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Written by Quizcan
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In the United States; Quiz-shows changed into Game shows. Mainly because the shows went from knowledge games to money games, and partly because the TV shows were trying desperately to erase the negative image caused by the 50’s large quiz show scandal.
The largest and most famous scandal took place In 1958, where Charles Van Doren became world famous because of his extensive knowledge and the great prize, he won on national TV in the TV show “Twenty One” on NBC, but also because of the scandal that followed. The scandal is the theme of a movie directed by Robert Redford. The central characters are played by Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren and John Turturro as Herbie Stempel. The movie is from 1994 with the subtitle “Fifty million people watched, but no one saw a thing”. The subtitle suggests that the TV-viewers and the audience didn’t suspect at all, that Charles Van Doren knew the answers in advance, and that the best thing to be said about him as a quiz contestant was, that he was a terrific actor, when he seized to look very nerdy while he argued with him self, until he found the correct answer. Charles Van Doren insisted on being innocent for about a year, but then confessed at a hearing in 1959. He told reporters at a press conference that he had been "living in dread for almost 3 years." Tough luck mate
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