Street Smarts Questions

[TheInquisitiveOne]

I have a few questions about the late night laugh-fest that is Street Smarts.

(1) Are any of these sessions doctored in any way (much like the \"Jaywalking\" segments on The Tonight Show)? I simply cannot believe that anyone can be that stupid.

(2) Is Frank Nicotero ever coming back to Chicago for some \"on the street\" interviews? I sure would like to meet him.

(3) Do any of you have this show in a relatively earlier time slot? The show is on at midnight and 3AM (central) in my area.

(4) Did any one of you enter that contest?

Have at it my friends!

The Inquisitive One

(Frank: In the blockbuster hit Titanic, what is the name of thie ship that sank?

Interviewee: Ship Ahoy.)

[Brandon Brooks]

I can answer two of your questions:

(1) Are any of these sessions doctored in any way (much like the \"Jaywalking\" segments on The Tonight Show)? I simply cannot believe that anyone can be that stupid.

Doctored?!  You must not walk down the street that often.

(3) Do any of you have this show in a relatively earlier time slot? The show is on at midnight and 3AM (central) in my area.

It's also on at 2:30 central in your area as well.  How do I know?  You can turn it on WGN Superstation and find it on your tube.

Brandon Brooks

[Matt Ottinger]

Are any of these sessions doctored in any way (much like the \"Jaywalking\" segments on The Tonight Show)? I simply cannot believe that anyone can be that stupid.

1)  They might interview dozens of people before they find enough usable material.  For every complete idiot they show, they might have found lots of perfectly normal people who answered every easy question correctly -- and would, of course, be no fun at all to watch.  Same with Jaywalking.

2) I'm reasonably convinced that there are people who recognize Leno (and, to a lesser extent, Nicotero) and choose to \"play dumb\" because they realize that's what will get them on television.

3) There really are a lot of dumb people out there.

[The Ol' Guy]

Or I've been curious about another possibility - we were planning to do a Street Smarts-type feature for a local cable access project. It hit me that the best way you could get a good combination of actual and joke answers is to tell the street folk that no matter what the question - they can't say, \"I don't know\". Say ANYTHING that comes to mind- have fun, have some laughs, and collect the check (if any).  I'm sure that if some responses were too outrageous, they could refuse to air them, but what the heck - if you find people with the right personality/spirit for the game, say anything - just don't bail out. It's Frank's job to punch up your response.

[DrBear]

Trust me, folx, there are a lot of folks walking around out there who are so dumb (HOW...DUMB...ARE THEY?)

When our newspaper has done \"spoof columns\" suggesting, say, Christmas gifts based on famous people (a Bobby Knight throwing chair, for instance) we always get people calling about where they can get them.

[Game Show Man]

4) Did any one of you enter that contest?

Yep.  I did.  Everyone keep an eye for me around September 29.

\"Game Show Man\" Joe Van Ginkel

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' date=\'Sep 1 2003, 07:47 PM\'] I have a few questions about the late night laugh-fest that is Street Smarts.
 [/quote]
Gawd. That's up there with \"goofball par excellence.\"

I simply cannot believe that anyone can be that stupid.

You give the average American far too much credit. Stick a camera in their face and even HINT at the possibility of airtime, and they will happily degrade themselves to levels that you wouldn't begin to understand. Bob Saget proved THAT eons ago.

The show is on at midnight and 3AM (central) in my area.

Just about the right place for that pile of crap, IMO.