“What’s My Disease?”

I am trying to sell the TV networks on a new program. It’s a sure winner. It cashes in on the popularity of the Doctor programs, and at the same time draws on the Quiz fans. The ratings will be enormous. The title of the program will be What’s My Disease?

A distinguished panel of physicians is introduced and seated at a long table, facing the audience. The contestant-patient then is brought in, to face the doctors. The doctors, by asking the contestant clever questions, diagnose his disease, or try to—such questions as “Is your disease caused by a known micro-organism? Does it cause pain in the region of the Nuciform Sac? Is it invariably fatal?” The panel would be allowed a specified number of que...