Goodwin confirms his suspicion when he sees Jack Berry initially console a contestant and then, seconds later, correct himself as he realizes that the contestant answered correctly. Obviously, Berry expected him to answer incorrectly.
Why was Berry in on the secret? Or, at least, why did he know exactly which question would be the one?
Per the real Herb Stemple even much of the banter between the host and some of the contestants was scripted by the producers. Stemple would go to Dan Enright's office and be told how to answer the questions (which was portrayed in the movie) but he was also coached in things that he was to say to the host and how the host would respond.
He was even told what to wear and how to keep his hair. That was actually one of the things that Stemple was bitter about when his reign came to an end. They'd dressed him in an ill fitting suit, insisted that he keep his hair in a military haircut (despite his no longer being in the military) & had him wear those big glasses because they were trying to make him look like a square, a geek, that kid who reminds the teacher that she forgot to take up the homework that half of the class forgot to do. They were setting him up to be the guy who the audience mostly wouldn't like. That's why they brought in Van Doren; to be the charming, good looking, intellectual from a respected family to dethrone the "freak with a sponge like memory" that they had built Stemple up as. It wasn't even an accident that Van Doren ended up on the show opposite Stemple. In real life Van Doren didn't even own a TV when he was asked to appear on 21. He ended up on the show because he had some mutual friends with the producers and they approached him to basically play this character.
He was in on the secret because he and Enright were partners. They formed Barry & Enright Productions in the 40s or 50s I believe.
shareBarry was in on it. After the 21 Scandal he and Enright left television and came back 15 years later with The Joker Wild.
The film of the lady getting the question right and Barry doing the double take (knowing that she was scripted to give an incorrect answer), did that actually happen? I would love to see the film of it.