History Series / QueenForADay

-->'''Jack Bailey'''[='s=] opening catchphrase, possibly uttered whilst [[INeedAFreakingDrink under the influence]].

The show proved to be so popular that it got national television exposure on Creator/{{NBC}} from January 1956 to September 1960, then over the weekend moved to Creator/{{ABC}} and continued until October 1964. When the show moved to NBC, The Raymond R. Morgan Company also signed on as a production company and co-produced the first two seasons until 1958, after which John Masterson resumed sole production and formed the dummy company Queen for a Day, Inc. to hold the show's copyright. Two {{Revival}} attempts, a 1969-70 syndicated run helmed by Dick Curtis and produced and distributed by {{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metromedia Metromedia]] Producers Corporation, and a 2004 Creator/{{Lifetime}} one-off hosted by Mo'Nique and produced by The Gurin Company, both ended in failure.

The show proved to be so popular that it got national television exposure on Creator/{{NBC}} from January 1956 to September 1960, then over the weekend moved to Creator/{{ABC}} and continued until October 1964. When the show moved to NBC, The Raymond R. Morgan Company also signed on as a production company and co-produced the first two seasons until 1958, after which John Masterson resumed sole production and formed the dummy company Queen for a Day, Inc. to hold the show's copyright. Two {{Revival}} attempts, a 1969-70 syndicated run helmed by Dick Curtis and produced and distributed by Metromedia Producers Corporation, and a 2004 Creator/{{Lifetime}} one-off hosted by Mo'Nique and produced by The Gurin Company, both ended in failure.

Debuting on the radio on April 30, 1945 as ''Queen for Today'' on the Mutual Broadcasting System with Ken Murray as host and with John Masterson producing the show through his production company, John Masterson Productions, the show was originally broadcast from New York. A few months into the run, the show moved to Los Angeles and was given its more familiar title; Murray was replaced by Jack Bailey, and beginning in 1948 the show was simulcast on television in the local Los Angeles market through Creator/{{DuMont}} affiliate KTSL-TV[[note]]Later to be purchased by Creator/{{CBS}} and renamed KNXT-TV, and later still, KCBS-TV.[[/note]], whose owner, the Don Lee Network, also owned KHJ-AM, Mutual's Los Angeles affiliate.

* MonochromeCasting: Everybody is very, very white.

Debuting on the radio on April 30, 1945 as ''Queen for Today'' on the Mutual Broadcasting System with Ken Murray as host and with John Masterson producing the show through his production company, John Masterson Productions, the show was originally broadcast from New York. A few months into the run, the show moved to Los Angeles and was given its more familiar title; Murray was replaced by Jack Bailey, and beginning in 1948 the show was simulcast on television in the local Los Angeles market through Creator/{{DuMont}} affiliate KTSL-TV, whose owner, the Don Lee Network, also owned KHJ-AM, Mutual's Los Angeles affiliate.

Debuting on the radio on April 30, 1945 as ''Queen for Today'' on the Mutual Broadcasting System with Ken Murray as host and with John Masterson producing the show through his production company, John Masterson Productions, the show was originally broadcast from New York. A few months into the run, the show moved to Los Angeles and was given its more familiar title; Murray was replaced by Jack Bailey, and beginning in 1948 the show was simulcast on television in the local Los Angeles market through KTSL-TV, whose owner, Don Lee, also owned KHJ-AM, Mutual's Los Angeles affiliate.

* RealityEnsues: The contestants tend to be extremely sweet, but are a lot shyer and more awkward than you'd expect them to be, if you grew up associating [=50s=] and [=60s=] housewives with Series/MadMen[=-style=] advertising.

* RealityEnsues: The contestants tend to be extremely sweet, but are a lot shyer and more awkward than you'd expect them to be, if you grew up associating fifties housewives with Madmen-style advertising.

** LovelyAssistant: Several models handed the Queen her prizes. Among them were Barbara Lyon, Beverly Sassoon, Msxine Reeves, Darlene Stuart, and Dorene Georgeson. In addition, during the televised versions, there was the position of fashion commentator added. During the network runs, it was Jeanne Cagney, while in the syndicated run, it was Nancy Myers.

** The reason why "nothing" was used? Because there were a small number of contestants who lied to get onto the show, and were found out ''after'' their shows aired. Having rightly felt cheated, production reasoned that by stating that only the winner gets any prizes, the ladies had better not think about anything but playing it completely straight.

* [[ObfuscatingStupidity Obfuscating A Hangover]]: And if so, Jack Bailey is the best example of playing this trope straight in the history of broadcasting.

* MoneyDearBoy: Everybody, really, but the "expert" co-hosts most of all.

* TheShill: Jack Bailey and his co-hosts.

* SoundToScreenAdaptation: 1948 for the Los Angeles area, 1956 for the nation.

But opinions varied. While some praised ''Queen'' for helping the unfortunate and showcasing the generosity of America, both contemporary and modern critics bashed it for being a sickening spectacle for ratings that only gave anything helpful to the '''winner''' — basically a crass, trashy, exploitative RealityShow (long before the term existed) that explicitly played on people's misery.

Modern viewers have also noted that Bailey was often downright patronizing toward the contestants, if not openly insulting — while they talked about a myriad of unfortunate events such as losing their homes or suffering through terrible medical problems, he threw out sarcastic barbs and jokes at their expense. Thus, what was seen as wholesome back then comes off as downright creepy and sleazy today.

* AdultsAreUseless : The contestants of ill and disabled children clearly care about them, but are often in such a financially vulnerable position that they see appearing on a sadistic gameshow to be a legitimate solution to their problems.
* BittersweetEnding

* DeterminedWidow : Once per episode.
* FalseWidow: Contestants never talk about running away from abusive husbands to live with their family, or falling pregnant out of wedlock, or getting abandoned by (or abandoning) their husbands because the relationship wasn't emotionally or [[HideYourLesbians sexually ]] satisfying. But there are a lot of very brave widows.
* GoodIsOldFashioned
* HealthcareMotivation : Once per episode.
* HopeCrusher : The basic premise AND a great alternative title for the show

* LittlestCancerPatient : Not in a literal sense, of course, but contestants with very sick children in need of financing usually won.
* MonochromeCasting : Everybody is very, very white.
* MoneyDearBoy : Everybody, really, but the "expert" co-hosts most of all.
* MoodDissonance : After being crowned [[TitleDrop Queen for a Day]], the contestant was expected to sit on a throne and listen to a five minute in-show commercial about all the consumer items that she'd just won, while pretending to be really excited and thankful about the benefits of things like aluminium cookware and dog treats. You'd expect the queen to feel really excited and happy about winning, right ?? Well, no. Remember that the winners have usually just suffered significant personal tragedies and usually only appear on the show because they are in desperate need of help for their family, and they've just been put through this gruelling and humiliating ordeal on the vague hope they'd get the desired item. A lot of the time, the Queens are fighting off tears while sitting on the throne, and not tears of joy. That is, unless you define "tears of joy" as tears which are 5 percent joy, 40 percent relief at winning and 55 percent generalised sadness.

* ProductPlacement : the show spent about 15 minutes focusing on the contestants and 25 minutes selling various products.
* RealityEnsues : The contestants tend to be extremely sweet, but are a lot shyer and more awkward than you'd expect them to be, if you grew up associating fifties housewives with Madmen-style advertising.

* ShootTheShaggyDog : If this trope were a game show, this would be it.

Debuting on the radio on April 30, 1945 as ''Queen for Today'' on the Mutual Broadcasting System with Ken Murray as host and with John Masterson producing the show through his production company, John Masterson Productions, the show was originally broadcast from New York. A few months into the run, the show moved to Los Angeles and was given its more familiar title; Murray was replaced by Jack Bailey, and beginning in 1948 the show was simulcast on television in the local Los Angeles market through KTSL-TV, whose owner, Don Lee, also owned KHJ-AM, Mutual's West Coast flagship station.

The show proved to be so popular that it got national television exposure on Creator/{{NBC}} from January 1956 to September 1960, then over the weekend moved to Creator/{{ABC}} and continued until October 1964. When the show moved to NBC, The Raymond R. Morgan Company also signed on as a production company and co-produced the first two seasons until 1958, after which John Masterson resumed sole production and formed the dummy company Queen for a Day, Inc. to hold the show's copyright. Two {{Revival}} attempts, a 1969-70 syndicated run helmed by
Dick Curtis and produced and distributed by Metromedia Producers Corporation, and a 2004 Creator/{{Lifetime}} one-off hosted by Mo'Nique and produced by The Gurin Company, both ended in failure.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: In most of the circulating episodes, Jack Bailey looks and sounds like a man who had a few shots beforehand. It might also explain his great skill at being a {{Jerkass}}. Bailey was actually a member of UsefulNotes/AlcoholicsAnonymous while the show was in production.

The show proved to be so popular that it got national television exposure on Creator/{{NBC}} from January 1956 to September 1960, then over the weekend moved to Creator/{{ABC}} and continued until October 1964. When the show moved to NBC, The Raymond R. Morgan Company also signed on as a production company and co-produced the first two seasons until 1958, after which John Masterson resumed sole production and formed the dummy company Queen for a Day, Inc. to hold the show's copyright. Two {{Revival}} attempts, a 1969-70 syndicated run helmed by [[WesternAnimation/TheCattanoogaCats Dick "Motormouse" Curtis]] and produced and distributed by Metromedia Producers Corporation, and a 2004 Lifetime one-off hosted by Mo'nique and produced by The Gurin Company, both ended in failure.

** TheAnnouncer: Gene Baker on NBC, John Harlan on ABC.
** GameShowHost: Jack Bailey is the most recognizable.
** LovelyAssistant: Several models handed the Queen her prizes.

GameShow where four (sometimes five) women shared their stories of woe in front of an audience and emcee, such stories ranging from a dearly-departed husband to a son crippled with polio. After all the ladies finished, the audience would applaud for the woman they wanted to see become "Queen for a Day". The winner (determined by the famous [[ThingOMeter Applause Meter]]) received not only what she had originally asked for, but a slew of other prizes furnished by the show's sponsors. The show was created and executive produced by John Masterson, who would later enjoy greater success as the creator of ''Series/ThePeoplesCourt''. It was produced by John Masterson Productions alongside the Raymond R. Morgan Company from 1956-1958, and MCA Television from 1958-1964.

Debuting on April 30, 1945 as ''Queen for Today'' on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network with Ken Murray as host, the show was originally broadcast from New York. A few months into the run, the show moved to Los Angeles and was given its more familiar title; Murray was replaced by Jack Bailey, and beginning in 1948 the show was simulcast on television in the local Los Angeles market.

The show proved to be so popular that it got national television exposure on Creator/{{NBC}} from January 1956 to September 1960, then over the weekend moved to Creator/{{ABC}} and continued until October 1964. Two {{revival}} attempts, a 1969-70 syndicated run helmed by [[WesternAnimation/TheCattanoogaCats Dick "Motormouse" Curtis]] and a 2004 Lifetime one-off hosted by Mo'nique, both ended in failure.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: In most of the circulating episodes, Jack Bailey looks and sounds like a man who had a few shots beforehand. It might also explain his great skill at being a {{Jerkass}}.

* MonochromeCasting : Everybody is very, very white

* SofterAndLighter: Could be seen as a lighter and softer version of a reality show. The premise might be pretty unsettling in itself, but the audience (if not the host) seemed to genuinely want to see the contestants happy, and the show is very subtle and indirect when it subjects its participants to public humiliation. Nobody is putting anybody's head in a fishtank full of spiders.
* TheShill : Jack Bailey and his co-hosts

* CondescendingCompassion: Guess who. This series could be called "Condescending Compassion: The Game Show"
* Cutekitten: or puppy.

* StepfordSmiler and StepfordSuburbia: Played straight in the commercial hosting sections, averted like crazy in the sections with the contestants, to the point that - if it wasn't a gameshow featuring real people - you'd consider it a deconstruction. The women are very polite, sweet and well-groomed 50s surburban housewife-types who spend a lot of time smiling out of politeness. But the contestants are clearly real human beings with complex inner lives and mixed emotional reactions to being on the show.

* TrustMeImAnX : There was a vet who would regularly appear in order to shill pet food.
* TheWoobie : You won't be allowed to compete unless you fit this trope.

* MoodDissonance : After being crowned [[TitleDrop Queen for a Day]], the contestant was expected to sit on a throne and listen to a five minute in-show commercial about all the consumer items that she'd just won, while pretending to be really excited and thankful about the benefits of things like aluminium cookware and dog treats. You'd expect the queen to feel really excited and happy about winning, right ?? Well, no. Remember that the winners have usually just suffered significant personal tragedies and usually only appear on the show because they are in desperate need of help for their family, and they've just been put through this gruelling and humiliating ordeal on the vague hope they'd get the desired item. A lot of the time, the Queens are fighting off tears while sitting on the throne, and not tears of joy. That is, unless you define "tears of joy" as tears which are 5 percent joy, 40 percent relief at winning and 55 percent general sadness distress.

* StigmaticPregnancyEuphemism: Maybe. But there were a surprising number of young widows with a single child on the show.

* TrustMeImAnX : There was a vet who would regularly appear in order to shill pet food
* ValuesDissonance: There are about as many lesbians, references to premarital sex

* RealityEnsues : The contestants tend to be extremely sweet, but are a lot shyer and more awkward than you'd expect them to be, if you grew up associating fifties housewives with Madmen-style advertising.
* StepfordSmiler and StepfordSuburbia: Played straight in the commercial hosting sections, averted like crazy in the sections with the contestants, to the point that - if it wasn't a gameshow featuring real people - you'd consider it a deconstruction. The women are very polite, sweet and well-groomed 50s surburban housewife-types who spend a lot of time smiling out of politeness. But the contestants are clearly real human beings with complex inner lives and mixed emotional reactions to being on the show.

* [[IllGirl Ill Boy or Girl]]: At least once per episode. Ill boys seemed to have a very slight advantage.

* StepfordSmiler and StepfordSuburbia: Played straight in the commercial hosting sections, averted like crazy in the sections with the contestants. The women are very polite, sweet and well-groomed 50s surburban housewife-types who spend a lot of time smiling out of politeness. But the contestants clearly are clearly real human beings with complex inner lives and mixed emotional reactions to their situation.

* MoodDissonance : After being crowned [[TitleDrop Queen for a Day]], the contestant was expected to sit on a throne and listen to a five minute in-show commercial about all the consumer items that she'd just won, while pretending to be really excited and thankful about the benefits of things like aluminium cookware and dog treats. You'd expect the queen to feel really excited and happy about winning, right ?? Well, no. Remember that the winners have usually just suffered significant personal tragedies and usually only appear on the show because they are in desperate need of help for their family, and they've just been put through this gruelling and humiliating ordeal on the vague hope they'd get the desired item. A lot of the time, the Queens are fighting off tears while sitting on the throne, and not tears of joy, either.

* LongRunner: Nineteen. And a half. Freaking. Years. In daytime. Five days a week. Most of it helmed by someone who looked and acted quite like an alcoholic, but could've simply been...

GameShow where four (sometimes five) women shared their stories of woe in front of an audience and emcee, such stories ranging from a dearly-departed husband to a son crippled with polio. After all the ladies finished, the audience would applaud for the woman they wanted to see become "Queen for a Day". The winner (determined by the famous [[ThingOMeter Applause Meter]]) received not only what she had originally asked for, but a slew of other prizes furnished by the show's sponsors. The show was created and executive produced by John Masterson, who would later enjoy greater success as the creator of ''Series/ThePeoplesCourt''. It was produced by John Masterson Productions alongside The Raymond R. Morgan Company from 1956-1958, and MCA Television from 1958-1964.

GameShow where four (sometimes five) women shared their stories of woe in front of an audience and emcee, such stories ranging from a dearly-departed husband to a son crippled with polio. After all the ladies finished, the audience would applaud for the woman they wanted to see become "Queen for a Day". The winner (determined by the famous [[ThingOMeter Applause Meter]]) received not only what she had originally asked for, but a slew of other prizes furnished by the show's sponsors. The show was created and produced by John Masterson, who would later enjoy greater success as the creator of ''Series/ThePeoplesCourt''.

Debuting on April 30, 1945 as ''Queen for Today'' on the Mutual radio network with Ken Murray as host, the show was originally broadcast from New York. A few months into the run, the show moved to Los Angeles and was given its more familiar title; Murray was replaced by Jack Bailey, and beginning in 1948 the show was simulcast on television in the local Los Angeles market.