'?"
- Lynde: "I wouldn't tell the grand jury. Why should I tell you?"
Q: "The great writer George Bernard Shaw once wrote, 'It's such a wonderful thing, what a crime to waste it on children.' What is it?"
- Lynde: "A whipping."
Q: "...when a man falls out of your boat and into the water, you should yell 'Man overboard!' Now what should you yell if a woman falls overboard?"
- Lynde: "Full speed ahead!"
Paul Lynde (joke responses as told on The Hollywood Squares)
In 1966, Lynde debuted on the fledgling game show The Hollywood Squares and quickly became its iconic guest star. Eventually he assumed a permanent spot as the "center square," a move that ensured that he would be called upon by contestants at least once in almost every round. Despite an urban legend to the contrary, Lynde remained in the center at the producers' discretion.
On The Hollywood Squares, Lynde was best able to showcase his comedic talents with short, salty one-liners, spoken in his signature snickering delivery. Many gags were thinly-veiled allusions to his homosexuality. Other jokes relied on double entendre, an alleged fondness for deviant behaviors, or dealt with touchy subject matter for 1970s television.
Appearing a total of 707 times, Lynde garnered considerable fame and wealth from the series. He eventually became disenchanted with being what he called "boxed into" The Hollywood Squares, and he departed the series in 1979. In 1980, The Hollywood Squares experienced a downward trend in Nielsen ratings, and Lynde was approached about returning to the program. He initially declined, but changed his mind when told he would receive co-star billing with host Peter Marshall. He returned to the series in the spring of 1980 and remained with the show until its cancellation in February 1981.
