Information Please
Encyclopedia
Information Please was an American radio
quiz show
, created by Dan Golenpaul
, which aired on NBC
from May 17, 1938 to April 22, 1951. The title was the contemporary phrase used to request from telephone operator
s what was then called "information" but is now called "directory assistance
".
The series was moderated by Clifton Fadiman
. A panel of experts would attempt to answer questions submitted by listeners. For the first few shows, a listener was paid two dollars for a question that was used, and five dollars more if the experts could not answer it correctly. When the show got its first sponsor (Canada Dry), the total amounts were increased to five and ten dollars respectively. A complete Encyclopaedia Britannica was later added to the prize for questions that stumped the panel. The amounts went up to ten and twenty-five dollars when Lucky Strike took over sponsorship of the program.
and newspaper columnists and renowned wits and intellectuals Franklin P. Adams
and John Kieran. All the panelists were well-versed in a wide range of topics, though each had a specialty. Music
and film
questions were often addressed to Levant. Adams was well known for his mastery of poetry
, popular culture
and Gilbert and Sullivan
. Kieran was an expert in natural history
, sports and literature
. A typical question would have three or four parts and would require the panelists to get a majority of the questions right, lest they lose the prize money.
The show would always have a fourth guest panelist, usually either a celebrity, a politician or writer. Guest panelists included Fred Allen
, Boris Karloff
, Clare Boothe Luce
, Dorothy Parker
, S. J. Perelman
, Sigmund Spaeth
, Rex Stout
, Jan Struther
, Deems Taylor
, Alexander Woollcott
, George S. Kaufman
, Ruth Gordon
, Orson Welles
, and a very young Myron "Mike" Wallace
.
The show was as much a comedy as a quiz show. The panelists displayed a quick wit in answering the questions, reveling in puns and malapropisms. (For instance, once the panel was asked to supply a common household expression. Adams: "Please pass the salt." Kieran: "The front doorbell's ringing." Levant: "Are you going to stay in that bathroom all day?") Due to the spontanteous nature of the program, it became the first show for which NBC allowed a prerecorded repeat for the West Coast
.
, the show frequently went on tours from its New York City
base to promote the buying of war bonds. Instead of the usual cash prize, a question writer would win a bond. The show received several awards as an outstanding radio quiz show. It is also believed to be the earliest example of the panel game
genre.
In 1947, Golenpaul edited the Information Please Almanac, a reference book which continued through the years in different formats (including the website Infoplease).
, a musical variety series. Adams and Kieran returned to the show, with Fadiman again as host and two guest celebrities. On August 17, Fadiman was replaced by John McCaffery
for the rest of the show's run.
The popularity of the series also led to film shorts (1940-1943) and two card games. The show was satirized by the zany panel of radio's It Pays to Be Ignorant
.
A variation of Information Please, this time a program devoted exclusively to music with the same four-member panel format, became popular when it was televised in Los Angeles
in 1953. After two years of local success, Musical Chairs
became a summer replacement series on NBC Television. The Bill Leyden
-hosted game show lasted eleven weeks on the national airwaves.
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...
quiz show
Quiz Show
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...
, created by Dan Golenpaul
Dan Golenpaul
Dan Golenpaul was the creator of the popular radio quiz show Information Please an American radio quiz show, which aired on NBC. Golenpaul also edited early editions of the spin off book, the Information Please Almanac. He was married to Ann Golenpaul, with whom he founded Golenpaul Associates, a...
, which aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from May 17, 1938 to April 22, 1951. The title was the contemporary phrase used to request from telephone operator
Telephone operator
A telephone operator is either* a person who provides assistance to a telephone caller, usually in the placing of operator assisted telephone calls such as calls from a pay phone, collect calls , calls which are billed to a credit card, station-to-station and person-to-person calls, and certain...
s what was then called "information" but is now called "directory assistance
Directory assistance
In telecommunications, directory assistance or directory enquiries is a phone service used to find out a specific telephone number and/or address of a residence, business, or government entity.-Technology:...
".
The series was moderated by Clifton Fadiman
Clifton Fadiman
Clifton P. "Kip" Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality.-Literary career:...
. A panel of experts would attempt to answer questions submitted by listeners. For the first few shows, a listener was paid two dollars for a question that was used, and five dollars more if the experts could not answer it correctly. When the show got its first sponsor (Canada Dry), the total amounts were increased to five and ten dollars respectively. A complete Encyclopaedia Britannica was later added to the prize for questions that stumped the panel. The amounts went up to ten and twenty-five dollars when Lucky Strike took over sponsorship of the program.
Regulars
Panel regulars included writer-actor-pianist Oscar LevantOscar Levant
Oscar Levant was an American pianist, composer, author, comedian, and actor. He was more famous for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, than for his music.-Life and career:...
and newspaper columnists and renowned wits and intellectuals Franklin P. Adams
Franklin Pierce Adams
Franklin Pierce Adams was an American columnist, well known by his initials F.P.A., and wit, best known for his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower", and his appearances as a regular panelist on radio's Information Please...
and John Kieran. All the panelists were well-versed in a wide range of topics, though each had a specialty. Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
questions were often addressed to Levant. Adams was well known for his mastery of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
and Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
. Kieran was an expert in natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, sports and literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. A typical question would have three or four parts and would require the panelists to get a majority of the questions right, lest they lose the prize money.
The show would always have a fourth guest panelist, usually either a celebrity, a politician or writer. Guest panelists included Fred Allen
Fred Allen
Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...
, Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce was an American playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and U.S. Congresswoman, representing the state of Connecticut.-Early life:...
, Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles....
, S. J. Perelman
S. J. Perelman
Sidney Joseph Perelman, almost always known as S. J. Perelman , was an American humorist, author, and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for The New Yorker...
, Sigmund Spaeth
Sigmund Spaeth
Sigmund Gottfried Spaeth was a musicologist who traced the sources and origins of popular songs to their folk and classical roots...
, Rex Stout
Rex Stout
Rex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
, Jan Struther
Jan Struther
Jan Struther was the pen name of Joyce Anstruther, later Joyce Maxtone Graham and finally Joyce Placzek , an English writer remembered for her character Mrs...
, Deems Taylor
Deems Taylor
Joseph Deems Taylor was a U.S. composer, music critic, and promoter of classical music.-Career:Taylor initially planned to become an architect; however, despite minimal musical training he soon took to music composition. The result was a series of works for orchestra and/or voices...
, Alexander Woollcott
Alexander Woollcott
Alexander Humphreys Woollcott was an American critic and commentator for The New Yorker magazine and a member of the Algonquin Round Table....
, George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
, Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, and a very young Myron "Mike" Wallace
Mike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
.
The show was as much a comedy as a quiz show. The panelists displayed a quick wit in answering the questions, reveling in puns and malapropisms. (For instance, once the panel was asked to supply a common household expression. Adams: "Please pass the salt." Kieran: "The front doorbell's ringing." Levant: "Are you going to stay in that bathroom all day?") Due to the spontanteous nature of the program, it became the first show for which NBC allowed a prerecorded repeat for the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
.
Accolades
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the show frequently went on tours from its 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...
base to promote the buying of war bonds. Instead of the usual cash prize, a question writer would win a bond. The show received several awards as an outstanding radio quiz show. It is also believed to be the earliest example of the panel game
Panel game
A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....
genre.
In 1947, Golenpaul edited the Information Please Almanac, a reference book which continued through the years in different formats (including the website Infoplease).
Television
Information Please went to television from June 29 to September 21, 1952 on CBS Television on Sundays at 9:30 PM as a summer replacement for The Fred Waring ShowThe Fred Waring Show
The Fred Waring Show is an American television musical variety show that ran from June 20, 1948 to May 30, 1954 on CBS. The show was hosted Fred Waring and featured his choral group "Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians".-Synopsis:...
, a musical variety series. Adams and Kieran returned to the show, with Fadiman again as host and two guest celebrities. On August 17, Fadiman was replaced by John McCaffery
John McCaffery
John McCaffery was an American television host who appeared on many game shows and talk shows during the 1940s and 1950s including Americana, Television Screen Magazine, What's the Story, and Author Meets the Critics.-Game Shows:McCaffery also hosted the following game shows:* We Take Your Word...
for the rest of the show's run.
The popularity of the series also led to film shorts (1940-1943) and two card games. The show was satirized by the zany panel of radio's It Pays to Be Ignorant
It Pays to Be Ignorant
It Pays to Be Ignorant was a radio comedy show which maintained its popularity during a nine-year run on three networks for such sponsors as Philip Morris, Chrysler, and DeSoto....
.
A variation of Information Please, this time a program devoted exclusively to music with the same four-member panel format, became popular when it was televised 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...
in 1953. After two years of local success, Musical Chairs
Musical Chairs (1955 TV series)
Musical Chairs was a short-lived NBC game show that ran from July 9 to September 17, 1955; The host was Bill Leyden and the series featured voice actor Mel Blanc, composer Johnny Mercer, and orchestra leader Bobby Troup as regular panelists....
became a summer replacement series on NBC Television. The Bill Leyden
Bill Leyden
William "Bill" Leyden was a World War II veteran serving in the Marine Corps and a television game show host and announcer who emceed six game shows, including It Could Be You , Your First Impression , and You're Putting Me On...
-hosted game show lasted eleven weeks on the national airwaves.
Other references
Listen to
- Information Please radio shows (two episodes)
- OTR Network Library: Information Please (68 episodes from 1938-1943)