The golden age of quizzing

[tracteurgarcon]

Personally, I can’t stand Pointless any more despite loving the format, for the reasons already mentioned plus the ubiquity of Richard Osman.

I don’t really have a problem with him but I much preferred it when he was the occasionally wryly amusing sidekick, I can’t help but feel he’s now stretched way too thin, talent wise.

Only Connect has similar presenter problems. When she’s just reading the questions and doing the “admin” she’s a perfectly reasonable host but as soon as she attempts to be funny my toes curl so much it hurts and when she bullies the contestants into singing it makes me want to smash the telly (thank goodness for fast forward on catch up).

[RobW]

Personally, I can’t stand Pointless any more despite loving the format, for the reasons already mentioned plus the ubiquity of Richard Osman.

I don’t really have a problem with him but I much preferred it when he was the occasionally wryly amusing sidekick, I can’t help but feel he’s now stretched way too thin, talent wise.

Only Connect has similar presenter problems. When she’s just reading the questions and doing the “admin” she’s a perfectly reasonable host but as soon as she attempts to be funny my toes curl so much it hurts and when she bullies the contestants into singing it makes me want to smash the telly (thank goodness for fast forward on catch up).

Agree on all points.

[Discordant Resonance]

Superb article on how quizzing has adapted to online competitions over the last 12 months, extremely well-written on how such matches can play out in real time, and highlights most of the prominent players in both the British and the American leagues.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Yesterday's Pointless had one of my dream categories in the final: actors in British New Wave films. The studenty fellas involved didn't know what 'British New Wave' meant...

[Sporting]

Superb article on how quizzing has adapted to online competitions over the last 12 months, extremely well-written on how such matches can play out in real time, and highlights most of the prominent players in both the British and the American leagues.

Am I missing a link here?

[Discordant Resonance]

Working fine for me, at any rate - link is at the very end of my post?

[Hot Orange]

In addition to all the unnecessary waffle already mentioned ("I'll just read that one more time." "Oh God, please don't, Alexander."), I find Pointless is often let down by the final round. If the contestants have absolutely no clue, it's a bit of a damp squib and often quite a toe-curling watch as they awkwardly try to come up with any kind of answer.

[Sporting]

Working fine for me, at any rate - link is at the very end of my post?

Ah, ta.

[Giggler]

Yesterday's Pointless had one of my dream categories in the final: actors in British New Wave films. The studenty fellas involved didn't know what 'British New Wave' meant...

Two weeks after I was on (and I bowed out with three 100 answers in the final round), the final round category was players in the 1981 FA Cup final. Three Pointless answers in less than three seconds from the Bury jury, including in the innane chat with Armstrong "I think all three may be Pointless, Xander, but [chuckle] I'd like Nicky Reid to win us the money a she went on to play for my team, Bury, and won the Second Division championship with us in 1997"

(The other two I'd have chosen were Tony Galvin and Tommy Caton).

[pebblethefish]

Two weeks after I was on (and I bowed out with three 100 answers in the final round), the final round category was players in the 1981 FA Cup final. Three Pointless answers in less than three seconds from the Bury jury, including in the innane chat with Armstrong "I think all three may be Pointless, Xander, but [chuckle] I'd like Nicky Reid to win us the money a she went on to play for my team, Bury, and won the Second Division championship with us in 1997"

(The other two I'd have chosen were Tony Galvin and Tommy Caton).

Was Bobby MacDonald also pointless (that would have been my answer)?

[Giggler]

I can only assume so. Your big hitters would have been your Villas and Hutchisons and your Hoddles etc.

[Jah Womble]

Yer Crooksies and yer Big Joe In the Goals.

Milija Aleksic might've been a pointless, not sure.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

a she went on to play for my team

I was really confused by that for a while (especially in combination with the unisex name "Nicky") until I realised it was just an OC missing vowels round-style respacing issue.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Anyway, did anyone else see Clive Myrie's first ever Mastermind last night? Not bad for a first go at a very difficult quizmaster role (difficult because of the time pressure I mean, having to speak quickly at all times and make instant judgements on the acceptability of answers). And great to be rid of Humphrys. The episode was slightly spoilt for me though by what seemed to me to be a chasm between the average difficultly level of different contestants' GK questions. I got around 16 or 17 correct out of the student's set, oompared with only 10 of the set given to the guy who was leading after the SS round but was overtaken by the other guy (whose set I got around 15 of) largely in my view because of the shocker question set he'd had to deal with.

[Discordant Resonance]

Decidedly not the golden contestant of quizzing:

https://twitter.com/graemedouglas/status/1452661320227168263

[3 Colours Red]

I've just facepalmed so hard that my hand has popped through the back side of my skull.

[Sheep]

Some time in the last decade, I vaguely remember a TV show where an interview asked passers-by: "Who wrote The Odyssey: Homer or Mr. Burns?"

Can't find any trace of it online, but my brain is nowhere near clever enough to come up with that line on my own, so it must have happened.

[Discordant Resonance]

Interesting controversy in University Challenge last night - the Birmingham team captain, Bartelle, was accused of ignoring the only female member of his team, seated to his right, while the two others were more in his line of vision to his left. Of course, there was no particular reason why she would have to be in seat 4, but the armchair critics don't realise the extensive preparation and practice sessions such teams undergo before they ever get on TV, and as such that the captain would instinctively know which team member to consult for any given category.

[Gangster Octopus]

Must admit, I actually mentioned it to my wife as we were watching it.

[Janik]

Interesting controversy in University Challenge last night - the Birmingham team captain, Bartelle, was accused of ignoring the only female member of his team, seated to his right, while the two others were more in his line of vision to his left. Of course, there was no particular reason why she would have to be in seat 4, but the armchair critics don't realise the extensive preparation and practice sessions such teams undergo before they ever get on TV, and as such that the captain would instinctively know which team member to consult for any given category.

I was confused by the left and right in this. The captain in University Challenge always takes the second chair from the left, so he or she only has one teammate on their LHS and two on their right. But I've got it now - you are giving left and right the audiences point of view rather than stage left and stage right (i.e. the left and right of the players). Right?

[Discordant Resonance]

Yes, should just have said seats 1, 2 and 4 to avoid any confusion.

[NHH]

Interesting controversy in University Challenge armchair critics don't realise the extensive preparation and practice sessions such teams undergo before they ever get on TV, and as such that the captain would instinctively know which team member to consult for any given category.

This former University Challenge team captain doesn't realise it either. Maybe they take it more seriously nowadays...

[Discordant Resonance]

There was a two-part series a few years back where they showed everything that went on from the exam selections that whittled down the teams right through the progression of the series, and it certainly seemed fairly intense, even allowing for editing.

[NHH]

In my University, they put up a sign in the students' union, and 5 people turned up for the audition, and since we needed 5 people, that was the team.

[Giggler]

I found my way to the bedroom of an older woman when I was at university whose 'post' chat was about her appearance on UC, with the accompanying VHS.