A topical reference in "The $99,000 Answer" [1/28/56] - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TV Knowledge Fan · 05-26-2006, 04:30 PM

RALPH:...and for your information, a 12 year old kid walked in on one of these programs, WALKED IN, and answered a $16,000 question. Twelve years old she was! Stands to reason, ME, a grown man- I must be able to answer the same kinds of questions, that a 12 year old KID can answer!
ALICE: (daring him) Spell "antidisestablishmentarianism"!
RALPH: (stalling) I'll spell it...I'll spell it!!
ALICE: (somewhat smug) Well...go ahead.
RALPH: (exploding) I'll spell it when you give me $16,000 DOLLARS for spelling it!!!
ALICE: $16,000 for spelling it? I'll give you $32,000 if you can SAY it!!!!!

The "12 year old kid" was GLORIA LOCKERMAN, who was the youngest contestant to appear on "THE $64,000 QUESTION" in August of 1955.
Her category was "Spelling Bee". She appeared three weeks in a row, and won $16,000 before stopping and taking her winnings home. Her brief fame as
one of the youngest contestants to win that much money on the program,
led to her appearance on "THE MARTHA RAYE SHOW" [NBC, 9/20/55], with fellow guest star Tallulah Bankhead (as a FAIRY!!), in a satire concerning Martha trying to compete on a "big money" quiz program. I only know this from reading the script {by Ed Simmons & Norman Lear} in a paperback anthology- whether that show exists is something that, unfortunately, even I don't know. But now you know what Leonard Stern & Sydney Zelinka were referring to in their "Honeymooners" script.

W.B. · 05-27-2006, 12:10 PM

Interesting. However, the only case of a kid of that age range winning anything on The $64,000 Question was cited in The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows - 1946-Present by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, quoted herein:

Quote:

The biggest winner on The $64,000 Question, however, was young Robert Strom, an 11-year-old genius who amassed $192,000 during a period when, in order to hold onto its audience amid the competing shows, three new plateaus were added to The $64,000 Question making the maximum possible winnings $256,000. Strom's total quiz-show winnings, $224,000 including money won on other shows, made him the second biggest winner of the big-money quiz show era. Only Teddy Nadler's $252,000 on The $64,000 Challenge was higher.

Apparently, based on what was just mentioned, Robert Strom wasn't the only one . . .

05-26-2006, 04:30 PM	#1
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	A topical reference in "The $99,000 Answer" [1/28/56] RALPH:...and for your information, a 12 year old kid walked in on one of these programs, WALKED IN, and answered a $16,000 question. Twelve years old she was! Stands to reason, ME, a grown man- I must be able to answer the same kinds of questions, that a 12 year old KID can answer! ALICE: (daring him) Spell "antidisestablishmentarianism"! RALPH: (stalling) I'll spell it...I'll spell it!! ALICE: (somewhat smug) Well...go ahead. RALPH: (exploding) I'll spell it when you give me $16,000 DOLLARS for spelling it!!! ALICE: $16,000 for spelling it? I'll give you $32,000 if you can SAY it!!!!! The "12 year old kid" was GLORIA LOCKERMAN, who was the youngest contestant to appear on "THE $64,000 QUESTION" in August of 1955. Her category was "Spelling Bee". She appeared three weeks in a row, and won $16,000 before stopping and taking her winnings home. Her brief fame as one of the youngest contestants to win that much money on the program, led to her appearance on "THE MARTHA RAYE SHOW" [NBC, 9/20/55], with fellow guest star Tallulah Bankhead (as a FAIRY!!), in a satire concerning Martha trying to compete on a "big money" quiz program. I only know this from reading the script {by Ed Simmons & Norman Lear} in a paperback anthology- whether that show exists is something that, unfortunately, even I don't know. But now you know what Leonard Stern & Sydney Zelinka were referring to in their "Honeymooners" script.