Queen For A Day
 Queen
For A Day was a "sympathy" contest, hosted by Jack
Bailey. It appeared on NBC during the daytime between 1956 and
1960 and then on ABC from 1960 to 1964.
The show was derived from a radio show originally called Queen
For Today which began in 1945 and continued until 1957.
It was
not really a quiz show as there were no questions. It was
primarily designed to bring tears to the eyes and prizes to the
winner.
Contestants chosen from the studio audience told sob stories of
their hardships, need and sorrow.
 Audience members would then select the most deserving of the
five contestants using an applause meter (which was really a
volume unit indicator, or VU Meter), and the lucky woman would be
crowned "Queen for a Day" and receive the prizes she
most needed.
Presumably the others went away with token gifts. It was really
a kind of maudlin, emotional gladiator spectacle, with the crowd
turning thumbs up or down at the end.
Broadcast from the Moulin Rouge, a theatre-restaurant on Sunset
Boulevard near Vine Street in Hollywood, the show also featured a
daily fashion show with commentary by Jeanne Cagney, sister of
actor James Cagney.
A syndicated version of the show was attempted in 1970 with
host Dick Curtis.
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