Doctor IQ
Encyclopedia
Dr. I.Q. was a radio
and television
quiz program. Remembered as radio's first major quiz show, it popularized the catch phrase
"I have a lady in the balcony, Doctor."
The basic premise of the game involved assistants who wandered the theater looking for audience members to play the game. When the assistant found someone willing to play, he or she would say, "I have a gentleman in the balcony, Doctor!" or something similar. The host would then say, depending on the difficulty of the question: "Two (more or less) silver dollars and a box of Mars Bars if you can answer this!" Then he would pose a general-knowledge question to the contestant. A correct answer would win the stated dollar amount and candy in the first part of the game and $20 in the second part; incorrect answers would result in a $1 consolation prize. All prizes were paid in silver dollars. A home listener was selected each week to play the game via telephone
.
At some point during the show, a jingle
would play, and the contestant would get a chance to spin the "Wisdom Wheel," which would contain prize amounts from $1 to $100, each of which corresponded to a question whose difficulty increased with the prize amount. Other features were the "Biographical Sketch" and the "Thought Twister". For "The Lady in the Balcony" a female contestant in the theater balcony was asked a series of five questions. She would be allowed five incorrect answers. If she had any misses still available after five questions, she would return the following week to face five more questions with the remaining misses in play. If she was able to survive four weeks without incorrectly answering five questions, she won a jackpot
prize.
from November 4, 1953 to October 17, 1954 and again from December 15, 1958 to March 23, 1959. The first host was Jay Owen. However, beginning January 18, 1954, McClain began hosting again. Tom Kennedy, who went on to become one of the top game show hosts in the country, hosted the 1958-59 version. Art Fleming
, later the first host of Jeopardy!
, was an assistant during the original run.
The television version did not tour to various cities. The first run of the television show was broadcast from the Elysee Theater in New York City
, while the second run was broadcast from Studio D of the ABC Television Center in Los Angeles
.
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
quiz program. Remembered as radio's first major quiz show, it popularized the catch phrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
"I have a lady in the balcony, Doctor."
Radio
Over decades, the program's sponsors were Mars Candy, the Vick Chemical Company and Embassy Cigarettes. The radio series did not have a set studio. Instead, it traveled from city to city and broadcast from large concert halls and theaters. Thus, the audience was typically composed of residents from the surrounding area. Microphones were positioned throughout the audience. The quizmaster, Dr. I.Q., delivered silver dollars to audience members who correctly answered his fast-paced questions. The series began April 10, 1939 on the Blue Network with singer-announcer Lew Valentine as Dr. I.Q. Later quizmasters in the role of Dr. I.Q. were Jimmy McClain and Stanley Vainrib. The radio version aired until November 29, 1950 on the NBC and ABC networks. Valentine and McClain were also the hosts of Dr. I.Q. Jr., a juvenile version heard on NBC from 1941 to 1949.The basic premise of the game involved assistants who wandered the theater looking for audience members to play the game. When the assistant found someone willing to play, he or she would say, "I have a gentleman in the balcony, Doctor!" or something similar. The host would then say, depending on the difficulty of the question: "Two (more or less) silver dollars and a box of Mars Bars if you can answer this!" Then he would pose a general-knowledge question to the contestant. A correct answer would win the stated dollar amount and candy in the first part of the game and $20 in the second part; incorrect answers would result in a $1 consolation prize. All prizes were paid in silver dollars. A home listener was selected each week to play the game via telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
.
At some point during the show, a jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
would play, and the contestant would get a chance to spin the "Wisdom Wheel," which would contain prize amounts from $1 to $100, each of which corresponded to a question whose difficulty increased with the prize amount. Other features were the "Biographical Sketch" and the "Thought Twister". For "The Lady in the Balcony" a female contestant in the theater balcony was asked a series of five questions. She would be allowed five incorrect answers. If she had any misses still available after five questions, she would return the following week to face five more questions with the remaining misses in play. If she was able to survive four weeks without incorrectly answering five questions, she won a jackpot
Progressive jackpot
A progressive jackpot is a jackpot for a gaming machine where the value of the jackpot increases a small amount for every game played...
prize.
Television
The television version ran on ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
from November 4, 1953 to October 17, 1954 and again from December 15, 1958 to March 23, 1959. The first host was Jay Owen. However, beginning January 18, 1954, McClain began hosting again. Tom Kennedy, who went on to become one of the top game show hosts in the country, hosted the 1958-59 version. Art Fleming
Art Fleming
Art Fleming was an American television host, most notably the original host of the TV game show Jeopardy!.-Early life:...
, later the first host of Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, was an assistant during the original run.
The television version did not tour to various cities. The first run of the television show was broadcast from the Elysee Theater in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, while the second run was broadcast from Studio D of the ABC Television Center in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.