Transcript 09/11/09 - Alan Carver

[Southpaw Fanny]

Alan: "I'm gonna win a million dollars on my birthday."

Meredith: "What did you say?"

(A little more slowly)

Alan: "I'm going to win a million dollars on my birthday."

He's got the Jeff Gross-style mantra going. Very nice.

Alan: "I'm going to win a million dollars on my birthday." (Meredith interjects, "Okay!" and gives an exaggerated flinch.) Alan continues in a tone that implies the answer had better be no: "Do you have a problem with that?"

I like this guy.

$100 * Shake Shake Shake
According to Emily Post, at the movies you should turn which of these items to "vibrate"?
A: Laptop computer B: Cell phone
C: Digital camera D: Significant other

He answers immediately, only allowing Meredith to speak choice A before the answer is locked in.

I really like this guy.

$2,000 * WWII
The site of an infamous World War II battle, Okinawa is a prefecture governed by what nation?
A: Japan B: South Korea
C: The Philippines D: Vietnam

He answers immediately once again.

Meredith: "Now you're gettin' on my nerves."

Have I mentioned yet how much I like this guy?

Meredith: "You're so generous, you are so generous! We're not gonna have any money after you get done."

Alan (deadpan): "That really isn't my problem." (Deadpan breaks -- he chuckles a bit.)

One of the best contestants EVER.

Nihil obstat® so far.

If by "best ever" you mean "total asshole lacking any social skills whatsoever", then I'd have to agree with you.

The constant monotone "I'm going to win a million dollars today" reminded me of Annette Bening's nutty "I will sell this house today" refrain in American Beauty. Right before she didn't. A big ol' bowl of schadenfreude would be mighty tasty on Monday.

If, as T-bone says, he was this way from the time he hit the studio, I find it hard to imagine that they would have actually chosen him for the 'guaranteed syndi seat' ROF. Making me wonder if that wasn't a spur of the moment thing they came up with when it became pretty obvious during the final taping that there was only going to be one new contestant that episode.

[Kazoo65]

This guy was definitely good TV. He was enthusiastic and looked like he was having fun.

I remember Jordache jeans from the 80's (I know this dates me-my high school class is having its' 25th reunion next month-I can't believe we're all MAWGs now)

I would need to ATA on the fruit question, too.

[doitneatly]

Alan (deadpan): "That really isn't my problem." (Deadpan breaks -- he chuckles a bit.)

One of the best contestants EVER.

Nihil obstat® so far.

If by "best ever" you mean "total asshole lacking any social skills whatsoever", then I'd have to agree with you.

Oh, I think that's going a bit far. While I agree that Alan certainly didn't look like the life of the party, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was trying to be different and stand out a bit with his "monotone bravado". As noted in the quote above, he did occasionally break character to smile, chuckle a bit, etc.

As for interrupting Meredith... given the nature of the "Tournament of Ten" rules, (accumulated clock time being a tiebreaking factor) I don't blame him a bit. If faced with the same circumstances, I probably would've discarded my midwestern politeness and done the very same thing.

The real question is, will he live up to his own prediction? He already missed the "today" part (it looks like he was an overnight carryover) but that's not the part that really matters.

[Peyton Farquhar]

The clock ticking while the clue is being read is ridiculous. It's as if they made up the rules on the way to the studio that day. As far as the guy's social skillz, he ought to have acknowledged the audience's help. Other than that, it's good when other people are weird.

[jarnon]

Some competition shows intentionally cast a few obnoxious players. A few viewers like them, most despise them, but they still watch. TPTB may decide there's room for future contestants like Alan.

[Appa23]

As for interrupting Meredith... given the nature of the "Tournament of Ten" rules, (accumulated clock time being a tiebreaking factor) I don't blame him a bit.

I know several other BBs have given this excuse for Carver's lack of social skills on the show (do not know about the rest of life), but it can not be his reason.

HE IS GOING TO WIN A MILLION DOLLARS TODAY!!!!!!!! (In case he had not made that clear.)

Therefore, he will not be part of the "Tournament of Ten".

Well, unless he is just another of those contestants that he clearly despises -- the ones that say that they want to be millionaires, but really do not believe it.

[MarleysGh0st]

As for interrupting Meredith... given the nature of the "Tournament of Ten" rules, (accumulated clock time being a tiebreaking factor) I don't blame him a bit.

I know several other BBs have given this excuse for Carver's lack of social skills on the show (do not know about the rest of life), but it can not be his reason.

HE IS GOING TO WIN A MILLION DOLLARS TODAY!!!!!!!! (In case he had not made that clear.)

Therefore, he will not be part of the "Tournament of Ten".

Well, unless he is just another of those contestants that he clearly despises -- the ones that say that they want to be millionaires, but really do not believe it.

Well, he didn't say what his strategy will require if--by some unimaginably bad luck--he gets a question or two that he doesn't know the answer to and can't get a good response for using his lifelines. Will he guess at an answer, no matter what? Will he possibly be the second contestant in the history of WWTBAM to hear the $1 million wrong answer music?

I'm sure a Klingon would never walk away!

[earendel]

Alan Carver
Federal Way, WA

Meredith: "Joining me now is Alan Carver from Federal Way, Washington, and Alan, I know this is a very special day for you."

Alan: "Yes, it's my birthday, my 47th birthday."

(Good-natured applause from the audience)

Meredith: "Happy birthday to you."

(More applause, which Alan steps on, absolutely deadpan, with . . . .)

Alan: "I'm gonna win a million dollars on my birthday."

Meredith: "What did you say?"

(A little more slowly)

Alan: "I'm going to win a million dollars on my birthday."

(More enthusiastic applause)

Meredith: "Wow! You say that like you . . . you're not even kiddin' around, you're gonna make . . . ."

(Alan interrupts, a touch insistently)

Alan: "I'm going to win a million dollars on my birthday." (Meredith interjects, "Okay!" and gives an exaggerated flinch.) Alan continues in a tone that implies the answer had better be no: "Do you have a problem with that?"

Meredith (holding her hands up to shield herself): "No!" (Laughs a bit, then turns to her right.) "Security!"

Meredith: "Actually, speaking about security, you have worked security, right? For the Star Trek Intergalactic Security Team."

Transcriber's Note -- Please, please, please tell me this guy was a Phone Game qualifier.

Alan: "I did some stuff with the Klingon Diplomatic Corps. We're a small group of fans of Star Trek who did security at conventions. 'We're the Klingon Diplomatic Corps. We don't have to be diplomatic.'"

Meredith: "I picked up on that much earlier, actually, Alan. Well, you know what? It's a thrill to have you here because you're a determined guy."

Alan: "It's a thrill to be here, Meredith."

Meredith: "That's what we like. You said that for nine years you've been trying to get in this Hot Seat."

Alan: "Right."

Meredith: "You're in it now, you're stuck like glue. Fifteen questions away from a million dollars. You obviously know the rules and the lifelines. These are the categories in front of you."

Alan: "Let's do it."

Meredith: "Let's do it?"

Alan: "Let's go."

Meredith: "Let's go. Let's play. Let's do something."

OK, this guy has to have been a phone game contestant. And he exemplifies the worst qualities in geekdom. But I hope he has the savvy to back up his confidence/arrogance.

$100 * Shake Shake Shake
According to Emily Post, at the movies you should turn which of these items to "vibrate"?
A: Laptop computer B: Cell phone
C: Digital camera D: Significant other

He answers immediately, only allowing Meredith to speak choice A before the answer is locked in.

Answer

B: Cell phone ( 12 )

Well now we know that contestants can interrupt Meredith and answer the question without waiting for her to finish. Of course he can't get more than the allotted time from the clock, but he should be able to bank a lot of time.

As we go to break, Alan says confidently to Meredith, "I'm going to win a million dollars today."

Regrettably the horn is going to interfere with that commitment. But it's not from his lack of trying.

Meredith: "And we are back with Alan Carver from Federal Way, Washington. All right, Alan. Do you still think you're gonna win a million dollars?"

Alan: "No, I know I'm going to win a million dollars. And I'm going to do it today."

Meredith: "You're going to do it, today."

Alan: "Today."

Meredith (deadpan): "Today."

Alan: "Yeah."

Meredith (deadpan): "Today."

Alan: "Do you have a problem with that?"

Meredith (exaggerated flinch and laugh): "I don't know. Laurie! Laurie is Alan's wife, lovely Laurie in the audience. What do you think? Is he going to do it?"

Laurie: "We're here to take your money."

Meredith: "Oh! Okay, you're here to take the money, then I should just . . . shut up, right, and let you play."

From what I saw on the YouTube video Meredith looked somewhat nonplussed by Alan's constant interruptions. And hey, Alan is married, so he's not a complete geek.

Meredith: "Alan, did you write these questions?"

Alan: "No, but there are other people waiting to play the game and I want to give them a chance."

(Wild applause.)

Meredith: "You're so generous, you are so generous! We're not gonna have any money after you get done."

Alan (deadpan): "That really isn't my problem." (Deadpan breaks -- he chuckles a bit.)

Meredith: "No, it isn't. It's not mine either, for that matter!"

Isn't that what Fresca said during his run to the $1M? Notwithstanding that, this was a funny exchange, especially Meredith's last line.

$16,000 * Delicious Fruit
What variety of fruit is sometimes referred to as an "Algerian tangerine," after where some believe it was discovered?
A: Clementine B: Guava
C: Avocado D: Papaya

No immediate response this time, as Alan uses ATA with 21 seconds left.

A: 71% B: 14% C: 3% D: 12%

Answer

A: Clementine[/i]

Well, well, he's not infallible. Knowing that a clemtine is a type of orange, and that it's the only one likely to be referred to as a tangerine, this one wouldn't have stopped me.

The horn goes off and Alan will be back on Monday facing a $25,000 question.

I just hope that Alan's race to get through the questions doesn't result in him answering too quickly and missing.

Tournament of Ten pecking order:
1. Will Capp, $25,000, 2:39
2. Karen Geddeis, $16,000, 1:23
3. Melissa Brown, $16,000, 1:34
4. London Pfahler, $8,000, 1:14
5. Russell Carmon, $1,000, 0:41
6. Kazia MacLeod, $1,000, 0:42
7. Matt Sittel, $1,000, 0:53
8: Brian Peterkin, $1,000, 1:04

OK, if time is the "tiebreaker", why is Melissa #3 when she has more banked time than Karen, who is #2?

[earendel]

So he isn't the stereotypical Trekker, afraid of girls and living in his Mom's basement.

Ahem..."Trekkies" are the ones who are afraid of girls and live in Mom's basement. We "Trekkers" are more mainstream fans.

[Jeemie]

OK, if time is the "tiebreaker", why is Melissa #3 when she has more banked time than Karen, who is #2?

This has been discussed already.

Supposedly, the time being displayed there is the time the contestants have USED to answer the questions, and not their banked time.

However, with at least one contestant, we've discovered that the time listed there actually is his banked time.

So this graphic may be in error.

[hanzz]

OK, if time is the "tiebreaker", why is Melissa #3 when she has more banked time than Karen, who is #2?

I wonder if the monkeys are misinterpreting the times as who finished the fastest (1:23 faster than 1:34).

[supportivemom]

Let me clear everyone's assumptions. Alan's rapid fire way of answering was his strategy from the get go, even if he would have gotten in the hot seat with Regis. He wants as much time banked as possible for the million dollar question. The TOT was not even known about when he told everyone in the green room the first day about his strategy.

It sure could bite him big time. What good is 5 min on the million dollar question if you answer to fast and don't get there? If you make all of the producers and Meridith mad, the bottom line is they do control the game and the questions. It will be interesting to see today. There were several weeks between the taping of Fridays show and the taping of Mondays show.

[earendel]

Let me clear everyone's assumptions. Alan's rapid fire way of answering was his strategy from the get go, even if he would have gotten in the hot seat with Regis. He wants as much time banked as possible for the million dollar question. The TOT was not even known about when he told everyone in the green room the first day about his strategy.

It sure could bite him big time. What good is 5 min on the million dollar question if you answer to fast and don't get there? If you make all of the producers and Meridith mad, the bottom line is they do control the game and the questions. It will be interesting to see today. There were several weeks between the taping of Fridays show and the taping of Mondays show.

The maximum amount of time that a contestant could bank using Alan's strategy and no lifelines is 6:45; add the :45 for the final question and theoretically a contestant could have 7:30 for the $1M question. I doubt that Alan will make it all the way without lifelines.

[Winnamill]

I wonder if Meredith being scared/annoyed is just an act. He's following the rules so she has no justification to be annoyed on that score. And if banked time is used to break ties it's a good strategy, although I was secretly hoping it would backfire on him.

And why are the top eight listed in reverse order of their times?

I'm guessing at this rate 25,000 or even 16,000 will be enough to get in the top ten. Does anyone have statistics from last season?

I kept a tally for last year of how many contestants won which amounts. I don't have it in front of me, but it approximately 3-$250K, 6-$100K, and about 20-$50K. My thinking is, unless the contestants continue to be somewhat lame, that it will take $50K+ to be in the TOT. However, actually AIRING by Nov. and TAPING by Nov. are two different things. I taped in Sept. and did not appear until Nov. so there were a lot of people still to tape who aired in the months following Nov. I think I would have had a shot at the TOT, if it were in place last year, but only if they went by people airing by Nov., not taping by Nov.

[tanstaafl2]

This guy was definitely good TV. He was enthusiastic and looked like he was having fun.

I remember Jordache jeans from the 80's (I know this dates me-my high school class is having its' 25th reunion next month-I can't believe we're all MAWGs now)

I would need to ATA on the fruit question, too.

He didn't particularly bother me so far. I say stick it to TPTB for having such lousy rules in the first place.

As for his social skill or lack thereof off camera I could see where it would annoy others and I suppose the thought that it might adversely color TPTB that cast the show is a reasonable concern. But I prefer him to 90% of the cast members I read about in the transcripts. I might even watch the show now and again if they had more contestants like this instead of the "good TV" cast members that are usually on CindyBAM.

The inserted clip was a nice touch.

Although I doubt I would have answered as fast I had no problem until the clementine question. With no clock I might have come to the correct conclusion but with the clock I suspect I would have ATA'd as well.

No clue when CindyBAM comes on here but I was interested enough by this contestant to actually briefly consider watching the show live. Well not live, on Tivo of course. But as close to live as I ever watch anything at home these days.

[ten96lt]

Lookin at his face he kind of reminded me of someone completely focused on taking a test, not playing a game. I think I had a look like that during my Finals with multiple choice. Kind of like Michael Larson on PYL when he was focusing on the board.

[silvercamaro]

Lookin at his face he kind of reminded me of someone completely focused on taking a test, not playing a game. I think I had a look like that during my Finals with multiple choice. Kind of like Michael Larson on PYL when he was focusing on the board.

I agree, and if they ever have a television show that lets viewers watch competitors take the SATs, he would be a fine contestant.

[Jeemie]

I agree, and if they ever have a television show that lets viewers watch competitors take the SATs, he would be a fine contestant.

[Brit Canuck]

The conclusion of Alan Carver's game from today (Monday 14th) is now on YouTube.

No spoilers, but check out his reaction on the $25,000 question - total emotional reversal from Friday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmzlOtzNSEw



(Has some of the music been changed?)

[Jeemie]

The conclusion of Alan Carver's game from today (Monday 14th) is now on YouTube.

No spoilers, but check out his reaction on the $25,000 question - total emotional reversal from Friday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmzlOtzNSEw



(Has some of the music been changed?)

Brit- ya gotta learn to use the Youtube tags!

Spoiler

[Estonut]

I doubt that Alan will make it all the way without lifelines.

Not the boldest of predictions, as he's already used one...

[Bob78164]

Brit- ya gotta learn to use the Youtube tags!

This may well have been deliberate. The freeze frame is a spoiler from today's episode. I suggest you put it in a spoiler tag. --Bob

[Jeemie]

Brit- ya gotta learn to use the Youtube tags!

This may well have been deliberate. The freeze frame is a spoiler from today's episode. I suggest you put it in a spoiler tag. --Bob

Whoops! Sorry!

I moved this from another thread where I had spoiler tags on it. I guess I forgot to copy the spoiler tags.

Thanks for catching that!

[Appa23]

The conclusion of Alan Carver's game from today (Monday 14th) is now on YouTube.

No spoilers, but check out his reaction on the $25,000 question - total emotional reversal from Friday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmzlOtzNSEw

Spoiler

Yet, as socially stunted as Friday. Also, an odd reaction by a guy who was supremely confident and agressive that he would win the million dollars. Of course, after putting down all of those other BAM contestants for not really wanting to win big money, he readily and happily took $25,000.

[Jeemie]

Spoiler

Yet, as socially stunted as Friday. Also, an odd reaction by a guy who was supremely confident and agressive that he would win the million dollars. Of course, after putting down all of those other BAM contestants for not really wanting to win big money, he readily and happily took $25,000.

Spoiler

As I said in the ToT thread, it was at this point I realized he had lost control of the game, and would not go much further.