The Reality of Game Shows.

Rating: 9/10 (23 April 2005)

A harsh look at a scandal that hit the TV industry while it was relatively still in its infancy, QUIZ SHOW tells the parallel stories of Herbie Stempel, Charles Van Doren, and Dick Goodwin, three people caught in a triangle of hypocrisy and appearances from opposite sides of the coin. The feeding of the right answers to both Stempel and Van Doren on the game show "21" did not bring the downfall to its paternal network, but made those who learned of this examine the prejudices concerning who should be on top and who should not and sadly did not exonerate those who were behind the scandal. That Stempel, one of 21's first "victims", Jewish, should not be of what would be considered a man of "privileged" upbringing but Van Doren, handsome, WASP-ish, successful -- a university professor -- should just hits harder even today to the kind of people network television prefers. When we see that Ken Jennings, a milquetoast white man, is allowed to make so much money on "Jeapoardy", we question the credibility of his win, and it extends even beyond game shows: "ethnic" groups are still looking for their audience on a television mainly "white" in nature, and only a smattering of shows have included all racial groups in ensemble shows that have managed, through some shrewd writing and marketing, to survive.