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Information Please by
Martin Grams Information Please, the popular radio quiz program that played experts for fall guys, was capital, dependable, adult radio fun for more than a decade (1938 – 1952). The fast-cracking experts – John Kieran, omniscient sports columnist for the New York Times; Franklin Pierce Adams, New York Post columnist; Oscar Levant, composer, pianist, gag-stacked Broadwayfarer – were acknowledged by listeners as the most knowing of know-it-alls. Master of Ceremonies Clifton Fadiman was famous for beating the experts to the pun while he picked the questions submitted each week by listeners. Information Please spawned a short-lived series of film shorts (1940-1943), a summer-run television program (1952), at least two card games, and the long-running Information Please Almanac. --Documentary on the making of the broadcasts, and background production. --Sponsor and Cast contracts are reprinted. --Day-by-day information about the 1945 Information Please European Tour. --Chapter documenting the history of the 18 RKO Information Please Shorts (1939-1942). --Chapter documenting the short-lived 1952 television series. --Chapter documenting the radio program's involvement with the Information Please Almanac. --A complete episode guide listing each and every radio broadcast, television broadcast and movie short. DID YOU KNOW...? T he Hepburn-Tracy movie "Woman of the Year" featured a scene in which Information Please was being broadcast over a radio in a bar? One of the eighteen Information Please shorts had to be thrown away and never released because the guest expert on that film referred to Clifton Fadiman in another name! Martin Grams, Jr. is the author and co-author of numerous books about Old-Time Radio and Old-Time Television, including The Have Gun – Will Travel Companion (2007), The History of the Cavalcade of America (1999), The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion (2007), Radio Drama: American Programs (2007), Invitation to Learning (2007), Suspense: Twenty Years of Thrills and Chills (1998), The Sound of Detection: Ellery Queen’s Adventures in Radio (2007), Inner Sanctum Mysteries: Behind the Creaking Door (2003), The CBS Radio Mystery Theater: An Episode Guide and Handbook (1999), and more magazine articles than could possibly be counted. To the average fan of Old-Time Radio, Mr. Grams is no stranger and his many of his books come to mind at the sound of his name. His publications have even been acknowledged by Leonard Maltin (Entertainment Tonight) and Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth (by letter via Royal Mail). Mr. Grams has already gained access to the private collections of Dan Golenpaul, the creator of the Information Please series, including other definitive sources that will provide superb historical documentation. List Price: |
