Mindless TV Watching

I'm reading blogs. The Cat is snuggled up next to me (heaven!). The Spouse is having his fifth late night this week - he won't be home until 9:30 tonight. The TV is on in the background. I'm not really watching it, just listening. The show is 1 vs. 100. It's a copy of Deal or No Deal and Millionaire, sort of. I've seen it once before. If you've never seen it, there are 100 people in "the mob". A contestant comes on, is asked a question, and for every member of the mob that gets the answer wrong, he gets x dollars. The dollar amount increases with each question. The goal is to keep getting answers right, and pray that more and more members of the mob answer incorrectly so you win lots of money. The contestant can quit, of course. And he gets three "lifelines", of course. They are suspiciously like those in Who Wants to be a Millionaire. You get a 50-50. You get to ask a mob member for the answer, but they can try to fake you out. You can't call a friend, though. I like shows that test your knowledge of obscure things like Millionaire and Jeopardy. I'm one of those people whose mind is filled with completely useless trivial knowledge. So, while I'm reading blogs, emails, typing posts and comments, I'm half listening to the show. The mob usually has a few celebrities in it. For example, Ken Jennings is in the mob. Today they have four cast members from Las Vegas. Molly Sims is one of them. They have some Dallas Cheerleaders, too I think. And this - they have Mr. Fed-X, Britney's now infamous ex, Kevin Federline, is in the mob. I wonder when this episode was shot - before or after the divorce? They had a question asking about the show in which Christina Aguilera got her start. The questions are multiple choice. The answer said something like "it was a show starring" an insect, a vermin, and something else. Hmmm... Mickey Mouse - animal, minereal, or vermin? Duh. But 8 mob members got it wrong. K-Fed got it right. So Bob Sagat asked him how he knew. He replied that "he kind of knows the family", and the audience, the mob, and Bob Sagat chuckled. Ha ha ha.

Oh, they just asked a Star Wars question: "If you must be at least 40inches tall to go on the Star Wars ride, which Star Wars character would be left behind? a) Chewbacca b) C-3PO c) Yoda". Now, I feel about Star Wars the way Lorraine feels about Battlestar Galactica. The original 3, that is, not the most recent 3 movies. Anyway, the answer is so obvious. The contestant has it right. 8 members of the mob missed it! What planet are they from? Sheesh. The answer is C, of course! The last contestant knocked out 89 mobsters before quitting and taking the money. That's the most anyone has ever knocked out, apparently. He won $156,000. If he had chosen the wrong answer on his last question, he would lose all the money, and the mob would get to split what he had won to that point.

Update: This contestant just cleaned up on one question. 33 mobsters missed it. Here's the question: "Which was not a name used by one of the Sex Pistols?" a) Nasty b) Rotten c) Vicious. I am not a hard rock fan. I don't know much about the Sex Pistols or even know if I have heard a single song of theirs. But c'mon. I know the answer to this. How can 33 out of 72 people get it wrong? She just picked up $66,000 in that one question. And folks, this is a late 30's/early 40's woman you would not suspect ever listened to the Sex Pistols.