The Ridiculous and the Sublime

Thanks to Kevin Drum for pointing me to this, from The Guardian.

A couple appearing on a quiz show in England guessed that Roger Bannister, the great English runner who was the first human being to run a mile in less than 4 minutes (when they still ran mile races), was actually "the first man ever to put the toilet seat down."

Of course, I suppose there's no reason he couldn't have done both. He was that good.

Andrew and Vanessa, the quiz show contestants who made this stab in the dark, seem to be potential candidates for the Darwin Award. They should definitely take out lots of insurance.

The Guardian columnist who reported this has been keeping a file of great quiz show answers:

This may have cost them their shot at wealth, but Andrew and Vanessa shouldn't get downhearted. They've entered the immortal ranks of the all-time most stupid quiz show answers ever. Their appearance now sits alongside the time a contestant on Beg, Borrow or Steal announced that Cambridge University was in Leicester, the time someone on Wogan's Perfect Recall was asked "which Duke resides at Woburn Abbey?" and answered "Hazzard", and the time a lottery quiz contestant finished Eamonn Holmes's question of "there are three states of matter: solid, liquid and . . ." with the word: "jelly".

However, The Million Pound Drop has a long way to go before it catches up with the two biggest idiot magnets around: The Weakest Link and Family Fortunes. At least contestants on the former have an excuse for answering "what is the name of the insect which makes honey?" with "honey fly" or "what 'Z' is used to describe a human who has returned from the dead?" with "unicorn"; they are being glared at by a terrifying dominatrix.

Family Fortunes contestants – who have answered "name a Paris landmark" with "Hawaii", "name an animal with horns" with "a bee" and "name something that flies without an engine" with "a bicycle with wings" – don't exactly have that luxury.

At the other end of the stupidometer, here's a video for my friend, Ethan, who Friday night succeeded in clearly explaining why, when you have chosen Curtain One, and Monty Hall shows you what's behind Curtain Two, and offers you the chance to pick Curtain Three, you should take him up on it. Do not let your mother see this video, Ethan. I'll never get another free meal if you do.