Information Please

[RMF]

I was at the Paley Center (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio) this afternoon, when I noticed that they possessed several television episodes of "Information, Please". I decided to view one of these episodes, expecting to see one of the 1952 episodes that are the only run mentioned in the usual sources.

However, there were several major differences:

1. No Clifton Fadiman. Russel Crouse hosted this episode, and a title card at the end announced John Mason Brown as next week's host. (Only three panelists, too, but that's also how the 1952 version was apparently conducted.)

2. The episode had a 1951 copyright date.

3. The 1952 program was sponsored by General Electric and aired on CBS. The network was not mentioned in this episodes, and there were slugs for commercials.

4. The episode appeared to be designed so that the broadcaster could choose to air either just the first half or the whole program, which is not something a network would be likely to do.

5. The questions appear to have been from a writing staff, and no prizes were given away. The 1952 version used viewer questions and gave away book certificates.

In all, then, it would appear that this was an episode designed for syndication in 1951, but a check of several major newspapers finds no reference to this. At the same, time, however, there were several internal and external clues that seemed to indicate that this was part of a series run, rather than a failed pilot.

Would anyone know anything about this?

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'RMF\' post=\'164873\' date=\'Sep 26 2007, 07:22 PM\']Would anyone know anything about this?[/quote]
Strangely, the most likely source doesn't seem to know anything about it.

There's a book.  A massively detailed book titled Information Please and written by Martin Grams Jr (BearManor Media 2003).  It naturally is devoted mostly to the radio show, but it does have sections about every incarnation, even going so far as to detail the almanacs, the short films, the home versions (thank you very much) and more, including the 1952 TV series.

But here's what's strange.  He says "very little is known about the television program" and goes on to say "what can be known...are the reviews from critics."  Later, he mentions the possibility that kinescopes might have been made.  For a work that appears to have been so meticulously researched otherwise, it seems strange that the author didn't know that many episodes were available for viewing from a fairly obvious and quite public source.

For what it's worth, he does include a "complete" episode guide of the 1952 show, culled from Dan Golenpaul's own notes. (See what I mean about this guy having done his legwork?)   It lists shows beginning June 29 and running through September 21, the dates that most reference books also have.  According to those logs, Russel Crouse hosted the show on August 10, but the August 17 episode was hosted by Fadiman.   (Crouse is also listed as hosting on September 7, but the author says that was probably a repeat of the earlier show.)  John Mason Brown does not appear in the TV listings.  

There is nothing in the book about a pilot, syndicated version or anything other than the 13-week 1952 series.  Again, that would seem odd for such a well-researched book, except that it's clear the author had something of a blind spot when it came to the TV version.

No answers, just more questions.  And now I have something to check out the next time I'm at the Paley Center.