2016-06-30
In the late 1950s, the "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" of its day was called "Twenty-One," and the Rick Rockwell of the era was Charles Van Doren, the intellectual heartthrob. At the height of that scandal, the Feds were called in--and the comedy team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May came up with this bit:


Nichols: Thank heaven for the investigation.
May: Oh, yes.
Nichols: When I feel worst I say to myself, "At least the government has taken a firm stand."
May: Oh, yes. Well, they can't fool around with this the way they did with integration.
Nichols: No.
May: This is a ...
Nichols: ...moral issue.
May: Yes
Nichols: A moral issue.
May: Yes! Yes! It is a moral issue.
Nichols: A moral issue.
May: And to me that is so much more interesting than a real issue.

Dialogue excerpted from The New Yorker.

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