Recycling Unused Top Level WWTBAM Questions?

[TheConfessor]

I just posted this on another board, but it might also be of interest to some people here.

=======

Today's WWTBAM episode ended with a guy in the hot seat after answering about six or seven questions (I'm not sure how many, since CBS interrupted with a news bulletin about the House Bailout/Rescue vote.) I noticed that the current contestant's subject tree (or whatever they call it) tops out with a $1 million question about "Brainiacs."

One can logically conclude that this million dollar "Brainiacs" question is the same one that was in the stack of the earlier (9/22 - 9/23) contestant. The odds are that we again won't get to see the actual question, but maybe it means they will keep recycling it until someone finally sees a millon dollar question on the show. I may be jumping to unwarranted conclusions, but this appears to rebut the oft-stated claim that unused questions from each stack are discarded and not recycled, due to security concerns. I was never quite convinced of that anyway. It would be extremely frustrating for the writers to see the majority of their best work get flushed down the drain.

If unused questions really are recycled into other stacks, it opens up some new strategic studying opportunities for people in the contestant pool who are hoping to get a call from the show.

[MarleysGh0st]

Another board?

Who's gettng to hear your thoughts about WWTBAM before we are?

[TheConfessor]

Another board?

Who's gettng to hear your thoughts about WWTBAM before we are?

There was an existing thread on the subject on the other board, which has a special interest in Brainiacs. I wasn't sure this board still cared about game shows.

[MarleysGh0st]

Another board?

Who's gettng to hear your thoughts about WWTBAM before we are?

There was an existing thread on the subject on the other board, which has a special interest in Brainiacs. I wasn't sure this board still cared about game shows.

Harrumph!

Some of us do!



BTW, in a brief search to see what other board you're talking about, I noticed that Ogi must have let the registration of his Grand Slam site expire; there seems to be some squatter on that URL now.

[15QuestionsAway]

The topic tree just makes something that is obvious when you think about it explicit.

Of course the question writers create fewer top level questions - they don't need to have that many of them available. The assertion that the question writers throw away unused questions is ridiculous, as you point out. There's no need.

Does it create a study opportunity? I'd say an extremely slight one. What does "Braniacs" really mean anyway? And how many diligent students will actually make it to the top of the money tree?

[mom2five]

I've noticed that "The Internet" has been at the 500K question a few times, as well.

Imagine trying to "study" that as a whole!

[danielh41]

Another board?

Who's gettng to hear your thoughts about WWTBAM before we are?

There was an existing thread on the subject on the other board, which has a special interest in Brainiacs. I wasn't sure this board still cared about game shows.

I actually have a confession to make. I have yet to watch a Meredith Viera-hosted episode of WWTBAM in its entirety.

[TheConfessor]

The topic tree just makes something that is obvious when you think about it explicit.

Of course the question writers create fewer top level questions - they don't need to have that many of them available. The assertion that the question writers throw away unused questions is ridiculous, as you point out. There's no need.

Does it create a study opportunity? I'd say an extremely slight one. What does "Braniacs" really mean anyway? And how many diligent students will actually make it to the top of the money tree?

The official(?) story or legend was that that each taping session starts with about a dozen discrete stacks of 15 questions, and a specific stack is randomly selected for each new contestant in the hot seat. At various times, people have been told by representatives of the show that once the hermetic seal is broken on a stack and it is loaded into the computer, any unused questions from that stack are discarded. If this were true, then the writers would have to write an equal number of questions for each dollar amount, and the top tier questions would usually be discarded. As I've stated, I've always been somewhat skeptical of that story.

Regarding new opportunities to study, I agree that "Brainiacs" might not be specific enough to study, but let's suppose that Jay had missed an earlier question and the "Canadian Cuisine" question in his stack went unrevealed. It would be pretty easy for prospective contestants to take a few minutes to research unique Canadian food and find the answer to the poutine question. I suppose a really dedicated future Phone A Friend or Expert could also make that effort, and it just might pay off.

[TheConfessor]

I've noticed that "The Internet" has been at the 500K question a few times, as well.

Imagine trying to "study" that as a whole!

I think I usually do that about twelve hours a day. I need to get out of the house more often, but when I do, I usually carry the internet with me.

I'd love to see a $500K internet question, whatever it is.

[gsabc]

Regarding new opportunities to study, I agree that "Brainiacs" might not be specific enough to study, but let's suppose that Jay had missed an earlier question and the "Canadian Cuisine" question in his stack went unrevealed. It would be pretty easy for prospective contestants to take a few minutes to research unique Canadian food and find the answer to the poutine question. I suppose a really dedicated future Phone A Friend or Expert could also make that effort, and it just might pay off.

I think you may have created a project for our list-making friends - categories of unused questions according to their level.

[TheConfessor]

BTW, in a brief search to see what other board you're talking about, I noticed that Ogi must have let the registration of his Grand Slam site expire; there seems to be some squatter on that URL now.

Yes, that was very unfortunate, after all the effort Ogi and some others put into it. I was hoping it would remain for many years, documenting the history and future reincarnations of Grand Slam. I think there was some mixup with the host billing the wrong credit card and letting the registration lapse. I'd have been happy to play the hosting fees if I'd known there was a problem.

[TheConfessor]

I actually have a confession to make. I have yet to watch a Meredith Viera-hosted episode of WWTBAM in its entirety.

And I have yet to post game show opinions on political message boards, so I guess we've got that in common.

By the way, her name is Vieira.

[frogman042]

The topic tree just makes something that is obvious when you think about it explicit.

Of course the question writers create fewer top level questions - they don't need to have that many of them available. The assertion that the question writers throw away unused questions is ridiculous, as you point out. There's no need.

Does it create a study opportunity? I'd say an extremely slight one. What does "Braniacs" really mean anyway? And how many diligent students will actually make it to the top of the money tree?

The official(?) story or legend was that that each taping session starts with about a dozen discrete stacks of 15 questions, and a specific stack is randomly selected for each new contestant in the hot seat. At various times, people have been told by representatives of the show that once the hermetic seal is broken on a stack and it is loaded into the computer, any unused questions from that stack are discarded. If this were true, then the writers would have to write an equal number of questions for each dollar amount, and the top tier questions would usually be discarded. As I've stated, I've always been somewhat skeptical of that story.

Regarding new opportunities to study, I agree that "Brainiacs" might not be specific enough to study, but let's suppose that Jay had missed an earlier question and the "Canadian Cuisine" question in his stack went unrevealed. It would be pretty easy for prospective contestants to take a few minutes to research unique Canadian food and find the answer to the poutine question. I suppose a really dedicated future Phone A Friend or Expert could also make that effort, and it just might pay off.

I think at this juncture in the airing schedule, all the shows that we are seeing were taped prior to any of the new shows have aired. Since these unused topics would not have been visible to anyone who taped them, unless they had been at the earlier taping, the wouldn't have access to earlier topics. It would be interesting to see if they reuse a topic after it has been exposed to the public after an air date. It might be tricky to determine if that is the case, but a window of 3 or months might be a good judge, so if any of the topics repeat after January from the first few airing months, then those who taped in Oct/Nov might have had a sneak preview.

Also, I wonder if there is any correlation between very broad categories like 'The Internet' or even Brainiac - I think there is a very limited number of questions for categories like 'Canadian Cuisine' as well as another recent one 'Alfred Hitchcock' and the repeating topics? Knowing the former category list is not much help but the latter type of categories could be a big hint. If they don't repeat the latter category, then that would mitigate any advantage.

So it might be prudent to study up on specific unasked categories - but I would imagine that it would still be a long shot of getting a category that you anticipated.

---Jay

[15QuestionsAway]

The official(?) story or legend was that that each taping session starts with about a dozen discrete stacks of 15 questions, and a specific stack is randomly selected for each new contestant in the hot seat. At various times, people have been told by representatives of the show that once the hermetic seal is broken on a stack and it is loaded into the computer, any unused questions from that stack are discarded. If this were true, then the writers would have to write an equal number of questions for each dollar amount, and the top tier questions would usually be discarded. As I've stated, I've always been somewhat skeptical of that story.

I'm pretty sure this is legend, not fact. Unless of course things have changed over time and Millionaire format.

Below is how I've understood the question stacks to be created:

1. Every question has a difficulty rating (from 1-15) and a basic category assigned to it. These are not the categories you see in the topic list - they're higher level, like history or geography.

2. A stack with one question at each difficulty level is created from the question database. The stack is structured such that questions whose basic categories are the same aren't adjacent. Also, the full mix of basic categories is represented. For example, if there are seven basic categories, at least two questions in each stack will be from each basic category.

3. Questions that are used in gameplay are discarded from the active question database. Questions that are not used stay in.

4. Only the structure of the stack is discarded when a player finishes. Questions not used are still available for future stacks.

5. Questions in the database are reviewed for timeliness. A question concerning a 2008 movie may become more difficult if the question is asked in 2010, for example. Or the answer to a question in the database may change.

I just see it as too difficult and too wasteful for the question writing team to create thousands of questions that won't ever be asked.

Oh, I do agree with you about Canadian Cuisine. Besides poutine, what else is there really that's specifically Canadian? Kraft dinner? Beaver tails*?

(*Not actual beaver tails, the fried, doughy treat that's like a flat, wide churro.)

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Another board?

Who's gettng to hear your thoughts about WWTBAM before we are?

There was an existing thread on the subject on the other board, which has a special interest in Brainiacs. I wasn't sure this board still cared about game shows.

Wait, this is a game show bored? I thought it was here for discussing politics, food, shoes, squirrels and dogs.

[goongas]

I read a question database was used in Britain, but I think in the U.S. a stack of questions is created, not just questions for each level.

[ulysses5019]

Another board?

Who's gettng to hear your thoughts about WWTBAM before we are?

There was an existing thread on the subject on the other board, which has a special interest in Brainiacs. I wasn't sure this board still cared about game shows.

Wait, this is a game show bored? I thought it was here for discussing politics, food, shoes, squirrels and dogs.

What about avatars?

[15QuestionsAway]

I read a question database was used in Britain, but I think in the U.S. a stack of questions is created, not just questions for each level.

Whether or not that's true, it doesn't preclude the question writers reusing unasked questions in future stacks.

I still believe the topic tree just exposes something that's always been practiced. It just doesn't make any sense to me that question writers would create 300+ $1M questions a season when perhaps 1 will be actually used.

[TheConfessor]

I still believe the topic tree just exposes something that's always been practiced. It just doesn't make any sense to me that question writers would create 300+ $1M questions a season when perhaps 1 will be actually used.

I agree, but if unused questions are recycled, it places an even greater burden on the large production staff to keep their lips sealed about any questions they may have seen during the course of the taping day. The questions would no longer be physically isolated in the writers' secret lair.

[15QuestionsAway]

I agree, but if unused questions are recycled, it places an even greater burden on the large production staff to keep their lips sealed about any questions they may have seen during the course of the taping day. The questions would no longer be physically isolated in the writers' secret lair.

I don't think that's an issue. The vast majority of the production staff isn't going to see the questions that haven't been asked.

The computer system controlling the gameplay and the loading of questions into that computer doubtlessly operate under very strict security protocols.

[peacock2121]

I actually have a confession to make. I have yet to watch a Meredith Viera-hosted episode of WWTBAM in its entirety.

And I have yet to post game show opinions on political message boards, so I guess we've got that in common.

By the way, her name is Vieira.

This made me laugh and laugh.

[peacock2121]

I actually have a confession to make. I have yet to watch a Meredith Viera-hosted episode of WWTBAM in its entirety.

And I have yet to post game show opinions on political message boards, so I guess we've got that in common.

By the way, her name is Vieira.

This made me laugh and laugh.

Funny (not ha ha funny) how when Ed says things like this to someone I generally disagree with, it's funny. When he says it to me or someone I have grown fond of, not so much.

It really is me.