From TV quizzes to game shows: the plot of play on television

How has play on TV changed over the 60 years that separate Lascia o raddoppia and Caduta libera, and what has changed in our involvement as viewers? In the golden age of quizzes, what mysterious virtues transformed a Mr Nobody into an instant hero of the cathode tube and an idol of the masses? What are the immutable personalities, objects and locations in the ceremony of the game on the small screen? Why was Mike Bongiorno the undisputed king of this ceremony? How can one reconcile the game and a sense of spectacle? Why does a competitor who wins fairly create a sensation, but someone who wins by cheating make even bigger waves? And what if it’s the authors who are cheating? Are there “legal” ways to fix a game? But above all: how do you create a good question? Tortorella uses a cross section of television history, from TV quizzes to game shows and a showreel of memorable footage, to tell the story of the most special of games: where one gets others to play.