Twenty One (game show)

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. The 1994 movie Quiz Show is based on these events.

The Scandal

The initial broadcast of Twenty One was played honestly, with no manipulation of the game by the producers. Unfortunately, that broadcast was, in the words of producer Dan Enright, "a disaster"; the first two contestants succeeded only in making a mockery of the format by how little they really knew. Show sponsor Geritol, upon seeing this opening-night performance, reportedly became furious with the results, and angrily ordered the rigging of Twenty One so as to prevent a repeat of this incident.

Related Topics:
Dan Enright - Geritol

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The end result: Twenty One was not merely "fixed," it was almost totally choreographed. Contestants were cast almost as if they were actors, and in fact were active and (usually) willing partners in the deception. They were given instruction as to how to dress, what to say to the host, when to say it, what questions to answer, what questions to miss, even when to mop their brows in their isolation booths (which had air conditioning that could be cut off at will, to make them appear to sweat more).

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Charles Van Doren, a college professor, was introduced as a contestant on Twenty One on November 28, 1956, as a challenger to the dominant, if somewhat unpopular with viewers, champion Herbert Stempel. Van Doren and Stempel ultimately played to a series of 21-21 tie games, with audience interest building with each passing week and each new game, until finally the clean-cut, "All American Boy" challenger was able to outlast his bookish, quasi-intellectual opponent. The turning point came on a question directed to Stempel: "What film won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1955?" Stempel legitimately knew the answer to that question (Marty), but had been specifically ordered by the producers to miss it. As Stempel later recalled, there was a moment in the booth when his conscience and sense of fair play warred with his sense of obligation; he almost answered it correctly, something that would have thrown the scripted outcome of the game into total disarray. In the event, however, he finally gave the incorrect answer (On the Waterfront) he had been ordered to give, which opened the door for Van Doren to win the game and begin one of the longest and most storied runs of any champion in the history of television game shows.

Related Topics:
Charles Van Doren - November 28 - 1956 - Herbert Stempel - Academy Award - Marty - On the Waterfront

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Van Doren's popularity took off as a result of his success on Twenty One, earning him a place on the cover of Time magazine and even a regular feature spot on NBC's Today show. He was finally unseated as champion on March 11, 1957, by a woman named Vivian Nearing, after winning a total of $129,000.

Related Topics:
''Time'' magazine - ''Today'' - March 11 - 1957

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Stempel, meanwhile, still somewhat upset over the fact he was ordered to "take a dive," attempted to blow the whistle on what exactly was going on behind the scenes at Twenty One, even going so far as to have a federal investigator look into the show. Nothing much came of these investigations until August 15, 1958, when a relatively minor CBS game show, Dotto, was abruptly cancelled after a notebook containing the answers to every question on that show turned up in the possession of its champion. Suddenly, Stempel's allegations began to make a lot more sense. Still, the public at large didn't seem to want to believe it was true until Van Doren, under oath before a Senate hearing, confessed to being given the answers to all of his questions before each show.

Related Topics:
August 15 - 1958 - CBS - Senate

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Twenty One was cancelled without warning after its broadcast of October 16, 1958. A nighttime version of Concentration took over its time slot the following week.

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The scandal forced producers Barry and Enright into virtual exile. Barry would not host another national TV show for more than a decade, and Enright was forced to move to Canada to continue his production career.

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Barry finally returned to game-show hosting in the early 1970s and become a success again as a producer-host with The Joker's Wild, which ran on CBS from 1972 to 1975 and in syndication from 1977 to 1986. (Barry hosted both versions until his death in 1984.) Enright would work as Jokers executive producer in the final year of its CBS run, and the two revived their partnership full-time in 1976.

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