# Pointless and House of Games.



## Chris Hobson (Jan 19, 2021)

These two shows have become something of an evening ritual for me so I thought that I would write a post about them. I can't help thinking that pointless was invented by someone who saw Family Fortunes and said, well this is stupid, the most obvious answers are the ones that win so the stupid people get the prizes. So, we gave 100 people 100 seconds to name as many... The objective in pointless is to come up with the answers that the 100 people didn't think of. To do well you have to know stuff and take a guess at what a random sample of common folk don't know. House of games is a contest between four celebrities. Not being much of a tellyphile, I often don't know who they are. Often the celebs in question prove to be surprisingly clever and quick witted. The questions are often weirdly whimsical but always intellectually challenging. The scoreboard has the celebs represented by a kind of avatar based on their hair. This means that if I appeared I would be just a pair of eyebrows.


----------



## trophywench (Jan 19, 2021)

Cracking couple won tonight - one pointless answer each in one round - won the final to name Nobel prize scientists (Physics, can't recall the middle category, or Physiology and Medicine) with names starting with any of N O B E or L - I said Banting cos he's a chap whose discovery I rely on constantly - so I'd have won too, except of course it's in the lap of the Gods whether I'd ever have got that far!

Have never seen HofG so can't comment.


----------



## Chris Hobson (Jan 21, 2021)

Two more amazingly knowledgeable people won Pointless today.

Maisie Adam has been dominating House of Games this week. I can't help wondering whether she murdered her hairdresser.


----------



## trophywench (Jan 21, 2021)

With none of us of being able to visit a hairdresser or even they visit us since November, a good many people must have strange hairstyles we'd rather not have, frankly.


----------



## Chris Hobson (Feb 6, 2021)

Recently the subjects for the final round of pointless have been absolute stinkers and, as a result, the jackpot is now up to £10,000.


----------



## Inamuddle (Feb 6, 2021)

I wish someone would choose Paul Weller in the last round....I might just stand a chance of winning


----------



## Chris Hobson (Feb 6, 2021)

I got a pointless on the Beatles downloads question with In my life. The year 1958 might be good for me as it was the year that I and a former work colleague were born. If they ask for 1958 number one records I have the Kalin Twins and Lord Rockingham's Eleven as potential pointless answers.


----------



## trophywench (Feb 6, 2021)

Well I know about the mouse, should have thought it would have been dead by now so wouldn't still be loose?  Anyway it'll be OK when, I expect,

Never been asked to be one of the 100 people asked though, so you may be safe!


----------



## Chris Hobson (Feb 11, 2021)

I tend to be slightly boggled by the proportion of the random 100 who don't know the really easy ones. One example was a picture of an emu accompanied by the caption E_U. It scored 85. The other day the subject was chemical elements where we stopped writing when we got to the letter N. The clues included ZI, TI, and IRO. Since the N was included in the question, how could you possible not have got tin or iron? Zinc wasn't exactly that difficult to figure out. But the scores on these were around 45 - 50.


----------



## Pine Marten (Feb 11, 2021)

Chris Hobson said:


> I tend to be slightly boggled by the proportion of the random 100 who don't know the really easy ones. One example was a picture of an emu accompanied by the caption E_U. It scored 85. The other day the subject was chemical elements where we stopped writing when we got to the letter N. The clues included ZI, TI, and IRO. Since the N was included in the question, how could you possible not have got tin or iron? Zinc wasn't exactly that difficult to figure out. But the scores on these were around 45 - 50.


I'm boggled by that too! Perhaps it's the pressure of the 100 seconds.

I quite like the banter between Xander and Richard and I *really* like the way Richard tells off the contestants who say 'hmm, that's before my time...'  which is a very silly thing to say.

And I want to see a question about Christian Bale's films, as I know a couple of pretty obscure ones I hope would be pointless...  A couple of nights ago the finalists won the jackpot of £12,500 - pretty impressive pointless sporting knowledge.


----------



## Annemarie (Feb 11, 2021)

Watching Pointless tonight? Appalling how low the numbers were naming the parts of speech! Isn’t punctuation in the National Curriculum? I’m certainly not firing at Teachers but perhaps the overload they work under doesn’t include the basics


----------



## Chris Hobson (Feb 11, 2021)

The technical side of grammar wasn't taught in the comprehensive school that I attended. I learned to write and speak in grammatically correct ways by reading a lot. My choice on the grammatical terms was superlative which scored pretty low I think.


----------



## Annemarie (Feb 11, 2021)

@Chris Hobson That’s interesting Chris, perhaps it’s my age! My English Teacher (I am still in touch with her now and she’s 98) was very strict in ensuring our knowledge and respect for the English Language. My husband and I had afternoon tea with her many years ago, on the way home my he said he found her inspirational and wishes he’d had a Teacher like her. I think I was lucky


----------



## trophywench (Feb 11, 2021)

I can't remember being taught that eg the word 'group' was a collective noun etc but there again we were both greatly encouraged by both parents to read anything and everything; nearly drove my mum mad after I eventually learned to read so when she was rushing about trying to get our brekkies into us before getting us to school or, off to school whilst I read her the back of the Cornflake etc packet - because I wanted her to explain what things like 'Fortified with whatever' meant and What's a Nitrate, mom?

You need to have a 'feel' for correct use of both language and grammar.

How many times do we hear eg 'You're not doing it right.'  Where's the adverb in that then?  A word often with 'ly' on the end?  Well if the language had been correct in the first place it would become obvious, but shortcuts are taken in the verbal form of any language hence we don't bother saying 'You are not performing that task correctly', do we?


----------



## Chris Hobson (Feb 12, 2021)

You did brilliant. 
One thing that I find annoying is the use of the term 'for free'. The for is superfluous but this usage is now so universal that I've started saying it myself. Language changes over time and I think that you just have to accept it.


----------



## Annemarie (Feb 12, 2021)

I find quantifying the word unique irritating. Surely something is ‘unique’ or not


----------



## Pine Marten (Feb 12, 2021)

Annemarie said:


> I find quantifying the word unique irritating. Surely something is ‘unique’ or not


Seconded.


----------



## trophywench (Feb 12, 2021)

Pet hate of mine too !

Just grind my teeth and sigh unless it really affects my life these days, I've had too many battles with unarmed folk over the years to waste my own time doing that these days.

Now - how can I wean myself away from sarcasm, though?  That would be of more use to me these days!  (The weaning off it, I mean)


----------



## robert@fm (Feb 12, 2021)

Annemarie said:


> I find quantifying the word unique irritating. Surely something is ‘unique’ or not


Likewise "almost infinite". Something either is infinite, or isn't.

Although, surprisingly, one thing _can_ be more infinite than another; e.g. the number of complex numbers _vs._ the number of whole numbers.


----------



## Chris Hobson (Feb 19, 2021)

The Jackpot didn't go yesterday. I was surprised when the finalists chose eighties synth pop and then appeared to know literally nothing about it. They needed to name top forty hits by Gary Numan/Tubeway Army; Mark Almond/Soft Cell; Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

 I struggled to name any that weren't fairly obvious but got one pointless answer with The Days of Pearly Spencer which was covered by Mark Almond.


----------



## Chris Hobson (Mar 16, 2021)

Today's finalists chose Prog Rock as a subject. For those not in the know, the Encarta dictionary defines Prog Rock as:

A style of rock music that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, characterized by complex, elaborate and often experimental arrangements. 

Being a bit of a fan of the genre, I felt a bit under pressure to come up with a pointless answer. The finalists were really unlucky, coming up with three really low scores but not pointless. I got a pointless answer with Tangerine Dream. I was surprised that Emerson Lake and Palmer was a pointless answer. To me ELP, Genesis, Pink Floyd and Yes were the big names to avoid.


----------



## trophywench (Mar 16, 2021)

Yeah you weren't the only ones surprised to see ELP's name as pointless - I couldn't recall anyone's name in Yes, even though I sang the words; 'I need you, to show me the way' out loud in the hope it would do.   You know, him that sang and blew down that other thing I don't know the name of that sounded great on that record  (Oooh, I really liked the look of him at the time, too!  TMI)

Prior to that I really struggled with the Jasons.  Yesterday we both chorussed in unison the name of Trollope's famous work 'The Barchester Chronicles' - and both failed to notice the actual question - the name of the county! (ie Barsetshire)


----------



## Chris Hobson (Mar 17, 2021)

I think that the person that you are referring to is Peter Frampton. He performed with Humble Pie and The Herd and had a best selling live album called Frampton Comes Alive. He also went to school with David Bowie and played on Bowie's Glass Spider tour. I don't recall him being in Yes though.


----------



## trophywench (Mar 17, 2021)

Aaaah - YES!  LOL  It is/was Peter Frampton.  Not my specialist decade whatsoever.  Kind of all started for me in c. 1963/4 really in terms of popular music.  All just music (well some of it though by no means all) since then which I either like or not.  Couldn't care less what genre label is attached to it and I never have cared.

Remember a good many years ago #1 and I sitting down to listen to a BBC2 series 'The Four Seasons' (Gosh, fancy them being that interesting the Beeb have devoted 4 progs to them!) - and then thoroughly and entirely getting hooked on James Galway whether with or without his golden flute!  ie Vivaldi's Four Seasons, not the American quartet that made pop records .......

Quite a lesson when you realise where this or that bit of music that was the theme tune to whatever TV programme, actually comes from and how many centuries ago it was written.

A Lovers' Concerto - by The Toys - I rest my case!


----------



## Chris Hobson (Mar 17, 2021)

"A Lovers' Concerto - by The Toys - I rest my case!"

As you may have read elsewhere, I have been learning to play pieces from the Anna Magdalena Notebook by J. S. Bach. Lovers' Concerto is based on the second piece in the book and I can actually play it reasonably well.

Bach has also been implicated in the Whiter Shade of Pale, the Beach Boys song Lady Linda, the ELP track Knife Edge and Toccata by Sky. Muse have also borrowed from Bach as well as Madonna and Destiny's Child.


----------



## trophywench (Mar 18, 2021)

Nothin' new under the sun!

Brill having a catholic taste in music, innit?  (I do like a bit of G&S too, brill singing along on long solo drives, interspersed with some Buddy Holly, Everleys and all sorts.  Geno Washington & the R J band; Leon Russell; Irish folk/rugby songs - whatever!)


----------



## mikeyB (Mar 20, 2021)

Chris Hobson said:


> "A Lovers' Concerto - by The Toys - I rest my case!"
> 
> As you may have read elsewhere, I have been learning to play pieces from the Anna Magdalena Notebook by J. S. Bach. Lovers' Concerto is based on the second piece in the book and I can actually play it reasonably well.
> 
> Bach has also been implicated in the Whiter Shade of Pale, the Beach Boys song Lady Linda, the ELP track Knife Edge and Toccata by Sky. Muse have also borrowed from Bach as well as Madonna and Destiny's Child.


Bach got a composer credit on the single of Whiter Shade of Pale. It was the first single I bought. As Bach wrote most of the _possible_ tunes, it’s hard not get implicated in modern music. One of my favourite Prog Rock groups was King Crimson, where Greg Lake of ELP started out. I think King Crimson have had the most personnel changes of any group in history, which demonstrates how easy Robert Fripp is to get along with.


----------



## Chris Hobson (Mar 25, 2021)

Great fun tonight. A father and son team, dad is as bald as I am, son has a highly suspect comb forward hairstyle. Jackpot is up to twelve and a half grand. Today's finalists were a pair of dozy prannets who seemed to have got through because the rest were even more gormless than they were. It would have been a travesty if they had won but, true to form they got three wrong answers.


----------



## C&E Guy (Mar 26, 2021)

I think that after 1,000+ episodes, Pointless is struggling for themes/answers in the Final round.

What might have been fairly straightforward and guessable earlier on, is now much better known or even more obscure to come up with in 60 seconds.


----------



## Northerner (Mar 26, 2021)

Current episodes are repeats, there's no 'bonus' round before the head-to-head. I think it is a bit unfair when (as recently) they have a final round heading of 'The Bronte Sisters', and then go on to ask questions about who was in films of their books


----------



## Chris Hobson (Mar 26, 2021)

That is actually a good point. The odd thing about the repeats is that I can remember some of the contestants but non of the answers to the questions. I must not have seen the last few episodes before as I don't remember anybody.


----------



## Chris Hobson (May 10, 2021)

I'm returning to this thread after being amazed by the score of 95 for a picture of a pig accompanied by the legend P_G. The only explanation that I can come up with was that the 5% were all really devout Muslims who couldn't bring themselves to say it.

In other news, several pieces in the Anna Magdalena Notebook, including the Lover's Concerto, weren't written by Bach. The Minuet in G major was written by Christian Petzold.


----------



## Chris Hobson (May 21, 2021)

Yay, American soul music as a subject in the pointless final today. Name top 40 hits by Otis Reading, The Stylistics or Aretha Franklin. The finalists only came up with two answers, Sitting on the dock of the bay and Respect. I came up with Rock and roll baby and Whose zooming who, both pointless.

A double hundred for a couple who had no clue about geography. Asked to name countries that shared a border of 1,000k or more with a neighbouring country they came up with Africa and the United Kingdom. Not only is Africa a continent and not a country, even if you called it a country it's only border is a narrow land bridge between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The United Kingdom is a group of islands FFS.


----------



## trophywench (May 21, 2021)

I know - saw it.  Bit like Gogglebox tonight too, with the two young (sorry for this un-PC description, but ...) thick birds when watching a quiz and the presenter said These will be General Knowledge questions (and they were quite simple Qs) and one of the girls said to the other I'm not good with GK and the other replied Nor me - who needs any GK anyway?

_I rest my case yer onner._


----------



## Northerner (May 22, 2021)

Chris Hobson said:


> A double hundred for a couple who had no clue about geography. Asked to name countries that shared a border of 1,000k or more with a neighbouring country they came up with Africa and the United Kingdom. Not only is Africa a continent and not a country, even if you called it a country it's only border is a narrow land bridge between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The United Kingdom is a group of islands FFS.


You get some people who seem a bit clueless, but it's usually explainable by it being an out of the ordinary category, but I thought this pair really took the biscuit!  Will be interesting to see what they come up with on the next show


----------



## trophywench (May 22, 2021)

This series finished last night Alan.

Mary (Giles' wife) always drives me bonkers the way she constantly berates him 'for using words/expressions you know upset me!' - when Pete and I regard them as perfectly normal ones which aren't upsetting or disgusting in the slightest.

Has she really never mixed with a wide variety of other people - some of which call a spade a f..ing shovel?

Could I ever be in her company for long without saying For Heaven's sake you silly woman - grow up! - or shaking/slapping her?  I fear not.

I find it worrying with those two young uns.  They walk amongst us .......  and the Gov still expect people to use their own common sense - if you ask me, sense is becoming more and more rare ......


----------



## trophywench (May 22, 2021)

Ah - Alan was talking about Pointless not Gogglebox - oops.


----------



## Lanny (May 22, 2021)

The best final round I got, this was some time ago, was Screen Goddesses & it was Audrey Hepburn films. I thought of 5 & they were all pointless the 3 I went for were from what I thought the easiest to hardest:- “How to Steal a Million”, an excellent film with Peter O’ Toole about stealing a million dollar sculpture lent to a museum that her father forged; “Two for the Road”, the only film with her then husband Mel Farrar that fell flat without chemistry on the screen & “Bloodline”, her last starring role & many thought a strange choice of film based on the thriller by Sidney Sheldon where the killer is filming snuff films! The other two were :- “Secret People” & “Always” The last two being very apt bookends as they were her 1st film appearance, in a British B&W film as a ballet dancer before she went to Hollywood, I wasn’t 100 percent sure of the title so, didn’t pick it & her last appearance, as the angel Hap directed by Steven Speilberg starring Richard Dreyfuss & Holly Hunter, thought it was too well known! Unfortunately the final pair didn’t get the jackpot as they only knew her most well known films:- “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”; “Sabrina” & “My Fair Lady”! I felt like a RIGHT SMARTY PANTS!


----------



## Chris Hobson (May 27, 2021)

I would have felt a smarty pants too if I had thought to include Hard to Handle by Otis Reading. I knew the song but didn't think of it until it was listed as one of the pointless answers. That would have given me a pointless hat trick. 

Back in February I said:
If they ask for 1958 number one records I have the Kalin Twins and Lord Rockingham's Eleven as potential pointless answers.
Well someone chose 1958 and Lord Rockinham's XI was a pointless answer. The Kalin Twins weren't mentioned but they definitely had a number one that year.


----------



## trophywench (May 27, 2021)

Blimey - the 1958 No 1 was 'When'.  I'd have said 'Was that Don and Phil?' had you asked me to guess !  Can still join in singing it right now.


----------

