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 was 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.
Herbert Milton Stempel was an American television game show contestant and subsequent whistleblower on the fraudulent nature of the industry, in what became known as the 1950s quiz show scandals. His rigged six-week appearance as a winning contestant on the 1950s show Twenty-One ended in an equally rigged defeat by Columbia University teacher and literary scion Charles Van Doren.
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, two contestants competed 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.
Trump Card is an American syndicated game show that aired from September 10, 1990, to May 24, 1991, hosted by Jimmy Cefalo. Debi Massey served as hostess and Chuck Riley was the announcer. The show was produced by Telepictures Productions, Createl, Ltd., and Fiedler-Berlin Productions, with Warner Bros. Television distributing. It was based on the British game show Bob's Full House, which consisted of contestants trying to answer questions to fill up a 15-square bingo board.
Tic-Tac-Dough is an American television game show based on the paper-and-pencil game of tic-tac-toe. Contestants answer questions in various categories to put up their respective symbol, X or O, on the 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.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television game show based on the format of the same-titled British program created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill and developed in the United States by Michael Davies. The show features a quiz competition with contestants attempting to win a top prize of $1,000,000 by answering a series of multiple-choice questions, usually of increasing difficulty. The program has endured as one of the longest-running and most successful international variants in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise.
1 vs. 100 is an American game show that was broadcast by NBC from 2006 to 2008 and revived on Game Show Network (GSN) with a new series, which ran from 2010 to 2011. Based on the Dutch game show Eén tegen 100, the game features a single player competing against 100 other contestants in a trivia match. The 1 earns prize money depending on how many Mob members they have eliminated from the game, but loses all winnings with an incorrect answer at any point. The host of the original NBC version was Bob Saget, while Carrie Ann Inaba hosted the GSN revival.
A game show is a type of radio, television, or internet program in which contestants, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering trivia questions or solving puzzles, usually for prizes. Game shows are usually distinguishable from reality television competition shows, in which the competition consumes an entire season of episodes; in a game show, prizes can typically be won in a single match. Beginning with the first five-figure and six-figure game show jackpots in the mid-1950s, a succession of contestants on various quiz shows of the era each set records. Teddy Nadler of The $64,000 Challenge, the highest-scoring contestant of the 1950s era, was not surpassed until 1980, when Thom McKee won $312,700 on Tic-Tac-Dough. Between 1999 and 2001, during a brief boom in high-stakes game shows, the record was broken six times. Both the 1955–1958 and 1999–2001 eras of rapidly set and broken records were driven primarily by one-upmanship between the networks each trying to secure bragging rights and ratings by inflating their prize offerings, rather than the merits of the contestants themselves. American daytime television has historically had smaller prize budgets for game shows that air in that daypart.
The $128,000 Question is an American game show which aired from 1976 to 1978 in weekly syndication. This revival of The $64,000 Question was produced by Cinelar Associates and distributed by Viacom Enterprises.
1 vs. 100 was an Australian game show based on the American version of the same name and the original Dutch version created by Endemol. The game pits one person against 100 others for a chance to win one million dollars. The program was hosted by former Nine Network CEO and personality Eddie McGuire.
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? is an American quiz game show. It originally aired on Fox where it was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. It is produced by Mark Burnett. The show premiered as a three-day special which began on February 27, 2007, with the first two shows each a half-hour in length. Regular one-hour episodes began airing Thursdays from March 1 through May 10, and the first season continued with new episodes beginning May 31. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? was picked up for the 2007–08 season, which began on September 6, 2007, and aired in the same timeslot. Following the end of the original run of the primetime version on September 18, 2009, a first-run syndicated version of the show ran from September 2009 to May 2011, with Foxworthy returning as host. On May 26, 2015, the program returned to Fox for a new, 4th season, with Foxworthy, again, returning as host. On February 14, 2019, it was announced that the program would be revived on Nickelodeon with new host John Cena, airing from June 10 to November 3, 2019. There are new reports that the show may be returning on Amazon Prime Video with new host Travis Kelce.
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? is an Australian quiz show produced by Roving Enterprises that debuted on Network Ten on 26 September 2007. It is hosted by popular TV personality Rove McManus. Filming for the show commenced on 11 September 2007 at Global Television Studios in Forest Hill.
Love Me, Love Me Not is a Canadian game show based on the Italian game show, M'ama non m'ama, which in English means "love me, love me not". Both shows were created by Steve Carlin, the producer of The $64,000 Question in the 1950s. In 1988 there was a British version of the show, with the same name.
Are You Smarter than a/Your 10 Year Old? is a British quiz show which aired on Sky 1 from 2007 to 2010. There were two editions, one broadcast weekly in primetime, hosted by Noel Edmonds and a daily version, originally hosted by Dick and Dom and later by Damian Williams. The show welcomes adult contestants, who attempt to answer ten questions taken from primary school textbooks, two from each school year from ages 6 to 10. Each correct answer increases the amount of money the player banks; a maximum cash prize of £250,000 in primetime and £50,000 in daytime can be won.
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.
The $64,000 Question was a British quiz show based on the US format of the same name. The show originally ran from 19 May 1956 to 18 January 1958 produced by ATV and was originally hosted by Jerry Desmonde, and called simply The 64,000 Question with the top prize initially being 64,000 sixpences (£1,600), later doubling to 64,000 shillings (£3,200). After a successful pilot was shot on 15 November 1989, the programme was revived from 1 June 1990 to 29 August 1993 with Bob Monkhouse as the host and a higher £6,400 top prize.
Think Tank is a BBC quiz show that aired on BBC One from 21 March to 16 December 2016 and was hosted by Bill Turnbull.
Joyce Diane Brothers was an American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer.
