Of the 10 or fewer episodes that survive, this particular episode featured a rare videotape of the show - with FM high-quality audio - so this really gives you the experience of watching the show live - complete with filmed commercials. All of these shows have already been posted, but this version has been fully 'gamma-corrected' and audio 'sweetened'.
Queen for a Day was an American radio and television game show that helped to usher in American listeners' and viewers' fascination with big-prize giveaway shows. Queen for a Day originated on the Mutual Radio Network on April 30, 1945, in New York City before moving to Los Angeles a few months later and ran until 1957. The show then ran on NBC Television from 1956 to 1960 and on ABC Television from 1960 to 1964.
The show became popular enough that NBC increased its running time from 30 to 45 minutes to sell more commercials, at a then-premium rate of $4,000 per minute.
Format
The show opened with host Jack Bailey asking the audience-mostly women-"Would YOU like to be Queen for a day?" After this, the contestants were introduced and interviewed, one at a time, with commercials and fashion commentary interspersed in between.
Each contestant was asked to talk about the recent financial and emotional hard times she had been through. The interview would climax with Bailey asking the contestant what she needed most and why she wanted to win the title of Queen for a Day. Often the request was for medical care or therapeutic equipment to help a chronically ill child or might be for a hearing aid, a new washing machine, or a refrigerator. Many women broke down sobbing as they described their plights.
The winning contestant was selected by the audience using an applause meter; the harsher the contestant's situation, the likelier the studio audience was to ring the applause meter's highest level. The winner, to the musical accompaniment of "Pomp and Circumstance", would be draped in a sable-trimmed red velvet robe, given a glittering jeweled crown to wear, placed on a velvet-upholstered throne, and handed a dozen long-stemmed roses to hold while her list of prizes was announced.
The prizes began with the help the woman had requested and included a variety of extras, many of which were donated by sponsoring companies, such as a vacation trip, a night on the town with her husband, silver-plated flatware, an array of kitchen appliances, or a selection of fashion clothing. The losing contestants were each given smaller prizes.
Bailey's trademark sign-off was: "This is Jack Bailey, wishing we could make every woman a queen, for every single day!"
Broadcast history
Radio
Ken Murray hosted the original radio version of the show on the Mutual-Don Lee Radio Network. When the series began, in New York City on April 30, 1945, it was titled Queen for Today. A few months later, the show moved to Hollywood and acquired the more familiar title Queen for a Day[3] with Jack Bailey, a former vaudeville musician, and World's Fair barker, as host. The show aired five days a week during the daytime. Bailey stayed on as host as Queen for a Day jumped from radio to television. With the addition of a visual component, the fashion aspect of the show expanded and each episode featured three to five young women modeling the upscale apparel that would be given away to contestants. Other visual stunts, such as a circus-themed episode featuring ponies and clowns from Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, helped bring the show into the television era. Through all of these changes, however, Bailey remained the interviewer who, over and over again, brought the contestants-and the live female audience-to tears. The first televised episode, a rebroadcast of an earlier radio episode, featured Pearl Stevens of Claremont, California.
Live remote broadcasts and unscripted interviews added to the show's believability. One of the show's telecast locations was the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, renamed the Moulin Rouge in 1953. During each episode, the cameras panned over the audience as the women waved and cheered.
From 1948 through 1955, the show was simulcast on radio and television. Both versions aired locally in the Los Angeles market on the Don Lee network.
NBC picked up the show for national broadcast from January 3, 1956 to September 2, 1960, and aired it live across the nation (1:30 PST in Los Angeles and 4:30 EST in New York). It proved to be very popular and Bailey and the program were featured on the cover of TV Guide for the week of June 22-28, 1957.
ABC broadcast the series nationally from September 5, 1960, until the end of the run on October 2, 1964.
11 сен 2024