State of the Quiz Nation

OK, I admit it, I got conned. If anyone isn’t familiar with the latest spurt of cheap exploitation masquerading as entertainment let me give you a quick word of warning: it’s evil incarnate.

217 Quiz Nation (on Sky Channel 217, natch) is a prime example of the current wave of what appears to be some extremely dodgy and ethically unsound fleecing of the general public, idiots that we are.

I stumbled across the channel one afternoon last week and the question they were posing looked so easy, it almost insulted my intelligence. To quote Phil Tufenl – Happy Days! (yeah, isn’t it great that the poor couple just saddled themselves with horrendous interest rates and spiralling debt!)

Basically what you had on screen was a list of statements like this:

1.    The number in a baker’s dozen
2.    Number of green bottles standing on the wall
3.    Number of days in a leap year

There were about 10 statements in this list and you had to ring up the channel with the total number. The prize was £1,000 with the vain promise of a stab at a semi-mythical £10,000 jackpot.

At first I just added up the numbers in the answers but some poor bloke from Doncaster got through before me with the same answer and he was flat-out wrong. OK, I thought, let’s also add the numerical list numbers, like 1, 2, 3 etc. Oh, Garry from Devon had the same idea. Wrong. OK, let’s think laterally and just add the number of times the word ‘number’ appears. Nope, as Sally from Kiddiminster just discovered to her eternal chagrin. OK, I thought, I’ll try adding combinations of all three. No. No. No. No No.

Now this is frustrating enough, but this is where it gets really bloody evil. At one point you will convince yourself that you, and you alone, have the correct answer. This usually happens about two hours in when you daren’t move from the television screen just in case somebody gets it right. You will try to call and you’ll get through every time only to be told that you haven’t been selected to answer the question. Still costs you 60p though. You’ll try calling at least 25 times before working out that a) you’ve just spent 15 quid b) you’ll never get through and c) even if you do get through you’ll be wrong.

What is especially galling is the majority of people who do get through have obviously just joined in with the torture as they give the same initial answer you had over three hours ago (and which has been dismissed 18 times in a row now).

Eventually you give up and just sit there waiting for the right answer to be stumbled upon. Fours hours in and the TV station give up too. No one gets it right.

And then they give the answer.

And it makes NO SENSE whatsoever! It’s miles away from anyone’s guess. It couldn’t possibly be THAT number.

And then, to rub salt in the wound, they make no attempt to tell us how they arrived at that answer.; it’s just straight to the next seemingly obvious brainteaser which will stump everyone because the answer won’t actually correspond to the question.

I think it’s evil and it must be stamped out. It’s quite amusing when some old granny from Chichester can’t answer the question because all she can hear is her own TV echoing down the phone line, but that soon wears thin after the 27th time.

I haven’t even mentioned the hypnotic music or the annoyingly attractive presenters who actually get paid to sit there for minutes on end looking thoughtfully at a bit of cheap CSO.

But just looking at my latest phone bill will tell you everything you need to know.

Comments

[Darth Marsden]

I had exactly the same thing happen to me, only with The Great Big British Quiz. Same sort of thing, only with even more bored presenters waiting for people to call in. I stumbled upon it at around half-past ten at night and was still there come midnight, at which point I recorded the damn thing and went to bed. Next day, I fast forwarded it, trying to get to the point where someone got the answer - and the tape ran out before anyone did! Now I'll NEVER know the answer! Waa!

[kevin rothwell]

I agree wholeheartedly with the above comments.
I stumbled upon the great big british quiz a few days ago and have been recording it and reviewing the tapes (in fast forward mode!)The 'answers' have no logical basis whatsoever).Friends and family agree with me.
It's a con, and I have submitted a complaint to OFCOM via their website(googled it).
I have also found other people discussing this online.

[Courtney]

I keep watching quiz nation at the moment and they throw so many tricks to try and catch you out and it's so annoying!! I'm only 14 so my dad won't let me ring them up but from what you said about your phone bill I can see he's probably right!!!! I think they should at least explain how they came to the answer in the end.

[Natasha]

These sort of things should be banned unless they can give us a reasonable explantion of how they reach their answers.
It's all such a blatant rip off, especially so because they make it look so easy.
One example (from the Great Big British Quiz) is: six dice, each with three of their sides showing. They ask you: how many dots?
Logically you add up the dots you can see =75, but that's wrong.
So, you try all sorts of different ways in which they have added it, most of the answers you come to other people call in and they're also wrong.
Wait ages for no-one to win and lots of people phoning with same answers from 1/2hr ago etc, then at the end GBBQ tells you that actually the answer is 152!!!
I looked at the problem again (having written it down) and in no possible way can I get 152, so how do they get away with this?
Ofcom should tell them to sort it out.

[russ]

LETS FACE IT. THE GREAT BIG BRITISH QUIZ IS A BUSINESS, AND NATURALLY THEY HAVE TO MAKE A PROFIT - HOWEVER BIG. WHAT IS MOST ANNOYING IS, THERE IS NO LOGIGAL ANSWER TO ANY OF THE QUIZ QUESTIONS. THEY SHOULD BE MADE TO GIVE THEIR REASONING AS TO HOW THEY CAME UP WITH THE CORRECT ANSWER. HOWEVER IF THEY DID THAT, THEN IT WOULD ALLOW THE PUNTERS TO BE ON THE SAME LEVEL AS THE GBBQ AND THEREFORE TO APPLY THE SAME LOGIC AS THEY USE. I CAN NOT SEE THIS HAPPENENING.

[James H]

I have been suckered by this too, and what i was most annoyed by was the fact that you phone up only to hear a voice saying "thanks for getting through, im sorry but you havent been successfull this time, you have been charged for this call" WHAT CHEEK and pure SCAM!

[Jacobfrebergi]

To throw my tuppence worth in. I have cracked half of their types of questions and can get the answer every time. Miles and Die are the two left to crack at present.

[Neil]

Care to share? For example, on the "how many hearts/clubs/diamonds" card game, do you count the symbols you can actually see or the ones that are implied? I try both and it never works!

[nothappy]

217 Quiz Nation (on Sky Channel 217)
**********************
be warned , several calls were made to this quiz on my phone, total duration 8 mins 48 secs, total cost £95 it registered 187 calls,( thats 3 a second i think) is currently in dispute.

[nothappy]

correction ... 1 every 3 seconds

[Gary]

I had the pleasure of stumbling across the Great Big British Quiz this afternoon. The puzzle was 'which traffic signs are correct' Im sure you have all seen it! Well I phoned up and to my surprise got straight through to the studio and WON!!! Im £700 richer. Not sure what to make of it all really.

[Michael]

Well I found the great big british quiz ages ago on one puzzle they put a clock on because they want to get rid of the puzzle so I rang and rang about 10 times in the end the last time being with 10 seconds on the clock and I still did not get thourgh them on 1 second a woman got thourgh and won and right now I have what i think is the answer to the puzzle on now and for some reason I cannot get put thourght to the studio I have sent them an email asking if their is a rule that out of every 100 call someone makes they only get put though once

[john]

Reply to Gary - you sound like you work for them. Charging a quid for an utterly pointless phone call. Great scam. I'd let them off if they were giving their ill gotten gains to charity or such like.
But ultimately they are parasitic scum and more fool the british public who phone their TV station. THEY WIN, YOU LOSE. Every time...

[Andy Arnott]

I started watching today at 11 am at the traffic signs and it was still going on at 12 midnight and about a hundred of people gave the right answer of number three which was the speed camera being the only wrong one and it kept coming up as wrong answer. I have triple checked all the others and they were definitely correct

[Sandi]

Ive been watching this tonight 3 is def wrong (circles are wrong way) 1 is also wrong (i think) as the childs legs cant be seen (if that makes sense?)
I saved all the 9 signs from the highway code site (how sad am i lol)
not sure what else is wrong (i know its not just those 2 as its been guessed) Im just dreading missing the answer.
Sandi

[Sandi]

a guy just got it right and won 2 1/2 grand

5 7 8 & 9
were the correct ones
Sandi

[camp jim]

Well i must say, i had the same problem! I totally agree with you about the presenters...i spent half an hour filming this mesmerizing program on my mobile phone! However I must say that his wit and intellect made me an avid fan of quiz nation. I THINK YOU LOT ARE JUST A BUNCH OF JEALOUS OLD PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW A GOOD MONEY SPINNER WHEN IT HITS YOU ON THE BEHIND!
And you've got to hand it to him, his improvisation techneques are absolutley MARVELLOUS!
Please keep watching...
it has greatly inspired me to get mysekf on many other quiz shows because the answer was so obviously easy!

[Nicky]

I too have been absorbed by the great big british quiz, however, to date have won £5,200, 7 individual wins. They are cryptic quizes with a logical answer and once you have cracked to method its worth ringing up with the answers. It usually costs about £20 per quiz.

[Mart]

Its such a con that they even have ringers looking for forums like this one to defend the channel. Mentioning no names, nicky.

[Darth Marsden]

Now now guys, there's no need to pick on anybody. The sooner we ignore thses channels, the sooner they'll go away. Hopefully. If not, then I suggest we gang up, storm the building and make THEM solve a bunch of impossible questions. Justice!

[mug]

JUST HAD MY FIRST TASTE OF QUIZ NATION.WHAT A CON,AT FIRST WHAT SEEMED TO BE A BIT OF FUN SOON TURNED INTO ONE OF THE BIGGEST CONS OF ALL TIME. AFTER GETTING THROUGH A FEW TIMES WITH WHAT I THOUGHT TO BE THE RIGHT ANSWER I SOON REALIZED I'D BEEN HAD.WITH A QUESTION LIKE "HOW MANY MONTHS WITH 29 DAYS" NOW THE ANSWER COULD BE EITHER 1 WHICH WOULD BE FEBRUARY OR ALL 12 MONTHS HAVE 29 DAYS. THEN "DALMATIONS IN THE 61 DISNEY FILM" NOW THE ANSWER COULD BE 101 OR 103 IF YOU COUNT THE PARENTS. SO BEWARE THEY CAN MOVE THE GOALPOSTS EVEN IF YOU GIVE THE CORRECT ANSWER.

[Nicky]

I've now won a total of 7,200. and if you go to their website you can see my name as Nicky/Nicola from Westhumble. Once you've worked out a particular puzzle, just stick to ringing up for that one each time it comes on (if you're watching) and gamble on getting through in a call rush. If you know that you've got the right answer it's worth trying for. I am for real, honest, but might add that they have made a couple of errors of late which I did point out to them, but only got a polite email reply, saying that they couldn't comment on how they get the answers, so not a lot we can do about that
I feel. Anyway I shall keep on winning until they make all the puzzles to difficult.

[thegoodfish]

I haven't got any tales of woe about the show, but does anyone know who the "annoying attractive" presenter is who does late nights? She's in her 30s, brunette and has been banging on about her stolen wallet tonight. She's currently asking people to identify a poster from Austin Powers. I've been watching for about an hour and apparently NO-ONE IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY has seen this film because no-one has called in. I'd call in just to talk to her (in a non-stalker way obviously) but as I know the answer I doubt i'd get through. :(

[thegoodfish]

Ok, some old dear has just called in to say the answer is "A Clockwork Orange." !!!! HOW? WHY? There's a great big picture of Austin Powers on the s****ing screen!!!! Dear lord.

It reminds me that I was watching Bikini Beach the other day when the challenge was to guess what this word could be "--MP". The caller that got through said it was "Jude Law". Cue a very embarrassed presenter and a caller that hung up

[Ann Baumhauer]

ll of you my phone bill came to £200 i was shocked, i really think they should tell us what the correct answer is. ITS UNFAIR. Something has got to be done about this, Any idea's?