June 7: The $64,000 Question

The $64,000 Question, a quiz show hosted by Hal March (Harold Mendelson), premiered on CBS on this date in 1955. The show was the brainchild of Louis Cowan, well-known for Quiz Kids, a radio show, and a television series called Stop the Music. The sponsor was Revlon, a cosmetics corporation owned by Charles Revson. Contestants on the show chose a subject category and would be asked questions that doubled in value as they became more difficult, from $64 to $64,000. After winning $4,000, the contestant would return each week for only one additional question; he or she could quit at any time and take the money (the consolation prize for elimination at that level was a new Cadillac), or keep trying for a greater prize. The $64,000 Question immediately had terrific ratings (sales for Revlon increased by over 50 percent), and soon knocked I Love Lucy out of the top-rated spot. The success ended in scandal in 1958, however, when The $64,000 Question and other quiz shows it had inspired were found to have coached contestants in ways both subtle and obvious — probably as a result of meddling by Revson and other ambitious television sponsors. Dr. Joyce Brothers was the second player to win the $64,000 prize on the show (without secret assistance), and had the most enduring celebrity of any contestant. Watch an episode of the show below. To watch The Honeymooners parody of the show, click here.

“The quiz shows disappear temporarily from prime-time television, giving way to the next television phenomenon: westerns.” —PBS, The American Experience

Watch an episode of The $64,000 Question: