Act 1: Paul Attanasio opens with his protagonist, Dick Goodwin, surveying an incredibly extravagant, desirable Mercedes with bright red paint. Goodwin carefully drinks in the car, noting that it is every man’s dream. Goodwin seems to be the epitome of the future of America: Bright, smart, handsome, young. He relishes this symbol of the American dream, while simultaneously criticizing the importance Americans have put on such an object: “I just think there’s something wrong about working so you can drive a car.” Goodwin graduated first in his class at Harvard, clearly a gifted thinker who could have any job on Wall Street he wants. He explains that he works for the government, and it is clear that Goodwin wants to make better use of his mind while he can, and make America the place he believes it could be. Goodwin quickly becomes someone the audience can identify with and root for throughout the course of the movie. Once the audience has agreed to take the journey with the protagonist, the radio of the Mercedes tells Goodwin, as well as the audience, that “all is not right with America.” And we quickly pan to “21”. Ironic, no?

Television has America wrapped around it’s finger in the 1950s, and “21” is in its heyday. With people running off of the subway to catch Herbie Stempel, “the man who knows everything” try his luck show after show, Attanasio makes it clear that everyone who has a television set is tuning in to “21”. While Stempel isn’t the most attractive person on television, the sheer amount of money and the excitement of the game make NBC’s “21” a hit with millions. The audience is introduced to Dan Enright and Albert Freedman, producers of the popular quiz show. These two men are ruthless from the beginning, proven when Enright notices that Stempel looks too comfortable, and subsequently turns off his air conditioning while in the isolation booth.

First Turning Point:Once the sponsor, Geritol, comments that the ratings are slipping and that audiences just don’t like Stempel any longer, Enright decides that he’s going to be off the show. All at once we realize that this man who America has grown to love and respect is on a television show that is overly produced, and therefore fixed. Whether or not Stempel is involved is yet unclear, but the audience immediately realizes that the producers of “21” are the “bad guys”.

Act Two:Act Two brings Charles Van Doren to the forefront. He is almost the exact opposite of Stempel. He is fresh, handsome, “WASPy”, and comes from a very prestigious family of famous intellectuals. Everyone knows who the Van Dorens are. When Freedman discovers Charles, he immediately brings him in to Enright to be on “21”. In order to get Stempel out, someone has to be beat him. Enright and Freedman see Van Doren as being the perfect poster child for “21”, but instead making a case to Van Doren that he will be the poster man for education itself. Fame, Fortune, and helping children’s yearning to learn, all while making a name for himself outside of his father’s fame? What could be better? When Enright asks Van Doren if he will be okay with being asked the same questions asked in the interview, he is immediately turned off. The audience quickly admires Van Doren for his strong morals, and finds the antagonist, Enright/”21”, to be

even more despicable. Stempel is then asked by Enright to take a dive on an incredibly easy question. Herbie agrees to go along with it for 96,000, a exorbitant amount of money, especially in the 1950s. After Herbie takes the dive, Van Doren still needs one more question to get to “21”, and it is one of the questions asked during the interview. At first, he is silently disconcerted and offended, but then answers the question correctly anyway. It’s official. Van Doren is America’s sweetheart, and Stempel is out of the picture, begrudgingly. At first, Van Doren feels guilty, chiding himself as he goes down the stairs after his first win. But then he convinces himself that he deserves wealth and fame as much as anyone else, and finally experiences life outside of his father’s shadow.

Goodwin, as a government worker on behalf of Congress, is out to “get television” when he discovers a story in the paper that catches his eye. Turns out, Congress has sealed a presentment. Goodwin knows that “it doesn’t make any sense for a judge to seal it.” Presentments are made to tell what the jury found out! Goodwin is on a mission ( a mission to do more than write speeches for the Kiwanis Club)! Goodwin just wants to get to the truth, even if he can’t say it in court, he wants to know it himself. This is an endearing quality, and the audience quickly goes along with their protagonist’s quest.

After some investigation, Goodwin finds out that Herbie had made a statement to the Congress regarding the dishonest inner workings of “21”. Goodwin seeks out Herbie, who then explains that the show was fixed. Goodwin seems to be on the right track, and corners Enright in his office. Enright manages to pull a fast one on both Enright and Stempel, taping a conversation that, out of context, makes Stempel look “manic” and insane. Enright goes even further to prove this by showing Goodwin bills from a psychiatrist he’s been paying to treat Herbie. Now Goodwin doesn’t know what to believe.

Second Turning Point:Upon further investigation, Goodwin watches old footage of “21”, particularly an episode featuring a Mr. Snodgrass. When he answers a question correctly, host Jack Barry begins to tell him that he’s wrong, does a double take, and then asks Mr. Snodgrass if he indeed gave the right answer, looks to the control booth, and then congratulates Mr. Snodgrass for getting the question correct. Goodwin can’t believe his eyes. He watches the footage over and over again, and finally realizes that he may have just got the lead he needed. We find out later that he met with Mr. Snodgrass, who happened to save a letter he mailed himself with the questions and answers, two whole days before the show was taped, Registered Mail. That’s some pretty concrete evidence. Now Goodwin has more fuel in his engine than ever.

Act Three:Under the constant scrutiny of Goodwin, as well as the mainstream media centering on the investigation of NBC and “21”, Van Doren decides to take a dive, unbeknownst to Enright or Freedman. Goodwin tells Enright of his finding with Snodgrass, and lets him know that he may never work for NBC again, so he might as well save himself by turning them in along side him. Goodwin was never out to get to contestants of “21”, but rather NBC and Television itself. Even though Van Doren has saved himself from the clutches

of “21”’s promise of fame and fortune, NBC offers him a regular spot on the Today Show, and he signs the deal. Once again, Van Doren belongs to NBC. Goodwin meets with Charlie in a final attempt to get the truth, but Van Doren can’t give it up. Goodwin makes it clear that he has no special affection for Charlie, but agrees to not make him testify, and advises Van Doren to stay quite. Goodwin doesn’t want to take down Van Doren, Stempel, or any contestant of “21”. He wants Enright and NBC. The big guns. If he can make a difference in the greatest phenomenon in America, television, then he will have made a huge contribution to the country, and feel validated.

After many proceedings and questionings, Stempel is viewed as a cheater, and Van Doren is violently shoved into the limelight because of Stempels accusations. The president of NBC asks him to proclaim his innocence. However, the honest, moral Van Doren we first met seems to creep up on himself, and he admits to his father what has been going on for the past year. Upon contemplation, he realizes that the only way to be truly set free is to tell the truth. At first, he is met with support and praise for being honest, but then another Congressman thanks him for his honesty, but claims that one should not be praised for simply telling the truth. The crowd in the courtroom cheers, and Van Doren knows that his once beloved self-image is now, and will forever be tarnished. He learns that not only has he been fired from NBC, but has been asked to resign from teaching at Columbia, which was his true passion all along. Devastated and distraught, Van Doren leaves the court, and Goodwin realizes that the only people who were hurt by this investigation were the contestants, especially Van Doren. NBC and Geritol were not brought down as he planned, and Enright went on to work in television again, ironically. Nobody wins. Goodwin, our protagonist, says it best when he realizes that he didn’t “get television.” Television got him, as well as the rest of America.