10th year anniversary of Information Please

John Keiran's wife writes about him

Rare Kieren, Adams shots/Information Please

First "straight on" shot I have seen of John Kieren (left) or Adams (right)

Love baseball? Try Information Please

Do you enjoy very hard trivia?  I'll be honest with you, I don't. 

Information Please is very hard trivia with an amazing twist -- it's fabulously entertaining!

It is so because of the care-freeness of the game and the participants involved.  It all starts with Clifton Fadiman, who is sharp as a tack intellectually and his humor is sly and first rate. 

For instance, if you enjoy baseball (and it must be said that I love baseball!) you can find out many little tidbits on most every show.  I thought of this show because today the baseball season starts in the Major Leagues.

John Kieren is the resident sports expert on the show and knows a pitcher named Doc Pruitt "owned" Babe Ruth, striking him out a ridiculous 11 of 13 times he faced him.  He also shared the fat that Pruitt was left-handed and became a full-time dentist after his playing days. 

Kieren will also let you know that Casey Stengel got his first name because he was born in Kansas City (K.C.)

But it's not just baseball that gets the trivia treatment.  Science, politics, religion, geography, music, literature and even original limericks make the rounds.

The show is ripe with ingenious puns.  For instance, Fadiman asked the panel to name footwear in lines of literature.  Franklin P. Adams, who was a fixture on the show since the beginning, quipped, "These are the times that try men's souls."

Believe it or not, for a stuffy quiz show, the participants and the quizmaster yuk it up quite a bit - and this is the charm of the show.  Very few of us know the specifics of Shakepeare backwards and forwards or who made the final out in the 1922 World Series.  While you get a myriad of impossible-to-answer questions, you also get to hear four very scholarly men (and an occasional lady) sing barbershop quartet style;  the fact is that they can't sing -- which makes it even more fun.

Another fun feature of the show is that often the fourth part of the panel will be a Hollywood actor or actress.  Orson Welles and Boris Karloff are among the participants who find themselves looking rather brilliant but others did not fare so well or only answered questions about films, plays, popular tunes  or vaudeville.

Oscar Levant is one of the funniest ad-libbers out there and a genius when it comes to music.  It's hard to describe Levant, he must be heard to be appreciated.

This is the second time I have written to beckon you to Information Please.  I do this once again to let you know that you are missing a lot of fun.



©Jimbo 2010/2011

Again - more Information Please

It says above that John Kieran is 47 years old.  I always thought he was 65-70.

Clifton Fadiman

I'll say it AGAIN, these guys were as FUNNY as they were BRILLIANT

Not pictured was Clifton Fadiman, who wasn't funny but was brilliant, witty and 'punny.'  Levant was the funniest of them all and a bright musician.

One of the best: Information Please

Information Please is a panel quiz show made up of 4 celebrities contestants.  Three of the panel were usually Franklin P. Adams (a newspaper columnist and writer of verse), John Kieran (another newspaper columnist and writer of books) and Oscar Levant (a composer, pianist and actor.)  Generally, the fourth spot would be held for an actor or actress but sometimes a noted author or newspaper columnist would wind up there.

Clifton Fadiman

The host was Clifton Fadiman a book editor and noted intellectual.  I dare say his wit was more clever and sly than any known game show host since or before.

While this crew sounds as if it were dryer than the desert, just the opposite is true.  While each had their own strength in the intelligence department, each was also very witty.  And this is a recipe for laughter -- intellectualism + cleverness.  Not a show goes by that I am not both amazed and also taken with laughter.

I'm usually surprised as well; for who knew the brilliance of Boris Karloff?   Karloff shows up as a guest now and again and wows you every time.

John Kieran

A young Orson Welles shows up and makes a monkey of the intellectuals; it seems he knows the answer to almost every question.

This goes on with almost the complete lot of guests - although it is obvious some are much brighter than others.

The questions are a bit high hat - a lot of Shakespeare questions and finish the quotation from books and plays and operas no one has ever heard of.  It really seems as though it would be boring - but I swear, nothing is further from the truth.

This is more than a quiz; the show is a spontaneous machine that makes me smile due to the panel's always-ready cleverness.  If you've never tried it before, give yourself a treat and try listening to this show.

Inside info on Information Please