“We’re gonna put television on trial.”
A celebrated academic steps into a television booth and discovers how easy it is to compromise. We continue the True Lies series with "Quiz Show," Robert Redford's examination of the 1950s scandal when NBC's Twenty-One was exposed for feeding contestants answers. The film captures a moment when quiz shows were pitched as inspiring educational programming while sponsors and executives rigged outcomes behind the scenes. Charles Van Doren came from an intellectual family, making his involvement particularly devastating when a lawyer begins investigating the fraud.
We dig into why this is the first film in the series where we genuinely sympathize with the protagonist—Van Doren's descent feels natural rather than desperate, enabled by institutional pressure rather than need. We track the emotional core through four father-son scenes between Charles and Mark Van Doren, examining Paul Scofield's devastating wordless moments. We argue about whether the film lets Van Doren off too easily or whether that discomfort is the point, and we explore how the executives at the top are the real villains, comfortable with lying while lower-level employees take the fall. The iconic isolation booth shot with its dolly-zoom effect becomes a visual metaphor for moral pressure closing in.
We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
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