I don't usually watch Who Wants To Be A Millionaire after my local news in the afternoon. After the news is over I usually switch to another channel, but this week they're having a "TV Week," (though it could be a repeat week since it's summer, not sure) so I've been watching every day. And I have to tell you, these contestants don't know much about television.I don't say this as a guy who writes about television for a living, I'm talking about as a television fan. The questions have been remarkably easy, especially in the early rounds, even up to $25,000, and the players are just failing miserably. Even with the lifelines the show offers! That's inexcusable. Of course, the audience hasn't always been a help either. They screwed over one contestant by saying that Eliza Dushku's show was called Tru Colors and not Tru Calling.
That Tru Calling question was probably one of the harder ones I've seen. Most of the questions center around classic TV shows that we're all familiar with. The stuff you see on TV Land and Nickelodeon and in primetime right now. I shook my head when someone didn't know an answer about Family Ties. I sighed when they didn't know the answer to questions about The Facts of Life and Mad Men. I cringed when one contestant was going to answer China Beach when asked which TV show turned out to be just the fantasy inside a snow globe owned by a child. China Beach? The hell? The only reason she didn't is because she used two lifelines.
What gets me is that these aren't just regular contestants who, by the luck of the draw, find themselves in a "TV Week" on the show. These are players that have specifically been picked because they know a lot about TV. They talk about how they're so obsessed with TV that their relationships suffer, how they own a giant TV and watch it all the time, how they're finally going to use all of the TV trivia they have inside their head. Then we see them stumped by the second or third question and they have to start using lifelines to figure out the answer to a question about a TV theme song, even after the audience sings the song to them.
Joel suspects that they look for attractive contestants with TV-ready personalities and not necessarily the ones that know the most about television. If that's the case, I think they should have an "average-looking/shut-in" TV week and see the real experts win some cash.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-31-2008 @ 2:52PM
RadioScott said...
So, uh, what's the answer to the snow globe question? Or is that too spoiler-y? Would have stumped me too.
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7-31-2008 @ 2:55PM
RadioScott said...
Nevermind. Found out. Thanks Google!
7-31-2008 @ 2:58PM
Sancho Pancho said...
While I agree that today's episode was particularly painful to watch, the whole week hasn't been filled with same. A few days ago, there was a guy that made it all the way up to $250,000. This was pretty incredible given the fact that almost NOBODY nowadays makes it that high even on regular, non-specialized weeks. Plus, he even knew the answer to the $500,000 question, but didn't guess because he wasn't confident in his answer. That contestant kind of counter-balanced today's cringe-inducing episode.
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7-31-2008 @ 3:27PM
slutty_whore said...
I just think it depends on what shows you like or watch on a regular basis. I mean, they can ask me anything about Mad Men and I would have no clue, but ask me about Survivor victors, and I would nail it... And, just because you love watching television doesn't make you an "expert" on all shows! Also, you should allow for people forgetting or blanking or whatever. Let's see how you would react under the pressure of sitting next to Meredith Vieira.
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7-31-2008 @ 3:03PM
Allen Mendelsohn said...
Jeebus! It's St Elsewhere.
I am normal looking and can be quite bubbly. Get me on there!!!
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7-31-2008 @ 3:05PM
Joe Coughlin said...
RadioScott, the snow globe dream show was "St. Elsewhere". But because of crossovers, it's not the only show in his mind...
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html
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7-31-2008 @ 3:52PM
SpaceVenus said...
Plus some of the shows in question are quite old. I wouldn't be able to answer any question about "Leave it to Beaver" for instance.
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7-31-2008 @ 7:50PM
djbuhhda said...
wow i cant belive she didn't kno st elsewhere. i learned that from Vh1's i love the watever century it was in.
and that tru calling question. are you kidding me that question was so awesome i was so mad when they cancelled it so i would of knew that answer before the question was even done. these people are so stupid.
P.S. the freakin audience needs to learn how to sing.
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7-31-2008 @ 7:50PM
djbuhhda said...
wow i cant belive she didn't kno st elsewhere. i learned that from Vh1's i love the watever century it was in.
and that tru calling question. are you kidding me that question was so awesome i was so mad when they cancelled it so i would of knew that answer before the question was even done. these people are so stupid.
P.S. the freakin audience needs to learn how to sing.
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8-01-2008 @ 4:24AM
Will said...
I agree that it's possible that the pressure of actually being on the show, in front of an audience, could cause people to choke, but not knowing the Tru Calling title is unbelieveable if someone considers themselves a tv trivia buff. I knew the snow globe answer & I didn't even watch that show. But I know lot's of trivia about shows I never watched. I always kill when we play Trivial Prsuit at Christmas, on the Entertainment questions. The only ones that might stump me are the really new shows (like Mad Men), they haven't been around long enough for me to build any trivia knowledge about them. But on the older stuff, I think I'd do well.
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8-01-2008 @ 8:45AM
MarleysGh0st said...
These TV Week episodes are repeats; they were originally broadcast November 12-16, 2007. And Joel is absolutely right about how they choose contestants.
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