# Cranium Copycat Rule Confusion **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 26, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071 "2010-09-26T04:16:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![squeak589](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@squeak589](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeak589)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/1 "2010-09-26T04:16:20Z")
I saw the Marlon Brando card thread and I have a similar confusion issue concerning the exact rules of copycat. So it was 2 vs 2 and the other team going had to guess the musical artist “Prince”. So one player said “he was on an episode of the Chapelle’s Show playing basketball”. Our team said that was against the rules, as Chapelle is the last name of Dave Chapelle. He said that it was fair, as it was the title of the show, not the person. We said that doesn’t matter, because it is just a different context but still a proper noun. However, when I got “Tyra Banks” the previous day, I couldnt say “the woman who hosts the Tyra Banks show”. So was it ok to say “Chapelle’s Show” when referring to Prince? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/2 "2010-09-26T19:29:47Z")
> [@](#): > > So was it ok to say “Chapelle’s Show” when referring to Prince? Yes. Without seeing the rules, I think it’s fine. If it says something like "absolutely no proper names, then people need to get “Chapelle’s Show” in a roundabout way. I think it’s certainly within the spirit of the law. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/3 "2010-09-26T22:02:29Z")
No, no way, sorry, that’s against the rules. It says \*\*no proper nouns. \*\* The context isn’t relevant. “Chappelle’s Show” is a proper noun twice over. The challenge is to imitate the person; simply citing relationships and shows they’ve been on would make it preposterously easy and would rob the challenge of any point. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/4 "2010-09-26T22:13:46Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > No, no way, sorry, that’s against the rules. It says \*\*no proper nouns. \*\* Could someone transcribe the rule in question? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/5 "2010-09-26T22:27:29Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > > [@RickJay](#): > > > > No, no way, sorry, that’s against the rules. It says \*\*no proper nouns. \*\* > > Could someone transcribe the rule in question? “Choose one performer from each team to act like the famous person or character. The performer can talk like the person but cannot say names of people or places.” The player as described in the OP simply was not following the letter OR spirit of the rule. He used a proper name and he wasn’t acting like Prince, he was describing him, which clearly is not what the rule states you are supposed to do. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/6 "2010-09-26T22:43:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Choose one performer from each > team to act like the famous person > or character. The performer can talk > like the person but cannot say names > of people or places.” > > The player as described in the OP simply was not following the letter OR spirit of the rule. He used a proper name and he wasn’t acting like Prince, he was describing him, which clearly is not what the rule states you are supposed to do. Meh. If the people playing had morphed that category into “describe this person” instead of “act like this person” (especially for a group that might be a little gun shy), I could see bending the “act like” portion. As for “Chapelle’s Show” (and given the above), it’s fine. The rule isn’t “no proper nouns”. “Chapelle’s Show” is the name of a show - no different than “Cheers” (which is also a place) or “Friends”. If it had been a memorable appearance on “The Tonight Show” or the Super Bowl Halftime show, it’d also be fine. The fact that Chapelle’s Show is named after a person is irrelevant in my eyes. Ultimately, it’s up the group to set consistency on rules like this. The point is enjoyment, not rules lawyering. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/7 "2010-09-26T23:16:26Z")
Perfectly OK, but not a very good hint. I would have said “he released the album “Prince” in 1979.” Seriously though, it was obviously against the rules. If the name of a person is in the title, tough luck, you still can’t say the name. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/8 "2010-09-26T23:20:23Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > Seriously though, it was obviously against the rules. If the name of a person is in the title, tough luck, you still can’t say the name. He didn’t. “Prince” was the clue on the card, the words said were “Chapelle’s Show”. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/9 "2010-09-26T23:42:09Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > > [@Carmady](#): > > > > Seriously though, it was obviously against the rules. If the name of a person is in the title, tough luck, you still can’t say the name. > > He didn’t. “Prince” was the clue on the card, the words said were “Chapelle’s Show”. Ah. My mistake. I misread the OP and thought that he had said “Prince’s Show”, which would have been a clear violation of the game rule not to say Prince’s name. On a second read, I find that he said the name of a person commonly associated with Prince, which is well within the rules (which, as mentioned, allow naming anyone but Prince). ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cranium-copycat-rule-confusion/555071/10 "2010-09-27T00:34:16Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > > [@Munch](#): > > > > He didn’t. “Prince” was the clue on the card, the words said were “Chapelle’s Show”. > > Ah. My mistake. > > I misread the OP and thought that he had said “Prince’s Show”, which would have been a clear violation of the game rule not to say Prince’s name. > > **On a second read, I find that he said the name of a person commonly associated with Prince, which is well within the rules (which, as mentioned, allow naming anyone but Prince)**. Bolding mine. But the rules say: “The performer can talk like the person but cannot say names of people or places.” It is not true that you can name anyone but Prince. So naming the Chapelle Show might be a grey area, but naming Dave Chapelle is not allowed. I think saying the exact phrase “Chapelle’s Show” would be against the rules because it clearly uses Chapelle’s name, with Chapelle’s name in the possessive form. But, I think the Game Room answer is that both players were going against the spirit of the game and should have been acting like the famous people. Squat down to 5’3, ask if they would like to talk about god, mention how having a rib removed makes it easy to suck your own cock, say “Dig if you will the picture!” Easy.