# Guess The TV Show Or Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900 "2004-02-06T20:59:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/1 "2004-02-06T20:59:16Z")
Sorry if someone’s already posted about this, but I searched on the above subject and got told it was under the 4 word minimum. Anyway, I think this guy uses algorithms pretty effectively, and I thought I stumped him with **The Girl Can’t Help It** starring Jayne Mansfield, but it turned out I missed the fact that she drove a limousine and he got _me_ instead. Have fun, and again, sorry if this posted before, but I _did_ search… [http://www.guessthename.com/movie](http://www.guessthename.com/movie) Quasi ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/2 "2004-02-07T03:53:37Z")
Hah! I kicked his ass with _Tales of the Gold Monkey_, one of my all time favorite TV shows. He says: “Your valuable replies have been added to my database. With your help the database is now vast enough to guess any TV Show or Movie name that anyone can ever think of ever! Next time you will not find me nearly as inadequate. Please come back and visit me often so that I don’t grow sad and lonely.” I spoiled his Friday night, **Quasi**. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/3 "2004-02-07T07:15:00Z")
It took like forty questions to get to Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Sheesh, it asked five questions specific to various space shows (“Is the main character from Ork?”). It should have asked “Does it take place in outer space?” much earlier. Not a good guesser. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/4 "2004-02-07T07:42:15Z")
Yeah, I have to say I’m not impressed at all. It asked like three general questions and then started asking me about each movie specifically. And there were so many misspellings and just stupid questions; I think they have too much faith in the intelligence of the internet audience. It never managed to get _Broadcast News_; in fact it didn’t ask me a single question I could answer “yes” to. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/5 "2004-02-07T07:49:07Z")
Yeah, I know… I was tempted to flag 3/4 of the questions it asked me on specificity alone. As it was, I flagged way too many. I think **SolGrundy’s** theory about too much faith is right… Oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/6 "2004-02-07T08:04:28Z")
I was thinking of _Some Like It Hot_ but gave up after way too many questions got to the stage of “Does the movie star Jamie Kennedy” and “Does the movie star Weird Al Yankovic”. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/7 "2004-02-07T15:19:59Z")
I stumped it with _Struck by Lightning_, the classic 1979 sitcom starring Jack Elam as Frankenstein’s monster. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/8 "2004-02-08T00:43:58Z")
Pretty poor example of this. I still haven’t come anywhere close to my movie (admittedly obscure), but the questions are too specific to work well. Even if I added it, it would take hours to get to it. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/9 "2004-02-08T00:55:26Z")
…but even with all the misspellings (did I get that word right?), the guy has good intentions, and if you can look past the obvious questions, he did good. He guessed Alfred Hitchcock’s _Strangers On A Train_ after about 30 questions, and I thought that was a pretty obscure film. Anyway, thanks for taking a look. Q ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-tv-show-or-movie/227900/10 "2004-02-08T03:18:48Z")
I stumped it twice with _Doctor Who_. Silly program.