welcome to "it's academic. >> i'm mack mcgarry, come on up here. >> we had astronauts on the program,ohn glenn and perry mason. >> reporter: hillary clinton, she was -- >> she was an alternate from chicago. >> reporter: the questions that they come up with every week can stump students in ways we don't always get to see or hear. >> you can see the distress when they don't and sometimes you can hear a four-letter word that has to be excised. >> reporter: technology has changed the way students learn and community acate and the questions have to keep up with the times. >> the main difference was information technology was not available 50 years ago. >> reporter: ma85 now and getti over a stubborn sinus infection. like a fine wine, he gets better with age. >> the question was, who defeated napoleon at waterloo and this kid eagerly said, duke ellington. >> reporter: with confidence! >> yeah. >> reporter: among his favorite days, radio, drive time announcer in the big band era, interviewing big names. >> i would go up and interview them. >> reporter: he still comes back to nbc for every we

after the break we'll go one-on-one with mack mcgarry as the tv legend retires as host of the world'sunning quiz show. >> d.c. mayor vincent gray will join philadelphia mayor michael nutter on nbc's "meet the press" with david gregory this sunday and the two players explain why they think congress is to blame for struggling urban economies. "press >>> after more than 20,000 contestants and 200,000 questions, mac mcgarry is moving on retiring as the host of "it's academic" after a career that spanned decades. jim handly caught up with him to talk about how the show has changed over the years and some of his most memorable moments. >> reporter: he has walked these halls for more than 50 years. mac mcgarry is an institution at nbc. the man armed with the envelopes filled with the questions he's posed to thousands of students over the years. >> the oldest students on the show would now be in their late 60s. and i remember them as 18. >> reporter: he's called out some famous faces and names to come on down over the decades. good evening and welcome to "it's academic." >> i'm mac mcgarry. t