You call in for 2 dollars to answer a question for a chance to win 500 dollars. Here are a couple of the questions:
The mathematical problem was presented on screen as follows with the question being “What is the total of all the numbers in this puzzle?”:
9+7-3x0+
5-2+4-7+
(4+6)x2=?
James took calls from a total of 49 viewers, informing all of them that their answers were incorrect. James periodically reminded viewers of the cost per call and made statements, such as the following (more complete descriptions of each episode can be found in Appendix A):
It’s not a trick question. It’s not number one. I need you to recount and have another look.
Everything you need is on screen. Everything is there. I have one correct solution to this game. One possible answer.
He also highlighted the potential winnings with comments such as “We’ve got five
thousand dollars that is now guaranteed. Guaranteed cash. Yes, guaranteed. Yes, you can win five thousand.”
James took calls for this contest question until 1:47 am without a successful caller. The second game on that episode featured multiple images of a Daffy Duck-like cartoon character. Callers had to determine which image was different from the others. Not a single call came through for approximately ten minutes, but one caller was finally successful during the last few moments of the program. Afterthat call, James revealed the answer to the previous problem, namely, 1238, and then quickly concluded the episode.
The second complainant referred to a different mathematical problem on the
December 12 episode, which aired from 2:00 am to 4:00 am. The problem was as follows:
•
4 girls are travelling on a bus
•
in each hand they hold 4 baskets
•
in each basket there are 4 cats
•
each cat has 3 little kittens
•
one cat gets away
How many legs are on the bus?
4
James assured viewers that “
Everything you need is on your screen. Everything you need to give me the correct answer is on your TV screen.” He also mentioned that “You do only say your answer when you’re live on air. We have no idea what you’re going to say until you are live on air. So the next person can always be the winner.” This time, James took calls from 98 different people, all of whom were told their answers were wrong. At a point during the game, the previous caller’s answer appeared on screen so viewers would know which numbers had already been guessed incorrectly. With no correct callers, James eventually opened the envelope containing the answer and revealed that it was 1359.
The complainant’s concern was that this answer was illogical since humans and cats have legs in multiples of two. He explained that he was not so much concerned with the precise answer as he was with the fact that the answer was an odd, rather than an even, number.
To this day the answers to these ridiculous questions have never been revealed. It's an affront to intellectualism, but still not as bad as our electoral system.
Even Japan and China have better gameshows than this shithole frozen tundra. Canada is like the store-brand knockoff of Montana. I vote to secede.
