Games - The 64,000 Dollar Question

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	Games - The 64,000 Dollar Question

The $64,000 Question was a popular United States television game show from 1955-1958; The $64,000 Challenge (1956-1958) was its popular spinoff show.

Broadcast history

The $64,000 Question---CBS, June 1955-June 1958, Tuesday 10-10:30 p.m.; September-November 1958, Sunday, 10-10:30 p.m.

The $64,000 Challenge---CBS, April 1956-September 1958, Sunday, 10-10:30 p.m.

Origin

Take It or Leave It

The $64,000 Question had its roots in the CBS radio quiz show, Take It or Leave It, which ran from April 20, 1940, to July 27, 1947, hosted first by Bob Hawk and then by Phil Baker. In 1947, the series switched to NBC, hosted by Baker, Garry Moore, Eddie Cantor and Jack Paar. On September 10, 1950, Take It or Leave It changed its title to The $64 Question. With Paar and Baker still on board as hosts, the series continued on NBC radio until June 1, 1952.

On both Take It or Leave It and The $64 Question, contestants were asked questions devised by the series' writer-researcher Edith Oliver. She attempted to make each question slightly more difficult than the preceding one. After answering a question correctly, the contestant had the choice to "take" the prize for that question or "leave it" in favor of a chance at the next question. The first question was worth one dollar, and the value doubled for each successive question, up to the seventh and final question, worth 64 United States dollars.

During the 1940s, "That's the $64 question" became a common catchphrase for a particularly difficult question or problem. In addition to the common phrase, "Take it or leave it," the show also popularized another phrase, widely spoken in the 1940s as a taunt but now mostly forgotten (Except in Warner Brothers cartoons). Chanted in unison by the entire audience when someone chose to risk their winnings by going for the $64 prize, it was vocalized with a rising inflection: "You'll be sorrr-REEEE!"

British versions

Strangely, the phrase "the $64,000 question" is common in Britain, where it means "the most important question," despite the fact that the original game show is virtually unknown in the UK. The format was, however, imported to the UK from 1956-1958, produced by ATV (always keen to pick up successful US formats), hosted by Jerry Desmond, and called simply The 64,000 Question with the top prize initially being 64,000 sixpences (£1,600), later doubling to 64,000 shillings (£3,200). Robin Bailey hosted the spin-off 64,000 Challenge in 1957. £3,200 was actually substantially higher, in real terms (i.e. accounting for inflation), than anything on offer on British TV for most of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, after the Independent Television Authority (later the Independent Broadcasting Authority) imposed prize limits on game shows after the general discrediting of the genre following the quiz show scandals in the US and rumours that the British version of Twenty One was also corrupt.

Much later, there was a further British adaptation of the show, this time known by the original US title of The $64,000 Question, hosted by Bob Monkhouse, although the top prize was only £6,400. This was, however, quite a lot of money for a British game show at the time (1990-1993) though still probably worth less than £3,200 had been in the 1950s. Shortly after this, prize limits were lifted by the Independent Television Commission, paving the way for the eventual arrival of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

The hard sell

The $64,000 Question, as American television audiences would know and love it, was created by Louis G. Cowan, formerly known for radio's Quiz Kids
. Cowan had a difficult time finding sponsorship for The $64,000 Question. Cosmetics giant Helena Rubenstein (who eventually did become a familiar television advertiser) rejected the idea, reportedly because its wealthy founding namesake didn't even own a television set at the time and had no idea of television's advertising potential. The Chrysler Corporation turned down the chance to launch the show because the automaker reportedly feared sponsoring a big-money quiz show would outrage company workers whose wages they were trying not to inflate. A vacuum cleaner company also said no to Cowan, reportedly because the concept would be too glamorous for its product. It was an intriguing argument considering that print ads of the time featured vacuum cleaners operated by women who stopped just short of being glamour queens but never appeared in soiled housework clothes.

Finally, Cowan convinced Revlon. The key: Revlon founder and chieftain Charles Revson knew top competitor Hazel Bishop had fattened its sales through sponsoring the popular This is Your Life, and he wanted a piece of that action if he could have it. According to Fire and Ice, a 1970s book chronicling Revson and his company, Revlon first signed a deal to sponsor Cowan's brainchild for 13 weeks with the right to withdraw when they expired.

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