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The American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were the result of the revelation that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the producers to arrange the outcome of a supposedly fair competition. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... Quiz Show is a 1994 film which tells the true story of the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s. ...

Background to the scandals

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

In the 1950s, television burst into the mainstream. While at the beginning of the decade only 9% of U.S. households had a television, over half had one by 1954, and 86% had them by the end of the decade. The media proved to be a powerful influence on American society. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ...

Over the same period, the United States was engaged in a technology race with the Soviet Union, as a component of the Cold War. American military and political dominance was bolstered by the nation's technologies that harnessed the power of the atom. This focus on technological superiority contributed to a national reverence of intelligence and knowledge.

It was against this backdrop that quiz shows became popular. Questions asked on these shows required substantial knowledge across a broad spectrum of cerebral topics. The spectacle of people achieving huge financial success through the exercise of brain power was riveting to a nation that revered intellectualism as well as wealth.

Prizes grow

The 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Federal Communications Commission v. American Broadcasting Co., Inc. that quiz shows were not a form of gambling paved the way for their introduction to television. The prizes of these new shows were astonishing in magnitude, and gave them an aura of significance that went well beyond mere entertainment. The $64,000 Question's predecessor radio show was The $64 Question, and few prizes exceeded even $100. There was no gradual escalation; The $64,000 Question debuted on June 7, 1955, with a top prize a thousand times bigger than the shows that had gone before. ($64,000 in 1955 is equivalent to approximately $491,000 in 2007[1].) The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym SCOTUS[1]) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. ... The $64,000 Question was a popular United States television game show from 1955-1958; The $64,000 Challenge (1956-1958) was its popular spinoff show. ...

The scandals

Sponsor interference leads to outcome rigging

In the 1950s, it was common practice for game shows and other shows to be sponsored solely by one company, even to the extent of having the company's name in the title of the show. Examples included Sylvania's Beat the Clock, or Geritol's Twenty-One. The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... Sylvania literally means forest land in Latin. ... For other uses, see Beat the Clock (disambiguation). ... Geritol is the name of an American vitamin and mineral supplement. ... Twenty One was one of the most infamous American game shows on record - a popular, yet thoroughly rigged, quiz show that spawned the single most popular contestant of the quiz show era, and which nearly caused the demise of the entire genre in the wake of Senate investigations. ...

It was empirically determined by show sponsors and the networks that influencing the outcome of a game show could increase the dramatic value, and therefore its attraction to viewers. More viewers naturally increased the advertising exposure a sponsored company would receive.

Outcome influence came in many forms, some relatively benign. For example, contestants would be given stage directions on how to act while on camera. On The $64,000 Question, contestants were placed in an "isolation booth" when answering questions, presumably to prevent them from receiving any help from the audience. To heighten the drama, the ventilating fans in the isolation booth were turned off after the question was asked. Under the hot stage lights, the temperature rose quickly, causing the contestant to sweat visibly. This would lead contestants to mop their brows before answering the question.

Other forms of influence were less benign. More popular contestants would be asked questions within their areas of expertise, or even provided the answers to upcoming questions. Less popular contestants would be given more difficult questions in areas outside their expected knowledge.

Fortunately, sponsor interference was not foolproof by any means. The best example of this is Dr. Joyce Brothers. Charles Revson, whose Revlon cosmetics firm was the sponsor of The $64,000 Question, hated Brothers, and he therefore forced the producers to give her difficult questions about boxing, originally not the sport on which she was an expert aside from her profession. But she made herself an expert on boxing, managed to answer the questions without help, and won legitimately. Her career as a public figure began from there. Doctor Joyce Brothers was born in 1928, and is one of the leading family psychologists and advice columnists, publishing a daily syndicated newspaper column since 1960. ... Charles Haskell Revson (October 11, 1906 – August, 1975) was a pioneering cosmetics industry executive who created and managed Revlon Cosmetics through five decades. ... Revlon (NYSE: REV) is an American cosmetics company. ... For other meanings of these words, see boxing (disambiguation) or boxer (disambiguation). ...

The most notorious participants in this deception were Charles Lincoln Van Doren and Herbert Stempel, leading competitors on Twenty-One, hosted by Jack Barry. Both were heavily coached by Dan Enright, one of the show's producers, as told in the 1994 film Quiz Show, directed by Robert Redford, in which Ralph Fiennes impersonated Van Doren and John Turturro impersonated Stempel, with Christopher McDonald impersonating Barry. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Herb Stempel (born December 19, 1926) is a television game show contestant who became famous for his participation in the 1950s show Twenty One, where he had a suspiciously long run of wins in 1956, and for his eventual exposure of what became known as the Quiz show scandals. ... Jack Barry can refer to different people: Jack Barry (1887-1961), the baseball player and college coach. ... Daniel Enright (August 30, 1917 - May 22, 1992) was one of the most successful game show producers in American television. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Quiz Show is a 1994 film which tells the true story of the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s. ... Robert Redford (born Charles Robert Redford, Jr. ... Ralph Nathaniel Fiennes, (IPA: ), born 22 December 1962) is a Tony Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated and Genie Award-nominated British actor. ... John Michael Turturro (born February 28, 1957) is an Emmy Award-winning American actor noted for his performances in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), The Color of Money (1986), Five Corners (1987), Men of Respect (1991), Quiz Show (1994), Monday Night Mayhem (1999), Secret Window (2004), The... Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955 in New York City, New York, USA) is an American actor. ...

The story is revealed

Stempel's scripted loss to the more-popular Van Doren occurred on December 5, 1956, and involved his deliberately getting the answer to a question about an Academy Award-winning movie wrong. (The correct answer was Marty, one of Stempel's favorite movies.) After his scripted loss, Stempel blew the whistle on the operation. Initially, he was dismissed as a sore loser, and not till August 1958 was his credibility bolstered. Ed Hilgemeyer, a contestant on Dotto, announced that he had found a notebook containing the very answers contestant Marie Winn was delivering on stage. But the final stroke came from Twenty-One contestant James Snodgrass, who had sent registered letters to himself containing the advance answers. Such evidence was irrefutable. is the 339th day of the year (340th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A car from 1956 Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Marty (disambiguation). ... Jan. ... Dotto (1957-1958) was an American television quiz show whose nine-month jump to the top of the daytime quiz show heap ended when it became the unexpected first casualty of what became the quiz show scandal. ... Marie Winn, a journalist, author and birdwatcher, is known for her books and articles on the birds of Central Park, for her Wall Street Journal ornithology column, for her critical coverage of television, and for her role in the incident that kicked off the quiz show scandals that rocked American...

By October, the story was everywhere, and the quiz shows's Nielsen ratings were dropping. The networks denied everything and canceled the now-suspicious shows. Meanwhile, New York prosecutor Joseph Stone convened a grand jury to investigate the charges. Many of the coached contestants, who had become celebrities due to their quiz-show success, were so afraid of the social repercussions that they were unwilling to confess to having been coached, even to the point of perjuring themselves to avoid backlash. The judge sealed the grand jury report. In the American common law legal system, a grand jury is a type of jury which determines if there is enough evidence for a trial. ...

The 86th Congress, by then in its first session, quickly saw the political opportunity the scandals offered; in October, 1959, the House Committee on Legislative Oversight, under Representative Oren Harris's chairmanship, began to hold hearings investigating the scandal. Anna Marie "Patty" Duke, then a child actress, testified to having been coached, as did Stempel, Snodgrass, and Hilgemeyer. But the bombshell dropped on November 2 when Van Doren said to the Committee, "I was involved, deeply involved, in a deception. The fact that I too was very much deceived cannot keep me from being the principal victim of that deception, because I was its principal symbol." Oren Harris (December 20, 1903 - February 5, 1997) was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas. ... Patty Duke (born December 14, 1946) is an Academy Award-winning American actress of the stage and screen. ...

Aftermath of the scandals

Law and politics

The entire matter was called "a terrible thing to do to the American people" by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. After concluding the Harris Commission investigation, Congress passed a law prohibiting the fixing of quiz shows.^[1] However, at the time, while the actions may have been disreputable, they were not illegal. As a result, no one went to prison for rigging game shows. The individuals who were prosecuted were charged because of attempts to cover up their actions, either by obstruction of justice or perjury. Dwight David Eisenhower, born David Dwight Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), nicknamed Ike, was a five-star General in the United States Army and U.S. politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). ... Modern Obstruction of Justice, in a common law state, refers to the crime of offering interference of any sort to the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other (usually government) officials. ... Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ...

Contestants

Many quiz show contestants's reputations were ruined. Van Doren, who had become a regular on NBC's The Today Show, lost his job in the television industry. He was also forced to resign his professorship at Columbia University. He became a recluse and was still refusing to talk about his role in the scandal as of mid-March 2008. This article is about the television network. ... For other uses, see Today. ... Alma Mater Columbia University is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. ...

Hosts and producers

Host Jack Barry and his partner, producer Dan Enright suffered the most from the scandals as the result of the rigging of Twenty-One. Barry, who had no direct involvement in the rigging, did not work in national television for 10 years, while Enright headed to Canada to continue working in television. Although he went through a difficult five-year period (according to an interview he did with TV Guide before his death in 1984), Barry moved to Los Angeles, eventually finding work on local television and buying a Redondo Beach radio station. Barry and Enright would resume their partnership in 1976. Their production of squeaky-clean game shows, notably the syndicated Tic Tac Dough, which Barry did not host, and The Joker's Wild, which he did, in the middle-to-late 1970s and early 1980s resulted in millions of dollars in revenue and, what was even better for both, forgiveness from the public for their involvement in the scandals. Indeed, Barry and Enright were able to sponsor the teen-sex comedy Private Lessons, based on Dan Greenburg's novel Philly and starring Eric Brown alongside Sylvia Kristel versus Howard Hesseman, using revenue from their renewed success. Jack Barry (March 20, 1918 – May 4, 1984) was an American television game show host and producer, whose career was nearly ruined in the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s but who made a remarkable comeback over a decade later. ... Daniel Enright (August 30, 1917 - May 22, 1992) was one of the most successful game show producers in American television. ... TV Guide is the name of two North American weekly magazines about television programming, one in the United States and one in Canada. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... For other uses, see Redondo Beach. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the game show. ... Carroll Baker is a piano-teacher and her student falls in love with her. ... Dan Greenburg (born June 20, 1936) is an American author and screenwriter. ... Philly may relate to: Informal name for the city of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, USA An American television series - Philly (TV show) Any number of entries under Philadelphia (disambiguation) This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Eric Brown is the name of several people: Eric Winkle Brown, British test pilot Eric Brown (science fiction author) Eric Brown (actor) Eric Brown (golfer) [[Eric e. ... Sylvia Kristel (September 28, 1952 in Utrecht), pronounced kri-STELL, is a Dutch actress, model and singer. ... Howard Hesseman (born February 27, 1940) is an American actor. ...

Other producers met the same fate as Barry and Enright, but were unable to redeem themselves afterwards.

Hosts such as Jack Narz and Hal March continued to work on television after the scandals. March died in 1970 from cancer, and Narz retired in 1980. Jack Narz (born November 13, 1922, in Louisville, Kentucky), the elder brother of game show legend Tom Kennedy (Jim Narz) and the brother-in-law of another game show legend, the late Bill Cullen, is an American television announcer and game show host in his own right, who eluded the... Hal March (born Harold Mendelson, April 22, 1920 - January 19, 1970) was an American comedian. ...

Television

Quiz shows all but disappeared from prime time American television for decades. Those that continued to air had substantially reduced prizes, and many shows adopted limits on the number of games a player could win (usually five). Quiz shows became game shows, shifting focus from knowledge to puzzles and word games. A quiz for big money would not return until ABC showed 100 Grand in 1963; it went off the air after two weeks. The big-money jackpots returned to TV in 1973 with the success of the Pyramid series, starting with The $10,000 Pyramid. Eleven years later came the Alex Trebek-hosted revival of Jeopardy! with its own increased dollar amounts. Prime time is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American television network. ... 100 Grand Bar or, previously, $100,000 Bar is a candy bar produced by Nestlé in the United States. ... Pyramid was an American television game show where contestants tried to guess a series of words or phrases, based on descriptions that were given to them, in the shortest amount of time. ... Alex Trebek, with his once-iconic mustache, hosting a 1986 episode of Jeopardy! George Alexander Trebek (born as Giorgi Suka-Alex Trebek [1] on July 22, 1940) is an Emmy Award-winning Canadian-American television personality and game show host whos best known as the host of the game... Jeopardy redirects here. ...

Networks were forced to adapt winnings limits to meet standards and practices guidelines. CBS imposed a winnings cap limit which increased as follows: This article is about the broadcast network. ...

• 1972: Any contestants whose total winnings reached $25,000 would retire from the show on which they played, but could not keep any winnings over that amount.

• 1978: Contestants still retired after winning $25,000 but were allowed to keep up to $35,000 (increased to $50,000 by 1982) of their winnings.

• 1984: Contestants could keep up to $75,000. In November contestants retired after winning $50,000.

• 1986: Contestants retired after winning $75,000, but kept a maximum of $100,000.

• early 1990s: The limit for daytime winnings increased to $125,000.

• 2006: As there is just one daytime game show left, and syndicated (including CBS-distributed) game shows had abolished earnings caps, the daytime winnings limit was eliminated. This allowed prizes of over $100,000 to be offered, most notably on a June 11, 2007 episode of The Price Is Right, during Bob Barker's final week, when a recreational vehicle prize on Golden Road was valued at over $100,000. The contestant never reached that prize level.

NBC game show limits involved the maximum number of games a champion could play, with no limit on winnings. One contestant, Barbara Phillips, became the first daytime game show contestant to win over $100,000, by retiring with over $150,000 on the 1980s version of Sale of the Century. ABC imposed a cap limit of $25,000 during the mid-1970s, despite requiring contestants to retire after winning $20,000. The limit would later require players to retire after winning over $25,000. The limit would be lifted by 1984. is the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... This article is about the current version of the U.S. game show. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... “RV” redirects here. ... The second incarnation of the original Golden Road sign Golden Road is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. ... This article is about the television network. ... Countries which have their own version Sale of the Century is an international television game show format that has screened in several countries in various incarnations since 1969. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American television network. ...

The limit on winnings on The Price Is Right was a daytime limit of $125,000, but that limit was also removed when Season 35 featured two contestants winning over $140,000 -- $147,517 on the season premiere, and $140,235 on the season finale (Bob Barker's last show). The Price Is Rights US 36th season logo. ...

The game show earnings cap of $75,000, which resulted from the scandal, forced Jeopardy! contestant Frank Spangenberg to give up $27,597 of his $102,597 winnings to charity. After a second contestant gave up over $7,000, Jeopardy! raised its earnings cap on regular season shows, first to $100,000, then to $200,000 after automobiles were awarded for five-time champions (this was before the 2001 doubling of values), and removed after the show went to unlimited champions, with Ken Jennings winning $75,000 on one game, the final show of Season 20, which led to part of his $2.52 million in winnings. Frank Spangenberg (born July 26, 1957) is an American police officer who garnered a modicum of fame in 1990 when he set the five-day record on the game show Jeopardy! Spangenberg, at the time a member of the New York City Transit Police Department (which is now the Transit... For other persons named Ken Jennings, see Ken Jennings (disambiguation). ...

Wheel of Fortune has imposed a winnings limit of $200,000, although no one has ever reached this amount as of 2008. This article is about the current, syndicated nighttime edition of the U.S. game show, which began in 1983. ...

Networks required game shows to be heavily monitored by their standards and practices departments. Contestants were kept away from anybody who might know questions to be asked. The scandal also marked an end to widespread naming of television shows by their sponsors. Future game shows like The Price is Right or Let's Make a Deal were not sponsored by any one company. The Price Is Rights US 36th season logo. ... Lets Make a Deal is a television game show which aired in various encarnations in the United States. ...

It has been suggested that the scandals helped inspire Merv Griffin's 1964 introduction of Jeopardy! and its peculiar answer-and-question format, where contestants were given answers to the questions, but contestants had to give the question to win. Mervyn Edward Merv Griffin, Jr. ...

In addition, the major television networks took a greater hand in creative production to avoid similar problems in the future. This extended to changes to unrelated television series, like demanding that the premise of the dramatic series Mr. Lucky be changed from a riverboat casino to a restaurant to avoid the idea of games on prime time TV. A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ...

Other media

The altered reality of Philip K. Dick's Time out of Joint (1959) is a science fiction reworking of the deceptions Dick saw on the quiz shows. Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American writer, mostly known for his works of science fiction. ... Cover of 1977 Belmont paperback edition. ...

These scandals are dramatized in the feature film Quiz Show. Quiz Show is a 1994 film which tells the true story of a quiz show scandal of the 1950s. ...

This scandal is an element of John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent. For other members of the family, see Steinbeck (disambiguation). ... The Winter of Our Discontent is a 1961 novel by John Steinbeck. ...

A possible reference to the quiz show scandals was mentioned on The Simpsons Episode 9F08 "Lisa's First Word." Homer encourages his father to sell his house, to which Abe Simpson objects, "I built this house with my own two hands." Homer replies, "No you didn't, you won it on a crooked 50s game show!" Abe then laughs and remarks, "I ratted everybody out and got away scot-free!" Simpsons redirects here. ... Lisas First Word is the 10th episode of The Simpsons fourth season. ...

More recent scandals

Michael Larson

One of the five Press Your Luck game board "spin" patterns that Michael Larson memorized to win over $110,000 in cash and prizes.

In 1984, Press Your Luck contestant Michael Larson memorized the patterns of the game board, which were believed to be random but in fact were predictably repetitive, to help him stop the board where and when he wanted. He took 47 consecutive "spins" without stopping on a "Whammy," which would have erased all his winnings; as a result, he accumulated $110,237 in cash and prizes. Larson's tactics became evident because, apparently, he had not devised an exit strategy. He had no way to stop to give other contestants a turn without the risk of losing his substantial winnings. Because Larson never actually cheated, but instead merely used his intelligence to exploit a flawed game design, Press Your Luck's network, CBS, and the production company, the Carruthers Company, gave him the money and the prizes after Larson threatened a lawsuit. Afterward, CBS made the pattern of the game board more complex. Its sequel, Whammy!, used a computer in its two-season run on GSN for a much more random set of patterns.
The late Peter Tomarken, who had been the host of Press Your Luck at the time, hosted and narrated a documentary titled Big Bucks: The "Press Your Luck" Scandal, which explored what Larson had done on the show. Tomarken remarked of Larson, during his narration of the documentary, "He whammied the Whammy." Unfortunately for all concerned, the Whammy counter-whammied back in a big way, causing the deaths of Larson himself(who lost all his winnings in bad investments and died poor), announcer Rod Roddy, and even Tomarken and his wife, and costing the Carruthers Company ownership of the licensing rights. Paul Michael Larson (May 10, 1949 – February 16, 1999) was a contestant on the United States television game show Press Your Luck. ... Image File history File links PYL_Larson. ... Image File history File links PYL_Larson. ... Press Your Luck is an American television daytime game show originally broadcast on CBS from 1983 to 1986 where contestants collected spins by answering trivia questions, and then used the spins on an 18-space gameboard full of cash and prizes. ... Paul Michael Larson (May 10, 1949 – February 16, 1999) was a contestant on the United States television game show Press Your Luck. ... This article is about the year. ... Press Your Luck is an American television daytime game show originally broadcast on CBS from 1983 to 1986 where contestants collected spins by answering trivia questions, and then used the spins on an 18-space gameboard full of cash and prizes. ... Paul Michael Larson (May 10, 1949 – February 16, 1999) was a contestant on the United States television game show Press Your Luck. ... An exit strategy is a means of escaping a very difficult situation. ... Whammy! is the third studio album by New Wave band The B-52s, released in 1983. ... The Game Show Network (GSN) is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and interactive television games. ... Peter David Tomarken (December 7, 1942 – March 13, 2006) was an American television personality known primarily as host of Press Your Luck. ... Robert Ray Rod Roddy (September 28, 1937 – October 27, 2003) was an American radio and television announcer[1], best known as the announcer for the popular game show The Price is Right from 1986 until his death. ...

3 Strikes incidents on The Price Is Right

Main article: 3 Strikes (pricing game)

During a playing of the 3 Strikes pricing game on The Price Is Right in 1992, one contestant is believed to have cheated; with two strikes against him and one number remaining in the bag, the contestant (allegedly) grabbed a chip from the bag, noticed that it was the third strike, and quickly dropped the chip to pull the number out of the bag and win the car. Despite the suspicion, the contestant was nevertheless awarded the prize; however, for the next several months, 3 Strikes used a new set of strike chips that were the same color as the number chips. Another contestant, playing the same game on the same show four years earlier, also appeared to be cheating in a similar way. But host Bob Barker, who by then had also become the Executive Producer of the show, did notice this. He forced her to pull the chip out, and she lost the game. The Price Is Rights US 36th season logo. ... The 3 Strikes board, with the dollar sign loaded upside-down 3 Strikes is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. ... The Price Is Rights US 36th season logo. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Charles Ingram cheat and Martin Flood rumor

Main article: Charles Ingram

Main article: Martin Flood

In an episode of the British Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? show (which airs on ITV1) recorded on September 10, 2001, Major Charles Ingram won the £1,000,000 (about US$2,000,000) prize. Following subsequent analysis of the tape by the producers of the show, it became apparent Ingram was being helped to select the correct answers by a fellow contestant coughing. The prize was not awarded and Ingram and accomplices were taken to court. Martin Flood, the second AU$1,000,000 (about US$871,000) winner on the Australian version of said show (which airs on the Nine Network) was also rumored to have been cheating in the same way Ingram did, but the rumor proved to be false, according to the current affairs program Today Tonight (in fact, unlike Ingram, Flood wasn't even aware of the rumor until it came out following taping of his second episode). According to the show, the rumor was nothing more than a false report to boost up Aussie Millionaire's ratings. Diana and Charles Ingram. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... In the United Kingdom, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers a maximum cash prize of one million pounds for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. ... ITV1 is the name, in England, Wales and the Scottish borders, for a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel, broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Diana and Charles Ingram. ... GBP redirects here. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... ISO 4217 Code AUD User(s) Australia, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island Inflation 1. ... The Nine Network, or Channel Nine, is an Australian television network based in Willoughby, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney. ... Today Tonight is an Australian tabloid current affairs program, produced by the Seven Network and shown weeknightly at in direct competition with rival Nine Network program A Current Affair. ...

The "Outstandingly stupid quiz"

- link to the article

Late in 2004, a phone-in game show from Greece suffered another scandal. TV presenters, station officials, and producers were arrested after being charged with fraud, after it was revealed that show organizers were only taking the calls of accomplices, who all gave purposefully wrong answers on an "outstandingly stupid quiz", according to an online article. They had made €10,000,000 of toll charges, with over 115,000 people calling over a 5-month period, without any of the honest participants getting through into the show. Some were kept on their phones for over 15 minutes before disconnection, although most gave up before that time. The producers tried out this system for themselves, running up a €225 bill for each attempt before being arrested. For other uses, see Euro (disambiguation). ...

Deal or No Deal Randomizations

Further information: Deal or No Deal (UK game show)#Predictable sequences

In early 2006, some viewers of the UK version of Deal or No Deal (which airs on Channel 4) noticed that the distribution of the prize amounts in the 22 numbered boxes did not appear to be random, and instead followed one of a small number of distinct sequences, with only the start point of the sequence varying. This was raised on a number of fan sites for the show and later made the national press. The show's producer revealed that the problem was due to a faulty Microsoft Excel random number generator the show's independent adjudicators used. That random-number generator was not being seeded properly, the producer explained, which led to the same sequences being repeated. As this had been noticed before most of the shows were transmitted, it led to the system being replaced by manual drawing of numbers. There was no evidence to suggest that any of the contestants, or the unseen Banker who made monetary offers for the contestant's box, knew of the sequences. In theory, a contestant who had been aware of this flaw could have won the £250,000 (about US$516,000) top prize by working out which box contained it, leaving it until last if it were not their own box, saying "no deal" all the way and then accepting the offer of a swap from the Banker (although there is no guarantee the swap will be offered in any particular game). This article is about the United Kingdom version of the game show. ... This article is about the United Kingdom version of the game show. ... This article is about the British television station. ... Microsoft Excel (full name Microsoft Office Excel) is a spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. It features calculation and graphing tools which, along with aggressive marketing, have made Excel one of the most popular microcomputer applications to date. ... A random number generator is a computational or physical device designed to generate a sequence of elements (usually numbers), such that the sequence can be used as a random one. ... A random seed (or seed state, or just seed) is a number (or vector) used to initialize a pseudorandom number generator. ...

The Hello Pappy scandal

Further information: Wowowee Willyonaryo Controversy

In August 2007, the Philippine ABS-CBN game show Wowowee was the subject of a scandal involving Willyonaryo, a game on the show. The jackpot round involved a choice between 12 wheels containing different prizes, the one used being chosen by a game of Pinball. The contestant did not choose to risk the P100,000 she was offered by host Willie Revillame in exchange for what was potentially inside her wheel. This would have resulted in her only winning the P37,000 she won from the Pinball game - over the combined P137,000 she could have won and the possible top prize of P2,000,000 (about US$45,000). But, when it was revealed that the P2,000,000 grand prize was inside a Violet colored wheel and the host revealed it - the wheel not only contained a 0, but it also contained several other plastic films, one containing a 2 (which would have awarded PHP2,000,000), and a dark colored cover film, leading to speculation that the host could arrange for any of several numbers to appear. Willie Revillame reveals the 2 films inside the Violet wheel. ... The Republic of the Philippines is a country of South East Asia, located in the western Pacific Ocean some 1,210 km (750 mi) from mainland Asia. ... Categories: Corporation stubs | Philippines | Television networks ... Wowowee is a noon-time variety and game show being broadcast from Studio 3 of the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center in Quezon City, Philippines. ... ISO 4217 Code PHP User(s) Philippines Inflation 2. ... Willie Revillame (born Wilfredo Buendia Revillame, January 27, 1961) (age 46) is a Filipino game show host, singer and comedian. ...

Nothing But the Truth

The original Colombian version of Nothing But the Truth was also the subject of a scandal, only no cheating was involved. Contestant Rosa Maria Solano answered "yes" to a question that asked whether or not she hired a hit man to kill her husband. As a result of this incident, Canal Caracol, the network that aired the show, had been ordered to pull it off the air, though Solano would leave with COL$50,000,000 (about US$25,000). Caracol TV logo Caracol Televisión is one of the most viewed national television network in Colombia. ... ISO 4217 Code COP User(s) Colombia Inflation 4. ...

References

1. ^ Enacted in the 1960 amendments to the Communications act. See 47 U.S.C. §509 and assoc. legislative history.

• Stone, Joseph; and Tim Yohn (1992). Prime Time and Misdemeanors: Investigating the 1950s TV Quiz Scandal. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-1753-2. 
• Tedlow, Richard (1976). "Intellect on Television: The Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950s". American Quarterly 28 (4): 483-495.

The Communications Act of 1934 was a United States federal law enacted as Public Law Number 416, Act of June 19, 1934, ch. ...

External sources

• Arcane Radio Trivia article on Radio Quiz Show history
• NPR Article on Radio Quiz Shows
• PBS Article on Radio Quiz Shows

See also

• College Bowl
• Quizbowl
• Charles Ingram