In the 1950s, a series of accusations of popular quiz shows being rigged incited the American population and the press. The scandals involved producers and contestants of Twenty-One, Dotto, The Big Surprise andTic-Tac-Dough. In 1956 the quiz showTwenty-One aired on NBC to very low ratings. The show sponsors were unhappy, and producers started rigging the shows to make them interesting. Producers would feed contestants answers, give them categories they were familiar with, or tell them to intentionally answer a question incorrectly.Twenty-One contestant, Herb Stempel, went to the press with allegations of cheating but was ignored until another contestant accusedDotto of rigging in 1958.

The combined complaints were enough to initiate a New York County grand jury investigation. Several producers and contestants committed perjury in front of the grand jury to protect themselves. Charles Van Doren and Elfrida von Nordroff pleaded guilty to perjury and 12 other contestants were also arrested. There were no indictments, but the judge sealed the findings and testimony and aroused suspicion that corruption was involved, which attracted the attention of Congress. A formal congressional subcommittee investigation, headed by Joseph Stone, began in August 1959. Charles Van Doren and other contestants testified before Congress. Findings from the congressional hearings led to the amendment of the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the rigging of game shows.