Boy's 15 minutes of fame rigged by quiz show<\/p>\n
By James Penha<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A member of the original television generation,
\nI grew up in front of a small cathode ray tube. Color cartoons in
\nblack and white, I Love Lucy, and especially the quiz shows made
\nup my day.<\/p>\n
I think I gained more cultural literacy from Hal March, Jack
\nBarry, Bert Parks and all the other TV quizmasters than from my
\nbeloved books. And, although I learned to reason in school, my
\nmastering of the intricate rules of those first video games honed
\na sense of cause and effect -- an imperfect sense I learned
\nlater.<\/p>\n
Robert Redford's new film Quiz Show reminds me of those days
\nand of those programs and of my tiny role in the saga of the
\nscandal that ultimately rocked American television in the 1950s.
\nMy own part was barely a pebble. So small that, at the time, I
\ndidn't even notice its place in the landslide.<\/p>\n
Because my family lived in New York City, the capital of live
\ntelevision in the 1950s, I frequently had the opportunity during
\nmy childhood to join the studio audience for my favorite quiz
\nshows. At the close of every broadcast, as the hot lights dimmed,
\neach show's producer invited people up for interviews. I knew I
\nwas too young to have a chance on Dotto or Tic Tac Dough or Break
\nthe Bank, but The Big Payoff, a daily program on the Columbia
\nBroadcasting System, presented a weekly segment on which a child
\ncould win US$500 in prizes by answering three general-knowledge
\nquestions.<\/p>\n
One day, after my mother and I had witnessed a Big Payoff
\nbroadcast, I waited for an interview. I wanted my shot at the
\n$500 and at TV stardom. The producer asked my name and age and
\nwhat my hobbies were. He sought to discern, I knew, whether I had
\nthe ebullience and fluency required of a contestant on live TV.
\nAs well, I focused his attention on my intellectual ability to
\nsurvive a contest. \"What subjects do you enjoy in the third
\ngrade, Jackie?\"<\/p>\n
\"History and reading,\" I replied.<\/p>\n
\"What are you studying in History now?\"<\/p>\n
\"The discovery of America.\"<\/p>\n
\"Can you tell me how many ships Columbus had?\"<\/p>\n
\"Three: the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria,\" I proclaimed
\nloudly, ebulliently. I congratulated myself on how smart a little
\nboy I was.<\/p>\n
\"Very good. And what book have you read in school lately?\"<\/p>\n
\"The fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson.\"<\/p>\n
\"Then have you seen,\" said the producer, \"that new Danny Kaye
\nmovie?\"<\/p>\n
\"Oh, yes, for my birthday my mom took me to see Hans Christian
\nAnderson at Radio City Music Hall. I love musicals; I love Danny
\nKaye,\" I said. Might my appearance on The Big Payoff mark the
\ndebut of a new Danny Kaye, I wondered.<\/p>\n
\"Do you like pop music as much as you enjoy movie musicals?\"<\/p>\n
\"Sure,\" my family didn't own a record player in those days, so
\nradio's top forty determined my tastes in songs. \"I really like
\nThat Amore by Dean Martin.\"<\/p>\n
\"Can you sing any of it?\"<\/p>\n
Here was an opportunity to demonstrate the kind of ebullience
\nproducers think viewers want to see on quiz shows. I stood and
\nbelted out \"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza
\npie...that's amore...\" I'm sure my squeaky voice made me sound
\nmore like Jerry Lewis than Dean Martin, but was I ever ebullient.<\/p>\n
\"Okay, Jackie, if we ever decide to invite you to be on the
\nshow, we'll call you the week before the broadcast.\"<\/p>\n
By the time my mother and I had reached home after our long
\nsubway ride from Manhattan, my elder brother had already answered
\na telephone call from the producer. I would be a contestant on
\nThe Big Payoff the following Tuesday.<\/p>\n
I skipped school to be sure to be at the studio well in
\nadvance of the program's three o'clock start on that day. My mom
\nmade me wear a blue shirt (better for television, the producer
\nhad told her) and my most colorful bow tie.<\/p>\n
Soon after 3 p.m., hostess Bess Meyerson escorted me to my
\nmark opposite quizmaster Warren Hull. I was on the air. I heard
\nthe audience applaud although I couldn't see beyond the lights
\nand cameras trained on Warren and me. I noticed Warren's pock-
\nmarked face; it didn't look that way on the TV screen at home.
\nAnd I saw that Warren said nothing besides the words he read from
\nbig posters hoisted by a crewman, Welcome Jackie. If you answer
\nthree questions, you will win prizes worth $500 including a
\nnineteen-inch Sylvania television set and a cocker spaniel
\npuppy!, or from the small question-and-answer cards he held in
\nthe palm of his hand.<\/p>\n
\"Okay, Jackie, here's Question One: In 1492, Christopher
\nColumbus sailed to the New World with three ships: the Nina, the
\nPinta, and...what was the name of his third ship?\"<\/p>\n
Without a pause I yelled, \"The Santa Maria.\"<\/p>\n
I heard Warren say \"RIGHT\", and the audience applauded. Warren
\nproceeded. \"Question Two: In the current movie, what actor-singer
\nplays the title role of fairy-tale writer Hans Christian
\nAnderson?\"<\/p>\n
\"Danny Kaye.\"<\/p>\n
\"RIGHT again.\"<\/p>\n
This was even easier than answering questions at home. One
\nmore and I was a winner.<\/p>\n
\"Now Jackie, here's your musical question. Listen to the band
\nplay a few notes and name the popular song from which they come.\"<\/p>\n
I listened. What luck. How well I knew those notes. I sang the
\nwords to myself...\"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza
\npie,\" until the band stopped, and then I shouted, ebulliently,
\n\"That's Amore!\"<\/p>\n
\"RIGHT\" screamed Warren. Out came Bess with my new puppy.<\/p>\n
The dog died within the week, but my celebrity lingered in the
\nneighborhood, in my family and at school.<\/p>\n
No one knew that the fix had been in. It never even occurred
\nto me that I had been anything but so, so smart.<\/p>\n
...until the newspapers revealed those scandalous secret
\narrangements by which the winners and losers on supposedly fair
\nTV quiz shows had been pre-ordained by producers and executives.
\nThen I realized just how smart I had been on the all-too-
\naccurately named Big Payoff.<\/p>\n
Redford's Quiz Show tells the whole story.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/boys-15-minutes-of-fame-rigged-by-quiz-show-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }