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.