Quiz Show Rigging | The Perfect Contestant | 2
American Scandal
Wondery
4.6 • 18.7K Ratings
🗓️ 25 March 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Herbert Stempel is given the opportunity of a lifetime when television producer Dan Enright offers him a guaranteed winning streak on the quiz show Twenty-One — so long as he follows the script. Stempel enjoys his newfound celebrity and financial success, but as ratings plateau, the producers search for a fresh face to take his place.
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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. |
| 0:35.6 | Thank you. and more. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's a September evening in 1956. |
| 0:39.0 | 29-year-old Herbert Stemple darts around his apartment in Queens, New York, |
| 0:43.2 | frantically dusting tabletops and fluffing pillows to spruce the place up for an important guest. |
| 0:48.5 | And as he begins stacking his wife's collection of life magazines into a neat pile on the coffee table, |
| 0:53.7 | he hears the knock at the |
| 0:54.9 | door. Stemple's heart skips a beat. He knows who it is. Dan Enright, a TV producer for the |
| 1:01.2 | Quiz Show 21. A few weeks ago, Stemple applied to be a contestant on the show. He has a remarkably |
| 1:07.5 | high IQ and a photographic memory, so if he could get on the show, |
| 1:11.4 | he thought he'd have a decent shot at winning some money. |
| 1:14.2 | Even though his wife's family is already wealthy, he doesn't want to be beholden to them |
| 1:18.3 | financially, and this could give him the independence he craves while he finishes getting his |
| 1:23.1 | college degree. |
| 1:24.9 | Still Stemple knew being selected was a long shot. So he was pleasantly surprised when |
| 1:29.6 | just an hour ago he got a call from Enright, asking to meet about being cast as a contestant. |
| 1:35.1 | The producer was so eager to get the ball rolling, he offered to come right over to Stemple's |
| 1:39.6 | home. Stemple takes a final look around the living room before opening the door. |
| 1:48.0 | Mr. Enright, thanks for coming by. |
... |
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