[music playing] WENDY WILLIAMS: The Pennsylvania Game is made possible in part by-- ANNOUNCER: By a grant from the Pennsylvania Public Television Network.

The network receives funding from the Commonwealth to provide public television for all Pennsylvanians.

WENDY WILLIAMS: Now let's get the game started.

Here's the host of The Pennsylvania Game, Scott Bruce.

[audience cheering] Yes, love these people.

Thank you so much for joining us again here in the studio.

Thank you viewers at home for tuning in to another exciting episode of The Pennsylvania Game, the show that is all about Pennsylvania where you important things like the fact that we have all four seasonshere in Pennsylvania.

We have winter, we have still winter, we have almost winter, and we have construction.

[laughter] Let's not waste time.

Let's meet our panelists for today.

This is going to be fun.

Starting right off in the hot seat, our first panelist is Editor, Director of Communications for the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association in Harrisburg.

Among other things he's responsible for the monthly publication Penn Lines, a rural interest magazine that reaches 200,000 plus homes and businesses.

Say hello to Perry Stambaugh.

[audience clapping] Also joining us is Nancy Ryan, a native of West Virginia, a 20 year radio broadcasting veteran.

She can be heard mornings on country music station RBT Radio in Harrisburg, better known as Bob.

Please say hello to the lovely Nancy Ryan.

[audience clapping] Chris Moore is a regular on The Pennsylvania Game.

He comes to us from Pittsburgh where he's a radio and TV producer with WQED.

Please put your hands together for Chris Moore.

[audience cheering] If you could have been with us in the green room, you would have found out just how fun these panelists are.

Let's find out right now on the show.

Let's play the game.

WENDY WILLIAMS: In the 1920s, Bob Hoffman started the York Oil Burner Company, but his passion for something else made York Pennsylvania the American capital of what?

A, weightlifting, B, hot air ballooning, C, micro-brewing, or D, organic farming.

SCOTT BRUCE: York, Pennsylvania, what is it?

Is it weightlifting, hot air ballooning, micro-brewing, or organic farming?

Perry, we'll check with you first.

Punch in, please.

And what's your answer?

Weightlifting.

SCOTT BRUCE: Weightlifting.

You're going with A, weightlifting.

I think you might know something here.

Let's find out what Nancy thinks.

And you chose what?

Weightlifting.

SCOTT BRUCE: Weightlifting as well, A.

We have two As.

Is it possible we could make this a clean sweep, Chris Moore?

It certainly as I punched in A before it came up so-- SCOTT BRUCE: Yo, it's three As, you know what that means on our show.

When we all have the same answers we each win a Pennsylvania lottery ticket pass it down, your chance to win $1,000 a week for life.

And is it possible that the correct answer is weightlifting?

WENDY WILLIAMS: The answer is A, weightlifting.

York is home of the York Barbell Company and the Weightlifting Hall of Fame, and for 50 years was known as muscle town USA.

Bob Hoffman, who exercised by lifting weights, started manufacturing barbells at his oil burner company.

He discovered an eager market not only for weightlifting but also for health and fitness products.

Before long the so-called "father of world weightlifting" was attracting athletes and bodybuilders from around the world.

By the 1950s, athletes everywhere used York's cast iron barbells, Hoffman coached US Olympic teams, published strength magazines, and sponsored Americans at worldwide weightlifting events.

In its heyday, York Barbell sponsored some of the most successful weightlifters in the world.

Yeah, I don't think there's anyone in the State of Pennsylvania that hasn't driven by that guy, turning around on top of the building.

During the 1980s, York Barbell's prestige diminished as Hoffman turned his attention to softball products, and continued to decline after he died in 1985.

Today York Barbell is the only US manufacturer of the traditional free-weight plate.

So, once again, tune in, learn something.

Let's learn something new.

WENDY WILLIAMS: A taxi collision in 1943 changed Florence Foster Jenkins in a remarkable way.

The Pennsylvania heiress was so delighted with the side effects of her accident that she waived legal action against the taxi company, presented the cab driver with a box of imported cigars, and launched a new career.

Did Florence Foster Jenkins become, A, a faith healer, B, a psychic, C, an opera singer, or D, a ventriloquist.

SCOTT BRUCE: Florence Foster Jenkins, the name sounds like it could fit any of these, doesn't it?

Did she become a faith healer, a psychic, an opera singer, or a ventriloquist?

Nancy, we'll go to you first.

OK. OK. SCOTT BRUCE: And your answer is?

You went with opera singer.

You think that taxi caused that.

NANCY RYAN: Could have.

Yeah.

She wouldn't be-- she probably didn't sing on your country station I'm guessing.

No.

Chris, what do you think?

Who knows?

Opera singer, right?

I never heard of Ms Jenkins.

SCOTT BRUCE: You never heard of her?

She never got to be a famous opera singer, that's for sure.

SCOTT BRUCE: What did you guess?

I guess C. SCOTT BRUCE: You guessed C. So we have two opera singers.

Now you're just playing for lottery tickets.

I'm going for the lottery ticket.

I understand.

Perry, what do you think?

Absolutely no clue but I'm going with ventriloquist.

SCOTT BRUCE: Ventriloquist, just to keep things exciting.

I like that.

That's the kind of quirky thing we might do on this show.

Let's find out if it's the quirky thing we do.

WENDY WILLIAMS: The answer is C, an opera singer.

A taxi collision left Florence Foster Jenkins capable of hitting a higher F than she ever managed before.

The unusual career of this Pennsylvania heiress was for many years a joke among music critics.

A newsweek review noted, quote, "In high notes Mrs. Jenkins sounds as if she were afflicted with a low nagging back ache."

But even in her '70s, the portly matron had regular singing engagements in salons from Philadelphia to Newport.

In October 1944, Florence Foster Jenkins who was universally hailed as the world's worst opera singer somehow managed to sing before a packed Carnegie Hall.

[audience clapping] Did I catch that right, she actually hit a higher F than she had ever hit before?

Is that what they said?

My god.

And we know how painful that can be, don't we, audience?

All right, enough of that foolishness.

Let's meet with the panel a little bit more, shall we?

Perry Stambaugh, as a rural-- rural-- I'd like to buy a vowel-- as a rural editor, you travel to some pretty out of the way places to cover a story.

I'd like to know what do you think is the most out of the way place you found in Pennsylvania.

Well, one time I was doing an article on how the animal rights movement was affecting the fur farmers in Pennsylvania.

And I was out in a farm in Venango County, very rural area of the state.

And went up to the farm door to meet the farmer and go out and get some pictures and talk to him.

And usually when you go to a farm you meet farm dogs or farm cats, well, in this case a door opened up and there was a bobcat staring me right in the face.

And this was this man's pet bobcat.

I'd say that's rural enough right there.

It is pretty rural, I can say.

Yeah.

I don't think I'm going with you on any of your calls.

Let's run down to Nancy.

Nancy, it says here that you're a newlywed.

Yes.

SCOTT BRUCE: That's very exciting.

You have three Boston terrier puppies, which I assume didn't-- wasn't a cause of the wedding.

And that you love fast cars.

In fact, we have a note that says your father says you were born to shift.

So tell us, what's your driving record like?

It's pretty good actually.

I never seem to get caught.

And I only got caught in a number of years ago, and I still remember his name, Trooper Bush and Neuville.

SCOTT BRUCE: How many police officers who are watching right now going to be looking for you?

Let's find out.

Chris Moore, so good to have you back, Chris.

What's new?

I understand you have a new project coming up.

What's that?

Yes, I'm working on a project with Penn State University that's going to get better prizes for this show.

[laughter] [audience clapping] You have my vote right now.

All right, that's enough of that.

Let's go ahead and move on to a new question.

WENDY WILLIAMS: Fred Rogers, creator and host of the longest running children's TV program, was honored by TV Guide as one of the 50 greatest television stars of all time.

Also an ordained Presbyterian minister, which of the following facts is not true?

A, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood originated in Canada.

B, Fred Rogers has his own star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

C, Fred Rogers is a vegetarian.

Or D, Fred Rogers appeared as himself in the 1998 movie Flubber.

SCOTT BRUCE: Hmm, there you go.

Which of these facts is not true about Fred Rogers?

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood originated in Canada, A.

(SINGING) O Canada Very nice.

Fred Rogers has his own star on the Hollywood walk of fame, Fred Rogers is a vegetarian, or Fred Rogers appeared as himself in the 1998 movie Flubber.

Again, which one of these is not true?

We're going to start with Chris who I think might have a bit of an advantage working at WQED in Pittsburgh.

Let's find out.

No.

Well, the only clue I have is that I saw the old Flubber but I haven't seen the new one so I picked D. SCOTT BRUCE: You remembered that he wasn't in the old Flubber.

That's right, he wasn't in the old one.

Well, it's nice to know that you may or may not know the answer to this, and I'll feel good about that.

Let's go down to Perry.

What do you think?

I'm going to go that he doesn't have his own star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

SCOTT BRUCE: You don't think he's got a star, well, I don't know.

We'll find out.

Nancy, what do you think?

I grew up on Mr. Rogers and I never heard anything about Canada, so I'm going with A. SCOTT BRUCE: So you're going with Canada.

You didn't even like our rendition of O Canada?

Didn't try to sway you?

OK, let's find out who knows.

WENDY WILLIAMS: The answer is D. Fred Rogers didn't appear in Flubber, but he did play himself in the 1995 movie Casper.

Rogers was born in Latrobe in 1928.

Following a stint after college at NBC, he moved back to Pittsburgh to develop children's shows for WQED.

Rogers studied child development and attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in his spare time.

In 1962, he was ordained a Presbyterian minister and assigned to continue his work with children and families through media.

He created his Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood while working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

He moved the show to Pittsburgh in 1964 where it has been broadcast nationwide since 1968.

Fred Rogers who has received virtually every major award in television has even been honored with his own star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

[music playing] (SINGING) Please won't you be my neighbor [audience clapping] Fred Rogers.

I find it very interesting that our choices for that particular answer were B, A, D, spelling out the exact opposite of Fred Rogers who is nothing but good.

Anyway, that brings us up to our first check on the scores.

Let's check the big tote board.

It looks like Perry has one, Nancy has two, and Chris has three.

[audience clapping] We're doing Sesame Street now.

We're learning to count.

OK, time for your first clue in The Mystery Pennsylvanian.

Pens ready, kids.

Here it is.

Born in 1930 and raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, he has been described as a subversive musical genius.

How do you like that one?

Born in 1930-- I can see my studio audience pondering-- raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, born in 1930.

He has been described as a subversive musical genius.

How many musical geniuses do we know from the year 1930's birth?

Makes him an older guy right now.

OK, everybody's got some kind of an answer hopefully soon because it's time for us to move along to a whole new question.

WENDY WILLIAMS: In 1973, Penn State students started a fund raising event that is now the largest student run philanthropy in the nation.

Is the annual event, A, celebrity golf tournament, B, a five day telethon, C, a 25 mile walkathon, or D, a 48 hour dance marathon.

SCOTT BRUCE: The nation's largest student run philanthropy, is it a celebrity golf tournament?

Is it a five day telethon?

Is it a 25 mile walkathon?

Or is it a 48 hour dance marathon?

Perry, we're going to go to you.

Considering I graduated from Penn State I better know this one.

It's, D, a 48 hour dance marathon.

SCOTT BRUCE: A man who's very sure, 48 hour dance marathon.

What do you think Nance?

NANCY RYAN: My husband graduated from Penn State-- SCOTT BRUCE: Your husband graduated from Penn State.

Boy, it looks like it's going to go dance marathon all the way down the line.

Is it possible to make it a clean sweep?

Chis.

I want my lottery ticket.

SCOTT BRUCE: Yeah.

[audience cheering] Just pay up for dinner.

Pass down their lottery tickets, one, two, and three.

They've all chosen dance marathon.

And just as a little side note, folks, guess who danced in the very first one.

What's the answer?

WENDY WILLIAMS: The answer is D, a 48 hour non-stop dance marathon.

The Interfraternity Council at Penn State University held its first dance marathon for charity in 1973.

Dance fever spread and in 1977 the event adopted a permanent benefactor, The Four Diamonds Fund.

Created by Irma and Charles Millard in memory of their son Christopher who died of cancer at age 14, the fund has received more than $13 million to assist families with children being treated at Penn State's Hershey Medical Center.

What began as a modest 39 couples that raised $2,000 is now the largest student-run philanthropy in the nation.

Absolutely right.

I cannot tell a lie, I danced in the first three dance marathons.

And in the very first one, me and my partner Janie Gregson placed third.

Thank you very much.

Very proud.

All right, let's go to another question.

WENDY WILLIAMS: Just outside of Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County, there's a mountain named after a popular comic strip hero of the 1930 and '40s.

Is the mountain called, A, Mount Tracy, B, Mount Palooka, C, Mount Gordon, or D, Mount Abner.

SCOTT BRUCE: See now, this is what gets me about the Pennsylvania Game, I live in Luzerne County, I have no idea what the answer is.

If I didn't have it on this card, I wouldn't know at all.

Is it Mount Tracy, Mount Palooka, Mount Gordon, or Mount Abner?

Let's find out.

We'll go to Nancy first.

Lou Abner was the first thing that came to my mind.

So when it showed up I went with D, yes.

That would have been as good as my guess.

Chris, what do you think?

CHRIS MOORE: I think they're a bunch of average Joes up there so I picked B, Joe Palooka, yeah.

Little Palooka on the B.

What do you think there?

PERRY STAMBAUGH: It's either B or D, I went with D. SCOTT BRUCE: You went with D. So we've got mount-- we've got Mount Abner and we've got Mount Palooka.

And let's find out what it really is.

WENDY WILLIAMS: The answer is B, Mount Palooka.

The most famous comic strip character of the 1940s was boxer Joe Palooka, created by Wilkes-Barre native Ham Fisher.

Palooka became the country's most patriotic character in 1942 when he stepped down from the ring to enlist as a private in the US army.

Legend has it that when Palooka appeared on Coast Guard recruiting posters during World War II, enlistments doubled.

Uh, well, ladies and gentlemen, that was fascinating.

All right, we're going to double check our scores because we're learning something very fascinating here in my ear.

Perry has two, Nancy has three, and so far Chris has not missed one yet.

He's at five points.

[audience cheering] SCOTT BRUCE: Don't believe we've ever seen that before.

That means it's time for our second clue in the Mystery Pennsylvanian.

Get your pens ready, kids.

Here we go.

In 1993 this Oscar Hammerstein protege rejected a national medal of arts award in protest of political efforts at censorship.

In 1993 this Oscar Hammerstein protege rejected a national medal of arts award in protest of political efforts at censorship.

He was born in 1930 and raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

He has been described as a subversive musical genius.

Nancy is looking as blank as I've ever seen anyone look in my life.

But that's OK, we like that on this show.

We'll continue on to our next question.

WENDY WILLIAMS: Pittsburgh is the national headquarters of the company that in 1997 celebrated the 100th anniversary of its most popular product.

Is it, A, Bayer Aspirin, B, Heinz Ketchup, C, stainless steel, or D, Westinghouse lightbulb.

SCOTT BRUCE: No shortage of famous Pittsburgh companies here.

What was it?

Was it Bayer Aspirin, Heinz Ketchup, stainless steel, or Westinghouse lightbulb?

Chris, we'll get on to you, a Pittsburgher.

Let's see if you know this.

[laughter] I like ketchup so I picked B. SCOTT BRUCE: You like ketchup so you pick B. I like that.

I like ketchup on aspirin.

CHRIS MOORE: But you're weird, Scott.

I probably need a hobby.

Perry, what do you think?

I think stainless steel.

I think Heinz Ketchup came before 1897.

That's just-- SCOTT BRUCE: I like your logic on that one.

Nancy, what do you think?

We had French fries on the way up here today and there was Heinz ketchup in the bag, so I'm going-- SCOTT BRUCE: It was an omen.

It was an omen.

And thanks for pointing out what a gourmet you are.

[laughter] Let's find out what the right answer is.

WENDY WILLIAMS: The answer is A, the Bayer aspirin.

Pittsburgh is the national headquarters for the Bayer Company, a subsidiary of Bayer AG which is located in Germany.

In 1897, Bayer chemist Felix Hoffmann synthesized a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin.

Looking for a substance to relieve his father's rheumatism pain, Hoffmann created what would become the world's most popular pain reliever.

Bayer trademarked the name aspirin in Germany on March 6, 1899.

Today Bayer remains the world's primary aspirin producer.

[audience clapping] After that incredibly poor showing on that question we're going to be providing aspirin for all our panelists.

Here's an interesting note.

Although Bayer markets approximately 10,000 products, the most well known is Bayer aspirin.

Other Bayer products include Alka-Seltzer, one a day vitamins, and Aleve.

So there you have it, all the news that's fit to print.

And let's have a new question.

WENDY WILLIAMS: In the late 1800s, salesman James Ritter brought fame to Mifflinburg for something it made.

He traveled from town to town selling what product?

A, vegetable seeds, B, buggies, C, bottled root beer, or D, book matches.

SCOTT BRUCE: Kids, what product brought Mifflinburg fame?

Was it vegetable seeds, buggies-- and there goes one now.

But we have everything in the studio, did we mention this?

I'm going to need some Bayer aspirin.

Bottled root beer or book matches.

Perry, we'll go to you.

I'm going with book matches.

SCOTT BRUCE: Book matches, that's a good answer.

It seems about the right period for it to have been-- You think you have a chance of catching on fire with that one?

I hope so.

Hey, I try, I try.

Nancy, what do you have?

I went with A, vegetable seeds being an egg state.

SCOTT BRUCE: So you're trying to plant something and see if it grows.

NANCY RYAN: -- to see if it'll work.

OK, I know, that was too far.

I'm sorry.

Chris, what do you have?

CHRIS MOORE: Well, I'm not going to burp if you ask me but I picked C, bottled root beer.

SCOTT BRUCE: OK, we have bottled root beer, we have vegetable seeds, we have book matches, they're all over the field.

Why in the world did they leave buggies alone?

Wendy.

WENDY WILLIAMS: The answer is B, buggies.

From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, the number and quality of buggy manufacturers in Mifflinburg Union County led to the nickname of buggy town, USA.

According to local historians, the horse drawn coaches were hugely popular until 1915 when they were replaced by the automobile.

The end of the buggy era came when the largest shop, The Mifflinburg Buggy Company, became the Mifflinburg Body Company.

From 1917 until the 1930s, the company built wooden bodies for trucks and station wagons.

William Heise, one of the last buggy manufacturers in town, closed his operation in the 1920s.

More than 50 years later, the doors of Heise Coachworks were reopened as the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum.

SCOTT BRUCE: Yeah.

[audience clapping] And here it comes, our third and final clue in The Mystery Pennsylvanian.

Kids, get your pens out.

Here it comes.

This composer lyricist has written of assassins, gangs, fairy tales, murderers, and obsessive passion.

Nancy has no clue, none whatsoever.

I love that look.

This could-- [laughter] --this composer lyricist has written of assassins, gangs, fairy tales, murderers, and obsessive passion.

He was born in 1930 and raised in Doylestown, and described as a subversive musical genius.

In '93 this Oscar Hammerstein protege rejected a national medal of arts award in protest of political efforts at censorship.

Everybody seems to be done.

And we're going to start with Nancy.

NANCY RYAN: Oh, thank you.

SCOTT BRUCE: Nancy, hold that board up and tell us what you wrote.

Hold it up our way, not your way.

He's the only old guy I could think of.

SCOTT BRUCE: Question mark.

And the mysterians, I believe they were 96 tears they wrote.

And what do you have down at the bottom?

Marvin Hamlisch.

SCOTT BRUCE: Marvin Hamlisch, I think that's an excellent guess.

I think it's wrong but I think it's an excellent guess.

NANCY RYAN: At least I had an answer.

Yeah, sure, you go.

That's the important thing.

Chris, what did you have?

I couldn't think of anybody but Spike Lee and he's not even-- and then I thought of Spike Jones so I put that down.

And then when you started saying assassins I started thinking of drive bys, so I wrote Chuck D of Public Enemy.

I don't know.

[laughter] I have no idea-- SCOTT BRUCE: That is just a beautiful rundown.

I think only one of them was even near being born in 1930 but we'll find out what Perry has.

Well, with the subversives I went with Frank Zappa to start off.

And then after that Oscar Hammerstein protege just no idea.

SCOTT BRUCE: Just kind of shied away-- Zoned out on that one.

I don't know how they could have gotten around it because I think every one of them is going to pinch themselves and go, oi.

Tell them why Wendy.

WENDY WILLIAMS: Stephen Sondheim was born in New York City in 1930.

When his parents divorced in 1940, Sondheim moved with his mother to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he became best friends with Jimmy Hammerstein, Oscar's son.

Sondheim has composed music and lyrics for numerous Broadway shows, including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Farm, Sweeney Todd, and Sunday in the Park with George.

In 1983, Sondheim was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, considered the country's highest recognition of artistic merit.

In protest against censorship efforts by politicians, Sondheim rejected a 1993 national medal of arts award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Four years later he was awarded another national medal which he accepted.

Stephen Sondheim, a famous Pennsylvanian.

[audience clapping] Well, kids, what can I tell you, from now on when somebody gets the first five questions right, I am going to keep my mouth shut.

Although you did not get any more right after that last thing, you did manage to hold on by a score of five to three for Nancy to two for Perry.

Chris Moore is our champion today.

[audience cheering] Wendy Williams, tell Chris what he won.

WENDY WILLIAMS: OK, Scott.

It's a handsome gift set from Zippo of Bradford, a basket of made in Pennsylvania goodies from JJ's Basket Delight Mechanicsburg, plus 50 chances to win a $1,000 a week for life from the Pennsylvania Lottery.

Was there a Zippo prize?

I'm wearing my Zippo tie today.

I couldn't be happier.

A Zippo prize, very nicely done.

Listen, folks, if you folks at home would like to participate by sending in a question to The Pennsylvania Game, if you get it on the air, we'll get you a subscription to Pennsylvania Magazine.

In the meantime, you've been great.

Our studio audience, thanks, panelists, thanks.

Goodbye.

[audience clapping] WENDY WILLIAMS: The Pennsylvania Game is made possible in part by-- ANNOUNCER: By a grant from the Pennsylvania Public Television Network.

The network receives funding from the Commonwealth to provide public television for all Pennsylvanians.

WENDY WILLIAMS: Guest accommodations provided by the Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park Campus of Penn State.

[theme music]