Word: quiz
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...quiz shows fixed? The question agitates millions of TV viewers to whom the mind-rending programs have become not only a favorite pastime but almost a national institution. For an inside account of how one of the shows-the popular Dotto-was bounced off the air for downright crookedness, see SHOW BUSINESS, Scandal of the Quizzes. That story follows other reports by TIME'S new section that have won high readership ratings since it started three weeks ago. Among them: last week's piece on the agents who find and coach quiz-show contestants, which served...
Right from the start there were skeptics who insisted that some of the quiz programs must be fixed. But the vast majority of knob twisters were stubbornly faithful, watched in breathless suspense and genuine admiration as contestants exercised their incredible memories. Questions might be tailored by the producers to fit a contestant's known areas of knowledge or ignorance, but the possibility of more blatant hanky-panky than that seemed remote. Too much money was at stake, too many people were involved, and if one show went sour-so the argument ran-they would all be suspect...
...hush money. He brooded for days, finally took his information to the FCC. Within hours Colgate Palmolive had a copy of his affidavit, the networks were informed, and everyone was in a lather. Everyone was also in agreement-Dotto was blotto. CBS replaced the daytime show with another quiz, Top Dollar. NBC, reading the public reaction more accurately, tried a whole new category: filmed drama...
...scheduled for quizzes this fall was suddenly as suspect as a hound dog with feathers on its face. The air was full of rumors about other shows, involving the most spectacular brain athletes. The audience was just about ready to believe that a Dotto spokesman was talking for every quiz show on the air when he said: "Look, this may be a quiz business to the housewives of America, but to us, it's the entertainment business. There's no reason for the public to know what happens behind the scenes. If you buy a $5.80 seat...
...Quiz shows that replace crooked quiz shows may be regarded as fair game for crooks: televiewers from New York, Massachusetts and Virginia have already used pen, paste pot and scissors in an effort to break the bank on Top Dollar, CBS replacement for Dotto (see above). Since the show promised up to $5,000 for dollar bills bearing certain serial numbers, the light-fingered operators altered other serial numbers in order to qualify. All they won was a Secret Service warning that repetition might bring them an alternate prize: up to 15 years in prison and a $5.000 fine...