UPDATE: Final call for new trivia game show

[teapot37]

I think the general public is smart enough to understand that reality TV is about as far away from reality as you get.

Before that line, I was only slightly disagreeing with you.

Brian

I think you underestimate your fellow man, or I overestimate him.

Sorry, Sherm, I think you're the bad estimator on this one.

Man, you guys are bummin' me out. You do understand what you are saying about the general population, and its not nice.

"Think of how stupid the average person is... and then realize half of them are stupider than THAT."

I just had my initial phone quiz and they moved me on to the Skype round, which will be in a couple of weeks. The initial test is about the same level as the Jeopardy online test, I'd say.

[MDaunt]

I've sent them an email. We'll see what happens.

[bpmod]

"Think of how stupid the average person is... and then realize half of them are stupider than THAT."

Mostly off topic, but case in point:

I received a telephone call from my employer today. It went something like this...

Me: Hello?
Them: You had a confrontation with a parent yesterday?
M: No. I had no issues whatsoever. (And truth be told, I have not, in my year and a half on the school bus, had anything that could be construed as a confrontation with any parent.)
T: No. Not with one of your schools.
M: Well, with whom?
T: There was a woman who had parked her car in the middle of the intersection to get her children out and take them into a school. You pointed.
M: Oh, I remember now. This woman was blocking traffic. Nobody could get through. The crossing guard was trying to see children safely across the street and I was trying to navigate my 40ft school bus around the corner. I looked at her, and pointed up the side street, trying to encourage her to move to a safer location. (And, no, for those that might be assuming maybe I was using a certain finger to point, nothing like that.)
T: Don't let it happen again. (and yet another threat of dismissal for unprofessional behaviour)

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. I used to be surprised by people's stupidity. No more. Now, it's not just their stupidity, but their gall. It seems the more stupid their initial action, the more irate they are at being called on it.

Brian

[Volante]

T: There was a woman who had parked her car in the middle of the intersection to get her children out and take them into a school. You pointed.

And they found nothing remotely wrong with this?...

[bpmod]

T: There was a woman who had parked her car in the middle of the intersection to get her children out and take them into a school. You pointed.

And they found nothing remotely wrong with this?...

That's why I brought it up. I am continually amazed at how people with even a modicum of common sense have to bow to what I call the lowest common denominator. My four previous reprimands were for equally idiotic scenarios.

Brian

[worldwidewebster]

I wouldn't assume that the show is similar to Survivor and other reality shows, it seems to be based upon answering trivia questions. They want high caliber contestants and there are cash prizes. When they called me the conversation/interview was really small talk, they really just want people who can pass their test, which is akin to the online Jeopardy test. If you contact them there's a good chance that they will get back to you. I told the producer that there's tons of people on Jboard with high level knowledge, and he was interested in that.

I hope you're right that trivia is the real focus. My concern was based on Burnett's vague description of the show (working title, "500 Questions") in places like Variety, as "the first network game show to combine what audiences love about serialized unscripted hits with a huge game show event. It has ongoing characters and huge stakes."

So, assume, if you do this show, you will be playing a "character," the personality of whom will be unknown to you until you see your episode(s) air on TV. I just want to give people a heads-up in terms of what they *might* be in for -- namely, the humiliation of being misrepresented on TV (granted, for some of us, this may only be slightly worse than the humiliation of being *accurately* represented on TV). That said, any of you who decide to take the leap anyway, I do wish you the best of luck!

[cinemaniax7]

I just had my initial phone quiz and they moved me on to the Skype round, which will be in a couple of weeks. The initial test is about the same level as the Jeopardy online test, I'd say.

The Skype round is pretty brutal, much more difficult than any J! test I've taken. Still, good practice.

[Schliemann]

I don't think I want any part of this.

[BowTieFriday]

I just had my initial phone quiz and they moved me on to the Skype round, which will be in a couple of weeks. The initial test is about the same level as the Jeopardy online test, I'd say.

The Skype round is pretty brutal, much more difficult than any J! test I've taken. Still, good practice.

Was it very pop culture-filled? Academic? simply obscure?

[cinemaniax7]

The Skype round is pretty brutal, much more difficult than any J! test I've taken. Still, good practice.

Was it very pop culture-filled? Academic? simply obscure?

"Obscure" is probably a good word. They will need to lighten it up just a bit to hold a television audience of any size.

[BowTieFriday]

The Skype round is pretty brutal, much more difficult than any J! test I've taken. Still, good practice.

Was it very pop culture-filled? Academic? simply obscure?

"Obscure" is probably a good word. They will need to lighten it up just a bit to hold a television audience of any size.

Can you remember any examples? I am trying to decide if I even have a shot

[dhkendall]

I don't think I want any part of this.

I know I don't - see my initial post (the first reply in the thread). Besides, I'm sure the maple syrup-inclined populace are forbidden from auditioning anyways.

However I *am* very interested to watch it due to the number of boardies and LLamas getting calls, I'd love to see them compete, but, most of all, I'd love to see them break the Mark Burnett reality contestant mould (arrogant, backstabbing), and I'd like to think that no amount of editing by Burnett can turn these nice people I know into anything but the nice people I know (even if they want them to be something else).

[RandyG]

The Skype round is pretty brutal, much more difficult than any J! test I've taken. Still, good practice.

Was it very pop culture-filled? Academic? simply obscure?

"Obscure" is probably a good word. They will need to lighten it up just a bit to hold a television audience of any size.

Can you remember any examples? I am trying to decide if I even have a shot

These are ongoing tests and auditions. Since it appears that the same tests are reused across applicants, please don't ask or expect anyone to divulge specific examples.

There's nothing to decide... just sign up. If you have any desire to be on the show, then you really have nothing to lose by applying, other than a little time.

[goongas]

Mark Burnett is also the executive producer of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, which is as vanilla a game show as Jeopardy! He knows how to make a standard game show. Yes, the 50 question test is hard. A question in my wheelhouse category I thought was obscure...

[BowTieFriday]

The Skype round is pretty brutal, much more difficult than any J! test I've taken. Still, good practice.

Was it very pop culture-filled? Academic? simply obscure?

"Obscure" is probably a good word. They will need to lighten it up just a bit to hold a television audience of any size.

Can you remember any examples? I am trying to decide if I even have a shot

These are ongoing tests and auditions. Since it appears that the same tests are reused across applicants, please don't ask or expect anyone to divulge specific examples.

There's nothing to decide... just sign up. If you have any desire to be on the show, then you really have nothing to lose by applying, other than a little time.

good point, RandyG....I retract the question, cinemaniax7

[Sherm]

The Skype round is pretty brutal, much more difficult than any J! test I've taken. Still, good practice.

Was it very pop culture-filled? Academic? simply obscure?

"Obscure" is probably a good word. They will need to lighten it up just a bit to hold a television audience of any size.

Glad you feel that way. I'd say it was just full of a lot of stuff I did not know, nor have I ever known. The only thing I'll say that made it different from jeopardy, is that there was no wordplay, not the defination of this is.... or naming the rhyming term or alliterative term for......They also asked questions, that would leave them to know that you know stuff, but is just deceptive. This isn't a question, but this is the kind of thing you would get.

Who was the governor of California from 1959 to 1967? A good trivia guy is going to probably take a shot with Ronald Reagan, but the answer is Pat Brown (I had to look that up), he was the governor before Reagan. Several questions had what I thought were really good guesses based on my general knowledge of the topic that ended up being wrong, and the correct answer was, I think "obscure" is a good way to phrase it.

[RandyG]

Who was the governor of California from 1959 to 1967? A good trivia guy is going to probably take a shot with Ronald Reagan, but the answer is Pat Brown (I had to look that up), he was the governor before Reagan. Several questions had what I thought were really good guesses based on my general knowledge of the topic that ended up being wrong, and the correct answer was, I think "obscure" is a good way to phrase it.

Pat Brown, a.k.a. Jerry Brown, Sr.

For both the record and your trove of political facts to tuck away for future reference, Reagan was California Governor from 1967 to 1975, which positioned him as a formidable challenger to then-President Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976.

I'll have my 2 cents to offer on the follow-up test(s) after January 14th.

[Vermonter]

T: There was a woman who had parked her car in the middle of the intersection to get her children out and take them into a school. You pointed.

And they found nothing remotely wrong with this?...

That's why I brought it up. I am continually amazed at how people with even a modicum of common sense have to bow to what I call the lowest common denominator. My four previous reprimands were for equally idiotic scenarios.

Brian

And people get particularly irrational when their cars are involved. I like to say that sitting behind the wheel is like putting on the One True Ring.

[Bamaman]

My wife drives a school bus. She deals with idiot drivers every day.

[Volante]

My wife drivesa school bus. She deals with idiot drivers every day.

Still accurate.