We're sad to learn that famed quiz show contestant, Herbert Stempel, passed away on April 7, 2020 at the age of 93. Stempel rose to prominence in the 1950s as a contestant on the quiz show Twenty-One. According to Stempel, producer Dan Enright choreographed the quiz show experience by crafting Stempel's "nerdy" persona and his look, and by secretly providing Stempel with the answers to specific quiz questions. Stempel stated that he was promised a job on the show and other benefits to purposely lose to contestant Charles Van Doren, and when those promises were not kept, he approached the authorities and helped ignite what became known as the Quiz Show Scandals. Ultimately, Stempel returned to private life, working for the New York transportation system.
June 1: You better BEE-lieve it: Sam Bee on The Daily Show, launching Full Frontal, and more (interview with links to full oral interview).
We were very excited to sit down with host/comedian Samantha Bee in New York City in October, 2019. American audiences likely first met Bee as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart when she joined the cast in 2003 and made an indelible mark, whether it was interviewing gay penguins or a self-coined "homonausic" candidate for Congress. After leaving the show in 2015, she developed Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, a weekly comedy show with a unique, biting perspective that only Bee can deliver. You can watch her full two-hour interview here.
We also reached out to Bee in May, 2020, to get an update on how she has been coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is still shooting her show weekly, from her backyard:
