PROFITABLE POSERS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 463, 7 May 1948, Page 14

PROFITABLE POSERS

~ Commercial Service's Big Show

UNEDIN does not take the new and strange to its bosom with abandon, welcoming and capacious for orthodox things though that bosom might be. So it made a cautious approach to the ZB stations’ big quiz, Posers, Penalties and Profits. Some of those who attended the first presentation in New Zealand of this half-hour. show, adapted from the American Truth or Consequences, wore a look gf sceptical wonderment./ How, they asked each other, could manufacturing concerns afford to give away valuable products and what did they get out of it? Others went along simply to be entertained but with the hope that they would leave with not a little profit to themselves. But by the time the last prize had been won, many had been converted to the gospel of animated entertainment not unflavoured with the doctrine of modern advertising. They had half-an-hour’s fun (as our photographs show) and took away articles amounting in value to about £350. Listeners to all Commercial stations had. heard the preliminary announce‘ments, but had been given but the barest details as to what it was all about. And ‘so theatre patrons shook the raindrops off their coats and hats and trooped into the stalls and circle to see a short news film and ponder over what was coming. A curtain’ dropped over the picture screen and spotlights picked out the prizes. With a whoop, one of Station 4ZB’s staff, immaculate’ in white tie and tails, galloped on to the stage to introduce the compere, Selwyn Toogood. Three Tries-No Losses. The prizes, the audierice was told, were there to be given away for nothing -or practically nothing, depending ‘on

the way you looked at it. As the prizes were limited in number (it was only a half-hour show) there could be only a limited number of contestants, and these had been selected from the group of applicants. Some of the questions were hard, others extraordinarily simple. If the contestants missed in their first attempt they would have a_ second chance, and if they missed that, the paying of a penalty would bring a prize anyway. Once on the stage there was no chance of leaving it empty-handed. Displayed to excite the emotions of people who like something for nothingand that means everybody-were goods ranging from a massive — radio-gramo-phone and a suite of bedroom furniture to nylon stockings (or silk if they were preferred), golf and tennis balls by the dozen, a vacuum cleaner, a water-heater, a concrete-mixer, a travelling bag, sets of lingerie, wristlet watches, shirts, a case of tinned pineapples, several pounds worth of art.union tickets and a 10Ib. box of chocolates. In half-an-hour, with the exception of one article, the stage had been cleared of the merchants’ bounty and the picture programme was resumed. The prize not won, it was announced, would go on to the next show. Where's the Catch? As soon as the session got under way, neighbour nudged neighbour, asking "What's the catch?" They saw for themselves there was no catch, except that though radio uses "audience participation" in many. of its shows, all the. audience could not participate in this case. Obviously, there could not be enough prizes to go all round. Listeners by their. firesides later in the evening heard a recording of the quiz and murmured, "Wish I’d had a go," particularly when they bs 2 that it was just an adaptation of the homely (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) old parlour game of Truth or Consequences which American radio has built up in the last few years. During the prize-giving céremonies an eyebrow or two were raised .in disapproval when the compere apologised for the bad weather-but dropped again when he,’ realising the risk he ran from a crack with the flat of a claymoresoftened the gibe by saying he had probably brought the rain from Wellington, It was a sticky moment but rapidly forgotten in the excitement of seeing so much going for so little. Put at Their Ease Many people had applied for inclusion in the quiz but only eight or so could be selected. These hopefuls were interviewed by the compere during the afternoon. They were asked their occupations, whether they were married or single .and if they would agree to co-operate and make it an evening’s fun. They were assured that nobody’s dignity would be made to suffer unduly in the cause of publicity and that whatever happened there would be prizes for all. But there was no’ hint of what questions would be asked or what penalties might be exacted. While no one was asked to tax his general knowledge very far beyond the line of duty, one unfortunate drew a question as to the nature of the Pragmatic Sanction. Another couldn’t remember the famous cry of the French Revolution. A common word with three sets of double letters in succession was elusive and the ‘naming of the five oceans actually drew a blank. Other questions were: Who was New Zealand’s first woman Member of Parliament? What are the gaits of a horse in their correct order? Give the name of a famous Greek who was monarch of Egypt. Who is Mrs. George Montgomery in professional life? (though

the compere hummed_ snatches of "Dinah," nobody guessed Dinah Shore). Naming of the colours of the spectrum in their proper order was easy meat for one competitor, but when it came to giving the colour associated with the words skin, paint, cross and tape, the | answer "red". was missing, though the compere went out of his way to assist by an, occasional hint and gave ample time for cogitation. Penalty-A Dive The penalties were taken in good part, even ito a dash for the municipal baths to drag a fish out of the deep water, a young couple’s re-enactment of their marriage proposal and an Irishman’s version of how, if he was Mayor, he would welcome Mr. De Valera to Dunedin. At the end of the halfhour, .the box of chocolates was still glinting on its stand. The audience was invited to try for it-the first person on the stage to be the winner. The rush was over in seconds and by then patrons were convinced that their earlier suspicions had been unjustified. , Next day Pasers, Penalties and Profits was table talk all over New Zealand. The Listener has been told by the Com- mercial Division of the NZBS that applications for the remaining shows have reached such figures that the lists have to be closed. The quiz has yet to be presented at the Majestic Theatre, Wellington, on Thursday, May 13, and the Regent Theatre, Palmerston North, on Thursday, May 20. It had already reached Christchurch when we went to press and it will make return trips to Dunedin. on May 27; the Regent Theatre, Christchurch, on June 3; Majestic Theatre, Auckland, on June 10; and the Majestic Theatre, Wellingtoh, on June.17. It will be recorded and broadcast by all the Commercial stations and 2ZA at 9 o'clock on each evening of performance. i