He was long believed to have approached producers Dan Enright and Albert Freedman, originally, to appear on Tic-Tac-Dough, another game they produced.
Twenty-One was not Van Doren's first game show interest. On November 28, 1956, Van Doren made his first appearance on the NBC quiz show Twenty-One. Vivienne Nearing, Jack Barry and Van Doren on Twenty-One (March 11, 1957)
