The 1950s quiz show scandals were a series of scandals involving the producers and contestants of several popular American television quiz shows. These shows' producers secretly gave assistance to certain contestants in order to prearrange the shows' outcomes while still attempting to deceive the public into believing that these shows were objective and fair competitions. Producers fixed the shows sometimes with the free consent of contestants and out of various motives: improving ratings, greed, and the lack of regulations prohibiting such conspiracy in game show productions.
The $64,000 Question is an American game show broadcast in primetime on CBS-TV from 1955 to 1958, which became embroiled in the 1950s quiz show scandals. Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the questions became more difficult. The final question had a top prize of $64,000, hence the "$64,000 Question" in the show's title.
Truth or Consequences was an American game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–57) and later on television by Edwards (1950–54), Jack Bailey (1954–56), Bob Barker (1956–75), Steve Dunne (1957–58), Bob Hilton (1977–78) and Larry Anderson (1987–88). The television show ran on CBS, NBC and also in syndication. The premise of the show was to mix the original quiz element of game shows with wacky stunts.
You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and sidekick George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, and went to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950. Because of its simple format, it was possible to broadcast the show on both radio and television but not simultaneously. Many of the laughs on the television show were evoked by Groucho's facial reactions and other visual gimmicks. So the two versions were slightly different. The last episode in a radio format aired on June 10, 1960. The series continued on television for another year, recording the last season, beginning on September 22, 1960, with a new title, The Groucho Show.
Twenty-One is an American game show originally hosted by Jack Barry that initially aired on NBC from 1956 to 1958. Produced by Jack Barry-Dan Enright Productions, the show featured two contestants playing against each other in separate isolation booths, answering general-knowledge questions to earn 21 total points. The program became notorious when it was found to be rigged as part of the 1950s quiz show scandals, which nearly caused the demise of the entire genre in the wake of United States Senate investigations. The 1994 film Quiz Show is based on these events. A new version of the show aired on NBC in 2000 with Maury Povich as host.
John Carpenter is an American game show contestant and Internal Revenue Service agent. He is the thirteenth highest-earning American game show contestant of all time. Carpenter is best known for becoming the first top-prize winner on the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and the first ever top-prize winner in the entire Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise. He held the record for the largest single win in United States game show history, until it was broken by Rahim Oberholtzer who won $1.12 million on another U.S. quiz show, Twenty One.
The Einstein Factor was an Australian television quiz show that was broadcast on ABC1. The show's host is comedian and broadcaster Peter Berner. It was first broadcast in 2004 and in 2009 the show commenced its sixth and final season, with the ABC announcing the program would not be renewed for the seventh season in 2010. The final episode aired on 22 November 2009. It was broadcast on Sunday nights at 6:30 pm from 2004 until 2009 & also on Tuesdays at 1:30pm on ABC. The Einstein Factor was created by Australian television producer, Barry O'Brien, and was produced by Sparkz with Ian Duncan and Shaun Levin as Executive Producers.
The Jackpot is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Walter Lang, with James Stewart and Barbara Hale in the lead roles. It features a young Natalie Wood.
Tic-Tac-Dough is an American television game show based on the paper-and-pencil game of tic-tac-toe. Contestants answer trivia questions to put up their respective symbol, X or O, on a tic-tac-toe board. Three versions were produced: the initial 1956–59 run on NBC, a 1978–86 run initially on CBS and then in syndication, and a syndicated run in 1990. The show was produced by Barry & Enright Productions. However, the rights to the format are controlled by NBCUniversal.
Three on a Match is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart that ran on NBC from August 2, 1971 to June 28, 1974 on its daytime schedule. The host was Bill Cullen and Don Pardo served as announcer on most episodes, with Bob Clayton and NBC staffers Wayne Howell and Roger Tuttle substituting at times.
Double Your Money was a British game show hosted by Hughie Green. Originally broadcast on Radio Luxembourg since 1950 and based on the American radio quiz Take It Or Leave It (1940–1947), it transferred to ITV in September 1955, a few days after the commercial channel began broadcasting. It was produced by Associated-Rediffusion until 1964 and then by Rediffusion London and it finished in 1968 when the company lost its franchise.
Miljoenenjacht, officially Postcode Loterij Miljoenenjacht, is a Dutch game show, sponsored by the country's postcode lottery, where a contestant and at-home viewer could win up to €5,000,000 or as little as €0.01. The show is broadcast at various times, spanning across six episodes for each set. The program was originally shown by TROS on NPO 2, but moved to creator John de Mol's channel Tien in 2005. After the channel was discontinued after its sale to the RTL Group, the program moved to RTL 4. In 2019, the program moved to SBS6 due to the transfer of Linda de Mol from RTL to SBS.
The Mint was a live, late night, interactive quiz show with celebrity guests and live studio contestants filmed on a large extravagant set designed to look like the inside of a mansion. The programme, which was dogged by criticism that its questions were ambiguous and arbitrary, aired on ITV and ITV2, Sunday to Wednesday. On 26 February 2007, ITV announced that The Mint would return to screens later in 2007, however an announcement on 12 September 2007 confirmed that the show, along with similar late night phone ins, would not be returning.
The Big Surprise is a television quiz show broadcast in the United States by NBC from October 8, 1955, to June 9, 1956, and from September 18, 1956, to April 2, 1957. It was hastily created by NBC in response to the ratings success of The $64,000 Question, which had premiered on CBS in summer 1955 and almost instantly became a hit. The Big Surprise offered a grand prize of $100,000.
People Are Bunny is a 1959 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson The short was released on December 19, 1959, and stars Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
Break the Bank is an American quiz show which aired variously – and sometimes co-existed in separate radio and television forms – on Mutual Radio, ABC Radio and NBC Radio Network, as well ABC, CBS and NBC television, from 1945 to 1957. From October 1956 to January 1957, NBC aired a short-lived prime-time television version called Break the $250,000 Bank.
Break the Bank is an American game show created by Jack Barry and Dan Enright and produced by their production company, Barry & Enright Productions. It was the first game show packaged by Barry and Enright as a tandem since their fall from grace following the 1950s quiz show scandals.
The Mole is an Australian reality television show that aired on the Seven Network. It is based on other versions of the original Belgian TV series The Mole that have aired in numerous countries. The most recent season aired in 2013.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is the Irish version of the British quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? which aired on RTÉ One from 2000 to 2002. It was presented by Gay Byrne. The format was the same as on the British show, and the 15 incremental prize amounts had the same numeric values, from 100 up to 1,000,000. These values were denominated in Irish pounds in 2000 and 2001, and in euros in 2002, after the euro changeover.
Panel Quiz Attack 25 is a game show airing once weekly on the Asahi Broadcasting Corporation network in Japan. The program first aired on April 6, 1975.
