TV quiz show finds new fans

There’s something about quiz shows that brings out the vanity in people. No-one wants to let on that they’re a dummy and it’s got to a stage where some were obviously “coat-tailing”.

THE social group with which I hang really are a competitive lot, but until relatively recently, that collective competitive streak was usually left to card games, darts or pub pool.

Lately, much to everyone’s surprise, the source of keen competition has extended to more intellectual pursuits.

Well, Eddie McGuire’s afternoon TV quiz show at least. Who would have thought a beer at the pub could be considered intellectually stimulating?

Usually, whether it’s ping pong, darts, pinball, golf or cards, competition is intense, but in the end, while no-one likes losing to any other member of the group, the post-competition atmosphere normally remains reasonably civil.

But this quiz show has stepped things up to the point contestants have had to be physically separated.

The reason for this has more to do location than anything else.

This quiz show comes on at the pub – home to the world’s know-alls.

Ping pong, darts and pool call for more physical skills and the pain of losing fades quickly – even when the victor is a spruiking mate.

TV quiz shows can call into question the participant’s intellect, always fertile ground for heckling and insults among hitherto mates.

Like most pub crowds, our group brings a wide range of life experience to the bar, but no one person can cover the wide range of questions offered up by Eddie each afternoon.

Questions on this show can range from who won the Nobel Peace Prize of 1982? (jointly awarded to Alva Myrdal and Alfonso García Robles for future reference) to What was Little Miss Muffet sitting on? to How come the Toowoomba Clydesdales are no longer in the Queensland Cup? (the answer to which many a local rugby league fan keenly awaits).

So, no-one as yet has laid claim to covering all topics and to date no-one has walked off with the $1 million prize money on offer.

But that doesn’t stop the heckles of “idiot”, “know-all”, or “dummy” being shouted across the bar mid-quiz.

One thing we almost agree on is that, collectively, we cover most bases.

Taxman is good at questions to do with economy; Gaz is king of movies and music; others account for most sports questions; and occasionally, even the arts are covered when the group’s token female, Teely, drops in for quick refreshment.

Then, there’s Kevin, who, unlike that other Kevin, isn’t “here to help”, and Padge, who brings absolutely nothing to the table, but is kept on, if only to even out the shout.

All mobile phones must be placed on the bar to stop any “Googling” – which had surfaced early into the competition – and no-one is allowed to yell out the answer until all four multiple choice options are on the screen.

However, fudging, sledging and deliberately misleading other contestants is permitted and encouraged.

Seldom does anyone openly declare “I don’t know”.

There’s something about quiz shows that brings out the vanity in people. No-one wants to let on that they’re a dummy and it’s got to a stage where some were obviously “coat-tailing”.

Coat-tailing is the art of stroking the chin as if in thought while listening in on someone else’s answer.

“Oh that’s A, for sure”, one appearing to know the answer might offer, only for the chin-stroking coat-tailer nearby to swoop in with “Mmmm, I think it’s A....”

Even a shark eventually gives the flick to the sucker fish feeding off it, and soon, anti-coat-tailing methods surfaced, with contestants fudging answers to bring in the chin-strokers only to change their answer when Eddie announced “five seconds!” – leaving the coat-tailer wrong.

Yes, trying to enjoy an after work beer with this lot, is very tiring.

It gets even worse when the show finishes, and the news comes on, and the political battle lines resurface.

Then, after the news, there’s the footy, which really brings out passions.

Still, should Eddie call for teams on his show, we might just enter?

Our appearance would be a ratings hit, the first ever quiz show where team-mates blued each other on national television.