Quiz Show Rigging | All the Answers | 1
American Scandal
Wondery
4.6 • 18.7K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2025
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the 1950s, America was captivated by high-stakes television quiz shows like The $64,000 Question and Twenty-One, which promised everyday Americans a shot at life-changing winnings. But behind the scenes, producers decided they couldn’t leave the drama to chance. They needed to ensure that the most compelling contestants battled it out week after week, setting the stage for a fraud that would shake the entire industry.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Lindsay Graham, host of American Scandal. |
| 0:03.1 | Our Back catalog has moved behind a paywall. |
| 0:05.9 | Recent episodes remain free, but older ones will require a Wondry Plus subscription. |
| 0:10.6 | With Wondry Plus, you get access to the full American Scandal archive, add free, plus early access to new seasons, and more. |
| 0:17.7 | Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:20.7 | Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:41.7 | It's November 28, 1956, in NBC studios at New York City's Rockefeller Center. |
| 0:50.0 | 30-year-old Charles Van Doren is standing backstage, waiting to be introduced as the newest contestant on the hit television quiz show, 21. |
| 0:54.9 | He straightens the collar of his suit and runs his fingers through his curly brown hair, |
| 0:57.8 | trying to settle his nerves before his TV debut. |
| 1:02.7 | He peeks through the curtains and sees more than a hundred people in the studio audience waiting for the game to begin. |
| 1:04.5 | But his mind is on a different audience tonight, his family, watching at home. |
| 1:09.0 | He's a member of the famous Van Doren Literary family. |
| 1:12.7 | His father and uncle are both Pulitzer Prize-winning writers, |
| 1:16.2 | and his mother is an acclaimed novelist and magazine editor. |
| 1:19.6 | So he's nervous about how his foray into the low-brow medium of television |
| 1:23.5 | might go over with them. |
| 1:25.7 | Van Doren himself doesn't even own a TV, and has never heard of 21 until one of the show's |
| 1:30.8 | producers asked him to be a contestant just a few weeks ago. |
| 1:34.4 | Now, seeing the studio audience, the TV lights and cameras, he's beginning to wonder if it was |
| 1:39.8 | a mistake. |
| 1:41.1 | So as he hears the show's host, Jack Barry, call him to stage, he takes a deep breath |
... |
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