Gleason was such a fine actor. Catch his initial appearance on the game show. His stage fright and garbled words are hilarious. His second appearance, however, and he's all polished self-confidence. The quiz show The $64,000 Dollar Question took TV by storm in the summer of '55. Game shows to that point offered comparatively meager amounts, while prize money here seemed like a fortune. Apparently the producers didn't have much confidence, scheduling it as they did as a mere summer replacement. Boy, were they wrong. Also, the word "antidisestablishmentarianisms" is the longest word in the dictionary, and was spelled by an adolescent girl contestant, creating quite a popular stir, as indicated here.
Anyway, Ralph gets to act the big shot with his TV appearance, while Norton shows his piano playing skills following silly warm-ups. Alice has less to do than usual, except hope Ralph quits at the lowly but realistic $600 level. All in all, it's a laugh-filled reflection of the time.
Anyway, Ralph gets to act the big shot with his TV appearance, while Norton shows his piano playing skills following silly warm-ups. Alice has less to do than usual, except hope Ralph quits at the lowly but realistic $600 level. All in all, it's a laugh-filled reflection of the time.