From 1986 through 2004, there was a popular English game show called Catch Phrase (we had a version in America, but like tea drinking and civility, we ditched it after only a very brief run). Here's how the bonus game on the show worked: nine blocks covered up a short video snippet. The blocks were removed randomly and the first contestant to correctly guess what phrase was being represented by the video won some British prize (like a top hat or a subcontinent or something).
In the following video, the randomized blocks' perfect placement over the animation combines with the dirty-minded twelve-year-old that lives inside all of us to hilarious effect. Every time a block is removed, the animation just looks more and more filthy. Even better is the reaction of the contestants and the host, who, about ten seconds in, decide to abandon any hope of getting through the animation without losing their minds with laughter. The video after the jump.
Welcome to Subtle Subtitles. For those of you who are uninitiated to the purpose of this feature, we're asking you to come up with your funniest quote or description for what's going on in the screen grab we choose for the week. Winners are announced in the following Friday's contest.
1st place to Chris: 2nd place to Bus: "After this incident, Larry was still only the second biggest pimp at the comic book convention. The first being Josh Livingston who tripped and felt Princess Leia's boob back in 83'." 3rd place to ac: "Don't worry Wonder Woman the room is sealed. Catwoman will never be able to get in." to Chris: "Boy the Legion of Doom is looking great this year Show Girl"
This week, a scene with Tony Hawk on Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? ...
With the popularity of shows like Deal or No Deal and Are You Smarter Than a5th Grader it has become clear that the days of Ken Jennings are over. It is no longer necessary to be educated to be on a gameshow. All you need is a personality or at least the appearance of one.
Time was, ratings for a gameshow spiked considerably whenever someone got on a winning streak. Now all producers have to do is manufacture a load of tension and viewers become glued to the set, even when the tension stems from whether or not they should open a briefcase.
Now, I am the first to admit that I love seeing idiots blow their big chance on a gameshow. One of the best parts of Beat the Geeks was being able to laugh out loud when a contestant missed an easy question, but some of these contestants are so stupid that I can't see how they even made it on the show in the first place.
Yeah, that's exactly what's missing from my TV schedule: another hour of Today. Hey, let's add three more hours to Good Morning, America. Maybe The View can be an all-day thing, and ABC can show All My Children at 2 in the morning?
To me, Jeopardy! is the quintessential game show. At the end of a game, I walk away with a sense of awe that those three people could truly have the brains to retain such an amazing amount of information, then be put in front of millions of people to blurt pieces of it out on demand and faster than two other people -- in the form of a question, to boot. I'd often wonder how one could possibly prepare to be faced with that kind of pressure and what kind of unfathomable studying one would have to do to qualify for that show, never mind actually win. Several times.
Jane Espenson, who as some of you know has been extremely courteous enough to give her insights into her recent writings for Battlestar Galactica, sent me a copy of a book that opened my mind to the world of one very successful contestant on the greatest game show in the world, Bob Harris. That book is Prisoner of Trebekistan.
From 1986 through 2004, there was a popular English game show called Catch Phrase (we had a version in America, but like tea drinking and civility, we ditched it after only a very brief run). Here's how the bonus game on the show worked: nine blocks covered up a short video snippet. The blocks were removed randomly and the first contestant to correctly guess what phrase was being represented by the video won some British prize (like a top hat or a subcontinent or something).
With the popularity of shows like Deal or No Deal and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader it has become clear that the days of Ken Jennings are over. It is no longer necessary to be educated to be on a gameshow. All you need is a personality or at least the appearance of one.
What made me think of this is the news that the Today Show is 
To me, 
Giveaways reminder: Office, Eli Stone, Supernatural, South Park
Giveaway Thursday: Tickets to the New York Television Festival ... all of it!
I miss the media-friendly John McCain - VIDEOS
