Information Please

Volume 5

 

Dan Golenpaul was a man with a mission. Having spent most of the 1930s trying to talk radio network executives into raising the level of broadcast entertainment above the mentality of the average twelve-year-old child, Golenpaul had lately set his sites on a venerable radio feature: the quiz show.

 

What if, he thought, the contestants ask the questions, rather than the hosts? From this simple notion came a brainstorm: Information Please one of the most popular, award-winning, and consistently entertaining programs in radio history.

 

Armed with Clifton Fadiman, a team of experts, $100.00 in prize money, and NBC staff announcer Milton Cross, Information Please hit the airwaves at 8:30 PM on Tuesday, May 17, 1938 over NBC's Blue Network. From the beginning, Information Please showed signs of being an innovative program. Since the show was largely spontaneous - only the introductions, the closing, and the questions were written in advance. Likewise, listeners used to the typical personality-based musical and comedy shows of the late 1930s were surprised to hear authentic wit over the airwaves - surprised and pleased as well since, though the questions were usually difficult, the experts were both amazing and charming when they answered a question and, more importantly, authentically human and funny when they couldn't. It was said, in fact, that Information Please was really at its best and most entertaining when the brains of the "brain trust" failed them; Fadiman never hesitated to gently chide them when they missed an answer. During the contemplation following a question, he was frequently heard to say to the listeners "I can see their brains spinning away, folks" and "Come, come, gentlemen - everyone knows that" was a common response to a muffed question.

 

The sixteen programs in this fifth Radio Archives collection date from October of 1941 to November 1942.

Who might crack a case?