the thing that people most want to know, or that is most importantIt's a great plan, but the $64,000 question is: Will it work?From the name of a U.S. television show of the 1950s that gave prizes of money to people who answered questions correctly. The correct answer to the last question was worth $64,000. (The original term was the $64 question, from a radio show of the 1940s, in which the top prize was $64.)