The Assignment
Assignment Steps
A. Watch the film Quiz Show. If you have seen the movie in the past, please watch it again so the
salient points are fresh in your mind. A link to the film can be found in the Canvas assignment.
B. Write your opinion paper by answering each of the following questions in paragraph form.
Do not repeat the question in your paper. Simply indicate the question you are answering
with a header such as “Question 1.”
Questions:
1. Do you believe NBC management was attempting to comply with the goal of a corporation to
maximize shareholder value or was this behavior contrary to the shareholders’ best
interest? Explain.
2. Do you believe that rigging the show to increase viewership is any different than what TV
executives do to increase viewership of any other of their programming (think about today’s
“reality” TV)? Explain.
3. Who, if any, do you believe were the victims of this fraud and what was the cost? Explain.
4. How did you feel when you found out that Herb Stempel was not in fact a genius but was
being given the answers?
5. What role do you believe government has in regulating entertainment for truth, fairness, or
honesty? Explain.
6. If someone offered you a large amount of money to be a contestant on a rigged TV show,
would you do it? Explain.
7. Summarize how you might have felt or behaved if you were president of NBC and this
rigging idea was presented to you as a business strategy
