Transcript 1/28/09: Heath Carter

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Heath Carter
Chicago, IL
PhD Candidate in History

The night Heath was called, his friends showed him the YouTube clip of a contestant missing the $100 question on the show.

His category tree:

Sheepish
First in Line
Billy Crystal
Outer Space
Riders on the Storm
Elected Office
Into the Wild
Moon Men
Famous Jerks
Queue's Clues
Animal Planet
Kid Lit
NASA
States of the Union
Wedding Traditions

$100 (Wedding Traditions): Traditionally, who should a groom never see in the hours immediately preceding his wedding?
A. Bride B. Best Man
C. Maid of Honor D. His ex-wife

Spoiler

A. Bride (8)

$200 (States of the Union): What U.S. state's name has the fewest syllables?
A. Utah B. Ohio
C. Iowa D. Maine

Spoiler

D. Maine (10)

$300 (NASA): NASA astronauts playfully refer to their orange-colored flight suits as what?
A. Pumpkin suits B. Zucchini suits
C. Banana suits D. Eggplant suits

Spoiler

A. Pumpkin suits (8)

$500 (Kid Lit): What natural occurrences are the subjects of the children's book "Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll"?
A. Heat waves B. Lunar eclipses
C. Thunderstorms D. Sunsets

Spoiler

C. Thunderstorms (8)

$1,000 (Animal Planet): Which of these Animal Planet TV shows "stars" animals that typically grown the largest?
A. Orangutan Island B. Growing Up Camel
C. Meerkat Manor D. Lemur Kingdom

Heath says he has "a pretty good idea" but decides to ATA (5). The results:

ATA results

A. Orangutan Island - 20%
B. Growing Up Camel - 71%
C. Meerkat Manor - 5%
D. Lemur Kingdom - 4%

Spoiler

B. Growing Up Camel (27)

COMMERCIAL BREAKCollege

Heath's going for his PhD in History. His wife Tyese (???) is rooting him on in the audience. Meredith introduces the ATE, one of the University of Rochester Quiz Bowl champs, Eric Kiehl (whose name I can spell only because he and the rest of his team are ATEs on my iPhone version of WWTBAM). For the record, Meredith says to Eric, "Nice to see you, thanks for being here."

$2,000 (Queue's Clues): What popular online service gave rise to the expression "It's in my queue"?
A. NetFlix B. MapQuest
C. CareerBuilder D. eHarmony

Spoiler

A. NetFlix (23)

$4,000 (Famous Jerks): According to a popular legend, a disastrous fire destroyed the city of Rome while the callous emporer Nero did what?
A. Played a fiddle B. Took a bath
C. Painted a picture D. Got a haircut

Heath (a PhD candidate in History) chooses to ATE (15). When Meredith reminds him it's a history question, his response is, "I know. Way too long ago, though."

ATE discussion

Eric says he's heard the story before, and even though he says it's not true at all, gives his answer of A, 100%. Heath says, "That's what I thought, but I just wanted to be sure."

Spoiler

A. Played a fiddle (14)

$8,000 (Moon Men): In a much-hyped "comeback," Britney Spears took home three 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for a song titled what?
A. Best of Me B. Piece of Me
C. Picture of Me D. Rest of Me

Heath chooses to PAF (18). Standing by are his father-in-law, Tony (Arlington, VA); his friend, Rick (Chicago, IL); and his brother, Ash (Tulare, CA). He chooses to call Rick.

PAF discussion

Upon hearing the question, Rick says, "Oh, gosh..." Heath repeats the question, and Rick admits he has no idea as time runs out.

Heath decides to burn his last lifeline, the DD (15). His first answer,

Spoiler

C

, is incorrect. His second is right.

Spoiler

B. Piece of Me (7)

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Heath was worried he'd get a pop culture question, as it's "not [his] best subject."

$16,000 (Into the Wild): Which of these things found in nature are often classified as "angiosperms" or "gymnosperms"?
A. Rocks B. Waterfalls
C. Plants D. Clouds

Spoiler

C. Plants (22)

$25,000 (Elected Office): Which of these offices was never held by founding father Thomas Jefferson?
A. Secretary of State B. Governor of Virginia
C. Vice president D. Postmaster general

Heath, a PhD candidate in History, guesses incorrectly (

Spoiler

he chose B

) and leaves with $1,000.

Spoiler

D. Postmaster general (3)

[nitrah55]

I guess his PhD won't be in OLD history.

And that he's never been to a zoo.

[frogman042]

I guess his PhD won't be in OLD history.

And that he's never been to a zoo.

Well it was tricky because a pack of 20 camels can fit into a container that is only a few inches in each dimension.

[silvercamaro]

Oh. My.

[peacock2121]

Oh. My.

Uday is so good.

[gsabc]

One can predict some questions during his oral examination for the doctoral dissertation defense. Doesn't matter what the subject actually is, you just know one of the profs will ask about Nero or Jefferson. I would love to know what he was thinking for his ATA question, though. Bet he wanted the lifeline back for the Britney Q.

SC's comment is succinct and to the point. I think my original ARGGHH! also covers it nicely.

[Kazoo65]

I'm glad I waited until after I saw the show to read the transcript.

This guy sure didn't know how to use lifelines. I bet he wanted the ATA back for the Britney Spears question-I knew it because it was in People magazine.

And how does a history student get through school without knowing about either Nero or Thomas Jefferson? I wonder what kind of history he's studying.

[ontellen]

I think I might have been around 7 or 8 when I first heard the phrase "Nero fiddled while Rome burned". Pathetic for a history Phd candidate.

[MarleysGh0st]

I think I might have been around 7 or 8 when I first heard the phrase "Nero fiddled while Rome burned". Pathetic for a history Phd candidate.

Well, that phrase/concept is sort of "pop cultural" history. Heath would almost certainly not run into that in any of his scholarly history texts.

But still...

[earendel]

Heath Carter
Chicago, IL
PhD Candidate in History

The night Heath was called, his friends showed him the YouTube clip of a contestant missing the $100 question on the show.

Is that the (in)famous llama episode?

$200 (States of the Union): What U.S. state's name has the fewest syllables?
A. Utah B. Ohio
C. Iowa D. Maine

Spoiler

D. Maine (10)

Funny that the longest name has the fewest syllables.

$1,000 (Animal Planet): Which of these Animal Planet TV shows "stars" animals that typically grown the largest?
A. Orangutan Island B. Growing Up Camel
C. Meerkat Manor D. Lemur Kingdom

Heath says he has "a pretty good idea" but decides to ATA (5). The results:

ATA results

A. Orangutan Island - 20%
B. Growing Up Camel - 71%
C. Meerkat Manor - 5%
D. Lemur Kingdom - 4%

Spoiler

B. Growing Up Camel (27)

Heath, "a pretty good idea" at this level does not include using a lifeline.

$4,000 (Famous Jerks): According to a popular legend, a disastrous fire destroyed the city of Rome while the callous emporer Nero did what?
A. Played a fiddle B. Took a bath
C. Painted a picture D. Got a haircut

Heath (a PhD candidate in History) chooses to ATE (15). When Meredith reminds him it's a history question, his response is, "I know. Way too long ago, though."

ATE discussion

Eric says he's heard the story before, and even though he says it's not true at all, gives his answer of A, 100%. Heath says, "That's what I thought, but I just wanted to be sure."

Spoiler

A. Played a fiddle (14)

Again, a wasted lifeline. What era of history did Heath major in?

$8,000 (Moon Men): In a much-hyped "comeback," Britney Spears took home three 2008 MTV Video Music Awards for a song titled what?
A. Best of Me B. Piece of Me
C. Picture of Me D. Rest of Me

Heath chooses to PAF (18). Standing by are his father-in-law, Tony (Arlington, VA); his friend, Rick (Chicago, IL); and his brother, Ash (Tulare, CA). He chooses to call Rick.

PAF discussion

Upon hearing the question, Rick says, "Oh, gosh..." Heath repeats the question, and Rick admits he has no idea as time runs out.

Heath decides to burn his last lifeline, the DD (15). His first answer,

Spoiler

C

, is incorrect. His second is right.

Spoiler

B. Piece of Me (7)

Time for a lifeline - ATA please.

$25,000 (Elected Office): Which of these offices was never held by founding father Thomas Jefferson?
A. Secretary of State B. Governor of Virginia
C. Vice president D. Postmaster general

Heath, a PhD candidate in History, guesses incorrectly (

Spoiler

he chose B

) and leaves with $1,000.

Spoiler

D. Postmaster general (3)

This is a fairly easy question at this dollar level, it seems to me. I'd be going for $50K with three lifelines still available.

[MarleysGh0st]

The night Heath was called, his friends showed him the YouTube clip of a contestant missing the $100 question on the show.

Is that the (in)famous llama episode?

They didn't mention the term or provide any identifying details for which contestant this might have been.

Clearly, a BB would have been more precise in this banter!

[earendel]

The night Heath was called, his friends showed him the YouTube clip of a contestant missing the $100 question on the show.

Is that the (in)famous llama episode?

They didn't mention the term or provide any identifying details for which contestant this might have been.

Clearly, a BB would have been more precise in this banter!

Has anyone gone looking for the video? YouTube is a blocked site here so I can't.

[tanstaafl2]

Well that was pretty miserable now wasn't it?

I am sure it is terribly inappropriate to wish ill for others but I was not the least bit upset to see that he fell back to 1K. Although I will give him a tiny bit of credit for going for it at the 25K Q rather than walking.

Then again perhaps he wasn't smart enough to realize he could walk at 16K. I mean it was now history that he had reached that amount so one shouldn't expect him to know that any better than he did with the other history Q's...

[NellyLunatic1980]

Heath Carter
Chicago, IL
PhD Candidate in History

The night Heath was called, his friends showed him the YouTube clip of a contestant missing the $100 question on the show.

Well, that was encouraging.

Sheepish
First in Line
Billy Crystal
Outer Space
Riders on the Storm
Elected Office
Into the Wild
Moon Men
Famous Jerks
Queue's Clues
Animal Planet
Kid Lit
NASA
States of the Union
Wedding Traditions

Dammit, I still want to know what that $250,000 Billy Crystal question is.

$2K: I know it's not MapQuest... but since I don't use any of the other three sites, I'll have to ask the audience.

$4,000 (Famous Jerks): According to a popular legend, a disastrous fire destroyed the city of Rome while the callous emporer Nero did what?
A. Played a fiddle B. Took a bath
C. Painted a picture D. Got a haircut

Thank you, writers, for clearly stating that it's a legend because the fiddle hadn't even been invented when Nero was alive.

$8K: No clue. I'll have to phone somebody.

[jarnon]

$4,000 (Famous Jerks): According to a popular legend, a disastrous fire destroyed the city of Rome while the callous emporer Nero did what?
A. Played a fiddle B. Took a bath
C. Painted a picture D. Got a haircut

Thank you, writers, for clearly stating that it's a legend because the fiddle hadn't even been invented when Nero was alive.

I saw a movie (Quo Vadis, i think) where Nero played a lyre while Rome burned.

[Kazoo65]

I seem to remember a Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs is taking a bath in a Roman bath (very palatial looking) and singing a song about Nero.