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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1957-05-23, Page 7TV Quiz Shows— Are They Rigged? Are the quiz shows egged? The question, worth far more than $64,000 in an industry that Is plunging $60 million a year on such programs, 'has tickled the curiosityof millions of TV watchers. It seemed more per- tinent than ever recently when ten -year-old Robert Strom push- ed his winnings to $160,000 on CBS's $64,000 Question, and a $70 -a -week Government clerk, Theodore Nadler, hit $152,000 on $64,000 Challenge. The answer: the producers of many shows control the outcome els closely as they dare—without collusion with contestants, yet far .more effectively than most viewers suspect. From the heyday of radios first spectacular giveaways, quiz producers have stacked the cards to make the game as en- tertaining as possible. Stop the Music telephoned listeners, ap- parently at random, to give them a chance to name the "mystery tune and win a growing jack- pot, but by the time the broad- cast started, the calls were stacked up on the switchboard and auditioned by a program staffer, who put them on the air In the most dramatic Order. Just In case enough listeners might not know the mystery tune, tips on its name were planted regu- larly in Walter Winchell's gossip column—by Stop the Music it- self. Ad -Lib Writers. In that tradi- tion, producers try to leave so little to chance that TV has spawned a group of craftsmen who call themselves "audience participation comedy writers." Not only do they interview pros- pective participants and write the ad-lib, banter between con- testants and M.C.s on such shows as Two for the Money and Ed- gar Bergen's recently ended Do You Trust Your Wife?, but their lines are carefully rehearsed. ' Even the chitchat between contestant and quizmaster on Twenty One and $64,000 Ques- tion is composed and drilled in Advance On What's My Line?, the panel does not know the guest's occupation it is supposed lo guess, but its members are prompted before air time with questions calculated to produce the funny .double entendre. When Trust Your Wife used celebrities as contestants, they were guaranteed a fee regard- less of whether they won. "Of course," says a Hollywood agent who gets requests from quiz shows for celebrities, "they don't ask anything that will make a big name look stupid." Strike It Rich insures itself on that score by rehearsing some questions with its guests. The big -money shows are subtler. With huge audiences at stake, they go to extremes to appear beyond reproach, They know that they cannot afford to risk collusion with contestants. Yet, estimates one veteran of such shows, "you have 70% or 50%a control of what happens" The technique is simple: "To keep a contestant winning, all you have to do is figure out how not to hit a question he doesn't know. That's the basis of all quiz shows." The producers hand. pick their contestants for per- sonality, occupation and geo- graphical spread as well as spe- cialized knowledge, then arm themselves with a shrewd, thor- ough insight into the contes- tant's strength and weakness, and have full control of the questions he will be asked. "Who Has the Key?" The show takes pains to create an illusion that the questions have been hatched in an ivory vault Spon- sor Revlon's bank, the Manufac- turers Trust Co., performs a weekly ritual on Sity-Four (as the trade calls $64,000 Question) by supplying an escort and two bank officials, including one who won a vice-presidency at the bank a month after the show went on the air. "There is all this rigmarole about locked vaults," says one important in- sider, "but who has the key to the locked vault? The producer, of course." When a contest reaches big -money levels, the producer deposits questions each week specially earmarked for the contestant. If a contestant is unpleasant, or if the show's Trendex rating has not been peaking properly during his as- cent to the higher plateaus of prize money, a question may be devised to knock him off the show. Sometimes a loser is. needed to give the program psychological — and economic — balance. The - art of writing quiz ques- tions can make lethal ones seem no tougher than easy ones. "If a producer knows that contes- tant's favorite opera is Lucia di Lammermoor, and that he knows more about this opera than any other," explains, one old hand, "a very difficult, mul- ti -part question on Lucia would be apple pie to the contestant, but a multi -part question invol- ving difficult details in several different operas could ,be calcu- lated to defeat the contestant while seeming no tougher to the casual viewer." When a contestant has reach- ed all but the biggest payoff on $64,000 Question, audience psy- chology virtually demands his victory. In its 22 months on the air, only two of the players who elected a $64,000 question have failed to win, , (The system of control is not foolproof; it was not proof, for example, against the mental block that stumped Randolph Churchill at the $128 level,) But most big winners have been blessed by crucial questions right up their alleys. Marine Captain Richard Me- Cutcheon, the cocking expert, whose particular specialty is French cuisine, got his $64,000 question in French cuisine, not in Cantonese or Neapolitan fare. Shoemaker Gino Prato, the opera expert, whose knowledge of German or French repertory is not up to his Italian special- ty, got his tough questions on Italian opera. Jockey Billy Pear- son, a $64,000 winner whose art expertise does not extend to Chinese art, says: "I studied like hell on Chinese art. But I never got a question on it." How to Groom Winners. How do the producers determine where each contestant is weak or strong? On Twenty One, can- didates cannot qualify for the show without taking a four- hour, 363 -question test that ranges across the spectrum of subjects used on the show. Co - Producer Dan Enright began burning the test papers several weeks ago to avert any suspi- cion that they were being used to study the contestant's know- ledge patterns. But before the test papers are burned, some- bodyat the Twenty One office must still look at them to grade them. Charles Van Doren, the show's most famed alumnus, feels certain that no questions were being form -fitted to his phenomenal mind. Certainly no- body in the quiz business sug- gests that his defeat on an easy question (Who is King of the Belgians?) could have been de- sired, let alone designed, by the show's producers. ' At Entertainment Productions Inc., which produces $64,000 Question and $64,000 Challenge, Executive Producer Steve Car- lin, who insists that all stories of stacked questions "are ridicu- lous," says that there is no writ- ten examination. He explains that applicants, merely get a brief, informal screening. But former contestants make it sound more rigorous. Captain McCut- "'THAT'S MY BABY"—Crooner Gene Austin, whose record sales of more than 86,000,000 platters back in the 1920's makes him the greatest recording star of all time, warbles a duet with his daughter, Charlotte, a film starlet in Hollywood. Little known to today's 'teen-agers, Austin, who is starting a come- back, thrilled an earlier generation with such popular hits as "My Blue Heaven," "Sweetheart of Sigma Chi," and "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby." GOO, MAN, GOO — Only a mudder could love jockey, Wal- ter Blum alter•Blum as he sloshes back to the scales at Gulfstream Park'. Blum w a s riding "Double Bogey" during a recent race in the mud. He not only lost the race, finishing third, but was messed up by the two horses that overtook him near the finish line. chen: "I think they establish pretty well your limits." Music Professor Richard Gore: "The questioning was comparable to an oral exam for a Ph.D." Base- ball Expert Patrick J. Keough: "About six fellows with base- ball record books questioned me about 75 minutes. They must have asked .me about 150 ques- tions" In the ease of 14 -year-old Susan Sandler, the horse -racing expert, -the show employed one of the most effective techniques for grooming winners: she was sent back home to Oak Park, Mich., after her Manhattan in- terview and told that the show would not be ready for her for several more weeks. During the interval, she naturally concen- trated on studying her specialty —just as other contestants have done in such fields as Sherlock Holmes stories and Dickens no- vels. The show sets a high pre- mium on Odd matches of contes- tant and specialty. One appli- cant, Psychologist Joyce Broth- ers, a 28 -year-old blonde, was encouraged by the producers to apply her photographic mind to boning up on boxing. By the time she was called to appear, Dr. Brothers had mastered the subject well enough to win $64,- 000. Plotting the Show. •The pack- agers of both $64,000 shows also produced NBC's The Big Sur- prise, which folded not long ago. One of its planners offers this insight into the big -money show: "We always used a plot, an ideal way we would like the half-hour to go. If one contes- tant wasn't getting a good audi- ence reaction, we would say that ideally it would be good if he got the answers for $500 and $1,000 and then missed $2,000. It develops a little audience an- tagonism if anyone loses right away. In a high percentage of cases, the program went in ac- cordance with the plot. There was a big discussion on how long we should go before some- body was allowed to win $100,- 000. We teased first witif a few $50,000 winners. In terms of showmanship, we had to work out the ideal timing and the ideal winner." The producers chose 70 -year-old Mrs. Ethel Richardson of Los Angeles, a folk -song buff. For a switch, they decided the next big win- ner should be a young school- boy. They settled on 14 -year-old George L. Wright III of Manhat- tan. For all their mastery of the situation, the quiz producers seem helpless before the major ailment afflicting their shows. The sum of $64,000 no longer in- spires audience awe. Viewers have become so blase that the producers arbitrarily changed their rules to enable Schoolboy Strom to win as much as $256,- 000, and devised new rules to let Clerk Nadler keep winning too. Mere important, a kind of inflation has also hit the con- testants: instead of the kind of ordinary people who struck a responsive chord in viewers, they Low run to narrow specia- lists and photographic minds — "freaks," as the trade calls them. GiVki a margin of error for the contestants' human foibles, the producers seem to be able to control virtually everything --- except -except their own fears of losing their audience.—From TIME. A Honolulu resident waved such a vigorous aloha to a de- parting friend aboard ship, that his watch slipped off his wrist and fell into 30 feet of water. Tempus fugiti /, GREEN THUMB 4 Gordon Smith Back Savers! It is amazing how much easier and faster gardening will go with the right tools. This does not mean that a lot of ex- pensive equipment and gadets are necessary but simply mak- ing sure that what we have is suitable and in good shape. A dull, rusty hoe, a rake with a loose or broken handle, or a power mower out of adjust- ment is more of a hindrance than a help and so is a spade in a job that call for a culti- vator or vice versa. Compared with most other hobbies or recreation, equip- ment costs for gardening are trivial. We can, if necessary, get along with little more than a rake, a cultivator and a spade. But ' a few other special tools won't cost much and they will make things easier and more interesting. Fir stirring up the soil and thinning and killing weeds, for instance, there are several types and sizes of hand cultivators., These range from little ones or two pronged things 10 or 12 inches long to wheel hoes which we push througTi the larger gar- dens. It is well to have two or three cultivators of various sizes for working around plants and rows of different sizes. Then there are such things as dutch hoes for wholesale weeding and for cultivation under bushes and spreading plants, and single bladed affairs for making trenches for seeds and bulbs. Except for the very small tools, it is well to get all these things, as well as rakes, hoes and so on, with long handles. These save stooping, Special Purposes There are flowers which seem to be designed for special pur- poses. Some just naturally have long stems like cosmos, sweet peas, gladiolus, scabiosa, mari- golds and many more and there- fore are particularly suitable for cutting for bouquets and giving away to grateful friends. Others again are specially sweet scented like the stocks, nicotine, heliotrope, lavender, mignonette a n d carnation; others again attractive to hum- ming birds like the scarlet run- ner bean. There are a few such as the straw flower which we can cut, dry and then they will stay bright all winter indoors. And as for shape, size and colour, there is an unlimited choice. We can have an all red or all blue or all white flower garden. We can have midgets only a few inches high or giants that will run up close to six feet. - It is all these differences, most of which are listed in the Cana- dian seed catalogue, that makes flower gardening so interesting so interesting and results in no two flower gardens anywhere in the world being exactly alike. Keep Planting Too much emphasis cannot be laid on continued planting. It is much better to plant a little every week for a month or so than to try and get everything in at once. There is no good reason why most vegetables and a lot of flowers cannot be planted for many weeks yet and this gradual planting will pro- dui;e far' more satifactory re- sults than sowing or setting out all at once. The vegetable gar- den particularly, should be planted gradually with only a portion of the carrots, beets, beans, corn, etc. sown at one time. In the flower line, experi- enced gardeners will sow such things as zinnias, petunias, as- ters, cosmos and other annuals in little plots here and there in the flower garden. When these come up they will leave Only a few plants in the original posi- tion and transplant the surplus to other parts of the garden. Handled carefully, these trans- plants will come along almost as quickly as those left untouch- ed and thus a large flower gar- den can be planted at trivial cost. How Can 1? By Anne Ashley Q. How can I keep an iron from sticking to fine starched articles? A. By adding a little .soap to the starch. This also give an attractive gloss. Q. How can I extinguish a fire of burning oil or fat? A. By spreading flour over the flames. Q. How can I ripen green bananas? A. Lay the unripe bananas away in a paper bag, in a dark place, for a few days; they will ripen evenly. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RINGWOOD FARMS Eleventh annual Hereford Sale Saturday, May 25, • at 1.00 p.m. Selling 7 bulls and 38 bred heifers. Sale held at farm in our Sales Arena. George Rodanz Stouffville, Ontario AGENTS WANTED BE YOUR OWN BOSS 1 MEN or women, can work your own hours, and make profits, up to 500% selling exclusive houseware products and appliances. No competition, not available in stores, and they are a necessity in every home. Write at once for free colour catalogue, show. Ing retail prices plus confidential wholesale, pricelist. Murray Sales, 3822 St. Lawrence Blvd., Montreal. OILS, GREASES, PAINTS And Colloidal Graphite Additives. Dealers wanted to sell to Farmers, Fleet Owners and Service Stations. Write Warco Grease & 011 Limited, Toronto 3, Ontario. ARTICLES FOR SALE 500 3 -COLOR printed name and address labels, % x 1%. Light blue, dark blue, gold. Plastic case. Send $1.00. Schuster, Box 1419. Dept. C., Springfield, Illinois. 10 -INCH Slide Rule with instructions only $1.00! Satisfaction guaranteed. Agents wanted. The Baker Agency, 422 Fay Court, Burlington, North Carolina. BABY CHICKS FOLLOW up the good markets with Bray Chicks. Wide choice, all good, aimed at the markets you want. Prompt shipment. Also started chicks, pullets. Bray Hatchery, 120 John N., Hamilton. IT is unwise to pay too much for your chicks • and turkey poults but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose u little money end that is all, When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought wasn't capable of doing the thing it was bought to do. For maximum egg pro- duction, buy our special egg breeds. For dual purpose, good for both eggs and meat, we have special breeds. For broilers, we have special breeds. Turkey Poults. Send for 1957 cata- logue. It tells you all about our special breeds. • TWEDDLE CHICIS HATCHERIES LTD. FERGUS ONTARIO DUCKS DUCKLINGS. Jansen strain Kaki - Campbells for layers. Large White Pekins for best meat birds. 25 - $6.50; 100.- $32. Immediate delivery. Circular. Morris Day, Elora, Ontario. EMPLOYMENT WANTED EXPERIENCED farmer, married, 2 children, school age; can handle trac- tor and other farm machinery; also dairy, or beef cattle, desires position. Good salary and separate house with modern conveniences; references avail- able. Mr. J. M. Campbell, RRl, St. Catharines, Ont. FARM MACHINERY FOR SALE NEW Holland 77 Baler with hydra- formatic $950. Or will trade for lum- ber. Apply C. Dicaire, Si. Joachim, Ontario. D.E.M.S. LTD. . ONTARIO distributor for Ford major diesel fuel injection pump overhauling $22. All other fuel pump and in- yerhauled a $3.50 0 hr.er Thornhlll,Ontario. PeAVen 5.3421. NEW HOLLAND No. 80 wire tie Baler with engine used very little, perfect condition Efydraformatic bale tension control. `New price $3,000 — Our bar- gain price $1395. Will pay for itself this year. L. kawken, Arkona, Ontario. (No. 7 Highway). FARM WANTED WANTED Small farm, buildings, hydro avallable, good water, near school. State price and full particulars. All cash for low priced farm. EUGENE ST. CYR, 89 Woodville Avenue, Toronto 6. FOR SALE SAW filing and lawn mower business for sale. Modern machinery, good in- come. Five room house, modern. To be sold together. Good opportunity for right party. Age is only reason for selling. Priced right. Joseph Taylor, 588 Lafontain Street, Wallace - burg, Ontario. MEDICAL IT'S IMPORTANT — EVERY SUFFERER OF RHEUMATIC PAINS OR NEURITIS SHOULD TRY DIXON'S REMEDY. MUNRO'S DRUG STORE 335 EIOin, Ottawa $1.25 Express Prepaid POST'S ECZEMA SALVE BANISH the torment of dry eczema rashes and weeping skin troubles. Post's Eczema Salve will not disap- point you. Itching, scaling and burn- ing eczema; acne, ringworm, pimples and foot eczema will respond readily to the stainless odorless ointment re- gardless of how stubborn or hopeless they seem. Sent Post Free on Receipt of Price PRICE 93.00 PER. JAR POST'S REMEDIES 2865 St. Clair Avenue East TORONTO OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEN AND WOMEN FOR delightful Seacoast Vacation on beautiful Wells Bay, in quiet, pleasant surroundings at Guest Home directly on Ocean front. Write: "The Barn- acle", Wells, Maine. BE A HAIRDRESSER JOIN CANADA'S LEADING SCHOOL Great Opportunity Learn Hairdressing Pleasant dignified profession; good wages. Thousands of successful Marvel Graduates. America's Greatest System Illustrated Catalog Free Write or Call MARVEL 'HAIRDRESSING SCHOOLS 358 Bloor St. W., Toronto Branches: 44 King St, W., Hamilton 72 Rideau St., Ottawa EARN Money at home. $50. weekly, possible. Hand addressing, typing, sewing. Send $1.10, cover charges. S. M. Harris, Box 1435, Detroit 31, Michigan. OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS STOP Wishing you could increase your in- come and secure your future. DO something about it. With our propo- sition this is possible, and all our rep- resentatives are making big money, you. too could do as well. Everywhere Household Necessitiesare needed, Cos. metics, Farm Specialties, Toiletries, think of the possibilities this market represents.- Now is the time, write for more details to Dept. W., Station C., 1600 Dclorimier, Montreal ISSUE 20 — 1051 OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEN AND WOMEN FOR Early Reservations! Write Old - Wells -By -The -Sea Improvement Associ- ation, Wells, Maine, for literature on ideal place to spend your -Maine Sea- coast vacation.. PLASTIC FOAM (flexible) Sensational ne3/32"92.2.50. craft material. Sheets"' x xWhite, pink, blue, green, :yellow, orange, grey, ject -Kit violet, 9.75. Ideep mmediaink.NLultidelivle ero- ry. KIDDER MANUFACTURING, 138 Dan- forth Avenue, Toronto. TMAC10ERS WANTED QUAL IF I hi'a' - teacher' for one -room school. Highway 401 near Oshawa. Present enfolment 27, Grades 1.8. MINIMUM salary 92,600 with allow- ance for experience. APPLY, stating qualifications, experi- ence, salary, name of inspector, Mrs. Ethel Hanna, Sec.-Treas., R.R. 2, Whitby, Ont. FARMBOROUGH Protestant School Board requires two teachers for rural area, grades one to seven. Living ac- commodations supplied. Salaries: 91,400 - Que. $1,800. Write; Harry. 11. Hopson, PATENTS FETHERSTONHAUGH & Company, Patent Attorneys, Established 1890. 600 University Ave., Toronto. Patents all countries. PERSONAL $1.00 TRIAL offer. Twenty-fivedeluxe personal requirements. Latest cata- logue included. The Medido Agency. Box 22, Terminal "Q" Toronto, Ont. SWINE REPEAT orders count. Dozens of cus- tomers who have purchased Landrace Swine from us come back for more. Why? Because we have one of the largest. best herds of Landrace in Can- ada. We have imported more Land - race Swine than any other breeder. Two large importations on the now. Weanling, four month 'old, six month poldd sows and boars, guaranteed in ig immed ate delivery SceAllta froms for ported stock. Catalogue. FERGUS LANDRACE SWINE FARM FERGUS ONTARIO A NOTABLE characteristic of Land - race is its ability to cross well with any breed, to speed up growth, cut feed cost and produce a meatier mar- ket arket hog. For pure breeds or for cross- ing, Landrace is superior. We have some of the best imported stock sold at reasonable prices, weanling, four month old sows and boars, guaranteed in pig sows. Catalogue. TONRA STOCK FARM R.R. 3 HOLLAND CENTRE, ONTARIO HAVE you seen the new Landrace magazine? It answers a lot of your questions and puts you in touch with Canada's best breeders. $1.00 per year (quarterly). Single copy 250. Canadian Landrace Swine Association, 564 Cote St. Francois, Ste. Theresa de Blain- vllle, Que. WANTED WANTED: Steam engine in good con- dition; Model T Ford or other car from 1900 to 1930; Oxen Yoke and cradle; and .scythe. Pay cash. H. P. Rawluk, Newmarket, Ontario. IT PAYS TO USE OUR CLASSIFIED COLUMNS MERRY MENAGERIE gra Tan ra'. "I'm an Eskimo turtlel" SLEEP TO -NITS SEDICIN tablets token accordints N, directions is a sale way to induce dees. or quiet the nerves when tense. 01.00 All Dreg Stares or Adrem Ltd., Tomato S. SMOKES FOR CANADIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL serving with the United Nations Emergency Force in the Middle East $162 sends 400 EXPORT CIGARETTES or any other MacdonGld Brand Postage included Mail order and remittance to: OVERSEAS DEPAR'.l1FLT MACDONALD TOBACCO INC. P.O. Box 490, Place d'Armes, Montreal, Que. This offer Is sublect to any change In Government Regulations,