I doubt that there’s much to say, but just in case I thought I’d open this thread, because there were a few points of mild interest in Sunday night’s show:
Meredith Vieira is a much better host than Regis. Much.
The “fastest fingers” way of getting into the hot seat was a bad idea 10 years ago, mercifully done away with for the daytime version, and there was no good reason to bring it back. Fortunately they’ve kept all the other improvements they’ve made in the past few years, like having a time limit on each question.
Stunned and amazed that the first contestant had to go to the audience to figure out that “purple mountains’ majesty” is a reference to “America the Beautiful”. :smack:
Celebrities answering 1 question for charity? A weak waste of time…except…the fact that Katy Perry has a cat named Kitty Purry just made my day. If she thought of that herself, she is high on my list of all-time favorite celebs.
How the first contestant could pass the qualifying tests, then win the fastest fingers round, and not have heard the quote about making laws being similar to making sausage (better not to watch how it is done) blows my mind…
I know not everyone has heard all the various famous witty quotes/sayings over the years, but I thought this example was very well known.
Agree. I didn’t know it was Bismark that made the quote, but it seems like it’ll be used in the press everytime something crazy goes down in congress.
In an interview long ago I recall Regis saying that the most accurate thing to go to was the audience. They weren’t 100% perfect but the group got it more often than the other options. Conclusion: don’t use the audience option first. Save it.
And the “expert” was Sam Donaldson? Okay, he was the ABC White House correspondant for the majority of his career. I’d use him on any political question that involved the last 50 years.
I don’t know about the US version, but the UK one changed the format a while back, to have 12 questions instead of 15, so instead of having five stupidly easy questions for £100, £200, £300, £500 and £1,000 (the first “bank” amount), there are just two for £500 then £1,000. Also the second “bank” amount is £50,000 now instead of £32,000.
I think that was a good move, as the five really easy questions were always tedious viewing.
Yeah that first contestant was almost embarrassing to watch. Used to be an investment banker, now he’s a carny, doesn’t know what song “purple mountain’s majesty” is from & missed the dead easy Bismarck quote? Ouch.
I was a bit amused however with the one contestant who had Flavor Flav as one answer, and then later on had “Do the Right Thing” as another answer. (“Fight the Power,” a famous song by Flav’s group Public Enemy, was from that film.)
The woman who was on tonight was absolutely stunning (I just love the brains/beauty combo) but it was too bad she wasnt familiar with Julia Child’s quote…
What I dont care for is the celebrity “plug my project” slot at the end, as the show should be a showcase for the average joe/jane to get a chance at the spotlight.
Do the questions seem overall to be easier than they when the show was first on? Or is it just that the contestants aren’t getting to the higher amounts? I really don’t like the timer. Part of the fun of the show in the past has been watching people work out the answer either logically or pull it from the depths of their brain. Now they don’t really have any time to think. I think that’s why people seem to be going out earlier.
Re: Julia Child – I would’ve used the double-dip and gone for the answers involving cognac or red wine, which seemed more in keeping with French cookery. So I – erudite, suave, well-read – would’ve flamed out early.
I think the timer is the best change they’ve made. Watching Vanessa Williams dither over a single question for 10 minutes clinched it. That’s what the show used to be like every night.
I know it’s much easier to sit in one’s living room and answer the questions than to be in the “hot seat,” but boy, it seems like everybody’s been burning off their lifelines really quickly. It’s frustrating to watch somebody use their last lifeline at $4000. You just know they’re not going much farther and we’re in for another 10 minutes of $100 - $500 questions. Yawn. (Of course, I didn’t know the Julia Child answer either. Or the one about Moroccan food. ;))
And add me to the list of people hating the celebrity ego-masturbation at the end. Vanessa Williams’ “charity” was sending a buch of actors on a trip to Europe?? Jeez. Use that time to give more of the real people a chance to get in the game.
That’s a result of the timer. If you only have 30 seconds to answer the question, unless you know it right off the bat you’re not going to have enough time to reason out the answer, and you’re going to have to waste a lifeline.
Quite true. I don’t get to watch the weekday version very often, but I wonder how many contestants have been knocked out by the timer as opposed to a wrong answer? That would suck.
And the girl last night almost ran out of time on the first question because Regis was futzing around so much before reading the answers. I have to believe they would have let her slide since that totally wouldn’t have been her fault.
At first I thought the timer was a good idea, but I think I’m coming around to the conclusion that I don’t like it.
We watched and played the home game online. We were kicking ass until [del]some idjit[/del] my husband plugged in “Indian food” without confirming with the rest of us, who correctly guessed Moroccan. Fun, but we might watch Hell’s Kitchen tonight.
I’m really not familiar with this version of the game. We watch the reruns with Meredith during lunch, and I’ve tailored my whole strategy to those game rules. I don’t like the timer, either!
The question was “Which of these Crayola crayon colors shares their name with a lyric from America the Beautiful,” which should have made it even more obvious.
Fun, but we might watch Hell’s Kitchen tonight.