''It Pays to Be Ignorant'' was a 1942–1951 radio comedy show which maintained its popularity during a nine-year run on three networks for such sponsors as Philip Morris,

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

, and DeSoto. The series was a spoof on the academic discourse on such authoritative panel series as ''

Quiz Kids ''Quiz Kids'' is a radio and TV series originally broadcast in the 1940s and 1950s. Created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan, and originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from Chic ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', while the beginning of the program parodied the popular quiz show '' Doctor I.Q.'' With announcers Ken Roberts and Dick Stark, the program was broadcast on Mutual from June 25, 1942 to February 28, 1944, on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from February 25, 1944 to September 27, 1950 and finally 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 July 4, 1951 to September 26, 1951. The series typically aired as a summer replacement.

Panelists

The satirical series featured "a board of experts who are dumber than you are and can prove it". The show's creator, Tom Howard, was also the quizmaster who asked questions of panelists Harry McNaughton,

Lulu McConnell Lulu McConnell (April 8, 1882 – October 9, 1962) was an American comic actress who performed in vaudeville, Broadway musicals, radio, and television. She was best known as a panelist on the comedic radio show ''It Pays to be Ignorant'', and for ...

and George Shelton. The Irish-born Howard (1885–1955) and Shelton (1885–1972) had previously worked together as a team in vaudeville and comedy film shorts, while McConnell (1882–1962) and British comic McNaughton (1896–1967) had both appeared in many

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical comedies and revues between 1920 and the late 1930s.

Q&A

Each episode would start with some jokes ("Do married men live longer than single men?"... "No, it only seems longer.") and an introduction of the experts. After this, three or four questions would be discussed in detail: some posed by Howard, some picked at random by a guest from the audience. These questions often had the answer obvious in the query ("What town in Massachusetts had the Boston Tea Party?") or were common knowledge: * "Can you tell me the man's name children look for on Christmas Eve?" * "How long does it take a ship to make a five-day journey?" * "What animal does a blacksmith make horse shoes for?" * "For what meal do we wear a dinner jacket?" * "What is the habitat of the Bengal tiger?" Even so, the panelists would inevitably get the answer wrong, providing outrageously funny answers instead, followed by an even more uproarious rationale for their answer, a conversation that goes off on a tangent, and/or insults at each other. The show had a number of running gags which became

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

s with listeners such as McNaughton's "Now we're back to Miss McConnell again" and Shelton's "I used to woik in that town."

Television

The original radio cast brought the show to television. It was first seen on

from June 6 to September 19, 1949. After two years, the series returned on

from July 5 to September 27, 1951; by this point, Howard (who appeared in this version in an elaborate

cap and gown Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assum ...

outfit) did not acknowledge that the 1949 episodes ever happened (a surviving episode from the 1951 run implied that the show had never appeared on television before). A spoof of this version was done in the mid-1950s by

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

. The series was revived by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions as a weekly syndicated series from September 10, 1973 to September, 1974. In this version, host Joe Flynn queried panelists

Jo Anne Worley Jo Anne Worley (born September 6, 1937) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. Worley is widely known for her work on the comedy-variety show ...

, Billy Baxter and

Charles Nelson Reilly Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

(Worley and Reilly appeared concurrently as semi-regulars on the TV show ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...

''; Reilly became a regular panelist on that show by the time ''It Pays to Be Ignorant'' ended this run). Not long after this version discontinued production, Flynn died from drowning in his swimming pool.

Episode status

At least 69 radio episodes are known to exist. These include those listed below and three 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 ...

. One 1951 television episode and two syndicated TV episodes are known to exist; the latter two are held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Further, two films also exist at the Library of Congress in the J. Fred and Leslie W. MacDonald Collection: a CBS kinescope from 1949, and an NBC installment from June 14, 1951 with all the DeSoto automobile commercials

Listen to

OTR Network: ''It Pays to Be Ignorant'' (17 episodes from 1944-1951 episodes)Internet Archive: ''It Pays to Be Ignorant'' (31 episodes from 1943-1951, 4 episodes with unknown dates)Ignorant: ''It Pays to Be Ignorant'' (70 episodes from 1943-1951, 4 episodes with unknown dates)
* 65 episodes.

Watch

Internet Archive: ''It Pays to Be Ignorant'' (lone known surviving 1951 episode)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:It Pays To Be Ignorant 1942 radio programme debuts 1951 radio programme endings Radio programs adapted into television shows 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs 1949 American television series debuts 1949 American television series endings 1951 American television series debuts 1951 American television series endings 1973 American television series debuts 1974 American television series endings American panel games American radio game shows 1940s American comedy game shows 1950s American comedy game shows 1970s American comedy game shows American comedy radio programs CBS Radio programs Mutual Broadcasting System programs CBS original programming NBC original programming Television series by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions NBC radio programs