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Hosts
Tom Howard (1949–1951)
Joe Flynn (1973–1974)
Announcers
Dick Stark (1949)
Ray Morgan (1951)
Jay Stewart (1973–1974)
Broadcast
It pays to be ignorant 1949-show
It Pays to Be Ignorant
Mutual Radio (Weekly): 6/25/1942 – 2/28/1944
CBS Radio (Weekly): 2/25/1944 – 9/27/1950
CBS Primetime: 6/6/1949 – 9/19/1949
NBC Radio (Weekly): 7/4/1951 – 9/26/1951
NBC Primetime: 7/5/1951 – 9/27/1951
Nologo
Syndication (Weekly): 9/10/1973 – 9/1974
Packagers
Tom Howard Productions (1949–1951)
Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions (1973–1974)
Distributor (1973–1974)
Worldvision Enterprises

It Pays to Be Ignorant was a panel game show played more for laughs than prizes. While it ran for over eight years on radio, its television adaptations were not as fortunate.

Premise[]

Questions were chosen from the "Dunce Cap" and a panel of celebrities responded with ridiculous answers, jokes and gags. Their goal was to make it impossible for a sensible answer to be heard.

Trade Ads[]

Rating[]

72px-TV-PG icon svg

Music[]

Both versions had lyrics to their theme songs, although they confuse ignorance with stupidity (which may or may not have been the point).

1942 – Dr. Nat Novic and His Orchestra
1949 – Tom Howard and His Orchestra

Lyrics
One day when I was walking down the avenue,
I met a funny fella with a funny point of view.

He didn't have a brain cell working in his head,
But he was very happy, and this is what he said:

It pays to be ignorant,
To be dumb, to be dense, to be ignorant,
It pays to be ignorant just like me.

It's best not to know too much,
Be a dope, your I.Q. shouldn't show too much,
Your brain shouldn't grow too much - wait and see.

Verse 1
I took my girl to dinner. We had a wonderful feed.
They had to give my girl the check, because I couldn't read. So you see...

Verse 2
When I was just a schoolkid, I wasn't awfully bright,
I had a pretty teacher who made me stay in each night. So you see...

It pays to be ignorant,
Have no brain, be inane, just be ignorant,
It pays to be ignorant just like me.

1973 – Stan Worth, Sheldon Allman, Marilyn Doreen Hall

Lyrics
It pays to be ignorant,
It's smart to play dumb,
It's great when you show the world,
You're ridiculous as they come,
It's fun when you demonstrate,
How much you don't know,
They'll think you're a featherweight,
What a wonderful way to go,
If you're ignorant, your's a threat to no one,
If you're a dummy, you'll get by,
If you're not equipped with all your marbles,
Pretty soon you'll know why,
It pays to be ignorant,
It's smart to play dumb,
It's great when you show the world,
You're ridiculous as they come.

Inventors[]

Bob & Ruth Howard

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