500 Questions [POSSIBLE SPOILERS]

[dhkendall]

This show put me to sleep... not a fan at all. Million Second Quiz was way better... I have no idea why people hated it. I always love the shows people hate, and always hate the shows people love.

After watching 500 Questions, I already started writing my apology letter to MSQ for anything bad I may have ever said about it.

[MitchO]

HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WEIRD AL?!

[Bamaman]

It worked out, but I would have given him J. K. Rowling.

Tonight's show seems to be moving at a much quicker pace.

[econgator]

Tonight's show seems to be moving at a much quicker pace.

Quicker, but still nowhere near as fast as it needs to be.

Also, really surprised that they accepted just "hurdles", vice 110-meter hurdles.

And I still don't like it that the "challenger" is basically nothing but a spectator.

[StevenH]

I would say that the show moves at a fast pace...but 500 Questions!? That is too many, and I don't see how they could go much faster.

I have generally liked the questions. The only one that I really loathed was the "only state capital that starts with an F" question. I don't like those "not really difficult, but hard to figure out in a limited time" clues that sometimes come up as FJs (except in situations where the clue contains some other TOM), and they're even worse for a show like 500 Questions.

The host doesn't bother me. I can see how people don't like him, but I really don't even notice him that much.

Like I said, the pacing would be excellent if there weren't so many questions. My favorite quiz shows other than J! were Win Ben Stein's Money, Beat the Geeks, and the Regis era of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but even those were slow paced compared to 500 Questions.

At the end of the day, my issue with 500 Questions is similar to The Weakest Link. The pacing, questions, and rules are fine, but the format of how the competition unfolds just does not excite me. I'll watch it if someone I know is on (go Lampy!), and I might even audition myself, but I won't be a regular watcher.

[Leander]

Tonight's show seems to be moving at a much quicker pace.

Quicker, but still nowhere near as fast as it needs to be.

Also, really surprised that they accepted just "hurdles", vice 110-meter hurdles.

And I still don't like it that the "challenger" is basically nothing but a spectator.

Yes, if you give "hurdles", "dash" and "jump" should also be acceptable.

I also think the"challenger" is an awkward concept in this game. It probably would work OK with less knowledgable contestants where the lead player flames out more often and the challenger takes over, but this really doesn't work well at this level.

[Winchell Factor]

I am liking the quizzing--both the questions and the heavy-hitting contestants.

Not crazy about the game. I agree that there's not enough opportunity for the challenger, nor enough reward for good players.

Not sure I can stand seven nights of Richard Quest's histrionics and faux-threatening manner.

[Tencent]

Is there an archive for the questions on 500 questions?

[MitchO]

Can any of the contestants tell me if there was any discussion (encouragement from producers, irritation from the contestants, etc) about the host's annoying windmilling and arm waving as the clock wound down?

[econgator]

Not sure I can stand seven nights of Richard Quest's histrionics and faux-threatening manner.

And if he says "And three wrong in a row and you're ....", I'm going to punch my TV. Quit trying to make it a catchphrase. It never will be.


And really, Steve ... Heisenberg? C'mon!

[immaf]

I watched for the first time tonight. Although I kept with it for the whole two hours, I don't think I'm coming back. It just didn't grab me.

I think it would be improved if they rotated through contestants faster. I kept thinking "Are they ever going to have a woman on the show?" But that's not really a fair complaint, because of the structure.

[NYCScribbler]

Watched my first episode tonight. That host is an entire crate of Craftsman's finest, and I want to punch him in the face before gagging him. Explain the rules at the beginning of each episode; make remembering them part of the challenge for the contestant, maybe run a crawl or show a pop-up for the people who can't remember things for ten minutes. Stop bloody filling time with all this needless draaaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaah. And stop trying to make that whole "gone" catchphrase thing happen; you'll have better luck with fetch.

I'd like to see some reward for the challenger, too. Have them get something out of a battle other than sticking a big red X on the board that the opponent will probably wipe out two minutes later. Have both players be rewarded for a sweep in a battle round instead of neither. It doesn't have to be a huge prize- hell, give 'em a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni or something.

I also kind of want to smack the guy currently playing. You don't have to watch a show to know things about it. I insta-got two of the TV questions and would probably have come up with the triple threat.

Yes, I have latent violent tendencies, thank you for noticing.

I would think the best strategy would be to go for your weakest categories first, and whenever you have no strikes on the board, then save your strengths to wipe out the strikes.

[MinnesotaMyron]

I watched for the first time tonight. Although I kept with it for the whole two hours, I don't think I'm coming back. It just didn't grab me.

I think it would be improved if they rotated through contestants faster. I kept thinking "Are they ever going to have a woman on the show?" But that's not really a fair complaint, because of the structure.

The woman question is thorny, since we know the contestant coordinators were repeatedly looking for more women to try out. (I sent a couple along, myself.) I think they needed to look outside organized trivia for that, since the demographic skews very male. Wave fistfuls of cash around, it'll skew even more so.

[NYCScribbler]

I watched for the first time tonight. Although I kept with it for the whole two hours, I don't think I'm coming back. It just didn't grab me.

I think it would be improved if they rotated through contestants faster. I kept thinking "Are they ever going to have a woman on the show?" But that's not really a fair complaint, because of the structure.

The woman question is thorny, since we know the contestant coordinators were repeatedly looking for more women to try out. (I sent a couple along, myself.) I think they needed to look outside organized trivia for that, since the demographic skews very male. Wave fistfuls of cash around, it'll skew even more so.

If they do it again, I'm auditioning. Couldn't last time.

[econgator]

I'd like to see some reward for the challenger, too. Have them get something out of a battle other than sticking a big red X on the board that the opponent will probably wipe out two minutes later. Have both players be rewarded for a sweep in a battle round instead of neither. It doesn't have to be a huge prize- hell, give 'em a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni or something.

*nod* Give him $100 if he can get a rebound, or maybe allow the challenger to get wrong answers and if he gets say 5 or 6, he can immediately battle for the champ's spot. Something ... anything.

[boson]

The show was better tonight - way to go (so far) Steve! Less repetition from the host, better play from the contestant.

I get why they slow the game down, but a quizbowl/jeopardy ring in part of the game would give us more questions and I would like that.

[cutlaaah]

I also kind of want to smack the guy currently playing. You don't have to watch a show to know things about it. I insta-got two of the TV questions and would probably have come up with the triple threat.

The guy with an ".895" in TV on LearnedLeague? Surely they just asked about the only three shows he doesn't watch.

[Lampy]

Can any of the contestants tell me if there was any discussion (encouragement from producers, irritation from the contestants, etc) about the host's annoying windmilling and arm waving as the clock wound down?

He stayed strategically out of eyeline. Literally no idea he was even there.

[cosmos]

I thought for sure they would put an X on the board when the challenger forced a tie in the battle. Then Quest could have mocked the contestant by saying, "You made the wrong choice by letting him go second."

[jeff6286]

I also kind of want to smack the guy currently playing. You don't have to watch a show to know things about it. I insta-got two of the TV questions and would probably have come up with the triple threat.

The guy with an ".895" in TV on LearnedLeague? Surely they just asked about the only three shows he doesn't watch.

Not sure if you're just making an observation or trying to imply something here, but these critically acclaimed current TV shows are pretty different from most of the TV questions in LL. Thorsten asks about a wide spread of stuff from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, and the vast majority of the TV questions are really easy. I could only see a few in recent seasons along the same lines as the ones on tonight's show, Orphan Black, The Good Wife, The Walking Dead, and these questions all simply ask for the name of the show, not for an actress or a character nickname.