"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is the name of a quiz game show that has many variations throughout the world. In fact, the better question would be: who wouldn't like to be one, right?
Well, even if you attempt to become one by going on one of these TV games, it doesn't mean that luck will be on your side. You might stumble over a question that seems very simple for many and kiss your dream of becoming a millionaire by winning the game bye-bye. And this might come back to haunt you many years later when the video of it circles the Internet and people accuse you of not having basic pop culture knowledge.
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Sometimes, even the facts that some deem insignificant can literally cost you a lot
Image credits: Chimpanz APe (not the actual photo)
25 years ago, a man participated in the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" TV game show
Image credits: historyinmemes
Then, in a round for $5ooK, he got a question related to Pokemon and The Lord of the Rings
Image credits: historyinmemes
He needed to point out which of the four wasn't a Pokemon -- Jigglypuff, Frodo, Squirtle, and Pikachu
Image credits: Bulbagarden/The Lord of the Rings Wiki
For many, the question seemed very simple, but the contestant seemed doubtful
Image credits: historyinmemes
He asked to remove half of the options, and when he couldn't answer even then, he walked away with the $250K he already had
Image credits: historyinmemes
Watch the video here
On March 11th of this year, the X account called “Historic Vids,” which is dedicated to historical memes, posted a video that soon went pretty viral. And the reason for its virality was how funny and frustrating the situation in it was.
It was a video from a popular American TV game show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”, created in 1999 that based its format on the British game show of the same name. Probably the most well-known host of the American game was television presenter Regis Philbin, who sadly passed away in 2020 at the age of 88.
The game is basically a quiz competition where contestants strive to answer a series of consecutive multiple-choice questions, which become increasingly difficult. Each question is worth a certain amount of money. If a wrong answer is given to even one question, the game is over, and the contestants’ winnings are reduced. Also, if the person isn’t sure about the answer, they can walk away after hearing the question and keep the money they have won up to that point.
And that is what the video we have mentioned is about -- a person walking away from a question. You might wonder, what’s so special about it if it's part of the game's rules? Well, the thing that made the video go viral is the question. Apparently, to many people online and on the page where the video was posted, the question seemed like a very simple one.
The question was related to the Japanese media franchise Pokemon and J. R. R. Tolkien's character Frodo Baggins. Well, we’re pretty sure you have heard of at least one of these because if not, you must be living under quite a big rock.
The question didn’t even require extensive knowledge about either of the media franchises. In fact, it was kind of a basic one -- to select which of the given names was not a Pokemon (the answer was Frodo). And for anyone who has basic knowledge of Pokemon or The Lord of the Rings, it’s pretty simple.
Apparently, this man didn’t have such a knowledge. First, he chose to eliminate half of the options, but even after that, he didn’t know the answer. So, he chose to walk away with $250,000.
This flabbergasted people online. To them, the answer seemed way too simple to walk away from. Some even said that it was the easiest 500K dollar question ever. Just as we said, if you have any basic knowledge of pop culture, it for sure seems this way. Folks online accused the man of not consuming any popular media at all, which, well, in the Internet's eyes, is quite a crime. Especially when you lose a huge sum of money because of it.
On the other hand, the first The Lord of the Rings movie was only released 2 years later, so it makes the man not knowing about Frodo a bit more understandable. After all, not everyone is a book person.
This man’s name is Toby Moore, and he was a statistician from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The episode, in which Toby faced this "challenging" question, aired on November 17, 1999, in the first season of the game show. This year, it will have been 25 years since the episodes aired, which, apparently, makes it old enough to be on the X page meant for historical memes.
So, if you’re born in that year, you have to deal with the fact that some might already consider you a historical entity. Kind of a hard pill to swallow, isn’t it? Just as it would be a hard pill to swallow if you lost out on a big sum of money just because you didn’t partake in the joys of Pokemon or The Lord of the Rings or forgot everything you know about them at a crucial moment.
Image credits: Roo Reynolds (not the actual photo)
To talk a bit more broadly about the legal side of game shows, Bored Panda reached out to a media and entertainment lawyer, Kelsey Farish.
When people decide to participate in TV game shows, they become subject to various legal rights and responsibilities, which are usually signed in the contract before the show and can differ depending on jurisdiction.
According to Kelsey Farish, with these contracts, the contestants are usually entitled to these rights:
- Compensation, unless the “publicity” of being on TV is considered to be the compensation;
- The right to fair treatment, including the rules and regulations of the game, transparency, and codes of conduct;
- Privacy -- limitations on what sorts of personal information can be disclosed without consent;
- Intellectual property and publicity rights -- permitting a contestant to repost clips or screenshots on social media, but the right to share/modify the contestant’s image and the footage itself belongs to the production company, usually without any time limits.
Keeping the last point in mind, it must be noted that the producers and networks have legal teams dedicated to fighting copyright infringement -- the unauthorized reposting/sharing of content on social media. However, sometimes, the show can quietly allow the reposting of content by fans or contestants themselves.
K. Farish added: “If a contestant is particularly concerned about their intellectual property and their rights to repost clips from the show, they should consult a lawyer and carefully review the contract. In some cases, they might be able to negotiate specific terms.”
Then, along with the rights, the contestant must agree to certain responsibilities and even potential losses. For instance, in most shows, they have to sign confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), which ban them from revealing some details before the episodes air.
According to Kelsey, “If a contestant breaches the contract (for example, leaking confidential information or damaging the show's reputation), they might be subject to legal action -- this will almost certainly be a claim for money (lawsuit) rather than a criminal charge -- unless, of course, a criminal offense has occurred!”
Additionally, the contract might make the contestant responsible for their own travel expenses, accommodations, and other costs associated with participating in the show. Just as prizes, which often come with tax implications or other issues, must be handled by the winners themselves.
K. Farish also highlighted that “by participating in a show, contestants will be exposing themselves to public judgment. This puts them at risk of reputational damage, which -- prize winnings aside -- can have personal and professional repercussions.”
Later, if, for example, a contestant believes that they were unfairly disadvantaged or misled during the game, they can consider taking legal action. Yet, there’s quite a high likelihood that the contract will considerably restrict the contestant's ability to do so.
As Kelsey Farish explains, “A production company would not want to be vulnerable to every unhappy contestant suing them -- so the contract will almost certainly say something like, ‘By participating in this show, you agree not to sue us for reasons A, B, or C.’” The only exceptions to this rule could be serious issues like health and safety problems.
Besides, the media and entertainment lawyer also noted that there are other factors influencing legal action. For instance, the contestant must provide clear evidence of misconduct and prove that they suffered actual damage. “This can be costly and time-intensive to do, and there is no guarantee of winning.”
So, before you decide to become a contestant in a game show, keep in mind that sometimes the real challenge might not be the pop culture-related question but the legal aspects of participation.
"People screamed at the TV that night": This left the folks online dumbfounded about how he didn't know the answer to such a simple question
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