Information Please

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Information Please was an American radio quiz show, created by Dan Golenpaul, which aired from May 17, 1938 to June 25, 1948. The series was moderated by Clifton Fadiman (1904–1999). A panel of experts would attempt to answer questions submitted by listeners. If the panel was stumped, the question writer earned five dollars and a complete edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. As the years went by, the prize money increased accordingly.

Panel regulars included writer-actor-pianist Oscar Levant (1906–1972) and newspaper columnists and renowned wits and intellectuals Franklin P. Adams (1881–1960) and John Kieran (1892–1981). All the panelists were well-versed in a wide range of topics, though each had a specialty. Music questions were often addressed to Mr. Levant; Mr. Adams was well known for his mastery of poetry and Shakespeare, and Mr. Kieran was an expert in languages and botany. A typical question would have three or four parts and would require the panelists to get a majority of the questions right, lest they lose the prize money.

The show would always have a fourth guest panelist, usually either a celebrity, a politician, a writer or a journalist. Frequent guest panelists included Jan Struther, author of the Mrs. Miniver books, Rex Stout and Deems Taylor.

The show was as much a comedy as a quiz show. The panelists displayed a quick wit in answering the questions, reveling in puns and malapropisms. Due to the spontanteous nature of the program, it became the first show for which NBC allowed a prerecorded repeat for the West Coast.

During World War II, the show frequently went on tours from its New York City base to promote the buying of war bonds. Instead of the usual cash prize, a question writer would win a bond. The show received several awards as an outstanding radio quiz show. In 1947, Golenpaul created a reference book, Information Please Almanac. Its most recent incarnation is as the website Infoplease.

Information Please went to television in 1952. For 13 weeks, from June 29 to September 21, it was telecast by CBS on Sunday nights at 9:30pm as a summer replacement for the musical variety series The Fred Waring Show. Fadiman, Adams and Kieran were back in their usual seats, along with two guest celebrities, but that turned out to be the venerable program's last moment of glory.

The popularity of the program also led to film shorts (1940-1943) and two card games. The show was satirized by the zany panel of radio's It Pays to Be Ignorant.