I was doing research in old time radio about 40 years ago. It was originally on the radio with a much smaller budget: The $64 Question. And that's what my parents said.“The $64,000 Question” was a game show in the 1950s. The title of the show has entered into common parlance, used when considering a difficult question or making a difficult decision. A person might say, “well, that’s the $64,000 question, isn’t it?”