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Series / Strike It Rich

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Game Show that aired on radio and television from 1947 through 1958. People in desperate need of money were given $30 to wager on four questions. If a contestant did not win any money, the "Heart Line" was opened for home viewers to call and make donations.

While popular enough to last a combined ten years, Strike it Rich remains as one of the most controversial game shows of all time. The premise of giving aid to people in need seemed wholesome, but its most vocal detractors have called it exploitation for the sake of viewership. TV Guide even called it "a despicable travesty on the very nature of charity".

Not to be confused with the game show primarily named Strike It Lucky, which was also titled Strike It Rich for some years.


This show provides examples of:

  • Consolation Prize: Zig-Zagged. Contestants who finished with no money collected donations from the "Heart Line". This depended on the generosity of the home viewers.
  • Evil Debt Collector: Some contestants have had encounters with these, often with the threat of their homes being foreclosed.
  • Game Show Host: Todd Russell for the first year on radio. Warren Hull then took over, hosting for the remainder of its run on radio and the entirety of the two television versions.
  • Healthcare Motivation: One of the reasons contestants appeared on the show was to pay off bills for a medical treatment, usually for a child.
  • Home Game: One was released in 1956 with host Warren Hull on the cover.
  • Kick the Dog: Hull would sometimes be needlessly sarcastic to the contestants.
  • Product Placement: Colgate-Palmolive and Luden's Cough Drops had a huge stake in this show.
  • Sadist Show: To the point where it put Queen for a Day to shame at its worst. Each contestant had a sob story and was made a spectacle on national television.
  • Sound-to-Screen Adaptation: After four years on radio, a television version began and ran concurrently. Both were cancelled within a week of each other in late 1957/early 1958.
  • Worst News Judgment Ever: The show itself would be subject to one. The last episode aired January 3, 1958 by which time Herbert Stempel had been trying for over a year to prove 21 was fixed to no avail. Strike it Rich's daytime replacement, Dotto, would go onto launch the quiz show scandal investigations that August. Strike it Rich, despite all its baggage, avoided the scrutiny of the scandals.


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