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Yep, Herbie Stempel is the bitter, nerdy guy who did indeed help bring down the game show industry back in the 1950s.

I have heard that if you bump into him on the streets of Brooklyn to this day, Herbie will invariably begin telling you how he was ripped off by '21,' how he knew all the answers, how he was treated unfairly, how they were bigots, etc.

I consider Carlson in the same tradition - he is a nerdy type that the producers like to make a spokesman for conservatism, as a way of making fun of conservatives.

Indeed, conventional wisdom has it that Stempel was propped up as a winner on '21' and basically made fun of, just to be the foil for the more handsome, all American, and hand-picked champion Charles Van Doren.