Each contestant began his or her quest for fortune and fame by answering a question in an area of expertise for $64. Each subsequent correct answer doubled their prize money up to the $4,000 level. After this stage, contestants could advance only one level per week and were asked increasingly elaborate and difficult questions. They were allowed to quit the quiz at any level-and keep their winnings-but missing a question always eliminated the contestant. Nevertheless, contestants were guaranteed the $4,000 from the first round, and, if they missed a question after having reached the $8,000 level, they received an additional consolation prize-a new Cadillac. At this level, candidates were also moved from the studio floor to the "Revlon Isolation Booth," a shift designed to intensify the dramatic effects at the higher levels of the quiz.

Besides its use of such spectacular features, the appeal of The $64,000 Question was also strongly grounded in the audience's identification with returning contestants. Thus, many of the early competitors were transformed from "common people" into instant superstars. Policeman Redmond O'Hanlon, a Shakespeare expert, and shoemaker Gino Prato, an opera fan, are among the noted examples. The popularity of these and other contestants proved the viability of "the serialized contest," a concept that The $64,000 Question and many imitators (such as Twenty-One and The Big Surprise) followed.

     Because of the immense success of The $64,000 Question (at one  point  in  the 1955 season  it  had an 84.8 percent audience share), CBS and Cowan created a spin-off, The $64,000 Challenge. This program allowed those contestants from The $64,000 Question who had won at least $8,000 to continue their quiz show career. The format was changed into a more overt contest; two candidates competed against each other in a common area of expertise. As a minimum prize, contestants were guaranteed the amount at which  they  beat  their  opponents.  Additionally,  the $64,000 limit on winnings was removed, making the contests even longer and more spectacular.

     The combination of these two shows allowed the most successful candidates to become virtual television regulars, as in the case of Teddy Nadler, who had accumulated $252,000 by the time The $64,000 Challenge was canceled. These programs held top rating spots until Twenty-One found a format and a contestant, Charles Van Doren, audiences found even more appealing.

     The need for regular contestants to appear over long periods of time, one of the central factors in the popularity of the big-prize game shows, also proved to be a central factor in their downfall with the quiz show scandal of 1958. The sponsors of the programs implicitly expected and sometimes explicitly demanded that popular contestants be supplied with answers in advance, enabling them to defeat unpopular competitors and remain on the show for extended periods. Although no allegations against Entertainment Productions, Inc., and CBS were ever substantiated, Erik Barnouw (1970) points out that their production personnel claimed that Revlon had frequently tried to influence the outcome of the quizzes. Ultimately, both shows were canceled because of public indignation and waning ratings in the wake of the scandals.

     One of the most significant results of the quiz show scandal and the involvement of sponsors in it was the shift in the power to program television. The scandal was used as an argument by the networks to eliminate completely sponsor-controlled programming in prime­ time broadcasting and to take control of program production themselves.