The 2007 World Series of Pop Culture (spoilers)

[DevdogAZ]

Just watched the first episode from this season. It's just as good as I remembered. Unfortunately, both of the teams that I wanted to win in the first episode went down in flames, but it's still fun to watch and play along.

In the first game, the tiebreaker question was the names of the recurring characters listed in the opening credits of the pilot episode of "LOST." They listed all the possible names after the tiebreaker was over, and there was one that I didn't recognize. I'll spoilerize it just in case someone doesn't want to know, but I'd like someone to remind me of who this character is.

Edward Mars

[HiddenSky]

Wasn't he...

The Marshal who had Kate under arrest?

[DevdogAZ]

I think you're right. I had totally forgotten about that.

[itstrue]

I enjoy the format of the game, but I wish they would ditch the silly team names and costumes. And some of these trivia "experts' are pretty lame. "I wasn't born then"? Please.

[FilmCritic3000]

And some of these trivia "experts' are pretty lame. "I wasn't born then"? Please.

Thank you! I was born in 1981 and I knew those lyrics were from a Prince song. During that round, I kept wondering, "How the hell did she make it this far?"

[Swirl_Junkie]

I love this show, but I hate how the tie breaker has nothing to do with the category they are playing. It annoyed me last year, and it's annoying me again.

[MitchO]

I like the silly team names. I now have a reason to root for "Team Motherboy" because their reference is from Arrested Development.

I missed one question the entire hour. I need to find me two partners~

[gschrock]

Bah, I knew there was something I meant to set up to record.

[scooterboy]

When and where is this on?

[Marc]

I didn't realize this show was coming on. I'm glad I saw this thread.

And to think that I was one out fifty people who could have been on Almost Perfect Strangers 2.0.

This show is airing on VH1 over the next week as they play through the tournament.

[johnperkins21]

My wife and I really enjoy playing along with this show. I have a really hard time with the music ones. Either I can't recall the actual name of the song, or I can't get the tune right to sing it in my head properly.

Saying that, I still can't believe how dumb that girl was who said "I was only 2." That's really no excuse for not knowing 80's music on a pop culture quiz. And if that was going to be her excuse, why did they send her up?

In any case, great show. I'm really glad that I never deleted my SP after last season, otherwise I might have missed this.

[MitchO]

For those who missed it, there are 17 or 18 replays over the course of the week, including a 6 hour block of the week's episodes somewhere on the weekend.

[That Don Guy]

I enjoy the format of the game, but I wish they would ditch the silly team names and costumes. And some of these trivia "experts' are pretty lame. "I wasn't born then"? Please.
Unfortunately, there is a point where "the silly names and costumes" help determine who gets on the show and who gets sent home after the first day of each regional. (On the first day of qualifying, everybody takes a written test, and the teams that score a certain amount - it's not clear if it's combined score of the three players, lowest of the three, or something else - are then interviewed on the spot by the producers; the interviews have nothing to do with how much pop culture you know (that's why they had the test) and pretty much everything to do with determining how much "stage presence" a team has. Also, only the five regional winners, plus the defending champions and the team made up of three people who took the online test, automatically advance to the TV rounds; the other nine teams are chosen by the producers, and they do not have to choose the nine who know the most answers.)

Speaking of pop culture, did anyone else notice last season that there seems to be a narrow definition of the term? (For example, music questions seem to be limited to rock, pop, and rap/hip-hop; the one time they asked a country music question, the audience reacted as if the question was out of place.)

-- Don

[johnperkins21]

Speaking of pop culture, did anyone else notice last season that there seems to be a narrow definition of the term? (For example, music questions seem to be limited to rock, pop, and rap/hip-hop; the one time they asked a country music question, the audience reacted as if the question was out of place.)

-- Don

Country music is not "pop" music save for a few exceptions. It's only fairly recently that Country music has really broken into popular culture. If you look at the list of top album sales for the past 30 years, you'll see a very small percentage of Country albums breaking the top 20. Rap/hip-hop and R&B started their ascent to the top a little earlier which would explain why it is more prevalent in the questions. Although 90% of the music questions are indeed "pop music" related. And I haven't seen a single one regarding rock music.

[DevdogAZ]

For those who missed it, there are 17 or 18 replays over the course of the week, including a 6 hour block of the week's episodes somewhere on the weekend.
There are 8 total episodes - Mon-Thur this week, and Mon-Thur next week. There are tons of replays throughout that time, and then I noticed that all 8 episodes will be aired in a marathon on Saturday, Jul. 21st.

[smak]

I liked it. I got almost everything right, except for those 2 rap questions.

-smak-

[DevdogAZ]

Episode 2: Man, there were some complete morons on this episode. How do you get into a pop culture trivia tournament if you get the "deer-in-the-headlights" look when you hear that your question involves Star Wars? And how do you not know what lost item Jimmy Buffet is searching for in "Margaritaville?"

[FilmCritic3000]

Episode 2: Man, there were some complete morons on this episode. How do you get into a pop culture trivia tournament if you get the "deer-in-the-headlights" look when you hear that your question involves Star Wars? And how do you not know what lost item Jimmy Buffet is searching for in "Margaritaville?"

Thank you. So far this round of play has been horrible, contestant-wise. Aside from the questions you mentioned...the guy didn't know the song was "Mr. Jones"? No one remembers Ferris hacking into Mr. Rooney's office to shave several absences off of his permanent record in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? So far, I have to say the contestants last year were much more knowledgeable, IMHO. I hope the teams we'll soon be seeing over the rest of the competition are more skilled.

[DevdogAZ]

Thank you. So far this round of play has been horrible, contestant-wise. Aside from the questions you mentioned...the guy didn't know the song was "Mr. Jones"? No one remembers Ferris hacking into Mr. Rooney's office to shave several absences off of his permanent record in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? So far, I have to say the contestants last year were much more knowledgeable, IMHO. I hope the teams we'll soon be seeing over the rest of the competition are more skilled.
No kidding about the Ferris Bueller thing. The second Pat announced the category was about FBDO, the first thing out of my mouth was "Nine times." Then it actually was an answer to a question, and neither of them knew it! Totally lame.

[MitchO]

Well, to be fair, I didn't remember nine times either. I think the Death Star thing was more of a pressure issue than a knowledge one.

I have found that pop knowledge is as subjective a topic as you can find. What you assume to be common knowledge (or good pop knowledge) may not necessarily be the same to another person. For example, I always assumed that everyone could name the Beatles. I mean, I was born in 1970, my parents didn't even play music in my house growing up, but as far back as I can remember "JohnPaulGeorgeAndRingo" may as well be a word in the dictionary. Yet I find lots of people, people who of the appropriate age, people who are fans of music that directly owe lineage to the Beatles, people who are otherwise reasonably intelligent and seem to know basic world facts, who can't name the Beatles.

On Monday's show, I missed one question (Jacob's Ladder, for the record). On Tuesday's, I only knew two of the AI questions, forgot the number of absences, couldn't tell you Bonnie and Clyde from Bob and Carol and froze on Kathy Bates' name (I'd like to think I would have remembered it in time, though). Knowledge is relative, pop knowledge doubly so.

[DevdogAZ]

Well, to be fair, I didn't remember nine times either. I think the Death Star thing was more of a pressure issue than a knowledge one.
I don't think so. He got this look as soon as he knew it was a Star Wars question, and the inflection in his answer implied that he really wasn't sure. Add to that the reaction shot of his defeated teammate, and I'm pretty sure Star Wars was a weak link for him. I just don't see how you claim to be knowledgeable about pop culture if that's the case.

I agree about the subjectivity. However, there are certain things that should be staples. Sure, the "nine times" thing is just something I've retained from that movie that others may not have, but as you said, the names of the "Beatles" should be pretty standard, as should the basic plot points of Star Wars and most 80s music. I'm sure there are tons of people who don't know the names of the "Beatles," but I'll bet you'd be hard pressed to find one of them who claims to be good at pop culture trivia.

[sushikitten]

I didn't realize this show was coming on. I'm glad I saw this thread.


+1

Setting up SP now!

[That Don Guy]

One thing bothers me - why bother having a contest about pop culture if they're going to let the contestants fudge on the answers?

Here's the primary example from the second show (although the team lost, so it doesn't have an effect on the tournament result): when asked how Sergeant Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues usually ended his daily talk, a contestant said, "And be careful out there" - and, after a relatively lengthy pause, the answer was accepted, even though any Hill Street fan would know the phrase is, "And HEY - Let's be careful out there!"
(They should give a little leeway - for example, in the Ferris Bueller question about "When Cameron was in Egypt's land," they were right to accept "Let my Camerons go" even though the actual quote says "Cameron" - but letting that Hill Street one go by almost defeats the purpose of the whole thing.)

-- Don

[RockJock]

when asked how Sergeant Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues usually ended his daily talk, a contestant said, "And be careful out there" - and, after a relatively lengthy pause, the answer was accepted, even though any Hill Street fan would know the phrase is, "And HEY - Let's be careful out there!"
(They should give a little leeway - for example, in the Ferris Bueller question about "When Cameron was in Egypt's land," they were right to accept "Let my Camerons go" even though the actual quote says "Cameron" - but letting that Hill Street one go by almost defeats the purpose of the whole thing.)

I completely agree! I caught both of those as well and I thought for sure that they would be called wrong. Maybe I am a trivia purist.

[MitchO]

I noticed that there was a very long pause after the Hill Street answer, even longer than the usual "dramatic tension" one. It was probably a 'judge check' of some sort.

Honestly, the Death Star issue just seemed to be that it wasn't the guy's specialty: when they introduced the teams, they indicated he was the "Madonna fan". I know that when my friend and I discussed getting a 3rd person for the tryouts, we agreed we needed someone who knows different stuff than us (like the American Idol stuff, for example). I'm sure that wasn't his "field of expertise", so he had to pause for what seems to be generic info to others.

[That Don Guy]

I noticed that there was a very long pause after the Hill Street answer, even longer than the usual "dramatic tension" one. It was probably a 'judge check' of some sort.
It was, as was the pause after the Ferris Bueller Cameron(s) question. Last season, there was somebody sitting next to the host wearing a headset; presumably an associate producer of some sort who contacted the producers if they needed a ruling.

There was one "pause" I can think of last season - the question asked who portrayed Screech on Saved by the Bell, and the contestant replied, "Diamond"; they needed confirmation that they only needed a last name (after which most of the crowd booed the decision, although the "last name only" rule is still in effect according to a comment the host made this season).

-- Don

[MitchO]

Last night's episode is another example of what I mean about specific pop knowledge ... when it got down to 1 on 1, the poor contestants that were left were stuck with "Movies that had Rappers in them" or whatever it was. I'm sure that at least one person on a lot of the teams would probably run that category, but really ... how the hell did that guy pull "Disorderlies" out of his ass? I was amazed that I knew any of them.

I did know "Da Butt", however. :D

[FilmCritic3000]

Last night's episode is another example of what I mean about specific pop knowledge ... when it got down to 1 on 1, the poor contestants that were left were stuck with "Movies that had Rappers in them" or whatever it was. I'm sure that at least one person on a lot of the teams would probably run that category, but really ... how the hell did that guy pull "Disorderlies" out of his ass? I was amazed that I knew any of them.

I did know "Da Butt", however. :D

I knew immediately that Disorderlies was the answer to that question. That movie aired incessantly on HBO in the late '80s.

[MitchO]

Was it just me, or was last night's Fragilay/Chupacabra the worst matchup of any episode in two seasons? And that's the defending champs. I can understand not remembering the name of the Chamillionaire song (I couldn't, I could name the Weird Al song and the original artist), but LOLA?! And don't get me started on how iconic it is to know all of Rocky's opponents. I haven't even seen V or VI and I knew Tommy Gun and Mason Dixon.

[Sparty99]

I knew immediately that Disorderlies was the answer to that question. That movie aired incessantly on HBO in the late '80s.
Totally agree. Plus, Disorderlies seems like a movie that was so bad that you should know it just for that fact. The girlfriend knew the answer too, and she's not really a pop culture whiz.

Is there a rule that says every person for a team must participate? It seems like they're choosing who goes before each round, so is there a rule that says all 3 players must answer questions?

[DancnDude]

Totally agree. Plus, Disorderlies seems like a movie that was so bad that you should know it just for that fact. The girlfriend knew the answer too, and she's not really a pop culture whiz.

Is there a rule that says every person for a team must participate? It seems like they're choosing who goes before each round, so is there a rule that says all 3 players must answer questions?
I don't think so. In the first episode, didn't a team sweep without one of their players competing (the team with the blue bowling shirts)? The only rule was that a player couldn't go up twice in a row. So after you lose your first player, there is no advantage on picking the best player for the category.

[FilmCritic3000]

Was it just me, or was last night's Fragilay/Chupacabra the worst matchup of any episode in two seasons? And that's the defending champs. I can understand not remembering the name of the Chamillionaire song (I couldn't, I could name the Weird Al song and the original artist), but LOLA?! And don't get me started on how iconic it is to know all of Rocky's opponents. I haven't even seen V or VI and I knew Tommy Gun and Mason Dixon.

Thank you! I was yelling at my television!

Where'd they get these people? Did they just grab six people loitering outside the studio before the taping? Last season actually seemed to have pop culture geeks; so far this season's been awfully lacking in that regard, and it's made for a less enjoyable watch, IMHO.

[That Don Guy]

Thank you! I was yelling at my television!

Where'd they get these people? Did they just grab six people loitering outside the studio before the taping? Last season actually seemed to have pop culture geeks; so far this season's been awfully lacking in that regard, and it's made for a less enjoyable watch, IMHO.
Keep in mind that not everybody on each team is an expert in each category. How many people can name all of Rocky's opponents and the names of the characters on Lost whose actors are named in the opening credits (both of which have been tiebreakers this season)? If the first two rounds are split, then the fourth round is going to involve two players who were forced to be there (whoever lost the third round is down to one; whoever won only has two, one of which was in the third round and so can't be in the fourth).

However, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of seeding involved, and El Chupacabra, being the defending champions, was fed what the producers thought was a cream puff (seemingly forgetting that EC would have lost in the semi-finals last year had an opponent known, or the one male on EC not known, what Hank sells on King of the Hill).

Speaking of the Rocky question, there were some possible answers they left out; at the beginning of Rocky III, they show Rocky defending his title against what turned out to be "hand-picked" challengers, and at the beginning of the first film, didn't they show Rocky losing to a club fighter (who was named when they paid them after the fight)?

-- Don

[mwhip]

Hey I went to an audition and did the online tests for Almost Perfect Strangers 2.0 and the questions on those are incredibly difficult. The ones on the show they ask are a cake walk compared to those. My only idea is when you are standing up there with a spotlight it probably gets 10x harder to remember stuff.

Oh and the lady not wanting to say...Brass Balls!?! what a dumba$$.

[That Don Guy]

Hey I went to an audition and did the online tests for Almost Perfect Strangers 2.0 and the questions on those are incredibly difficult. The ones on the show they ask are a cake walk compared to those. My only idea is when you are standing up there with a spotlight it probably gets 10x harder to remember stuff.

Oh and the lady not wanting to say...Brass Balls!?! what a dumba$$.
I was surprised they asked a question where the answer included one of the "seven words you're not allowed to say on TV".

As for the qualifying test being tougher than what airs, this tends to be a trend on TV game shows; they don't want to make the questions so tough that the people at home won't know a reasonable number of the answers. (There was a story years ago about how Jeopardy! had to "dumb down the questions"; in fact, in the 1980s, Sale of the Century did the same thing.)

-- Don

[DevdogAZ]

"The next category is 'Those Talented Baldwin Brothers.' All of the questions in this category are about Alec Baldwin."

:D :D :D

[mwhip]

I was surprised they asked a question where the answer included one of the "seven words you're not allowed to say on TV".


I would not have cared that would be their problem to bleep my answers. :D

[DevdogAZ]

I would not have cared that would be their problem to bleep my answers. :D
Like they did with Sugart!ts? ;)

I was really surprised she was hesitant to say "Balls." It's not like the word by itself is a bad word.

[MitchO]

Keep in mind that not everybody on each team is an expert in each category. How many people can name all of Rocky's opponents and the names of the characters on Lost whose actors are named in the opening credits (both of which have been tiebreakers this season)? If the first two rounds are split, then the fourth round is going to involve two players who were forced to be there (whoever lost the third round is down to one; whoever won only has two, one of which was in the third round and so can't be in the fourth).

Actually I knew all six of Rocky's opponents, and was able to name 15 of the 16 characters (I had forgotten "Edward"s last name). However, your point is valid because, for example, I only knew 4 or 5 of the African American Oscar winners (and funnily enough, Sydney Poitier was one of the ones I knew). Even the African American guy at the end said that that was a little unfair, and he'd be in big trouble if he couldn't name them all, lol.

Speaking of the Rocky question, there were some possible answers they left out; at the beginning of Rocky III, they show Rocky defending his title against what turned out to be "hand-picked" challengers, and at the beginning of the first film, didn't they show Rocky losing to a club fighter (who was named when they paid them after the fight)?

He indicated "complete" fights, including exhibitions and street brawls(which is why Hulk "Thunderlips" Hogan and Tommy Gun were on the list, you see the whole fight).

[DevdogAZ]

Tonight's episode had a historic (in terms of this show) occurence. There was a category that ended in a 0-0 tie after all six questions. Hopefully this will teach the people who make the categories that asking questions about recent music is stupid.

I loved Pat's response during the "Au Naturel" category. He asked a question about the famous Phoebe Cates scene in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." After the answer was given, he seemed to zone out for a minute while dreaming about Phoebe. I almost wondered if he needed to go visit the bathroom. ;)

[MitchO]

For the record, not only did I not know any of the 2006 music questions, but I've only HEARD of two of the songs. :p

[FilmCritic3000]

For the record, not only did I not know any of the 2006 music questions, but I've only HEARD of two of the songs. :p

Three songs for me.

[mwhip]

The one guy had an awesome statement for the 2006 music questions, "I don't want to sound like an old foggey but the music today sucks"

Pat Kiernan as host makes this show he is just so damn funny especially when repeating rap lines.

Twisted Misters is probably the only group that bugs the heck out of me. I want to see them lose and lose bad.

[DevdogAZ]

For the record, not only did I not know any of the 2006 music questions, but I've only HEARD of two of the songs. :p
I also didn't know any of the answers, and had only heard of a couple of the songs. There were even a couple of artists I'd never heard of. I guess that's what happens when you only listen to talk radio. ;)

[johnperkins21]

For the record, not only did I not know any of the 2006 music questions, but I've only HEARD of two of the songs. :p

Same here. Only heard of two of those songs. However, I knew the Kevin Federline song which amused my wife to no end. :o

[DancnDude]

Recent Pop Culture is an oxymoron to me. Pop Culture on this show should really be things that would stand the test of time. A few years down the road people would still basically know who or what it is including cult hits. Things like Seinfeld, Michael Jackson, or Austin Powers.

5 or 10 years down the road, would they ever ask a question about the lyrics to a KFed song? I very much doubt it. And I don't think he's going to ever become a cult hit either.

[MrGreg]

Yeah, that 2006 music category was painful. Yet I knew every answer in the first round on the Weird Al category.

[DevdogAZ]

Yeah, that 2006 music category was painful. Yet I knew every answer in the first round on the Weird Al category.
Funny thing was, I knew the name of "White and Nerdy" from the youtube clip posted here at TCF, but I had no idea the name of the song it parodied.

[MitchO]

Funny thing was, I knew the name of "White and Nerdy" from the youtube clip posted here at TCF, but I had no idea the name of the song it parodied.

Ditto.

[spikedavis]

Twisted Misters is probably the only group that bugs the heck out of me. I want to see them lose and lose bad.


Funny-they're the only team I like!

[jrinck]

The "Motherboy" ladies are all "hot" without being too "hot". That may make no sense, but who cares, they're fun to watch! :)

[MitchO]

I'm rooting for Team Motherboy just for the Arrested Development reference. I was torn for a while between them and the Heathers reference (Westerburg High), but now my fanship is clear :)

[logic88]

Twisted Misters is probably the only group that bugs the heck out of me. I want to see them lose and lose bad.

I've only seen parts of a few episodes but I happen upon their matchup with Fragilay.

Has Twisted Misters ever acknowledge how annoying they seem to be? Is this because VH1 encourages and selects teams based on "personalities" so they are playing "in character"?

[Magnolia88]

I finally watched this show for the first time and it was entertaining. The questions were actually harder than I thought they'd be.

That current pop music category when they both went 0 for 0 was killer. I think I knew two of the answers, but I hadn't even heard of some of those songs, even after he told us the song and artist. (T.I.? Huh?) I guess that makes me officially an "old fogey" as Lucien put it. (But I knew more than he did.)

[FilmCritic3000]

I finally watched this show for the first time and it was entertaining. The questions were actually harder than I thought they'd be.

That current pop music category when they both went 0 for 0 was killer. I think I knew two of the answers, but I hadn't even heard of some of those songs, even after he told us the song and artist. (T.I.? Huh?) I guess that makes me officially an "old fogey" as Lucien put it. (But I knew more than he did.)

Hey, I only knew three of those songs and I'm 25! :D

[DevdogAZ]

The end of the quarterfinals and first round of the semis were pretty good. The match between Motherboy and Wocka Wocka was pretty amazing, with something like 8 tiebreakers.

I've always thought of myself as a bit of a pop culture trivia geek, but I really got humbled in this episode. When they were naming the actors in 2005's "Crash," I didn't remember any of them. I must not have known anything about that movie because every time they named another actor, it was one that I never would have placed in that movie. Then the same thing happened with "The Big Chill." I never saw that one either, and didn't expect any of those names that were said.

[MitchO]

My problem with Crash is that I get the two (the good one with everyone and the bad one with James Spader in it) confused in my head all the time, even though I know there were two separate movies.

I don't think I could go as far as they did with Big Chill, but I could definitely name a bunch. I also rattled off 16 of the 20 Bond movies out loud without much trouble (like the guy who won, my father watched them constantly).

[FilmCritic3000]

I also rattled off 16 of the 20 Bond movies out loud without much trouble (like the guy who won, my father watched them constantly).

Yeah, the minute Pat Kiernan said what the category was, I knew that if I was on that stage, I'd ace that category, as I watched those films constantly, especially when TBS would run them in the '90s during Thanksgiving.

(For the record, my favorite Bond film is On Her Majesty's Secret Service.)

[johnperkins21]

I've always thought of myself as a bit of a pop culture trivia geek, but I really got humbled in this episode. When they were naming the actors in 2005's "Crash," I didn't remember any of them. I must not have known anything about that movie because every time they named another actor, it was one that I never would have placed in that movie. Then the same thing happened with "The Big Chill." I never saw that one either, and didn't expect any of those names that were said.

Same here. I'm not really in the same league as the guys on this show, but I can usually hold my own when it comes down to pop culture trivia. But I only knew a couple of names from "Crash" and couldn't think of a single person in "The Big Chill." I also ran out of Bond films after about 6. This was the most humbling episode to date, not counting the 2006 pop songs category.

Heck, I couldn't even get a single one of "The Karate Kid" questions whereas my wife swept the category. The only time that ever happens is when the questions are about American Idol.

[Magnolia88]

I aced the Crash and Big Chill questions. I even knew that Kevin Costner played the dead friend at the funeral, so I was sad they gave that away in the question.

It was the James Bond category that would have killed me. Although I did remember Live and Let Die, and they didn't get to that one. (I was going through the theme songs in my head.)

The worst category for me by far in this episode was the Karate Kid one. I knew Elisabeth Shue, but I don't think I could answer any other question. I've seen the movie, but not in years.

[That Don Guy]

Pat almost blew it with that James Bond question.

When one of the players said, "Her Majesty's Secret Service." he should not have given the correct title (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) when explaining why the answer was wrong. What if that was the only other Bond film the other player knew? That could have ended up costing them the entire tournament.

-- Don

[DevdogAZ]

My problem with Crash is that I get the two (the good one with everyone and the bad one with James Spader in it) confused in my head all the time, even though I know there were two separate movies.
Same. I worked at Sundance when that movie was coming out and they did a pre-release screening that I worked the party for. Now that's the movie that always comes to mind when I hear "Crash."

[That Don Guy]

Who changed the rules? Last year, the categories in the final had 10 questions; this year, they only have six.

(And has The Simpsons shrunk to the point where five of the six questions they asked can be answered by anybody remotely familiar with the show? I think "Treehouse of Horror" would be the only real stumper, as the on-screen titles for the first ten were "The Simpsons Halloween Special", until somebody decided that since Fox was not airing these on or before Halloween (because of the World Series), they shouldn't be called Halloween specials.)

-- Don

[DevdogAZ]

Wow, the finals were really anticlimactic.

[FilmCritic3000]

Wow, the finals were really anticlimactic.

Yep.

The questions this year weren't anywhere near the level of what they were last year.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Can't say I'm surprised to see that this thread degenerated into a slew of "I'm sooooo much more knowledgeable than the contestants" posts :rolleyes:

I enjoyed the contest, other than the boring interviews after the rounds.
I was rooting for Twisted Misters...although the Angus Young character didn't contribute much of anything. I was surprised to see Wocka Wocka get absolutely smoked.
I didn't know any of the 2006 songs, but I think they were absolutely correct to include the category...it IS, after all supposed to be the entirety of pop culture, even if 80% of it is disappointingly 80's related.
Time to go for broke on Trivia Dome tonight...made it through 23 of the 24 questions the other night before not being sure which GNR song was playing in Cape Fear...but when I missed I was at 3:20 and the winner got all 24 right in a ridiculous ~2:25.
Perhaps it was 24/25...can't remember off the top of my head.

[That Don Guy]

I didn't know any of the 2006 songs, but I think they were absolutely correct to include the category...it IS, after all supposed to be the entirety of pop culture, even if 80% of it is disappointingly 80's related.
Actually, little of the TV trivia was '80s related - the four categories I remember based on specific shows were either from the '90s (The Simpsons; Seinfeld; Friends) or '70s (The Brady Bunch).

Speaking of pop culture, since when are books excluded? You would think that, at the very least, the The Lord of the Rings books would be considered pop culture. I'd throw in the Harry Potter series as well, but it may still be considered "kids' books" and not enough pop culture trivia types would know enough about them. (Then again, for all I know, one of the unused tiebreakers was, "Name the Defense Against The Dark Arts teachers in the first six Harry Potter books.")

-- Don

[MasterOfPuppets]

A lot of the TV was 90's based...a ton of the movies were from the 80's though, along with a raging slab of the music.
It was an enjoyable event, I wouldn't mind more of it. It's not particularly difficult, otherwise I doubt people would like it as much.
I don't watch Lost, so I would have been hosed in that Tiebreaker, and there were other tiebreakers I would have struggled mightily in as well.

If anybody is interested...tonight's $10K Trivia Dome winner answered all 50 questions in ~3:30, which is a ridiculous ~4.2 seconds per question to read it, locate the answer, and click on it...that seems a bit fishy to me, but hey.

[Bulldog7]

Can't say I'm surprised to see that this thread degenerated into a slew of "I'm sooooo much more knowledgeable than the contestants" posts :rolleyes:

I enjoyed the contest, other than the boring interviews after the rounds.
I was rooting for Twisted Misters...although the Angus Young character didn't contribute much of anything. I was surprised to see Wocka Wocka get absolutely smoked.
I didn't know any of the 2006 songs, but I think they were absolutely correct to include the category...it IS, after all supposed to be the entirety of pop culture, even if 80% of it is disappointingly 80's related.
Time to go for broke on Trivia Dome tonight...made it through 23 of the 24 questions the other night before not being sure which GNR song was playing in Cape Fear...but when I missed I was at 3:20 and the winner got all 24 right in a ridiculous ~2:25.
Perhaps it was 24/25...can't remember off the top of my head.

It was the 25th question...I missed it as well....and then some guy from my town won the 2500 dollars that night....I was sooooo pissed! And what is the answer..I can't seem to find it online anywhere.

[MasterOfPuppets]

"Patience"

[spikedavis]

I am so glad Twisted Misters won it all. They were my favorite team of the two seasons.

[KenDC]

"Patience"

I don't think he has anymore of that....you better tell him the answer.