The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: TLEberle on February 03, 2004, 07:58:38 PM
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After all of the discussion and posting of people's Level Fifteen questions, and wondered, "What makes a good Million Dollar Question?"
Answer however you please. By that, not by posting your questions, but what is the makeup of such a question.
Travis
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 07:58 PM\'] After all of the discussion and posting of people's Level Fifteen questions, and wondered, "What makes a good Million Dollar Question?"
Answer however you please. By that, not by posting your questions, but what is the makeup of such a question.
[/quote]
IMO, simply something that isn't extremely obscure, but something that a little brainstorming couldn't fix. Something where you wouldn't have to go through 20 pages of Google archives to find a concrete answer for.
Joe Trela's "computer bug" question is a perfect example. Another would be the Silorsky helicopter one.
Bad examples: most pop culture, esp. if it happened in the Baby Boomer or Gen-X time eras, i.e. the "Laugh-In" question. Nothing involving numbers, such as the distance from the sun or when the Julian new year began. Personally, I don't like the idea of offering anything involving recalling a specific date. It seems too....."broad," so to speak.
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If you were to ask 15 of your friends a good million dollar question, almost all of them should say "I should know this!" or "That's really interesting!" or some variation thereof. Of course, 14 of them should get it wrong.
And if 3 or more of them say "Who cares?", you can pretty well assure yourself that it's not a good question, million dollars or otherwise.
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I think the answer choices used can greatly affect the difficulty. For example, the infamous Pokemon question (still my favorite question in all of Millionaire). The question asked which of the following was not a Pokemon, with the correct answer being Frodo. However, this question appeared before Lord of the Rings was released as a film, so the Hobbit connection was not as salient. If asked today with the same choices, I could see it as 16k, maybe 32k. However, if the fourth choice was from Digimon or Yu Gi Oh (anachronisms aside), that question probably could have been bumped from 500k to 1M.
One of the best 1M questions would have to be the Carol Brady maiden name question. The choices included Sam the butcher's last name, Alice's last name, Martin (the last name of Carol's first husband), and the correct answer (which I don't remember). I was certain it was Martin, completely forgetting that that was her first married name. My mom and my sister, who were watching with me, were able to trace the answer as being from the grandparent's episode, but didn't know which answer was right (the above connections were after the fact, BTW).
So to answer your original question, the 1M question should contain a subject that most people would be familiar with (computer bugs, the song God Bless America, walkmans) but not necessarily well read on the subject. If a person is likely to be well read on the subject (The Brady Bunch for example), the choices should throw a wrench into your thinking, possibly to confuse you.
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The question asked which of the following was not a Pokemon, with the correct answer being Frodo.
Lauren was a big Pokemon fan when that question was asked. In fact, we got the Official Pokemon Handbook around that time (Nov. 1999) and I got to know the names of the 150+ Pokemon (so I would have known Frodo was the correct answer).
Brian
The Jehovah's Witnesses distribute Mad magazine?
We want some more pro wrestling (STILL) and NASCAR questions!
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One of the best 1M questions would have to be the Carol Brady maiden name question. The choices included Sam the butcher's last name, Alice's last name, Martin (the last name of Carol's first husband), and the correct answer (which I don't remember).
It was Tyler, and that threw me too. Glad I wasn't in the Hot Seat for that because I was sure it was Martin. I did see the first episode of "The Brady Bunch" again a few months after that question came up, and it's definately Tyler, but you have to listen closely!
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[quote name=\'SplitSecond\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 09:27 PM\'] If you were to ask 15 of your friends a good million dollar question, almost all of them should say "I should know this!" or "That's really interesting!" or some variation thereof. Of course, 14 of them should get it wrong.
And if 3 or more of them say "Who cares?", you can pretty well assure yourself that it's not a good question, million dollars or otherwise. [/quote]
This is about as good an explanation as you would want (not surprising, considering the source). It's very easy to write a very difficult question. It's not easy to write an interesting one, especially in the multiple choice format.
The goal of a good upper-level question is to make them sweat in the Hot Seat. If it's too easy (like Carpenter's Laugh-In question) there's not enough drama. If it's too obscure there's no drama either because the player simply walks.
Going back to specifics, Little Big Brother said:The question asked which of the following was not a Pokemon, with the correct answer being Frodo. However, this question appeared before Lord of the Rings was released as a film, so the Hobbit connection was not as salient.
Mike, I'm afraid much like your "Kenneth" question in the other thread, this one (which I know you didn't write) isn't nearly as difficult as you think it is. The Tolkien books were very famous long before the movies came out, and you wouldn't have to know anything about Pokemon to pick out the wrong answer out of the bunch. You're definitely right that the movies have made the question even easier.
But that's why questions on shows like this aren't written by just one person. We all have our own blind spots and areas that we don't know as well as others. From experience, I've learned that the pop music questions I write are generally a lot easier than I think they're going to be. The entire writing staff of Millionaire (or at least a few editors) go over the material to judge its difficulty, not just the one person who wrote the question.
Sorry to go on and on about this, but question writing is a lot more challenging than it looks, and a subject I find endlessly fascinating.
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We all have our own blind spots and areas that we don't know as well as others. From experience, I've learned that the pop music questions I write are generally a lot easier than I think they're going to be.
I remember one episode of "Millionaire", I think from it's first year, where they had a pop music question at the $500,000 level. The question was which song had spent the longest time at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. The choices were "One Sweet Day", "Candle in the Wind 1997", "Macarena" and "I Will Always Love You".
Being a pop music fan and Billboard subscriber, this was easy for me ("One Sweet Day"), but I was in agony watching because the contestant in the Hot Seat didn't even know who sang them, then took a wrong guess and fell to $32,000.
I guess we all have our "I wish it was me" moments, and this was definately one for me.
This show may have bene repeated on GSN already, but I don't regularly watch the GSN reruns so I don't know for sure.
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 08:10 PM\']Joe Trela's "computer bug" question is a perfect example. Another would be the Silorsky helicopter one.
Bad examples: most pop culture, esp. if it happened in the Baby Boomer or Gen-X time eras, i.e. the "Laugh-In" question. Nothing involving numbers, such as the distance from the sun or when the Julian new year began. [/quote]
Interesting...to me the Sikorsky helicopter question was too easy for a $1M question, since not only was Igor Sikorsky credited for making helicopters practical, the company he founded (and which still bears his name) was virtually synonymous with helicopters for years. I think Bernie Cullen's "plane letter" question was a much better question.
Agree with you, though, on the Julian New Year question...grrr.
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 10:00 AM\']
I remember one episode of "Millionaire", I think from it's first year, where they had a pop music question at the $500,000 level. The question was which song had spent the longest time at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. The choices were "One Sweet Day", "Candle in the Wind 1997", "Macarena" and "I Will Always Love You".
Being a pop music fan and Billboard subscriber, this was easy for me ("One Sweet Day"),
This show may have bene repeated on GSN already, but I don't regularly watch the GSN reruns so I don't know for sure. [/quote]
GSN aired this one, as it's from January 2000.
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[quote name=\'SplitSecond\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 08:27 PM\'] If you were to ask 15 of your friends a good million dollar question, almost all of them should say "I should know this!" or "That's really interesting!" or some variation thereof. Of course, 14 of them should get it wrong.
And if 3 or more of them say "Who cares?", you can pretty well assure yourself that it's not a good question, million dollars or otherwise. [/quote]
Absolutely! Richard Sher, who hosts the NPR panel game "Says You!" puts it this way:
It was a dark and stormy night when, suddenly, Richard Sher drew the Trivial Pursuit question "What do you call the band of low pressure that surrounds the Earth at the Equator?"In his typically debonair fashion, his first thought was: "Who cares?! What a dumb question." Then, he realized the answer was "the doldrums." ...Richard's epiphany was "the point is not that it's important to know the answer; it's only important to like the answer."
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to me the Sikorsky helicopter question was too easy for a $1M question
Being a pop music fan and Billboard subscriber, this was easy for me ("One Sweet Day"),
And herein lies the problem when you're WRITING the questions. Everything's going to seem easy to *somebody*, and just because a question is going to seem easy to YOU doesn't mean that it's going to be easy to others. The tricky thing is to remove your personal interests and biases from the equation. I remember back on Usenet somebody being absolutely stunned that no one on Jeopardy knew an incredibly obscure geography question -- that happened to be about his own home town.
The ideal situation for Millionaire would be to Ask the Audience beforehand for every question in a stack and then rank them according to the number of correct responses they get. But gee, there might be some security issues with that idea...
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 08:00 AM\'] Being a pop music fan and Billboard subscriber, this was easy for me ("One Sweet Day"), but I was in agony watching because the contestant in the Hot Seat didn't even know who sang them, then took a wrong guess and fell to $32,000.
[/quote]
See, that's a good high-level question, because I would have looked at it and given "I Will Always Love You" serious consideration, in fact so much so that I'd consider answering despite not even knowing who performed "One Sweet Day." And I consider myself a fan of popular music, even though the 80's are more my forte.
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The Tolkien books were very famous long before the movies came out, and you wouldn't have to know anything about Pokemon to pick out the wrong answer out of the bunch. You're definitely right that the movies have made the question even easier.
I think the last part of the quote is closer to what my point was trying to get at. I know that the Tolkein books have been around MUCH longer than Pokemon, but their presence in the pop culture collective consciousness, at the time anyway, was not as pronounced as it is now.
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Right on Matt, Split, et al. Glad to see some "props" for question writers. It's one of the hardest and most underated jobs in game shows. But producers know it is vital - some shows have as many as 20 writer/researchers. In fact, producers traditionally have graduated from the ranks of writers. Among the most gifted is Gary Johnson at Jeopardy.
As much as I wanted to get in the biz in the early 80s, I missed my first chance. I was doing run-throughs for Jay Wolpert who offered me a staff job if I could write 100 usable questions for one of the shows he was developing. Granted, it was a typically complex Wolpert format requiring a "twist" in each question and its 4 multiple choice answers, but when I turned in my 100 questions Jay explained why most of them were unusable. I had no idea how tough it is to write GOOD questions.
Weakest Link burned through questions far faster than any show I was ever involved with, and they had it down to a science. Two full teams of writers, researchers and authenticators, plus a database of previously used questions cross-referenced a bunch of different ways. And for security, the writers' offices shreaded more paper each day than Oliver North!
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 09:43 AM\'] Weakest Link burned through questions far faster than any show I was ever involved with, and they had it down to a science. [/quote]
You know, they would, wouldn't they.
Do you know if anyone kept track of, on average, how many questions the Robinson and/or Gray versions whistled through per show? Would anyone care to set an over/under? :)
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My guess:
Hour long Robinson: 180
Half-Hour Gray: 120
If anybody here knows for sure (without taking a tape off the shelf and counting) my guess is it would be Randy.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 12:29 PM\'] My guess:
Hour long Robinson: 180
Half-Hour Gray: 120
If anybody here knows for sure (without taking a tape off the shelf and counting) my guess is it would be Randy. [/quote]
According to The Weakest Link Magazine (a one off that was produced in Britain 2001/02), the 45 min British show averaged 200 questions per show.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 09:29 AM\'] My guess:
Hour long Robinson: 180
Half-Hour Gray: 120
If anybody here knows for sure (without taking a tape off the shelf and counting) my guess is it would be Randy. [/quote]
Wow Matt!
While I don't have any count of questions used on each show, exclusive of the bonus round each half hour episode was prepped with approximately 130 questions. Looking over the paperwork, it appears that few shows used all of the 130 prepped. Nice educated guess!
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 02:08 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 09:29 AM\'] My guess:
Hour long Robinson: 180
Half-Hour Gray: 120
If anybody here knows for sure (without taking a tape off the shelf and counting) my guess is it would be Randy. [/quote]
Wow Matt!
While I don't have any count of questions used on each show, exclusive of the bonus round each half hour episode was prepped with approximately 130 questions. Looking over the paperwork, it appears that few shows used all of the 130 prepped. Nice educated guess!
[/quote]
I kept stats of the Robinson shows as they aired on NBC and posted them to ATGS. Looking back at them now, on average, they asked about a little less than 120 questions per show. Of course, this depended on how fast they went through them during the game. I wouldn't be surprised if they had written 200 questions for an hour-long show.
Note: Jeopardy! has 61 answers/questions per show, plus more on hand if there is a mistake during taping.
Dean
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 07:00 AM\']
One of the best 1M questions would have to be the Carol Brady maiden name question. The choices included Sam the butcher's last name, Alice's last name, Martin (the last name of Carol's first husband), and the correct answer (which I don't remember).
It was Tyler, and that threw me too. Glad I wasn't in the Hot Seat for that because I was sure it was Martin. I did see the first episode of "The Brady Bunch" again a few months after that question came up, and it's definately Tyler, but you have to listen closely! [/quote]
You almost can't know unless you read the end credits to that episode, iirc. In the show, Carol is always referred to as either Carol or Ms. Martin.
The one question I thought was a curious choice for a MDQ was David Goodman's question, "In the children's book series, where is Paddington Bear originally from? B: Peru D: Iceland"
After the 50:50, it'd be a snap if you knew that Paddington is based on a real bear, and he's not a polar bear.
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[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 06:05 PM\'] You almost can't know unless you read the end credits to that episode, iirc. In the show, Carol is always referred to as either Carol or Ms. Martin.
The one question I thought was a curious choice for a MDQ was David Goodman's question, "In the children's book series, where is Paddington Bear originally from? B: Peru D: Iceland"
After the 50:50, it'd be a snap if you knew that Paddington is based on a real bear, and he's not a polar bear. [/quote]
That was a good one too...the thing that would've tipped me off was the theme song to the Paddington cartoon. The song referred to Paddington as being from "darkest Peru."
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 11:43 AM\'] Right on Matt, Split, et al. Glad to see some "props" for question writers. It's one of the hardest and most underated jobs in game shows. But producers know it is vital - some shows have as many as 20 writer/researchers. In fact, producers traditionally have graduated from the ranks of writers. Among the most gifted is Gary Johnson at Jeopardy.
As much as I wanted to get in the biz in the early 80s, I missed my first chance. I was doing run-throughs for Jay Wolpert who offered me a staff job if I could write 100 usable questions for one of the shows he was developing. Granted, it was a typically complex Wolpert format requiring a "twist" in each question and its 4 multiple choice answers, but when I turned in my 100 questions Jay explained why most of them were unusable. I had no idea how tough it is to write GOOD questions.
Weakest Link burned through questions far faster than any show I was ever involved with, and they had it down to a science. Two full teams of writers, researchers and authenticators, plus a database of previously used questions cross-referenced a bunch of different ways. And for security, the writers' offices shreaded more paper each day than Oliver North!
Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
I never paid much attention to the credits at the end of Millionaire before, but when I saw that they had a bunch of writers, all reporting to a head writer, I was surprised. It makes sense to me now that you would want several brains working on the job.
Does each writer take on a particular subject? One would do Art, another for Science, another for Current Events...and so on.
One thing I've always wondered is how they decided which question will be 14 and which will be 15. For the most part, they are extremely hard questions, so what would make one "harder" than another?
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One thing I've always wondered is how they decided which question will be 14 and which will be 15. For the most part, they are extremely hard questions, so what would make one "harder" than another?
There is a concern that I have with this question in that there seems to be an assumption that 15 is expected to be harder than 14. Most of the time, I don't think that is the case. Question 14 tends to ask either about minute details (The word on the sign in Hopper's "Night Hawks" painting), something relatively obscure (the banned fruit in Singapore's subways), or developing an educated guess (Nancy Christy's architecture question).
Question 15 tends to fall into what I would call "placemat trivia". In other words, a factoid that you would find on a restaurant placemat followed by the phrase "Did you know...?" Yes, the questions are still obscure, but there is an element of greater familiarity that tends to be associated with the final question and the contestant.
However, the way that stacks seemed to be organized in the early runs of the show, particularly the first two Millionaires', seemed to be designed to play on a player's psychology. Have the middle questions of the upper tier be really difficult, and if they negotiate that, have the final question be so easy that they second guess themselves. After 2 Millionaires, this method of construction seemed to go to the wayside.
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The Tolkien books were very famous long before the movies came out, and you wouldn't have to know anything about Pokemon to pick out the wrong answer out of the bunch. You're definitely right that the movies have made the question even easier.
Knowing that Frodo was from a Tolkien series doesn't mean it couldn't be the name of a Pokemon. Someone could easily out-psyche themselves thinking that there might be, saying that it's a trick.
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Note: Jeopardy! has 61 answers/questions per show, plus more on hand if there is a mistake during taping.
I'm pretty sure it was mentioned on one of the "behind the scenes" type shows that "Jeopardy" actually has 6 answers and questions per category. The 6th is prepared just in case something weird happens during the reveal of one of the first five.
I wonder what kind of difficulty the 6th one has - because you can never know for sure at what point you might need it.
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 08:55 AM\']
Note: Jeopardy! has 61 answers/questions per show, plus more on hand if there is a mistake during taping.
I'm pretty sure it was mentioned on one of the "behind the scenes" type shows that "Jeopardy" actually has 6 answers and questions per category. The 6th is prepared just in case something weird happens during the reveal of one of the first five.
I wonder what kind of difficulty the 6th one has - because you can never know for sure at what point you might need it. [/quote]
I've seen clues that seemed a bit easier in the higher value boxes than in the lower value boxes, and in those cases I've wondered if its the sixth clue they write for each category, used because something amiss occurred during one of the other clues in the category.
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[quote name=\'mcd\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 10:15 PM\'] Knowing that Frodo was from a Tolkien series doesn't mean it couldn't be the name of a Pokemon. Someone could easily out-psyche themselves thinking that there might be, saying that it's a trick. [/quote]
Extremely unlikely though, what with the modern penchant for litigation.
I was stunned when that guy didn't even know the Frodo question. I'd never read the books either (since rectified), but had heard numerous references to Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf etc.
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I think an extremely hard question that you either drop-dead know or you don't have left of a clue. Not so impossible that only the producers could tell you the answer (the 50's scandals), but not so possible that it's too easy (which see the distance-from-Earth-to-Sun $1M question).
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[quote name=\'starcade\' date=\'Feb 7 2004, 02:47 PM\'] I think an extremely hard question that you either drop-dead know or you don't have left of a clue. [/quote]
As we've discussed before, that accurately defines the WORST kind of million dollar question, because it removes all drama from the game. The player either knows it and answers right away, or the player doesn't know it and he walks right away.
The best million dollar question has to tantalize the player with recognizable choices and, ideally, the feeling that he really ought to know the answer whether he actually does or not.
BTW, I'm not sure why you used "the 50's scandals" as an example, but especially on this forum, I think you'd find an awful lot of people who would LIKE to see a million dollar question on that subject!
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Feb 7 2004, 04:28 PM\']
BTW, I'm not sure why you used "the 50's scandals" as an example, but especially on this forum, I think you'd find an awful lot of people who would LIKE to see a million dollar question on that subject! [/quote]
While I agree, I think you might have misunderstood Starcade, Matt. I think he was refering to the level of material used in the 50's quiz shows in question, where the material was so difficult they couldn't create an interesting game without the producers helping out.
T
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[quote name=\'tommycharles\' date=\'Feb 7 2004, 07:53 PM\'] [quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Feb 7 2004, 04:28 PM\']
BTW, I'm not sure why you used "the 50's scandals" as an example, but especially on this forum, I think you'd find an awful lot of people who would LIKE to see a million dollar question on that subject! [/quote]
While I agree, I think you might have misunderstood Starcade, Matt. I think he was refering to the level of material used in the 50's quiz shows in question, where the material was so difficult they couldn't create an interesting game without the producers helping out.
T [/quote]
Thanks, that makes a lot more sense. My bad.
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A good $10,000,000 question would be one that I could answer correctly.
But wouldn't this be something: The scenario is that one of us gets into the hot seat and makes it to question fifteen and the question is, "Who was the first host of The Price Is Right?" Dimes to Dunkin' Donuts the average Joe doesn't know Bill Cullen was the man.
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Not a $10mil question.
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Really? Why not? Defense, please.
He's probably right: TPIR is so closely associated with Barker, and nary a mention of the original version of the show (except during the first year) that a casual TV watcher or one of those college louts at the show wouldn't have a clue, even moreso if you were to toss names like Warren Hull, Bert Parks and Jack Narz in the mix.
Travis
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Some reasons "Who was the original host of The Price is Right?" would probably not be a good grand prize question:
1) Too easy to PAF-Google: "original host the price is right" has the #1 link going to priceisright.info, and even has the answer in the sampler text.
2) Since the show went away and came back later, a losing contestant might think he could start a lawsuit based on the rules of what a TV show is, semantics, etc.
[Edit: the rules of what the legal name of a TV show is, dangit, that still doesn't make much sense :-P]
3) A 50 year old might know the question right off the bat, and never have to mull it over.
4) It's about a game show produced by a competing company :)
Cheers,
Mike
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[quote name=\'reason1024\' date=\'Feb 8 2004, 05:05 AM\']Some reasons "Who was the original host of The Price is Right?" would probably not be a good grand prize question:
1) Too easy to PAF-Google: "original host the price is right" has the #1 link going to priceisright.info, and even has the answer in the sampler text.
2) Since the show went away and came back later, a losing contestant might think he could start a lawsuit based on the rules of what a TV show is, semantics, etc.
3) A 50 year old might know the question right off the bat, and never have to mull it over.
4) It's about a game show produced by a competing company :)
Cheers,
Mike[/quote]
1) If that were to happen, than it would be great for that contestant, but I really doubt that anyone will have any lifelines going into the last question.
2) Any lawsuit can be prevented simply by wording the question in such a way so that there is no doubt as to what you meant.
3) A person of ANY age could know the answer and not have to mull it over. Besides, unless a person really followed game shows closely, or if they were on it themselves, or if they knew someone who was on it, they probably don't know. And if they had known the answer previously in their lives, they could always forget it.
4) Cute. Really.
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[quote name=\'reason1024\' date=\'Feb 8 2004, 05:05 AM\'] Some reasons "Who was the original host of The Price is Right?" would probably not be a good grand prize question:
[/quote]
1)I'm sure that the common Joe wouldn't know to type in that exact keyphrase.
2)There's nothing to argue. Cullen's was the original Price. Barker's was a revival
3)And they might not, either.
4)Since all your points have been proven moot, care to try again?
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 07:10 PM\'] [quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 07:58 PM\'] After all of the discussion and posting of people's Level Fifteen questions, and wondered, "What makes a good Million Dollar Question?"
Answer however you please. By that, not by posting your questions, but what is the makeup of such a question.
[/quote]
IMO, simply something that isn't extremely obscure, but something that a little brainstorming couldn't fix. Something where you wouldn't have to go through 20 pages of Google archives to find a concrete answer for.
Joe Trela's "computer bug" question is a perfect example. Another would be the Silorsky helicopter one.
Bad examples: most pop culture, esp. if it happened in the Baby Boomer or Gen-X time eras, i.e. the "Laugh-In" question. Nothing involving numbers, such as the distance from the sun or when the Julian new year began. Personally, I don't like the idea of offering anything involving recalling a specific date. It seems too....."broad," so to speak. [/quote]
Well, how about Michael Shutterly's MDQ about what group won the Grammy for best Hard Rock/Metal Performance or Stephanie Girardi's MDQ about which Shakespearean character said "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark?"
Is the latter too easy to be a MDQ or what?
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Those are surprisingly easy, I must admit.
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[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Feb 17 2004, 05:22 PM\'] Those are surprisingly easy, I must admit. [/quote]
I doubt Michael Shutterly's MDQ was easy. I wouldn't have known it, but I think it was a good idea to put that Grammy question as Question 15.
I think Stephanie Girardi's MDQ would've been better at the middle tier. I'm sure there are a lot of Shakesparean fans out there that would've known that one.
I just thought of 2 more that made good MDQ's: David Fite's MDQ about the language Anne Frank's diary was originally in, and Rob Coughlin's MDQ about what country manufactures ALL U.S. Major League Baseballs are manufactured in.
I wouldn't have known either one of them!
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[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Feb 17 2004, 07:57 PM\'] [quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Feb 17 2004, 05:22 PM\'] Those are surprisingly easy, I must admit. [/quote]
I wouldn't have known either one of them! [/quote]
You didn't know 50X20 either; so this isn't a big surprise.
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Being a pop music fan and Billboard subscriber, this was easy for me ("One Sweet Day"), but I was in agony watching because the contestant in the Hot Seat didn't even know who sang them, then took a wrong guess and fell to $32,000.
That was Larry Caplan, who'd previously appeared on The Challengers 10 yrs prior.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Feb 18 2004, 10:56 AM\']
Being a pop music fan and Billboard subscriber, this was easy for me ("One Sweet Day"), but I was in agony watching because the contestant in the Hot Seat didn't even know who sang them, then took a wrong guess and fell to $32,000.
That was Larry Caplan, who'd previously appeared on The Challengers 10 yrs prior.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby") [/quote]
And he's the FIRST of a handful of players to ever miss the $500,000 question, although many people remember the fall of Kati Knudsen. She had it right, then changed it. Oh! Had she not done that, she would've joined Stephanie Girardi in the "Female $500,000 Winners' Circle."
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[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Feb 18 2004, 12:05 PM\'] [quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Feb 18 2004, 10:56 AM\']
Being a pop music fan and Billboard subscriber, this was easy for me ("One Sweet Day"), but I was in agony watching because the contestant in the Hot Seat didn't even know who sang them, then took a wrong guess and fell to $32,000.
That was Larry Caplan, who'd previously appeared on The Challengers 10 yrs prior.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby") [/quote]
And he's the FIRST of a handful of players to ever miss the $500,000 question,[/quote]
Actually, he was the second. Mark McDermott missed the Titanic / Californian question about a week prior.
although many people remember the fall of Kati Knudsen. She had it right, then changed it. Oh! Had she not done that, she would've joined Stephanie Girardi in the "Female $500,000 Winners' Circle."
Yep. What was interesting was that Regis actually talked her out of going with Tonga. If I were Kati, I probably would've been mad at Regis.
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[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Feb 18 2004, 01:38 PM\']
Yep. What was interesting was that Regis actually talked her out of going with Tonga. If I were Kati, I probably would've been mad at Regis.[/quote]
Well, she was...and let the press know about it. But she forgot the cardinal rule the producers always tell you: NEVER let Regis talk you into [or out of] an answer.
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Matt: But that's just it -- and why I disagree... If you don't _KNOW IT_ -- you had better darn well walk away... And you don't want to get the D&D version of Monty Haul (spelling, I believe, intentional) with one or even ten million dollars on the line.
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[quote name=\'tomobrien\' date=\'Feb 18 2004, 02:02 PM\'] [quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Feb 18 2004, 01:38 PM\']
Yep. What was interesting was that Regis actually talked her out of going with Tonga. If I were Kati, I probably would've been mad at Regis.[/quote]
Well, she was...and let the press know about it. But she forgot the cardinal rule the producers always tell you: NEVER let Regis talk you into [or out of] an answer. [/quote]
And that reminds me of the final episode of Celebrity Millionaire II:
Norm MacDonald was going to say Greenbrier on his MDQ. Then, like you guys said, he was gonna lock it in, but Regis talks him out of it, and THAT's what forces Norm to quit with the $500,000. And, after the lights come up, that's what he guesses. And as Regis said: "Greenbrier? Yeah, you would've been right."
And there's a big OHHHHHH! from the audience.
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Matt, one clarification on a second read:
I was actually referring to the type of question that was used on the 50's big-money shows that no one in their sane mind would know even if they knew the subject, not a question on the events thereon...
About the closest we've had to those is on the 2 Minute Drill, with the Questions of Great Significance...
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And he's the FIRST of a handful of players to ever miss the $500,000 question, although many people remember the fall of Kati Knudsen. She had it right, then changed it. Oh! Had she not done that, she would've joined Stephanie Girardi in the "Female $500,000 Winners' Circle."
Except, the way she was going that night, if she had gotten the $500,000 question right I wouldn't have been a bit surprised if she would have been the only person ever to miss the $1 million question.
It's obvious she wanted to go for it whether she knew it or not.
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She said out loud on the $250,000 question that she "really wanted to be the first woman to win the million."
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[quote name=\'starcade\' date=\'Feb 18 2004, 04:19 PM\'] I was actually referring to the type of question that was used on the 50's big-money shows that no one in their sane mind would know even if they knew the subject, not a question on the events thereon...
[/quote]
Yeah, I finally picked up on that.
But back to our original disagreement, I think I see where it is we're not agreeing. If I recall, you said that a good Million Dollar Question is one where the player either DEFINITELY knows it, or DEFINITELY does not know it. I disagreed, but I think we're looking at it from different perspectives.
If I'm a PLAYER, then sure, I want one that's so cut and dry that I can immediately make my decision and have no regrets about the outcome. So from the perspective of the Hot Seat, that certainly makes a good question. But if I'm the writer or the producer, I want a Million Dollar Question that toys with a player and flirts with the outer edges of his confidence level. That makes for more drama, more excitement, and a better and more interesting television show.
In other words, a simple decision isn't as interesting as an agonizing, anguished decision. So a good question ought to be one that gets the more interesting response.
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My personal favorite Million Dollar Question was the one that asked how many days there were in the Islamic calendar.
Choices were 354, 365, 376, and 400.
Now, I got this right, and only because I could reason my way through it.
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How about this? Regis asks the following: Which of the following cereals did I have for breakfast this morning?
A.) Cheerios
B.) Rice Krispies
C.) Corn Flakes
D.) Crispix
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C, final answer!
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I think the kind of "flirting with it", though, could cause a heart-attack -- see the clip of Major Ingram's run for a good indication of that one...
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 08:55 AM\']
Note: Jeopardy! has 61 answers/questions per show, plus more on hand if there is a mistake during taping.
I'm pretty sure it was mentioned on one of the "behind the scenes" type shows that "Jeopardy" actually has 6 answers and questions per category. The 6th is prepared just in case something weird happens during the reveal of one of the first five.
I wonder what kind of difficulty the 6th one has - because you can never know for sure at what point you might need it. [/quote]
When I was at Jeopardy! (1985-1990) the sixth question (the "extra") would be placed among the other four depending on its difficulty. Sometimes they were tough and would go to the bottom of the category, other times they would be easy and would wind up near the top.
Wow -- only been here a couple of days and I can already participate. Cool.
--C
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[quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 12:40 PM\'] Wow -- only been here a couple of days and I can already participate. Cool.
[/quote]
And it's a pleasure to have another industry insider with us. Welcome to the family.
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[quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 12:40 PM\'] Wow -- only been here a couple of days and I can already participate. Cool.
--C [/quote]
Yes, it's very cool. Let me be the second to welcome you.
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[quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 11:40 AM\'] Wow -- only been here a couple of days and I can already participate. Cool.
--C [/quote]
And let me be the third to lay out the "WELCOME" mat.
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[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 07:17 PM\'] [quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 11:40 AM\'] Wow -- only been here a couple of days and I can already participate. Cool.
--C [/quote]
And let me be the third to lay out the "WELCOME" mat. [/quote]
We can sort of say "Welcome Back", at least those who remember Carlo's postings on Usenet in 1996 about the Challengers and other topics.
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[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 05:17 PM\'] [quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 11:40 AM\'] Wow -- only been here a couple of days and I can already participate. Cool.
--C [/quote]
And let me be the third to lay out the "WELCOME" mat. [/quote]
Personally, Carlo, I hope you don't mind if I wait a little while, because I really have a deep desire to be the 137th to personally welcome you aboard.
...and at the rate this is going, I may get my wish.
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[quote name=\'Little Big Brother\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 09:22 PM\'] One of the best 1M questions would have to be the Carol Brady maiden name question. The choices included Sam the butcher's last name, Alice's last name, Martin (the last name of Carol's first husband), and the correct answer (which I don't remember). I was certain it was Martin, completely forgetting that that was her first married name. My mom and my sister, who were watching with me, were able to trace the answer as being from the grandparent's episode, but didn't know which answer was right. [/quote]
You mean the episode where Robert Reed and Florence Henderson played Mike and Carol's grandparents? That's not right - Carol's grandmother's name was Hutchins (which makes sense; her daughter married some guy named Tyler, and they had a daughter, Carol).
As far as I know, Carol's maiden name is mentioned only in the first (wedding) episode, when Mike is talking to Carol's parents, and calls one of them Mr. (or Mrs.) Tyler.
-- Don
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[quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 12:40 PM\'] When I was at Jeopardy! (1985-1990) ... [/quote]
Carlo Panno?! Aren't you that guy mentioned in The Jeopardy! Book as a contestant from the Fleming version who came on to buy an engagement ring? The way you played is one reminder of why only the winners keep their cash in the current version.
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[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 11:47 PM\'] [quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 12:40 PM\'] When I was at Jeopardy! (1985-1990) ... [/quote]
Carlo Panno?! Aren't you that guy mentioned in The Jeopardy! Book as a contestant from the Fleming version who came on to buy an engagement ring? The way you played is one reminder of why only the winners keep their cash in the current version. [/quote]
Panno was on the 1978 J! revival(winning $6850 as per a 1996 post on Usenet), as well as Jack Clark's Cross-Wits, where he won a sofa. The guy who bought the engagement ring appeared in 1967 on the original J!. His longtime colleague, the late Steve Dorfman, was on Battlestars.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 09:22 PM\'] [quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 05:17 PM\'] [quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 11:40 AM\'] Wow -- only been here a couple of days and I can already participate. Cool.
--C [/quote]
And let me be the third to lay out the "WELCOME" mat. [/quote]
Personally, Carlo, I hope you don't mind if I wait a little while, because I really have a deep desire to be the 137th to personally welcome you aboard.
...and at the rate this is going, I may get my wish. [/quote]
I can help you with that. The lady from the Escort Service last night asked me to welcome Carlo along with the guy who held the camcorder, so we're up to five.
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Along the lines of the TV questions....
I remember getting this right in a radio contest when I was 11 and I made the DJ speechless...
And I know some people here would know this, but the common contestant perhaps wouldn't...
I think a great million dollar question would be:
"Alan Hale, Jr., played 'The Skipper' on Gilligan's Island. What was 'The Skipper''s real name?"
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Feb 26 2004, 10:05 AM\']Alan Hale, Jr., played 'The Skipper' on Gilligan's Island. What was 'The Skipper''s real name?"[/quote]
Jonas Grumby.
And the professor's was Roy Hinckley.
And Lovey Howell's maiden name was Eunice Wentworth.
And Gilligan didn't have a first name, but Sherwood Schwartz and Bob Denver had settled on Willie as the first name they'd use if it ever became necessary.
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[quote name=\'Mike Tennant\' date=\'Feb 26 2004, 10:19 AM\'] [quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Feb 26 2004, 10:05 AM\']Alan Hale, Jr., played 'The Skipper' on Gilligan's Island. What was 'The Skipper''s real name?"[/quote]
Jonas Grumby.
And the professor's was Roy Hinckley.
And Lovey Howell's maiden name was Eunice Wentworth.
And Gilligan didn't have a first name, but Sherwood Schwartz and Bob Denver had settled on Willie as the first name they'd use if it ever became necessary. [/quote]
My point exactly.
Being game show nuts (and TV freaks too!), it was an easy question, but I think for an average contestant, they would be stumbling all over it..
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Feb 26 2004, 07:56 AM\'] [quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 11:47 PM\'] [quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 12:40 PM\'] When I was at Jeopardy! (1985-1990) ... [/quote]
Carlo Panno?! Aren't you that guy mentioned in The Jeopardy! Book as a contestant from the Fleming version who came on to buy an engagement ring? The way you played is one reminder of why only the winners keep their cash in the current version. [/quote]
Panno was on the 1978 J! revival(winning $6850 as per a 1996 post on Usenet), as well as Jack Clark's Cross-Wits, where he won a sofa. The guy who bought the engagement ring appeared in 1967 on the original J!. His longtime colleague, the late Steve Dorfman, was on Battlestars. [/quote]
No fair! I want Carlo speak for himself? :-P
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And I think we should respect your wishes?
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Feb 26 2004, 10:39 AM\']
Being game show nuts (and TV freaks too!), it was an easy question, but I think for an average contestant, they would be stumbling all over it.. [/quote]
I believe a good $10M question would be...
Name the person who created the 'official' design for the universal Handicapped symbol (the blue & white symbol that you see in certain parking lots, restrooms, automatically opening doors,...).
OR
Name the person who created the 'official' Compact Disc/Digital Audio logo?
(BTW, your guess is as good as mine on these 2 questions...But SOMEONE had to have created them.)
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I think they might be better questions if you reversed them...
Which of these universal symbols was created by <that guy>?
A: Stop sign
B: Handicap symbol
C: Skull and Crossbones
D: Recyclable symbol
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Feb 26 2004, 08:46 AM\'] [quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 09:22 PM\'] [quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 05:17 PM\'] [quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 11:40 AM\'] Wow -- only been here a couple of days and I can already participate. Cool.
--C [/quote]
And let me be the third to lay out the "WELCOME" mat. [/quote]
Personally, Carlo, I hope you don't mind if I wait a little while, because I really have a deep desire to be the 137th to personally welcome you aboard.
...and at the rate this is going, I may get my wish. [/quote]
I can help you with that. The lady from the Escort Service last night asked me to welcome Carlo along with the guy who held the camcorder, so we're up to five. [/quote]
Carlo must be going up against Lawrence Taylor sometime this week.
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Extremely unlikely though, what with the modern penchant for litigation.
I was stunned when that guy didn't even know the Frodo question. I'd never read the books either (since rectified), but had heard numerous references to Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf etc.
If I remember rightly, the problem wasn't that you could pick Frodo out as being a Lord of the Rings character, but that if you hadn't read the thing recently and didn't remember the spelling of strange names well you might pick out Golem for the same reason.
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[quote name=\'HYHYBT\' date=\'Mar 1 2004, 04:27 AM\']
If I remember rightly, the problem wasn't that you could pick Frodo out as being a Lord of the Rings character, but that if you hadn't read the thing recently and didn't remember the spelling of strange names well you might pick out Golem for the same reason. [/quote]
As of last night, that question will be an $8K Meredith question as best, thanks to LotR's record-tying sweep of the Oscars(did Titanic or Ben Hur, the other 11 time Oscar winners, get nominated for a category and didn't win)
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[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Mar 1 2004, 10:57 AM\'] As of last night, that question will be an $8K Meredith question as best, thanks to LotR's record-tying sweep of the Oscars(did Titanic or Ben Hur, the other 11 time Oscar winners, get nominated for a category and didn't win) [/quote]
Just in case it comes up as a trivia question one of these days:
Titanic got eleven trophies out of 14 nominations. Best Actress nominee Kate Winslett, Best Supporting Actress nominee Gloria Stewart and the nominated make-up team all failed to win the Oscar.
Ben-Hur won eleven out of its 12 nominations. Karl Tunberg lost the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.
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[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 11:47 PM\'] [quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Feb 25 2004, 12:40 PM\'] When I was at Jeopardy! (1985-1990) ... [/quote]
Carlo Panno?! Aren't you that guy mentioned in The Jeopardy! Book as a contestant from the Fleming version who came on to buy an engagement ring? The way you played is one reminder of why only the winners keep their cash in the current version. [/quote]
Actually, I met the woman I married while I was a contestant on Jeopardy! in 1978, so no, getting money for an engagement ring was not on my mind at the time. And, as it happens, we got married the week I started on the current Jeopardy! in 1985.
As to the rest, Zach nailed it. I still have "the Cross-Wits couch," as my wife and kids call it, and also the Rice-A-Roni prize card that Steven gave me before I left Jeopardy!
Thanks for the warm welcome. I look forward to participating.
--C
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Welcome aboard, Carlo...I remember you from my early days on ATGS (96-97) and it's always good when some industry vets like Randy West and yourself find this place. :-)
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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[quote name=\'HYHYBT\' date=\'Mar 1 2004, 04:27 AM\']If I remember rightly, the problem wasn't that you could pick Frodo out as being a Lord of the Rings character, but that if you hadn't read the thing recently and didn't remember the spelling of strange names well you might pick out Golem for the same reason.[/quote]
You'd really deserve to lose, then, as "Golem" wasn't one of the choices. :)
Jigglypuff, Frodo, Squirtle, Pikachu. The 50:50 left the first two.
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When I saw the pokemon question, I debated between Frodo and Squirtle, because I'd never heard of either of them.
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[quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Mar 1 2004, 12:36 PM\'] Actually, I met the woman I married while I was a contestant on Jeopardy! in 1978, so no, getting money for an engagement ring was not on my mind at the time. And, as it happens, we got married the week I started on the current Jeopardy! in 1985. [/quote]
OK, so it's been a lone time since I last read that book. The man I was thinking of was an unnamed 1967 contestant. But it did mention that the contestant coordinator knew there was something going on between you two before you did.
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When I saw the pokemon question, I debated between Frodo and Squirtle, because I'd never heard of either of them
I was inclined to believe it was Frodo, having seen his name mentioned as part of a blurb in the long-defunct "Video Marketplace" magazine about the animated version of Lord of the Rings.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Mar 1 2004, 10:23 PM\'] [quote name=\'carlopanno\' date=\'Mar 1 2004, 12:36 PM\'] Actually, I met the woman I married while I was a contestant on Jeopardy! in 1978, so no, getting money for an engagement ring was not on my mind at the time. And, as it happens, we got married the week I started on the current Jeopardy! in 1985. [/quote]
OK, so it's been a lone time since I last read that book. The man I was thinking of was an unnamed 1967 contestant. But it did mention that the contestant coordinator knew there was something going on between you two before you did. [/quote]
That's true. It said that in the book because I told Peter that, actually...
--C
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Oops! I must have been remembering an ATGS discussion about the question instead of actual events.
Sorry about that.