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Quiz Show

Quiz Show

History · Drama · 1994

Herbert Stempel's transformation into an unexpected television personality unfolds as he secures victory on the cherished American game show, 'Twenty-One.' However, when the show introduces the highly skilled contestant Charles Van Doren to replace Stempel, it compels Stempel to let out his frustrations and call out the show as rigged. Lawyer Richard Goodwin steps in and attempts to uncover the orchestrated deception behind the scenes.

Movie details

Quiz Show

“Fifty million people watched, but no one saw a thing.”

1994 History · Drama 2h 13m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.5 / 10

76.5K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

97 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

92 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Herbert Stempel's transformation into an unexpected television personality unfolds as he secures victory on the cherished American game show, 'Twenty-One.' However, when the show introduces the highly skilled contestant Charles Van Doren to replace Stempel, it compels Stempel to let out his frustrations and call out the show as rigged. Lawyer Richard Goodwin steps in and attempts to uncover the orchestrated deception behind the scenes.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Quiz Show?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Redford

Written by

Paul Attanasio

John Turturro

John Turturro

Herb Stempel

Rob Morrow

Rob Morrow

Dick Goodwin

Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Fiennes

Charles Van Doren

Paul Scofield

Paul Scofield

Mark Van Doren

David Paymer

David Paymer

Dan Enright

Hank Azaria

Hank Azaria

Albert Freedman

Christopher McDonald

Christopher McDonald

Jack Barry

Court is in session

Put Quiz Show on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.