Information Please

Information, Please was a classic radio show that turned the tables on the experts by having the listeners ask them questions instead of vice versa as is usual. For its time it was unique and might have failed had not some wonderfully witty and downright funny and interesting experts been the mainstay of the show. Add to that special guests who ranged from such classic actors as Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff to comedians such as the ever popular Fred Allen rounding out the show. Martin Grams does his usual sterling job, with lots of interesting stuff to read, amking this more than just a straight out-and-out episode guide or a dry, dusty tome suitable for Old Time Radio researchers alone. Scattered liberally throughout the book are comical questions, answers and situations that happened during the show's 13 years on radio, such as when a noted Professor of Philosophy sent a question in. His many achievements and reputation being discussed by question master Clifton Fadiman at length prior to the question being asked, making the panel of experts extremely nervous! The question? 'What National League baseball team won the pennant only once?'!! A classic wind-up! As a matter of fact, I have only a couple of minor quibbles with Mr Grams' book: 1) In the index the guest 'Roosevelt, Jr., Theodore' appears after 'Root, Waverly' instead of before; 2) The book is waaay too short. At around 250 pages I'd have preferred more stories from either behind the scenes or in front of the microphone rather than the 30 pages of contracts between the companies, sponsors and experts. Okay, this was in an appendix, but 30 pages seems a bit excesssive, considering this is nearly an eighth of the book. Otherwise its a good book. Keep 'em coming, Mr Grams!