Information Please

Information Please was a half-hour quiz show that aired on NBC from 1938 till 1951. It featured a panel of experts and celebrities answering questions submitted by members of the public. Much of the entertainment value of the show derived from the same factors that today make trivia games and quizzes popular, accented by wordplay and witticisms among the panel.

If a question were selected, the person who submitted it received a small cash prize; if it stumped the panel, the prize was increased. In the last few years of the show, the prizes changed from cash to an Encyclopedia Britannica world atlas for the submission and a complete Encyclopedia Britannica for stumping the panel.

Clifton Fadiman hosted the show, while panelists were drawn from academicians, scientists, and public figures. Panels included persons as diverse as C. Mildred Thompson, Dean of Vassar; George S. Kaufman, one of the preeminent playwrights of the day; Dorothy Thompson, a towering figure in journalism; and Rex Stout, a man of many accomplishments, who is best remembered as the creator of Nero Wolfe.

An attempt to move the show to television in 1952 met with little success.

For more information, see Wikipedia.

Series description provided by Frank Bell.