Twenty One (game show)
| Twenty One | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Jack Barry Dan Enright Robert Noah |
| Presented by |
Jack Barry (1956–1958) Monty Hall (Summer 1958) Maury Povich (2000) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Location(s) |
NBC Studios New York, New York (1956–1958) NBC Studios Burbank, California (2000) |
| Running time | approx. 22–26 minutes (1956–1958) approx. 44 minutes (2000) |
| Production company(s) |
Jack Barry-Dan Enright Productions (1956–1958) The Fred Silverman Company (2000) The Gurin Company (2000) NBC Studios (2000) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
NBC PAX |
| Original release | September 12, 1956 – October 16, 1958 (original version) January 9, 2000 – May 28, 2000 (newer Maury Povich version) |
Twenty One is an American game show originally hosted by Jack Barry which aired on NBC from 1956 to 1958. Produced by Jack Barry-Dan Enright Productions, the program became notorious for being a rigged quiz show which nearly caused the demise of the entire genre in the wake of United States Senate investigations. The 1994 movie Quiz Show is based on these events. A new version aired in 2000 with Maury Povich hosting, lasting about four months, again on NBC.
Two contestants, typically a returning champion and a challenger, entered separate isolation booths and donned pairs of headphones. Due to the arrangement of the booths and the studio lighting, the contestants could not see or hear each other or the audience. At any given moment during the game, one booth would be "open," meaning that the occupant could hear the host in the headphones and be heard by him through the booth's microphone. The other booth would be "closed," with its microphone disabled and the headphones playing music so that the occupant could not hear the game.
The game was played in rounds, with Barry announcing the category for each round as it was dispensed from a machine on his podium; there were over 100 possible categories. The challenger played first in each round, with their booth open and the champion's closed, and selected the point value (1 to 11) they wanted to attempt. Higher-value questions were more difficult, and questions often had several parts. If the challenger answered correctly, the points were added to their score; a miss subtracted the points, but the score could never go below zero. The challenger's booth was then closed and the champion's opened so they could take a turn. Barry did not tell either contestant about the other's score or performance.
The goal was to earn a total of 21 points. If the challenger reached this score first, their booth was left open to hear the champion's turn, but they were cautioned not to speak or give away any information. Barry did not tell the champion that the challenger had already reached 21. If the champion failed to match that score, the challenger won. The champion won by reaching 21 first on their own turn. If a round ended in a 21–21 tie, the scores were erased and a new game was played. Contestants were given extra time to think on any question that would bring them up to 21.
...
Wikipedia