The game “What? Where? When? - one of the oldest on Russian television. The show was founded by TV presenter Vladimir Voroshilov back in the Soviet years. However, she still arouses great interest among viewers and has many fans and fans.
Family quiz and youth club
The first issue of the television game aired on September 4, 1975. This date is considered the day the program was founded. At first, the program took the form of a quiz, where two families competed in their knowledge. The episodes were filmed in the apartments of the participants, the game consisted of two rounds and 11 questions.
A year later, the quiz was transformed into a television youth club. The participants were no longer family teams, but students of Moscow State University. According to the rules, it was necessary to answer the questions without a minute of preparation. This should have been done by the participant to whom the top was pointing. It was in this form that the program gained great popularity among viewers, and if earlier questions were invented by Vladimir Voroshilov, now they were sent by fans. Bags of letters came to the editorial office of the program.
A year later, the rules of the game became even closer to those that exist today. The participants were united into teams, a minute of discussion appeared, the questions were selected with the help of a top. In 1977, a tradition was established to reward viewers for the best question in a game. In subsequent years, a musical pause appeared in the program, the participants began to be called connoisseurs, a prize was instituted in the form of a pendant for the best player - "the sign of an owl".
Significant rule changes
In 1982, a new rule was introduced: the game had to last up to 6 points, which are either connoisseurs or viewers gaining. From that moment on, the program finally acquired its current outlines. The "Crystal Owl" and a mysterious props - a black box - appear in the tournament. One of the most significant innovations occurred in 1991: money was used in the game for the first time. The club became known as the "Intellectual Casino", in which the host acted as a croupier. During this period, the game appeared "immortals" and the "zero" sector on the game table, and the participants began to come in tuxedos.
From the late seventies to 2000, its founder Vladimir Voroshilov was the permanent leader of the intellectual duel. From 2001 to the present day, the program is led by Boris Kryuk. Intellectual tournaments changed filming locations several times. So, from 1976 to 1982, they were held in the bar of the Ostankino television center. The next three years - in an old mansion on Herzen Street (Bolshaya Nikitskaya) in Moscow. From 1988 to 1989 - at the World Trade Center in Krasnaya Presnya. From 1990 to the present, the intellectual casino has been located in the Hunting Lodge in Neskuchny Garden.
