Michelle's Quiz Show Workpage
From fifties
Contents |
[edit] Television Quiz Show Scandal
[edit] The Beginning
Before television was a force to be reckoned with, there was radio. Programming included the very popular 1940's quiz show, Take It Or Leave It, whose name was later changed to The $64 Question - indicating the top prize money. As the television became more prominent in most American homes, the quiz show was reborn in a new medium. Taking the lead from the past radio show, CBS produced The $64,000 Question in June 1955. This proved to be a very popular show. (Note: Please see Hannah M. wiki page for more information on quiz show popularity.) NBC got into the game by producing Twenty-One in September 1956 with the potential of unlimited winnings. Dan Enright and Jack Barry were the producers. Quiz shows were meant to produce high visual drama – and therein laid the impetus for the quiz show frauds. When Twenty-One first aired, it was not very popular since shows commonly ended in 0-0 ties week after week. Producers and show sponsors needed to determine how they could liven up the game and keep people watching their show. The line between honesty and entertainment were soon to be blurred.
[edit] An Inconvenient Star
In October 1955, Herbert Stempel was a 29-year old, Jewish, ex-GI, and attended the City College of New York (a junior college) on the GI Bill. He had a 170 IQ, a photographic memory, and a knack for trivia. While watching the quiz shows with his wife, he would often know the answers to the questions that contestants were asked. At his wife's urging, he decided to apply to be a contestant on the show. In his written exam, he had the highest correct result of any contestant. Although he could have easily outsmarted any contestant, Mr. Enright, the show producer, approached Mr. Stempel and asked him “How would you like to make $24,000”. Of course, for someone who was only able to afford college by attending for free on the GI Bill, this was just too tempting. The producer believed Herb would appeal to the average American. This was the case; however, within a couple months, viewership was leveling off and the producers felt it was time for a change...it was time for a new star.
[edit] Power of the Sponsor
 Dan Enright, Producer |
 Jack Barry, Producer & Host |
 Van Doren Pretending to Be Nervous |
 Van Doren Pretending to Be Nervous |
When television was new, it was common to have one sponsor per show. For Twenty-One, the sponsor was Geritol - an iron tonic for "tired blood". With the immense popularity of the show, Geritol's annual sales increased $3 Million per year in the 1957 and 1958 seasons. The success of a show directly affected the financial bottom line of its sponsor. Therefore, sponsors had great influence on the production of "their" shows. The show sponsor never outright told the producers to get people off the show; however, they would state rather strongly whether they liked a particular contestant or if they hoped a contestant would get off the show soon. It was clear to the producers what was being implied. And so it was with the case of Herb Stempel - the sponsors were ready for a change.
[edit] Finding a Superstar
Charles Van Doren was an intelligent, young, good-looking bachelor from a prominent literary family. He was an English instructor at Columbia University where his father also worked as a professor. In short, Van Doren was everything that the producers were looking for to replace Stempel. Van Doren, with the encouragement of friends, had gone to try out for a quiz show. The producers saw him and asked him to try out for Twenty-One. He too had passed the entrance quiz with flying colors. To ensure that he would beat out Stempel, Enright wanted to give Van Doren the answers. He initially refused, but later agreed, believing that his win would strengthen the cause for education in America. As with Stempel, Van Doren was coached on what to wear and how to act. He was coached on how to act nervous as if he were searching for the answer and how to pat the sweat off his brow (air-conditioning was turned off in the small booth so he would sweat more easily) for maximum drama.
Van Doren was an instant hit with the audience. He received thousands of fan mail letters - including many marriage proposals from single women. Due to his popularity on the show, he was on the cover of Time magazine and was offered a job co-hosting The Today Show. However, the weekly deception was taking its toll on Van Doren. He asked Enright repeatedly if he could please stop being given the answers. After a 4-month winning streak and $129,000 in winnings, Enright finally agreed to let him go by purposely missing a question.
[edit] Taking the Fall
Stempel was approached by Enright and told that it was time for him to leave the show and that he would need to "take a dive" in an upcoming show. He agreed to do this, but was angered that he was asked to answer a very simple question incorrectly: Name the 1950’s Oscar Winner for Best Picture. The answer was Marty (one of his favorite movies), but he was told to answer incorrectly, On the Waterfront. Stempel left with $49,500 in winnings after a 2-month successful run on the show.
Part 1 Part 2 - Stempel misses the Best Picture question. Part 3
[edit] The Fallout
Nearly two years had passed and Herb Stempel was still angered and humiliated at having to take a dive to the charmingly popular Van Doren. He felt that Enright was not keeping his end of the bargain in giving him a verbally-promised panel show or something else that would keep him in the limelight he craved so much. Disillusioned, and with his show winnings lost to a poor investment, Stempel starting telling anyone who would listen that the quiz shows were rigged. He eventually went to federal authorities with his story. About this time, in 1958, a small game show Dotto had been on the air for only nine months. A standby contestant found a notebook of the show's current winner which contained answers to that night's questions. The producers of the show paid off the contestant to keep him quiet. Learning that his "hush money" was far less than others had received, he blew this whistle and the show was canceled. Shortly after this, the Twenty-One scandal hit the news.
In November 1959, the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce held hearings into the investigation of television fraud. Van Doren, had always vehemently denied that he had ever been given answers; however, when he was subpoenaed to testify, America heard a different story: he had been given the answers and was a reluctant, but willing participant in the quiz show rigging. Van Doren was immediately fired from his job at Columbia University, never to teach again. He eventually worked various jobs, mostly as a writer and editor. On a brighter note, the woman he had hired to open his fan mail later became his wife. Stempel, no longer in the limelight, worked for the New York Transit Authority.
Although no laws were broken by rigging the shows, (The Communications Act of 1960 would remedy that), the American public was duped into believing what they were watching was real. After this, there were no longer single sponsors that had direct influence and control in the production of a show. It changed into much like we see television today – companies being sold commercial airtime during the show.
[edit] Bibliography
- Anderson, Kent. "Television Fraud: The History and Implications of the Quiz Show Scandals." "Contributions in American Studies," no. 39; Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1978.
- Marc, David. “Television in the Antenna Age: A Concise History.” Oxford:Blackwell Publishing, 2005.
- Moore, Barbara. “Prime-Time Television:A Concise History.” Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2006.
- Stone, Joseph. "Prime Time and Misdemeanors: Investigating the 1950's Quiz Scandal: A D.A.'s Account." New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992.
- U.S. House of Representatives, 86th Congress: “Investigation of Television Quiz Shows: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.” Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office,1960.
- http://www.radiohof.org/musicvariety/takeit.html (You can listen to one of the original "Take It Or Leave It" radio shows)
