University Challenge

DanielMMS · 26 Jul 2016 at 16:18

Mid-1990s - think it was the first series on BBC 2. It was a fabulous experience but my team - myself included - was **** on the day.

Scam · 26 Jul 2016 at 16:19

I watch it and between the girlfriend and I we get about 5-10 right. Pretty sure Rudd from this week was/is a guy. No offence meant, obviously.

Spook187 · 26 Jul 2016 at 16:30

DXP55 said:
Being as there are some right clever clogs on here

In GD lol

DXP55 · 26 Jul 2016 at 18:33

Scam said:
I watch it and between the girlfriend and I we get about 5-10 right. Pretty sure Rudd from this week was/is a guy. No offence meant, obviously.

I thought that - he/she has a big Adams apple.

DXP55 · 26 Jul 2016 at 18:36

DanielMMS said:
Mid-1990s - think it was the first series on BBC 2. It was a fabulous experience but my team - myself included - was **** on the day.

Don't beat yourself up - was probably wrong subject questions.- Just getting on is an achievement - well done that man.

robfosters · 26 Jul 2016 at 18:43

DXP55 said:
I thought that - he/she has a big Adams apple.

Obviously a fella then, or she's got a jawbreaker stuck in her throat.

weringo · 26 Jul 2016 at 19:00

I occasionally get one by shouting Beethoven at the telly every time a classical music question comes up.

semi-pro waster · 26 Jul 2016 at 22:00

Tuppy_Glossop said:
In fact, why do they bother with any of the fine art questions ?

To give Jeremy Paxman an extra opportunity to look supercilious?

I've never been on University Challenge and I don't know if my uni ever put a team in for it, I rather doubt they did. I'll typically get a few questions right on the rare occasions I do watch but I suspect it would be rather different if I was actually taking part.

GinG · 27 Jul 2016 at 08:54

Forget UC has anyone been able to answer the questions on Child Geniuses'??!!

ttaskmaster · 27 Jul 2016 at 11:45

semi-pro waster said:
To give Jeremy Paxman an extra opportunity to look supercilious?

We're not talking Stephen Fry, where he reads info fed to him on a screen by QI 'Elves', here...

Paxman actually is proper smart - I love it when someone comes up with a badly incorrect answer and Paxo responds, completely off the cuff with something like, "No, that was the subject of his third volume on advanced inter-spatial mathematical theory. The correct answer was 'Entropy in field harmonic resonance'... OK, ten points for this...".
He actually *knows* his stuff - If he wants to act all superior about that, it's fine with me. I'd say he's entitled to it!

GeForce · 27 Jul 2016 at 11:48

semi-pro waster said:
To give Jeremy Paxman an extra opportunity to look supercilious?

He's bitter because he failed to get onto his University's UC team

jellybeard999 · 27 Jul 2016 at 12:25

ttaskmaster said:
We're not talking Stephen Fry, where he reads info fed to him on a screen by QI 'Elves', here...

Paxman actually is proper smart - I love it when someone comes up with a badly incorrect answer and Paxo responds, completely off the cuff with something like, "No, that was the subject of his third volume on advanced inter-spatial mathematical theory. The correct answer was 'Entropy in field harmonic resonance'... OK, ten points for this...".
He actually *knows* his stuff - If he wants to act all superior about that, it's fine with me. I'd say he's entitled to it!

Even though QI is fairly scripted (no problem with that and it's hardly a secret) i'm fairly sure Stephen Fry has more than a couple of brain cells.

He was on university challenge as a contestant wasn't he?

I rarely watch it, but occasionally I'll get a question right. I find the questions are too geared towards either pretentious pomp or very specific fields of study to be of interest to me.

semi-pro waster · 27 Jul 2016 at 13:00

ttaskmaster said:
We're not talking Stephen Fry, where he reads info fed to him on a screen by QI 'Elves', here...

Paxman actually is proper smart - I love it when someone comes up with a badly incorrect answer and Paxo responds, completely off the cuff with something like, "No, that was the subject of his third volume on advanced inter-spatial mathematical theory. The correct answer was 'Entropy in field harmonic resonance'... OK, ten points for this...".
He actually *knows* his stuff - If he wants to act all superior about that, it's fine with me. I'd say he's entitled to it!

I think they're both proper smart but my objection is more about the scornful way that Jeremy Paxman responds after some questions - a "what do you mean you couldn't name the music clip from this obscure 17th century composer? Are you an idiot?".

We all know different things and some people are better at displaying their knowledge than others but it always seems to me to be a bit unnecessary to pick on people for not knowing something that is far from common.

GeForce said:
He's bitter because he failed to get onto his University's UC team

Brilliant, that's no reflection on his intelligence but you'd think he might show a bit more empathy for the contestants in that case. It probably makes for better TV that he doesn't though.

ttaskmaster · 27 Jul 2016 at 15:16

jellybeard999 said:
Even though QI is fairly scripted (no problem with that and it's hardly a secret) i'm fairly sure Stephen Fry has more than a couple of brain cells.

He's not retarded, no... But he does seem a bit more cultural smart than academic smart.
Either way, Paxo doesn't have a screen prompt so I'm just more impressed by him knowing stuff like that off the cuff... whereas the QI stuff is not only fed and scripted, but isn't always accurate either!

jellybeard999 said:
I find the questions are too geared towards either pretentious pomp or very specific fields of study to be of interest to me.

It's stuff that Uni kids either pick up, or are actually taught.

semi-pro waster said:
I think they're both proper smart but my objection is more about the scornful way that Jeremy Paxman responds after some questions - a "what do you mean you couldn't name the music clip from this obscure 17th century composer? Are you an idiot?"

Sometimes he is actually joking... you can tell from the audience laughter.

But no, if it's something they're expected to know, often they do deserve such scorn... but equally as often it's something even *I* know and I never even did A-Levels, much less read for a PhD in advanced 17th Century Musical Composition or whatever - In which case yes, they are idiots!!

semi-pro waster said:
We all know different things and some people are better at displaying their knowledge than others but it always seems to me to be a bit unnecessary to pick on people for not knowing something that is far from common.

Equally, if he's asking for the name of an architect and they (with complete seriousness) name William Wordsworth, then they are begging to be picked on!!

semi-pro waster said:
It probably makes for better TV that he doesn't though.

If it were every episode, perhaps, but that's more of an Anne Robinson thing. He only does it occasionally.

dowie · 27 Jul 2016 at 16:31

anticonscience said:
I bet this guy posts here....

Is he the poster who claims to be able to get a Mac 10 in 15 minutes?

Tummy · 27 Jul 2016 at 16:33

Paxman and Fry are both supremely pleasant people in my experience

, both intelligent.

antijoke · 27 Jul 2016 at 16:44

dowie said:
Is he the poster who claims to be able to get a Mac 10 in 15 minutes?

Asim? I don't think so.

ttaskmaster · 27 Jul 2016 at 17:06

dowie said:
Is he the poster who claims to be able to get a Mac 10 in 15 minutes?

Only if the Apple store is open, surely?