Futtocks Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 In Private Eye's Dumb Britain section, they feature stupid answers to quiz questions from TV and radio. They mostly fall into three categories. 1. Flat-out ignorance or stupidity. 2. The wild guess that's so far wrong, it is almost genius. 3. My favourite - the one where you can actually work out the internal logic of their thought process, and also where it all went horribly wrong under pressure. Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futtocks Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 1 minute ago, The Hallucinating Goose said: I agree with that to a certain extent with pop culture references because some show/bands will have been basically forgotten and music is probably my weakest subject, I struggle to answer things that are supposed to be really easy about music, so yes, as I say I do agree in that respect. What I will say is I still think I have a pretty good general knowledge of entertainment culture from the part. I know things about shows I've never watched just because I've picked stuff up in passing from watching other shows or flicking through a TV magazine or what have you. Its amazing how much I know about soaps despite never having watched a single episode and it's just stuff I've heard. The people on these quiz shows often seem to be missing that basic, what I will call accidental, general knowledge and the average quiz show doesn't really test contestants with ridiculously obscure pop culture references. The only shows that might do that are university challenge and mastermind and if you're on those shows you're considering yourself to be intelligent anyway. With music from an era that pre-dates you, we are now in a time where old songs are used a lot, either in the original or a cover version in TV, movies, games etc. I'd say today's young people are more clued up on music from the Seventies to Nineties than the equivalent eras from my youth. The internet helps too, of course. Check out the mixtape that forms part of the plot of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy movies, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardians_of_the_Galaxy_(soundtrack)#Track_listing Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hallucinating Goose Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Just nicked this off an article to give us a laugh. 1. THE CHASE Bradley Walsh: "Name the television naturalist the 'Attenborosaurus' dinosaur is named after." Contestant: "Erm... pass." 2. THE WEAKEST LINK Anne Robinson: "In the Lord's Prayer, what word beginning with 'H' meaning 'blessed' comes before 'be thy name'?" Contestant: (quietly) "Howard." Anne: "Pardon?" Contestant: (louder) "Howard." 3. TIPPING POINT Ben Shephard: "Between 1991 and 1999, Peter Schmeichel was the goalkeeper for which English football club?" Contestant: "Germany?" 4. ALSO TIPPING POINT Ben: "What day is Christmas Day traditionally celebrated in the UK?" Contestant: "Wednesday." 5. POINTLESS Alexander Armstrong: "Who was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas?" Contestant: "JR." 6. JAMES O'BRIEN SHOW, LBC James O'Brien: "How many kings of England have been called Henry? Contestant: "Well, I know Henry VIII. So, um, three?" 7. PAUL WAPPAT SHOW, BBC Radio Newcastle Paul Wappat: "How long did the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel last?" Contestant: [long pause] "14 days." 8. LINCS FM DJ: "Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world?" Contestant: "Barcelona." DJ: "I was really after the name of a country." Contestant: "I don't know the name of any countries in Spain." 9. UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE Bamber Gascoigne: "What was Gandhi's first name?" Contestant: "Goosey?" Jeremy Paxman BBC 10. ALSO UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE Jeremy Paxman: "What is another name for 'cherrypickers' and 'cheesemongers'?" Contestant: "Homosexuals." Paxman: "No. They're regiments in the British Army, who will be very upset with you." 11. BLOCKBUSTERS Bob Holness: "What 'L' do you make in the dark, when you don't consider the consequences?" Contestant: "Love?" Bob: "No, I'm sorry, I'm afraid the actual answer was 'leap'." 12. LBC DJ: "What name does Cat Stevens go under now? I'll give you a clue, he became a Muslim..." Contestant: "Abu Hamza." 13. BBC RADIO MERSEYSIDE DJ: "What was Hitler's first name?" Contestant: "Heil." 14-17. FAMILY FORTUNES Les Dennis ITV A vocalist known by only one name? "Michael Jackson." A TV game show with the word 'family' in the title? "The Generation Game." A bird with a long neck? "Naomi Campbell." A big bird? "Pauline Quirke." 18. BEG, BORROW OR STEAL Jamie Theakston: "Where do you think Cambridge University is?" Contestant: "Geography isn't my strong point." Theakston: "There's a clue in the title." Contestant: "Leicester?" 19.GWR FM DJ: "What happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963?" Contestant: "I don't know, I wasn't watching it then." 20. ROCK FM DJ: "Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci." Contestant: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnh1 Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Even Jeremy Vine on his morning show on Channel 5, when drawing a map of Ireland and drawing the border between North and South, doesn’t realise that the northernmost point on the island of Ireland is actually in Southern Ireland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 4 hours ago, paulwalker71 said: The question was about finding answers with a 'dd' in them? I'm struggling to think of any other Yorkshire towns with a double d in them. Perhaps a reason why 16 people 'guessed' it who probably didn't know squat about RL? Luddenden Foot. "We'll sell you a seat .... but you'll only need the edge of it!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futtocks Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Just now, Griff said: Luddenden Foot. Middleham? Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 17 minutes ago, Futtocks said: Middleham? Middlesbrough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futtocks Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Just now, Moose said: Middlesbrough In Yorkshire? Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methven Hornet Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 1 hour ago, The Hallucinating Goose said: 5. POINTLESS Alexander Armstrong: "Who was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas?" Contestant: "JR." You can see where he's coming from. After all, JR did assassinate Lee Harvey Oswald. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methven Hornet Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 7 minutes ago, Futtocks said: In Yorkshire? Ooh, controversial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rocket Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 4 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said: As I mentioned on a different thread, it's does my nut in when people say before my time as an excuse to not knowing something. It's like they are saying they can't possibly learn about anything that happened before they were born. Have they never read a book or watched a documentary, or even just paid a tiny bit of attention in school? Those people really f*** me off. I hate it in these shows were the obviously thick as two short planks contestant says " not really my strong point _______" fill in the blank. Or say ' If only you had of asked me about any other topic" when it is obvious they haven`t got a clue about any topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hallucinating Goose Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 10 minutes ago, The Rocket said: I hate it in these shows were the obviously thick as two short planks contestant says " not really my strong point _______" fill in the blank. Or say ' If only you had of asked me about any other topic" when it is obvious they haven`t got a clue about any topic. I really do hate all these excuses. I don't care if they don't know, different people know different things, some people are smarter than others, that's all fine but I would just like these people to say they don't know if they don't and stop with trying to justify why they don't know. They don't know cos they don't know not cos it was before their time or it isn't their strong point or whatever. I know it's a really small thing but it's just one of my pet peeves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rocket Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 1 minute ago, The Hallucinating Goose said: I really do hate all these excuses. I don't care if they don't know, different people know different things, some people are smarter than others, that's all fine but I would just like these people to say they don't know if they don't and stop with trying to justify why they don't know. They don't know cos they don't know not cos it was before their time or it isn't their strong point or whatever. I know it's a really small thing but it's just one of my pet peeves. I think a lot of these people sit at home with their families watching the quiz shows, get a few right and everyone is saying " you should go on there , you`re really good, you`d win that, etc." and next thing you know they are on national TV being asked " what was Hitlers first name ?" and they reply " Heil". ( borrowed from above) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Watt Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 This thread brings back memories of a half hour comedy radio show called " Ignorance is Bliss" which ran in the UK from 1941-1960's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stirlin Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Pointless Celebrities ....................of course they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 10 hours ago, Padge said: When people say to me "before my time" I ask them when was the battle of Hastings and mostly they quickly answer 1066. I then point out that 1066 was close to a thousand years ago. Then ask them where it was fought and see if we get 16 correct answers. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 9 hours ago, Futtocks said: In Yorkshire? Yes. "We'll sell you a seat .... but you'll only need the edge of it!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RP London Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 15 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said: Do bare in mind just how bad the general publics geography is. Whenever I watch quiz shows I find people's lack of geographic knowledge shocking, especially knowledge of their own country. There's a good chance a lot of people who did this don't even know Huddersfield is in Yorkshire. Also the scores on pointless can be a bit misleading cos you get a lot of people who do the surveys that spend the 100 seconds they get to answer focusing on the more obscure answers and forgetting to answer the easier ones, the presenters have mentioned this on the show before when answers you think would get close to 100 get more like 60. I'm more concerned by the low number for addis ababa to be honest, rather than the low number of people who know where a sport is founded.. but maybe that has fallen into the category you are talking about.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RP London Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 3 hours ago, gingerjon said: Then ask them where it was fought and see if we get 16 correct answers. Just because you've moved down to the south coast.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatmichaelsays Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 There was a question on Pointless to name any member of the England 2013 RL World Cup squad. I think everyone bar Sam Burgess was pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hela Wigmen Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Do you reckon other sports’ fans take to Internet forums to wet their pants when that sport has been mentioned on a TV programme? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 14 hours ago, Dunbar said: I think it very much depends on the topic. If it is world events or politics or such then I agree, some understanding of previous events is expected. But if it is more cultural then less so. As a child of the 70's I would have a good shot as tv programmes in the 80's and beyond but before that I would struggle unless they were classics. Sometimes you just have to live through an era to get all the pop culture references. Totally this. I know a reasonable amount about politics from the late 80s onwards because I was born in '78 so old enough to understand and follow it contemporaneously. Sure, I could research 70s politics and know a small amount about it, but it's different when you live through it. "A bit before my time" is a pretty innocuous phrase in my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 10 minutes ago, Tonka said: Totally this. I know a reasonable amount about politics from the late 80s onwards because I was born in '78 so old enough to understand and follow it contemporaneously. Sure, I could research 70s politics and know a small amount about it, but it's different when you live through it. "A bit before my time" is a pretty innocuous phrase in my view. Pretty tough argument when your studying history ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RP London Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 47 minutes ago, DavidM said: Pretty tough argument when your studying history ! i studied history at university and my bug bear was people saying "thats not my era of history"... Its not like you're being asked to write your dissertation on it, if your studying history i would assume you are someone with a general interest in the subject therefore i would expect you to have a general overview of most of the time periods! fair enough modern to ancient is a leap but come on you're on quiz shows or at a pub quiz.. you may be studying the victorians but I would assume you know the wives of Henry VIII or the general drift of the war of the roses or the 2 sides of the civil war ffs! 1 hour ago, whatmichaelsays said: There was a question on Pointless to name any member of the England 2013 RL World Cup squad. I think everyone bar Sam Burgess was pointless. I'd say there is an argument that is a fair reflection of the tournament... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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