[quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'May 23 2005, 07:08 AM\'][quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'May 23 2005, 02:18 AM\']Too bad a show doesn't exist nationally that stresses acadamia more than the movies.
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College Bowl did. Gone now.
Wintuition did. Gone now.
Studio Seven did, sorta. Gone now.
The TV guys figured out that lots of people don't want to watch game shows with hard material anymore- the play along value is gone. Sure, it was nice to knock down that $2,000 clue about the schematic diagram last week, but if things get way too hard, the viewers will watch other shows.
I don't know where you come up with Jeopardy stressing movies more than academia. A good Jeopardy player must be able to deal with categories that span the whole of human knowledge. News flash, they had movies, TV and music on the old Jeopardy too; it's not just these days. Watch Jeopardy for an entire month. Catalog the number of categories that are academic in nature, and those that fit your view of 'non academia'. If you're honest, I bet it's at least three to one, and moreson in the second round. Don't take backhanded shots like that when you can't back it up.
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The 80s/90s versions of "College Bowl" (Art Fleming on CBS Radio, Dick Cavett on Disney, "Honda All-Star Challenge" on BET) had more pop culture content than the Ludden/Earle days, as does the current live equivalents. Not overwhelming, but still present (as does "University Challenge" in the UK).
"Studio 7" wasn't really that intellectual a show. Even if most questions were pegged to news events, it was still pretty pop culture-oriented.
The only difference is that in the 80s you didn't see a lot of "pop culture" categories in DJ!, unless it was foreign films, classical music (or maybe jazz), public television, etc. (It's been too long since the Fleming days to recall board makeups back then.) That is changed, but it's not anything I'd get excited about--to me, it's a balance. Just like the kids can answer the first tier questions on "WWTBAM," the teen family member can knock off Lindsay Lohan (the category, that is, you dirty minds) while Dad or the smart Mormon nerd can knock off Presidential Trivia and everyone gets their chance to prove their superiority.
And don't forget: In that photo from the early days of Fleming "J!" in the EOTGS, the FJ! clue in Vaudeville is something like "A NAME FOR AN EIGHT-GIRL CHORUS LINE." That's not exactly ultrahighbrow, then or now--and since vaudeville has completely dropped off the pop culture map of most Americans, a clue they can't use today. You always have to adopt to the times.