Dr. I.Q.

Dr. I.Q. (aka Dr. I.Q., the Mental Banker and Doctor I.Q.) is a radio and television quiz program that ran from 1939 – 1959.

Dr. I.Q.
Also known asDoctor IQ
GenreGame show
Presented byJames McClain (NBC Radio; January–October 1954)
Lew Valentine (ABC Radio)
Jay Owen (November 1953–January 1954)
Tom Kennedy (1958–1959)
Narrated byBob Shepard (1953–1954)
Bill Ewing (1958–1959)
Country of originUnited States
Production
Production locationsVarious locations throughout the United States (1939–1950)
Elysee Theater, New York City (1953–1954)
ABC Television Center, Studio D, Los Angeles (1958–1959)
Release
Original networkNBC (Radio)
ABC (Radio; 1953–1954, 1958–1959)
Original releaseApril 10, 1939 (1939-04-10) –
March 23, 1959 (1959-03-23)

Background

A "trial run" of Dr. I.Q. was staged at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, to test whether the program's format might be viable for radio. Allen C. Anthony, the program's announcer, said in 1961, "Overflow crowds at the Fox convinced producers that the Dr. I.Q. Show would go. When the 'I have a lady in the balcony, doctor' caught on, we knew we had it."[1]

Radio

Over decades, the program's sponsors were Mars Candy, the Vick Chemical Company and Embassy Cigarettes. The radio series did not have a set studio. Instead, it traveled from city to city and broadcast from large concert halls and theaters.[2]

The quizmaster, Dr. I.Q., delivered silver dollars to audience members who correctly answered his fast-paced questions. The series began April 10, 1939, on NBC's Blue Network with singer-announcer Lew Valentine as Dr. I.Q. Later quizmasters in the role of Dr. I.Q. were Jimmy McClain and Stanley Vainrib. The radio version aired until November 29, 1950 on the NBC and ABC networks. Valentine and McClain were also the hosts of Dr. I.Q. Jr., a juvenile version heard on NBC from 1941 to 1949.[3]

Television

The television version ran on ABC from November 4, 1953, to October 17, 1954, and again from December 15, 1958 to March 23, 1959. The first host was Jay Owen. However, beginning January 18, 1954, McClain began hosting again.[4] Tom Kennedy hosted the 1958–59 version.[5]

On January 18, 1954, Hazel Bishop cosmetics became a sponsor of the program.[6]

Episode status

Only one episode is known to exist of the 1953-54 version, and it is with McClain as host. Four episodes exist with Kennedy (including a probable pilot taped on October 15, 1958) along with a pilot for a television version of Dr. I.Q. Jr.[7]

References
  1. Barker, Eddie (June 7, 1961). "'I Have a Lady in the Balcony' Caught On and They Were In". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 5. Retrieved November 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Dunning, John (1998). "Dr. I.Q., the Mental Banker". On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 204–205. ISBN 9780195076783. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  3. Dunning, John (1998). "Dr. I.Q. Jr.". On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 205. ISBN 9780195076783. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  4. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 370. ISBN 9780307483201. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  5. Baber, David (2015). Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. McFarland. p. 131. ISBN 9781476604800. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  6. "Network Sponsor Activity" (PDF). Ross Reports on Television. January 4, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  7. "Doctor IQ" at the UCLA Film and Television Archive

Sources
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