Information Please

Information Please was a popular US radio show on NBC that ran from 1938 to 1951. A series of short films, a (short-lived) TV show, quiz books, almanacs, card games, etc. were also made based on the show.

Radio show

The concept of the program, which was broadcast weekly and had a length of 30 minutes, was developed by Dan Golenpaul . In the radio show, viewers could send in questions that a group of experts had to answer. If the group of experts did not manage to answer the questions, the sender won a sum of money and an Encyclopaedia Britannica . Initially five dollars could be won, whereby the amount of money increased over the years also due to sponsorship money.

The program was hosted by Clifton Fadiman . The jury consisted of three experts Franklin Pierce Adams ( Shakespeare expert and columnist), John Kieran (linguist, botanist, bird expert) and Oscar Levant (actor, musician). A fourth judge was usually a well-known Hollywood star or politician. Guests included Boris Karloff , Alfred Hitchcock and Lillian Gish , for example .

The first broadcast was broadcast on May 17, 1938. In a short time, Information, Please! extremely popular with the public and received more than 20,000 mail items a week with questions to the jury. By the time the show was discontinued, 1,366 copies of the Encyclopaedia Britannica had been awarded. On April 22, 1951, the last episode of Information Please aired .

Short film series

The radio show's success led to a series of show short films that were marketed in three seasons from 1939 to 1942 as the Information Please series . The radio show was brought to the cinemas like this. Each film was one reel (approx. 10 minutes) long and was produced by RKO Radio . The director was Frank Donovan and the producer was Frederic Ullman junior . The first broadcast of the first season on September 8, 1939, was nominated for an Oscar in the category of best short film (a film role) at the 1940 Academy Awards.

The following short films were released between 1939 and 1942:

season 1

No. 1: September 8, 1939, guest: Rex Stout
No. 2: October 6, 1939, guest: Gene Tuney
No. 3: November 3, 1939, guest: Clarence Budington Kelland
No. 4: December 1, 1939, guest: Deems Taylor
No. 5: December 29, 1939
No. 6: January 28, 1940
No. 7: February 22, 1940, guest: Clarence Budington Kelland
No. 8: March 22, 1940, guest: Ruth Gordon
No. 9: April 10, 1940, guest: Elmer Davis
No. 10: May 17, 1940, guest: Deems Taylor
No. 11: June 2, 1940, guest: Christopher Morley
No. 12: July 22, 1940, guest: Wendell Willkie
No. 13: August 9, 1940

season 2

No. 1: September 4, 1940, guest: Anna Neagle
No. 2: October 4, 1940, guest: Ruth Gordon
No. 3: November 1, 1940
No. 4: November 29, 1940
No. 5: December 23, 1940
No. 6: January 1941
No. 7: February 21, 1941
No. 8: March 21, 1941, guest: Boris Karloff
No. 9: April 18, 1941, guest: Alice Marble
No. 10: May 16, 1941, guest: Louis Bromfield
No. 11: June 13, 1941
No. 12: July 11, 1941, guest: Boris Karloff
No. 13: August 8, 1941

season 3

No. 1: September 19, 1941, guest: John Gunther
No. 2: October 17, 1941, guest: Howard Lindsay
No. 3: December 1941
No. 4: January 16, 1942, guest: John Gunther
No. 5: April 3, 1942, guest: John Carradine
No. 6: April 24, 1942
No. 7: May 22, 1942
No. 8: June 19, 1942
No. 9: July 17, 1942
No. 10: August 14, 1942
No. 11: September 11, 1942

TV show

Information Please aired as a 30-minute television show on CBS from June 29, 1952 to September 21, 1952 ; she was the placeholder for the Fred Waring Show , which paused during the summer months. The jury included Franklin Pierce Adams and John Kieran as well as two guest stars. The program was first hosted by Clifton Fadiman and from August 17 to September 1952 by John McCaffery .

Web links

Information Please in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b See background on the broadcast on britannica.com ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ See overview of the programs on otrsite.com
↑ ^a ^b See Information Please on myoldradio.com ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ See overview of the RKO Radio Shorts 1937–1939 and 1940–1942

[Britannica-1] See background on the broadcast on britannica.com ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[2] See overview of the programs on otrsite.com

[Old_Radio-3] See Information Please on myoldradio.com ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[4] See overview of the RKO Radio Shorts 1937–1939 and 1940–1942