Know Your New York was an early American television game show . Broadcast on DuMont Television Network 's flagship station WABD in New York City, the series aired in 1947, broadcast at 8:45pm ET on Wednesdays. The 15-minute series was sponsored by Bonded Auto Sales, and was hosted by Don Roper, who was assisted by Evelyn Peterson. Although broadcast only on a single station, it is notable as an early example of a television game show. The show returned to the air in 1971, with Dennis James as host, and ran for one season from 1971 to 1972.

Format [ edit ]

In the episode broadcast on 20 November 1947, the names of several viewers who wrote in were plucked out of a bowl, and were each phoned for the answer to a question. The questions were based on slides on landmarks in New York, which were to be identified. Correct answers gave the winner $5; all contestants received a turkey whether they answered correctly or not. ^[1]

The Bonded U-Drive-It auto firm bought a 13-week sponsorship of "Know Your New York" in September 1947. ^[2]

Reception [ edit ]

Billboard magazine described the series as "low-budget", but also said that "none of the ideas in the program is essentially new, but they are well put together and run smoothly" and that "it is a watchable program and obviously tuned to the budget of the medium local sponsor". ^[3]

Episode status [ edit ]

Although examples of WABD's local shows are known to exist from as far back as 1948, such as Swing Into Sports and Photographic Horizons , none are known to exist from 1947. The series is most likely lost, and likely was never kinescoped in the first place, as kinescoping was still a very new technology.

The syndicated version likely exists, at least in part, in Dennis James's personal archives; James maintained copies of every show he ever hosted in the archive during his lifetime.

See also [ edit ]

• List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
• List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts

References [ edit ]

Bibliography [ edit ]

• David Weinstein, The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television (Philadelphia: Temple University Press , 2004) ISBN   1-59213-245-6
• Alex McNeil, Total Television , Fourth edition (New York: Penguin Books , 1980) ISBN   0-14-024916-8
• Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows , Third edition (New York: Ballantine Books , 1964) ISBN   0-345-31864-1

External links [ edit ]

• Know Your New York at IMDB