# Details of wrong answers accepted on TV quiz shows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309 "2020-03-12T02:09:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/21 "2020-03-13T07:55:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You mean 6-0, unless I’m missing something. > > They serve first, double fault all, for 0 strokes: 0-1. > You serve, four aces: 0-2 > They serve: 0-3 > Your serve, four aces: 0-4 > They serve: 0-5 > Your serve, four aces: 0-6 > > Twelve strokes total. One set. (Actually, it doesn’t matter who serves first. Same outcome.) No, you don’t play any strokes at all until the game score reaches 5-4 to you because your opponent is giving you 5 games and you are giving them 4 (you are basically defaulting those games in some way). Only during the winning game do you play 4 winning strokes to take it 6-4. The question for me is whether you can default your games in such a way as to not, at some point, also default the set and match. ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/22 "2020-03-13T11:02:43Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > The question for me is whether you can default your games in such a way as to not, at some point, also default the set and match. You could foot-fault on all of your serves (except the 4 needed to win the one game necessary). The rule seems to be that a foot-fault occurs when one player steps over, or on the baseline during a serve before making contact with the ball. If you can do this without it being deemed a “stroke”, then the answer is 4. However I don’t know if there is something like a not trying or “bringing the game into disrepute” rule that might trigger a default before the end of the set. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/23 "2020-03-13T11:15:03Z")
> [@Dahu](#): > > You could foot-fault on all of your serves (except the 4 needed to win the one game necessary). The rule seems to be that a foot-fault occurs when one player steps over, or on the baseline during a serve before making contact with the ball. If you can do this without it being deemed a “stroke”, then the answer is 4. > > However I don’t know if there is something like a not trying or “bringing the game into disrepute” rule that might trigger a default before the end of the set. Quite, in reality, no matter what the technically correct answer may be the umpire is going to think something is fishy well before the actual winning of the set. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/24 "2020-03-13T11:43:13Z")
The OP reminded me of this episode of Who wants to be a Millionaire > [@](#): > > August 1999, Millionaire, US version: > On only the fourth day of the show’s US run, David Honea was asked, for $64,000, which of the Great Lakes had the largest area apart from Lake Superior. Honea went for Lake Huron, but was told the correct answer was Lake Michigan. After the show, researchers were forced to admit Honea had been correct. > > Later in the same programme another contestant was asked what the term “iron horse” was used to describe. He answered “locomotive”, but was told the correct option was “motorbike”. Iron horse is used to describe both. I remember being shocked at the first error and confused by the second. Had a chuckle over this one though… > [@](#): > > March 2001, The Weakest Link: > Host Anne Robinson told a contestant former formula one world champion Mika Hakkinen was Italian. The contestant had said he was German. Hakkinen is Finnish. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/25 "2020-03-13T11:49:59Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > No, you don’t play any strokes at all until the game score reaches 5-4 to you because your opponent is giving you 5 games and you are giving them 4 (you are basically defaulting those games in some way). Only during the winning game do you play 4 winning strokes to take it 6-4. Ahh…I see. Clever. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/26 "2020-03-13T13:00:29Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > It was a badly formed question. Reminds me of the time I wrote a trick question into a trivia contest I was hosting. I announced before the round that it contained a trick question and that contestants could win 1 extra point for identifying it and 1 additional extra point if they correctly explained what the trick was. No one identified the trick question I intended\*, but one team did identify a trick question I _unintentionally_ wrote because I erroneously claimed that a show had aired on Cartoon Network when it actually aired on Comedy Central (IIRC). After verifying it, I awarded them 2 extra points. - It had to do with which show Scott Bakula was on the longest, _Quantum Leap_ and _Star Trek Enterprise_. One wins by episode count, the other wins by days between initial broadcast and series finale. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/27 "2020-03-13T15:06:23Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > That was _Jeopardy!_, and they did correct themselves. > > [“Jeopardy!” Tells Americans Bethlehem Is in Israel, Not Palestine](https://theintercept.com/2020/01/13/jeopardy-contestant-asked-palestine-game-show-gave-wrong-answer/) > I have it in my head that game show contestants on shows like _Jeopardy!_ (where factual answers matter) have to sign an agreement that “correct” is what the judges say it is. Does anyone know if that’s true? There is no way that that is true. I’ve seen numerous instances where they brought a contestant back after an error was made previously. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/28 "2020-03-13T15:16:23Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > There is no way that that is true. I’ve seen numerous instances where they brought a contestant back after an error was made previously. This does not automatically mean there isn’t a waiver, though. It just means they decided to do what’s right. The waiver (if there is one, I’m not insisting that there is) would simply indemnify the producers against lawsuits if they decided not to. Take this hypothetical example: History-based trivia game show. Question: “Where were the first shots of the American Civil War fired?” Intended, acceptable answer: Fort Sumter. Contestant answer: Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter is _in_ Charleston Harbor, so technically the contestant is correct. But by that logic, they could have answered “South Carolina” and been correct. Or “North America.” Or “Earth.” But if the producers decide to accept only “Fort Sumter” as an answer, do they want to risk getting sued over it? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/29 "2020-03-13T15:57:10Z")
I see what you mean now. There probably is some sort of verbiage to prevent “people who have never been in my kitchen” answers from being technically correct. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/30 "2020-03-13T16:47:25Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > The OP reminded me of this episode of Who wants to be a Millionaire > > I remember being shocked at the first error and confused by the second. > > Had a chuckle over this one though… For “Iron Horse” the first answer that came to mind was Lou Gehrig ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/31 "2020-03-13T21:17:43Z")
On _Jeopardy!_, if a technical error, a judging error, or a badly worded clue that is enough to have cost a player the win (or was reasonably likely to have cost them the win), and if they don’t catch the error before the end of that episode, they sometimes bring back the player at a later date to give them a second chance as a challenger. It seems to happen about once or twice a year on average. The most famous player brought back this way is perhaps Ryan Fenster, who won four games in 2018 before losing the game with the bad call. He was invited back a few months later and won three more games. The offending clue was “St. Thomas Aquinas died traveling to Lyon, France while attempting to heal this rift between the Latin & Greek churches”. They incorrectly rejected Ryan’s response of “What is the Great Schism?” They were apparently expecting a response of simply “schism.” More details here: [Rare Scenario: When A Contestant Returns | J!Buzz | Jeopardy.com](https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/streaker-updates/rare-scenario-when-contestant-returns) A technical error in the same year disadvantaged a player named Vincent Valenzuela. Home viewers saw a Final Jeopardy clue beginning “This slang term,” implying the correct response was the slang term itself, and that’s the way Alex pronounced it. But Vincent was somehow shown the text of the clue beginning “His slang term,” leading him to believe they were looking for the name of the person who coined the slang term. More details here: [Vincent Valenzuela Returns Because of a Spelling Error | J!Buzz | Jeopardy.com](https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/contestants/vincent-valenzuela-returns-because-spelling-error) ---
**Author:** ![Dunmurry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dunmurry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunmurry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309/32 "2020-03-19T02:07:28Z")
Many years ago on Who Wants to be a Millionaire in the USA when John Carpenter was the original person to win a million dollars he didn’t use any lifelines but used Phone a Friend to call his father to tell him he was going to win. I was wondering if many people in America would have known the name of the comedy Richard Nixon was on in the 1970s and if it was a ridiculously easy million dollars question on the show and if he had a ridiculously easy set some questions, on Who Wants to be a Millionaire also if some wrong answers accepted, were based on misunderstandings or ambiguous questions or assumptions by producers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-wrong-answers-accepted-on-tv-quiz-shows/849309.md?page=1)