The TV Genius Who Was Handed Every Answer — And Fooled All of America

In 1957, a polite young college teacher won $129,000 on America's hottest quiz show, and millions believed he was the smartest man on television. Then a page torn from a notebook, a grand jury report sealed by a judge, and an envelope that had stayed sealed for two years started to tell a different story. Everything in this video comes from the record (some scenes are 3D reconstructions, marked on screen): the 1959 House hearings "Investigation of Television Quiz Shows", the contestants' sworn testimony, and the committee's own photostats. Chapters 0:00 Cold Open 1:12 The Booth 3:01 The Plateau 5:21 The New Champion 7:24 The Notebook 9:08 Under Oath 10:38 The Envelope 12:50 Two Words Sources and image credits: Investigation of Television Quiz Shows, House hearings, 86th Congress, 1959 (US government, public domain) Photos: Library of Congress, NY World-Telegram & Sun collection (no known restrictions); TV Radio Mirror, June 1957 (public domain); White House (public domain); Mathew Brady (public domain); Low Memorial Library photo by Indira Abiskaroon, CC BY-SA 4.0 Film: U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Signal Corps and WPA films via the National Archives Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors; Natural Earth (public domain) Stock footage: Pexels / Pixabay. Sound effects: Freesound (CC0). Music samples: VSCO 2 CE (CC0)