I was watching the College World Series (Geaux Tigers!) and flipped over to Fox to catch a little of America’s Most Wanted. However, there was a quiz show on instead.
The question I saw was: “What is the only mammal that can truly fly?”
The three possible answers were:
–pigeon
–penguin
–bat
This was worth $128,000.
Now, I realize I’m a biologist; but I can’t imagine that there is anyone over the age of 5 that wouldn’t have been able to answer this correctly.
Jeez. Everybody knows a bat is a reptile. How dumb!
And naturally, The Penguin is a master criminal.
But I thought is was a bird that flew…
That is the education they are giving people today. sheesh!
Here’s another good one, from the Newlywed Game circa 1985. I don’t know why but I laughed my arse off at this one and obviously it’s stuck in my memory:
“Which of these names would your husband LEAST want to give to your son: Larry, Walter, or Bruce?”
(I think most of the contestants picked Walter)
This one from Quiz Bowl…
“What can stop the Duke of Earl?”
I was too stunned to ring in.
Butterflies!!!
actually, any of the first 4 questions on “who wants to be a millionaire” fits this OP perfectly. they are usually something like “how many sides to a square”
What do you find in men’s trousers and on a pool table?
The answer, of course, is “pockets”.
I remember watching a game show once where the contestant was given the occupations and first names of two famous people and had to guess their common last name.
The question was: Patriot Benjamin and singer Aretha.
The answer given: Washington.
On Chance of a Lifetime, the first question for a blond woman [who was rich too] was, ‘A rolling stone gathers no what?’
She thought at first, could be dust, might be grass, so she went with ‘dust’. That was worth $10,000 too. IM not kidding.
I need to vent something here. Thank you in advance for your time. I was watching Jeopardy, a show I think most people respect. The answer was the longest bone in the body. Obviously the answer was the femur, in the upper leg. I would have thought since they asked for the bone the correct anatomical name would have been expected. But, they accepted THIGH BONE. I have consulted anatomy texts and done a thorough cadaver dissection and have yet to find something acceptably called the thigh bone. I just thought that Jeopardy would have expected a little more detail and knowledge, I mean you are supposed to be smart to get on the show.
Thanks, I needed that 
I know this is from Who Wants to Be a Millionare and was the $200 question, but. . . come on!
Which of these words is the opposite of big?
A)large B)kind
C)small D)tasty
duh?
Nika, Jeopardy! is odd like that. You’ll hear them accept some vaguely related answers frequently. I’m not sure if the decide before hand that the point of the question is to know the intent of the question, or the proper terminology. I’m not sure what the judges criteria is, but it seems inconsistent. I agree with your example that Femur should have been the expected answer, but it doesn’t bother me as long as they treat all the questions equally. This is where they fail often, I’ve heard Alex diqualify answers frequently for simple bad pronunciation, or adding a plural. Now, if its a specific movie or book title I can understand requiring the exact phrase, but when you’re asking for some obscure European person, I don’t think they should be burned for mispronouncing the name.
[rant]I can’t speak for Jeopardy, but I was on one of those local high-school quiz shows, and was counted wrong for answering “Mary Antoinette” instead of “Marie”. Actually, if it had been written, I would have spelled it “Marie”, but I never realized that the pronounciations were necessarily distinct. Heck, “Mary” is the English form of the same name… Would they have marked me wrong for calling that guy who lived 2000 years ago Jesus, instead of Joshua?
[/rant]
would you mind telling me how thigh bone is a wrong answer? sure, it’s not as accurate as femur, but i don’t see it as wrong.
from the merriam-webster online dictionary:
Main Entry: fe·mur
Pronunciation: 'fE-m&r
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural fe·murs or fem·o·ra /'fe-m&-r&, 'fem-r&/
Etymology: New Latin femor-, femur, from Latin, thigh
Date: circa 1771
1 : the proximal bone of the hind or lower limb – called also thighbone
I remember watching an old episode of Cheers where Cliff got on jeopardy. I don’t remember what the answer (question) was, but his answer was “Who are… three men who have never been in my kitchen?” And if I remember correctly, it was accepted as an answer. Kind of funny…
-dook
no, it wasn’t accepted as an answer. that is how cliff lost.
Chronos, I feel your pain. I too was a victim of a stupid game show judge. In my case it was a college, rather than high school, show. The question was “Who was the only President to be impeached?” (This was back when Bill Clinton was still screwing office workers in Little Rock.) I said Andrew Johnson. The judge insisted it was Andrew Jackson and by the rules of the show her decision was final.