''What's the Story'' is an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

panel show A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

broadcast 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 ...

from July 25, 1951, to September 23, 1955, and aired in eleven different timeslots.Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1964). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. . Originally hosted by Walter Raney, he was replaced in September 1951 by

Walter Kiernan Walter J. Kiernan (January 25, 1902 – January 8, 1978) was an American radio, television, and print journalist and author, as well as television game show host during the early days of the medium. Career Walter Kiernan began his career as a jou ...

, who hosted until June 20, 1953.

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (wi ...

took over from the following week until sometime in the Fall, when John McCaffery took the reins through the show’s end in 1955. The series is most notable for being the last regular series to air on the DuMont network, after the game show '' Have a Heart'' (ended June 14, 1955) and '' It's Alec Templeton Time'' (ended August 26, 1955). After the finale of ''What's the Story'' on September 23, DuMont aired only a few sporting events and ceased broadcasting altogether with the final broadcast of ''

Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena ''Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena'' was an American sports program originally broadcast on NBC from 1946 to 1948, and later on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network from 1954 to 1956. Broadcast history Before having their own program, boxing ...

'' on August 6, 1956.

Gameplay

A panel of well-known newspaper

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

s and/or other celebrities were asked to try to identify famous events from clues given by the moderator and his assistants.McNeil, Alex. ''Total Television''. Fourth Edition. New York: Penguin Books. . Among the regular panelists were Robert Sullivan of the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'',

Jimmy Cannon Jimmy Cannon (April 10, 1909 – December 5, 1973) was a sports journalist inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame for his coverage of the sport. Early career Born in New York City, Cannon started at the New York Daily News when he ...

of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', and Harriet Van Horne of the ''

New York World-Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

''. Sullivan later co-hosted the DuMont series '' Meet the Boss'' (1952–53).

Episode status

Although many DuMont shows survive at 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 ...

, the

Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City, New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, ...

, and Chicago’s

Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum, the stated mission of which is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain through our archi ...

, there are no copies of ''What’s the Story'' at any of these archives.Ingram, C. (2002)
"The DuMont Television Network Historical Web Site"
Retrieved January 22, 2007. Only one episode is known to exist, and is held in the J. Fred MacDonald collection at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. This episode (from January 14, 1954) features McCaffery, network founder

Allen B. DuMont Allen Balcom DuMont, also spelled Du Mont, (January 29, 1901 – November 14, 1965) was an American electronics engineer, scientist and invention, inventor best known for improvements to the cathode ray tube in 1931 for use in television receive ...

, and television pioneer

Thomas T. Goldsmith Thomas Toliver Goldsmith Jr. (January 9, 1910 – March 5, 2009) was an American television pioneer, the co-inventor of the cathode-ray tube amusement device, and a professor of physics at Furman University. Biography Goldsmith was born in G ...

discussing the future of

color television Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...

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

* {{IMDb title, id=0043245, title=What's the Story
DuMont historical website
1951 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings 1950s American game shows Black-and-white American television shows DuMont Television Network original programming English-language television shows

Gameplay

Episode status

See also

References

Bibliography

External links