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Panel regulars included writer, actor and pianist Oscar Levant ( 1906 – 1972 ) and newspaper columnists and renowned wits and intellectuals Franklin P. Adams ( 1881 – 1960 ) and John Kieran ( 1892 – 1981 ). All the panelists were well-versed in a wide range of topics, though each had a specialty. Music questions were often addressed to Mr. Levant ; Mr. Adams was well known for his mastery of Poetry and Shakespeare , and Mr. Kieran was an expert in Languages and Botany . A typical question would have three or four parts, and would require the panelists to get a majority of the questions right, lest they lose the prize money. The show would always have a fourth guest panelist, usually either a celebrity, a politician, a writer or a journalist. Frequent guest panelists included Jan Struther , author of the Mrs. Miniver books, Rex Stout , and Deems Taylor . The show was as much a comedy as a quiz show. The panelists displayed a quick wit in answering the questions, reveling in puns and malapropisms. Due to the spontanteous nature of the program, it became the first show for which NBC allowed a prerecorded repeat for the West Coast . During WWII the show frequently went on tours from its New York City base to promote the buying of war bonds. Instead of the usual cash prize, a question writer would win a bond. The show received several awards as an outstanding radio quiz show. In 1947 , Golenpaul created a reference book called the Information Please Almanac . ''Information Please!'' briefly returned in Show''. Messrs Fadiman , Adams and Kieran were back in their usual seats, along with two guest celebrities, but that turned out to be the venerable program's last moment of glory. In 1998 the website Infoplease emerged and has since provided information on a large scale to its visitors. The website features Daily Almanac, Top Tens, Polls, Quizzes and crosswords. It also features a search engine which combines encyclopedias, dictionaries and an atlas to provide the most correct and valid information. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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