Millionaire Questions...

[Matt Ottinger]

There's a sign just outside Lansing that says something along the lines of "I-69 South becomes I-69 East" which I've always found absurd because of the even-odd rule.  

However, something that makes GSWitch's question trickier (and probably incorrect) is that there are many short interstate highways with three-digit numbers, lots of which end in 5.  I know of an I-275 in Knoxville that can't be much more than three miles long.  Since there are bound to be similar short spurs in just about every state, this one definitely falls into the "too obscure" basket.

In the meantime, I'm going to be very anxious to see what explanation there is for his "Colonel Bogey March" question, since I don't recall any of those four shows having regular game show sketches (plural).

[Tony]

However, something that makes GSWitch's question trickier (and probably incorrect) is that there are many short interstate highways with three-digit numbers, lots of which end in 5. I know of an I-275 in Knoxville that can't be much more than three miles long. Since there are bound to be similar short spurs in just about every state, this one definitely falls into the "too obscure" basket.

Being in Huntsville, Alabama, I can personally attest to the existence of at least one more of those short "interstate" highways, i.e. I-565.

[GSWitch]

[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 09:58 PM\'] "Colonel Bogey March" was a gag tune used on game show sketches of what variety show?

A).  The Carol Burnett Show
B).  Monty Python's Flying Circus
C).  Benny Hill
D).  Sonny & Cher [/quote]
 The answer is C, Benny Hill!

There were two game show sketches; Sale of The Half Century & Name That Tune.  Benny played the host while there was a man dressed up as a woman (for Sale), a pretty young lady & Jackie Wright (aka the little old man) as contestants.  Jackie would win Sale which ticked off Benny while the pretty babe won Name That Tune & took her opponent (Jackie) on the holiday instead of Benny.

Here's how the gag went using the Name That Tune sketch.

BENNY:  For 20 pounds, name that tune.
(Orchestra playing Colonel Bogey)
(Jackie buzzes in)
JACKIE:  The Cobbler Song.
BENNY:  Sorry I'll have to go over to Vera.
VERA:  After the Ball.
BENNY:  You're so near, sort of half-right.
(Jackie buzzes again)
JACKIE:  I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts!
BENNY:  You boasting again, are you?  No, that was Colonel Bogey!

[GSWitch]

[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Feb 3 2004, 09:58 PM\'] What state would you find the shortest north-south Interstate Highway ending in 5?

A).  Illinois
B).  Texas
C).  Florida
D).  Alaska [/quote]
I apologize for miswriting the question, not thinking about 3 digit roads.  I should've said 2 digit roads.

Alaska has no interstates, but Hawaii does.  

The answer is...B!  Interstate 45 is the shortest 2-digit route ending in 5 that can be found in Texas.  It starts @ Galveston & goes through Houston, Conroe, Huntsville, Madisonville, Centerville, Buffalo, Fairfield, Streetman, Corsicana (home of the fruitcake), Ennis & ends in Dallas!

It's 285 miles long & was the first interstate to be built in Texas (the Corsicana bypass was the first piece of I-45).  It replaced U.S. 75 which is now TEXAS 75 or Business Loop 45 (green interstate shield) found in Ferris, Palmer, Ennis & Corsicana!

[BrandonFG]

I'm going to try my hand at one. I know I said I don't like pop culture, but I'd like to think it's a bit obscure, so what the hell...

What soap opera was pre-empted for Walter Cronkite's announcement of JFK's assassination?

A. The Edge of Night                         B. Search For Tomorrow
C. As The World Turns                      D. The Guiding Light

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 02:21 PM\'] What soap opera was pre-empted for Walter Cronkite's announcement of JFK's assassination?

A. The Edge of Night                         B. Search For Tomorrow
C. As The World Turns                      D. The Guiding Light [/quote]
 Bad question. What time zone?

[CarShark]

Geez, it sounds like writing a good question for Millionaire is hard enough, but writing a Million Dollar Question is insane.

The Carol Brady maiden name is probably one of the best I've ever seen on the show. It was one that was difficult but could be figured provided you had a few spare days to think it through.

John Carpenter's and Dan Blonsky's Question 15s seemed a bit too easy to me. Joe Trela's seemed too hard, too specialized, but that could just be me.
Bob House's and Kim Hunt's were better, as again you could figure it out with time.

Here's a question I used in a community game on the GSN boards:

---------------------------------------<$V250,000>

In 2003, which of the following video game companies trademarked the phrase, "shock and awe"?
[font=\"courier\"]
----- A. Sony ----- B. Midway -----
----- C. Atari ---- D. Square -----[/font]

I thought it was pretty good myself, as it was in the news for a while, but a piece of info that was easy to forget.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 05:31 PM\'] [quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 02:21 PM\'] What soap opera was pre-empted for Walter Cronkite's announcement of JFK's assassination?

A. The Edge of Night                         B. Search For Tomorrow
C. As The World Turns                      D. The Guiding Light [/quote]
Bad question. What time zone? [/quote]
 Well, the time zone thing just requires a little editing to the question.  I happen to think this is one of the better questions I've seen posed here.  The subject and the choices are things people are familiar with, there's a field of study (i.e. broadcast journalism) where you may have been exposed to the fact, high-end trivia people would know it, and depending on how much you know about all the different aspects of the question, you could spend some time trying to figure it out.  Works for me.

[Kevin Prather]

Refresh me, did Cronkite's announcement go something like this...

"John F. Kennedy died at xx:xxpm Pacific time, xx:xxpm Eastern time, some 38 minutes ago."

That's the one announcement I've seen a few times on the History Channel.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 06:15 PM\'] Refresh me, did Cronkite's announcement go something like this...

"John F. Kennedy died at xx:xxpm Pacific time, xx:xxpm Eastern time, some 38 minutes ago."

That's the one announcement I've seen a few times on the History Channel. [/quote]
 Something like that. I don't remember the exact wording, but here's a modified question...forgive the wordiness, I'm not a game show writer yet. :-)

On Nov. 22, 1963, what soap opera was preempted at 1:40 p.m. EST, for Walter Cronkite's announcement of JFK's assassination?

A. The Edge of Night              B. Search For Tomorrow
C. As The World Turns           D. The Guiding Light

[SplitSecond]

1:40PM EST doesn't quite nail down the question, because you could argue that whatever was being pre-empted in the rest of the country - even if it was a different show - was still pre-empted at 1:40pm EST.

On Nov. 22, 1963, what soap opera was preempted at 1:40 p.m. EST, for Walter Cronkite's announcement of JFK's assassination?

could become...

"Which CBS daytime drama was preempted on the East Coast when Walter Cronkite announced the assassination of President John F. Kennedy?"

You don't necessarily have to add extra information to nail down the question properly.  Likewise, simply adding extra information doesn't necessarily nail down the question.

[DrBear]

OK...here's one I learned last year. I can't say I like the "which is NOT" format, but I know the top three and you need a separate one. (Somebody I mentioned this to said if I could find out the fourth one, I'd have a kick-ass Greed question).

Which of these is NOT among Wal-Mart's top-three selling items?


A. Phone cards.                B. Film.
C. CDs                            D. Toilet Paper.

The answer for those of you as care

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'SplitSecond\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 07:37 PM\']

On Nov. 22, 1963, what soap opera was preempted at 1:40 p.m. EST, for Walter Cronkite's announcement of JFK's assassination?

could become...

"Which CBS daytime drama was preempted on the East Coast when Walter Cronkite announced the assassination of President John F. Kennedy?" [/quote]
 If I'm editing, I change "preempted" to "interrupted".  "Preempted" is technically accurate, but a little too TV-insider a term, plus to some people it implies that the soap was replaced completely from the beginning, which wasn't the case.  "Interrupted" makes sense to everybody.

Hew, this is becoming a good example of how the process works!  We've had half a dozen of us get our hands on a question that was, frankly, pretty good to begin with.  This is pretty much how the good shows do it, beating and pounding on a question until it's just right.

[GSWitch]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 03:21 PM\'] I'm going to try my hand at one. I know I said I don't like pop culture, but I'd like to think it's a bit obscure, so what the hell...

What soap opera was pre-empted for Walter Cronkite's announcement of JFK's assassination?

A. The Edge of Night                         B. Search For Tomorrow
C. As The World Turns                      D. The Guiding Light [/quote]
 It's C, As The World Turns, final answer!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Feb 4 2004, 04:30 PM\'] A. The Edge of Night              B. Search For Tomorrow
C. As The World Turns           D. The Guiding Light [/quote]
 In addition, in a hasty taking back of my previous criticism, Edge Of Night and Search For Tomorrow weren't on CBS at the time (if they were even on the air at the time) which leaves two, and it could go either way, and the question could be worded to help point to one of the other without being prejudicial against those who didn't live in the East at the time.

So I'm starting to think it's a much better question than I once did.