Among the spate of quiz shows population the TV airwaves in the 50s, one stood head and shoulders above all others. The $64,000 Question was—as the name suggested—a high stakes game that allowed members of the public to get their 15 minutes of fame (except that phrase hadn’t been coined yet) and win a lot of money doing. Contestants came from all walks of life: some of the winners included a housewife, a police officer, a horse jockey, an 11-year old smarty pants—excuse me, whiz kid—and bizarrely enough, Dr. Joyce Brothers. Scandal would eventually take down the quiz shows but for a time, The $64,000 Question reigned supreme.

The show was adapted from a radio quiz game The $64 Question, revamped and polished for the relatively new medium of television. Each contestant declared expertise with a particular subject and they racked up money by answering questions correctly in the relevant category. After a correct answer, the contestant advanced to the next level that had even tougher questions. Should any of them actually reach the pinnacle $64,000 round, they could bring a professional expert to help out.  To increase the theatricality of the spectacle, contestants were shut into a soundproof booth during the higher levels of the game all the better to concentrate away from the susurrations of the audience who had probably never seen $64,000 in one place before.

The contestants answered one question per show and if they advanced to the next round, they returned for next weeks show. That ensured a steady stream of contestants, successful or not,  competing at various levels of difficulty. The easiest questions were only worth a dollar and consolation prizes increased in value as a contestant reached higher and higher.

When the quiz show scandal broke in 1958, all such shows were tainted whether or not there was evidence of cheating. No wrongdoing was ever proven in The $64,000 Question but it too suffered the same fate. But for a while, the quiz show kept studio and home audiences riveted and invited them to share the triumphs and failures of the contestants who were, after all, regular people you might meet at the store. Following a player’s ascent through the increasingly harder levels created a strong link with the audience who could sit at the edge of their seat at home and still feel the hot studio lights in that isolation booth. The same quiz show format has come into vogue again, a little more modern and with flashier production values, but the world is still riveted.