Quiz Kids
| Company type | Radio and television program |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | June 28, 1940 in Chicago, United States |
| Founder | Louis G. Cowan |
| Fate | Ended original run; multiple revivals later |
| Headquarters | Chicago , United States |
Area served | United States, Canada, Australia |
| Products | Radio and television quiz shows |
Quiz Kids was a radio and television program that originally aired during the 1940s and 1950s. Developed by Chicago-based public relations and advertising expert Louis G. Cowan and backed by Alka-Seltzer, the show premiered on NBC from Chicago on June 28, 1940, serving as a summer substitute for Alec Templeton Time. The radio version continued for 13 years. On television, it was broadcast on NBC and CBS between July 6, 1949, and July 5, 1953, with Joe Kelly as the quizmaster, then returned from January 12 to September 27, 1956, under the hosting of Clifton Fadiman.
The format involved Kelly presenting questions that listeners submitted and which were researched by Eliza Hickok and Rachel Stevenson. Kelly frequently mentioned using flash cards to deliver the queries. Responses came from a panel of five children selected based on their high intelligence quotients, academic achievements, composure, quick thinking, and charismatic personalities. The original lineup included seven-year-old nature specialist Gerard Darrow along with Mary Ann Anderson, Joan Bishop, George Van Dyke Tiers, and Charles Schwartz.
Prominent Quiz Kids during the 1940s included Joan Alizier, Lois Jean Ashbeck, Jack Beckman, Claude Brenner, Geraldine Hamburg, Mary Clare McHugh, David Nasatir, Sally Ann Wilhelm, Ruth Duskin, war refugee Gunther Hollander, Shel Talmy, as well as mathematics prodigies Joel Kupperman, Richard Williams, and Cynthia Cline. Panel members rotated on a weekly basis depending on their scores; participants aged 16 or older were no longer eligible.
New York and Chicago
During 1949–50, the program expanded its reach to New York City through competitions designed to select panelists. Students from New York were chosen via questionnaires distributed in elementary schools and interviewed using questions similar to those submitted by listeners. Weekly victors competed for the title of Quiz Kid of the month, with monthly champions advancing to an overall championship round. Concurrently, shows hosted by Durward Kirby—sponsored by The Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn and named The Savings Bank Quiz Kids—featured some of the same participants.
Nine-year-old Norman Martin Kane won several monthly contests and appeared on broadcasts originating from Chicago. Twelve-year-old Malcolm Mitchell triumphed in three parallel competitions and joined the Chicago Quiz Kids at NBC Studios in New York. Remarkably, the Kids defeated university professors from New York in a general knowledge challenge. Mitchell later pursued a career as a Yale medical professor; his perfect pitch added a distinctive element to the programs.
A 1950 television episode featuring the Chicago Quiz Kids with guest host Milton Berle is preserved at The Paley Center for Media. Despite this archival material, television ratings never reached the loyal audience levels enjoyed by the radio version. The Quiz Kids served as inspiration for numerous quiz programs and helped popularize the phrase "Whiz Kids," which was later applied to the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies "Whiz Kids" team and members of the Kennedy Administration. Distinguished alumni include Nobel Prize-winning biologist James D. Watson, actor and dialect coach Robert Easton, renowned Hollywood acting instructor Roy London, producer Harve Bennett, poet Marilyn Hacker, Mayo Clinic Chief of Staff Richard Sedlack, and actress Vanessa Brown.
Later adaptations
Since the original broadcast, Quiz Kids has experienced six separate revivals:
- The Canadian-produced The New Quiz Kids was broadcast on the Global Television Network from 1978 to 1979, with Terry David Mulligan serving as host.
- In 1978, a weekly syndicated version named The New Quiz Kids was recorded in Boston for half a season, hosted by Jim McKrell.
- An American revival aired on CBS Cable from October 12, 1981, through December 15, 1982, featuring Norman Lear as host.
- The daily syndicated show The Quiz Kids Challenge, which pitted three children against three adults, ran from September 10 to December 28, 1990. It was hosted by Jonathan Prince, with Johnny Gilbert as announcer.
- Bay Area Quiz Kids is a high school quiz bowl program broadcast on San Francisco's KRON-TV.
- The Los Angeles CBS affiliate KNXT/KCBS-TV produced Kidquiz, hosted by weather presenter Maclovio Perez. This show aired for eight years between 1984 and 1992 before Saturday morning programming.
In Australia
An Australian adaptation of the American radio format launched on commercial radio in 1948. Beginning in 1952, John Dease hosted Quiz Kids on station 2GB, which aired Sunday evenings until 1962. The program enjoyed a brief television stint in 1957 on ATN-7 and GTV-9, before transitioning to ABC TV in 1964, thereby expanding its presence within the Australian market.
References
External links
- Articles with short description
- NBC game shows
- 1940s American radio programs
- 1950s American radio programs
- American radio game shows
- 1940s American children's game shows
- 1950s American children's game shows
- Student quiz television series
- Seven Network original programming
- Nine Network original programming
- 1957 Australian television series debuts
- 1957 Australian television series endings
- Black-and-white Australian television shows
- 1940s Australian game shows
- 1950s Australian game shows
- 1960s Australian game shows
- Television series based on radio series
- 1964 Australian television series debuts
- 1968 Australian television series endings
- NBC radio programs