I Blame Richard Dawson

When I went to one of my conferences in May, one of the evening entertainment segments was based on the TV show Family Feud. I managed to miss that. But during one of the classroom sessions the next morning, the exercise was ALSO based on the Feud. Two captains were chosen, I was the first one picked, probably because of my vast game show experience, and our library director was picked second.

The game itself was like the TV show, complete with working buzzers. The questions were all business-related, thus its applicability to work. I don't remember much what happened in the second round, when I was in my first face-off, but I do remember the seventh (!) round; there was the capacity to double or even triple the scores, which would have quickened the game, but this was not done.

The question was something like "Name a brand name." I said "Coke". Not on the board. My opponent picked something I thought might be up there, maybe Microsoft. Nope. OK, I picked "Nike". Try again. Opponent picked another loser. I thought I didn't understand the question, and picked "Clorox". Not there. My opponent picked Pepsi. No go. I picked "Dell",. Uh uh. The number one answer was McDonald's, which I might have gotten to, but answers #2-#4 were Starbucks, e-Bay, and Amazon. I knew there were 100 marketing people, but I NEVER would have gotten those last three answers. Still, there's that mild embarassment of going down in flames before several dozen people you work with.

More recently, I was getting a haircut, and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" was on. The question was something like: In Mexico, the program 100 Mexicanos Dijeron translates into which of these classic game shows?" IMMEDIATELY, before they gave the four choices, I knew the answer was Family Feud, even though I didn't recognize the verb. (The contestant didn't know, her lifeline didn't know, and she quit with her $8000.)

All of this to say, I'm going to be taping a program this week called Gameshow Marathon, hosted by Ricki Lake, where some blonde woman named Brande Roderick, who I never heard of (she was Miss April 2000 for Playboy, and later Playmate of the year, but I still don't know why she's particularly FAMOUS - oh, she was on BAYWATCH) will be playing with her friends and family against Kathy Najimy (her I know from King of the Hill, Sister Act, and, God help me, the dreadful Veronica's Closet) and her tribe in an episode of...well, I think you know by now, don't you?
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Computer problems. Pictures are taking FOREVER to load, even simple graphics like the spell-check icon in Blogger. So if the spelling's been off, I apologize. (I'm actually a good speller, but a lousy typist.) I'll call my provider today.
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Another TV and movie star has passed away: Moose.