Evening star., 1954-07-26
On the Air
On the Air
W Quizls Answers as Wrong
As Those of Contestants
By Horry Macarthur

Uy tV0tty
There Is o body of thought
which contends that television
is sure to make us nation Of
illiterates within no more than
a generation and . half. The
art of reading will be lost. The
art of nlediocrity will set the
pace. The young will grow up
knowing only what some sponsor
wants them to know. which us
ually is to run out and buy
something. (The young hardly
need to be, taught that
The art of earning a living
will fall into disrepute, too, re-
placed by the art of getting
something for nothing. Anybody
knows that if you need money
all you have to do is walk in
front of a TV camera and some
one will come up and give you
some. Provided. of course, you
know the correct answer when
asked your name.
The opponents Of this view
point to television's marvellous
teaching powers Coming genera
tions may grow up with pro-
nounced curvature Of the spine
and dangerous vitamin defici-
encies due to lack OF sunshine,
but they'll be well-informed.
They'll sit there glued to the
living room Cyclops and learn
everything about. everything.
There is increasing evidence
that this latter view Is a pipe
dream. Television has only it
self to blame, too. The boys are
getting careless. Time was when
you could believe what you heard
delivered to you electronically.
If John p. Kieran or Franklin
p. Adams said 1t on Information
Please" there was no doubt left
in your mind. It may have
sounded preposterous, but if
either of them said it, you could
accept it as fact. Times have
changed for the quiz programs
now.
The new era is noted by
Viewer F. c. Kirk, who adds
word to those set down here re- 4
Gently anent Denise Darcal's ac-
cent and quiz program.
"You might also have noticed"
he writes, "that Gamble on
i Love- is probably the only quiz
show that is as wrong in its an
swers as the contestants.
Remember the jackpot ques-
tion?-'Who was the husband
of Helen Of Troy?'
Contestants: 'UlySSes?'
ANSWER by la Darcel (reading
from card): Aga mem !.
non.'"
It's a good thing Meme ;. Z. :.
Ia -. us never heard about 1t.
or the world would have seen
Trojan War II. Menelaus prob
ably went to his grave, though.
thinking his brother merely went
up there to rescue Mrs. Meme
laus, not to wife her.
OF course the Darcel version
does help explain Clytemnestra.
But it ,does little to enhance
television's reputation as .
teacher.
LTTERATURE-The most fas-
cinating literary endeavors to
turn UP around here are the soap
opera summaries. Here. for In
stance, is the one on NBC-TV's
Golden Windows."s detailing the
events Of this week. You may
work daytimes and miss these
things, but you have to keep
up to date. It goes like this:
"On Monday Chats today.
Julie Goodwin and Tom Ander-
son discover that they may be in
love and despite the fact that
she has been severely disap-
pointed over her addition with
the maestro. Julie discovers that
The Golden Windows may
shine for her. too.
TUESDAY: Tom has been re-
| ported dead and the news
reaches his ex-fiancee, who has
decided to marry the business
partner Tom is supposed to have
killed.
"wednesday: The waitress at
Johns hotel reveals to the great
musician that 1t was really she
he heard and not Julie. ct takes
Is minuteS?)
Thursday: Toms family re-
! ceives letter from him telling
] the truth about the supposed
! drowning and meanwhile Ellen.
/ the girl who left him for his
partner. begins to suspect that
he Is not dead. tShe,s q sharp
one, see.)
] Friday: Toms sister warns
! Ellen not to hire q detective 70