''Americana'' is a weekly

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

which ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from December 8, 1947, to July 4, 1949.

Format and schedule

The quiz, whose slogan was "Your program about your country", involved five contestants (originally adults, changed to high school students by March 1949) answering viewer-submitted questions about

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

. A panel of three actors would perform short skits (with either one actor or more in each), after which the contestants would try to answer the questions. A set of the ''

Encyclopedia Americana ''Encyclopedia Americana'' is a general encyclopedia written in American English. It was the first major multivolume encyclopedia that was published in the United States. With ''Collier's Encyclopedia'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclo ...

'' went to the person who submitted "the most interesting question of the week". The 30-minute show aired Mondays at 8:10 pm ET in December 1947, at 8 pm ET from January 1948 into April 1948, at 8:30 ET from April 1948 through November 1948, and at 9:30 ET from December 1948 until its end. Firestone was a sponsor of the program.

Hosts

The series was originally hosted by literary critic

John Mason Brown John Mason Brown (July 3, 1900 – March 16, 1969) was an American drama critic and author.Van Gelder, Lawrence (March 17, 1969). "John Mason Brown, Critic, Dead." ''The New York Times'' Life Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he graduated from Harva ...

. On January 21, 1948, Brown was replaced by composer and musical critic

Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Ear ...

, who only hosted that show and the January 28 episode. On February 4 he was replaced by Ben Grauer, who was at the time recognized for hosting ''

Information Please ''Information Please'' is an American radio quiz show, created by Dan Golenpaul, which aired on NBC from May 17, 1938, to April 22, 1951. The title was the contemporary phrase used to request from telephone operators what was then called "info ...

'' on NBC Radio since 1938. In 1949, Vivian Ferrer joined Grauer as co-host, likely remaining with the series through its end.

Reception

A review of the program's initial episode in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described it as "a spirited and intelligent quiz show". Reviewer

Jack Gould John Ludlow Gould (February 5, 1914 – May 24, 1993) was an American journalist and critic, who wrote commentary about television. Early life and education Gould was born in New York City into a socially prominent family and attended the Loomi ...

commended host Brown and the members of the panel:

Millicent Fenwick Millicent Vernon Hammond Fenwick (February 25, 1910 – September 16, 1992) was an American fashion editor, politician and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she entered politic ...

of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' magazine, publisher

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

, book critic

Lewis Gannett Lewis Gannett is an American writer. He is the author of the books ''The Living One'', ''Magazine Beach'', ''The Siege'', and two ''Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called ...

, and 11-year-old Lind Nissen. Gould found what he called "minor defects" in some aspects of production, noting that those might easily be corrected for future episodes.

Episode status

''Americana'' was one of the first victims of

wiping Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

, a process that was continued by three of the four networks on the air at the time ( DuMont rarely disposed of any material) through the late 1970s. The March 14, 1949, episode is held by the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

. Michael Keane, Dan Roberts, and

Oscar Brand Oscar Brand (February 7, 1920 – September 30, 2016) was a Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter, radio host, and author. In his career, spanning 70 years, he composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Can ...

were the actors; Elliott Mendelson, Vivian Frost, Elizabeth Mulligan, Joan Moran, and Michael Drake were the contestants. Vivian Ferrer is not mentioned as co-host, implying that she had not been hired at this point. The surviving episode has been confirmed to be the second-oldest television game show episode known to exist, the oldest being from the mid-1947 game ''Party Line'' hosted by

Bert Parks Bert Parks (born Bertram Jacobson; December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979. Early life Parks was bor ...

(which is held on kinescope at the Library of Congress).

References

External links