''Charade Quiz'' was an American

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 ...

hosted by Bill Slater which aired on the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET from November 27, 1947,Wesley Hyatt's book ''Emmy Award Winning Nighttime Television Shows, 1948-2004'' says, "DuMont unveiled ''Charade Quiz'' ... on December 4, 1947." to June 23, 1949.

Overview

In this 30-minute program, viewers requested to see something performed by panelists through

charades Charades (, ). is a parlor game, parlor or party game, party word game, word guessing game. Originally, the game was a dramatic form of literary charades: a single person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the w ...

. If the panelists failed to perform the stunt, the viewer received $15. Episodes featured "a regular slate of actors with a panel of four trying to guess what they were pantomiming." The program originated from the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

in New York.

Personnel

Bill Slater was the program's master of ceremonies. Victor Keppler was the producer, and Henry Alexander was the director. A review in the trade publication ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' observed: "Slater's handling of the question-master's role was assured and good humored. The small troupe of youngsters who acted out the problems did an adequate job." Charles Polacheck and Victor Keppler produced the program. Henry Alexander was the director, and Frank Bunetta was the technical director. Beginning in July 1948, Whelan Drug Stores sponsored the program.

Reception

A review 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 ...

'' in March 1948 called the program "a diverting half hour", although the quality varied from week to week with different actors and different people trying to guess what was being pantomimed. 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 Loomis ...

also felt that Slater demonstrated "a certain smugness which is not particularly appealing".

Episode status

Owing to DuMont's network practices, at least some episodes of ''Charade Quiz'' were held by the network until the dumping of its archive in the 1970s. No episodes are known to exist.

Notes

References

Bibliography

*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach t ...

, 2004) *Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

, 1964)

External links

*
DuMont historical website
1947 American television series debuts 1949 American television series endings 1940s American game shows DuMont Television Network original programming Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Lost television shows {{US-game-show-stub