 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2015) |
 1944 advertisement for Quiz Kids radio show | |
| Genre | Educational |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Home station | NBC |
| TV adaptations | NBC and CBS |
| Hosted by |
|
| Created by | Louis G. Cowan |
| Recording studio |
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| Original release | June 28, 1940 – September 27, 1956 |
| Sponsored by | Alka-Seltzer[1] |
Quiz Kids is a radio and TV series originally broadcast in the 1940s and 1950s. Created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan, and originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from Chicago, June 28, 1940, airing as a summer replacement show for Alec Templeton Time. It continued on radio for the next 13 years. On television, the show was seen on NBC and CBS from July 6, 1949, to July 5, 1953, with Joe Kelly as quizmaster,[2] and again from January 12 to September 27, 1956, with Clifton Fadiman as host.[3]
The premise of the original show involved Kelly asking questions sent in by listeners and researched by Eliza Hickok and Rachel Stevenson. Kelly often said that he was not an intellectual, and that he could not have answered any of the questions without knowing the answer from his flash card. The answers were supplied by a panel of five children, chosen for their high IQs, strong academic interests, and appealing personalities, as well as such qualities as poise, quickness, and sense of humor. One of the first Quiz Kids was seven-year-old nature expert Gerard Darrow. For the initial premiere panel he was joined by Mary Ann Anderson, Joan Bishop, George Van Dyke Tiers and Charles Schwartz.[citation needed]
Other Quiz Kids of 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, and math experts Joel Kupperman[4] and Richard Williams. Panelists rotated, with the three top scorers each week joined by two others the following week; they were no longer eligible to participate once they reached the age of 16.
- ^ Gardner, Martin A. Quiz Kids: The Radio Program with the Smartest Children in America, 1940–1953 p. 247
- ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 354. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946–1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 406–408. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
- ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 562. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 23 May 2021.