@Midnight - General Discussion

[halopub]

Weren't the duo from The Infinite Monkey Cage supposed to appear with Eric Idle yesterday?

[Kromm]

Argh.  So AFTER my last post only then did I see yet another episode, where Chris comes off as a total douchenozzle, because he's bringing up something he said on Talking Dead and claiming that it trended, so it was worth talking about and having a question about on @midnight.  Shut up, Chris.  I know I said last post that loosely making fun of your dual identity between the two shows was marginally acceptable, but crowing about how something you said on that show trended and building a segment on @midnight around it?  Despicable egotism.   You fucknugget.

[DeLurker]

I do not find Whitney Cummings the least bit amusing in anything ever.

[Aethera]

Chris' Rants of the Day are on point sometimes, but they're happening way too often.  I'm particularly not found of them when there is a really strong panel, as it cuts into the games.  And I agree with you Kromm, that self-referential "look I said a thing that trended" thing was terrible.

[fastiller]

Tried Google Feud. It's fun. Thanks @midnight for the info! Now I have another thing to waste my time on.

Edited March 18, 2015 by fastiller

[Monty]

They might want to adjust their scoring on the Google Feud segments.

[Kromm]

Wow, Google Feud is hard (rarely what I expect to see).

 

Some real comedy WTF moments from it too.  "Can I perform my own"

surgery

is actually one I DID guess (right away too). But I was totally horrified that it's something people actually SEARCH for.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Kromm

[Kromm]

They might want to adjust their scoring on the Google Feud segments.

Also their answer logic.

 

In the real Feud, for example, if someone had "weed" on the board as an answer, the judges would take "pot", "marijuana", ganja", "mary jane", etc. as "right" answers.  Unless it was specifically a question like "what are the five most popular slang names for marijuana"?  But Google Feud has "weed" (meaning marijuana specifically) as an answer to a particular question (I won't say which) and didn't accept any of the words meaning the same thing.

 

I suppose this is complicated by the fact that searching Google search terms it's literally looking for exact phrases people searched for.  But I bet when compiling a list of top search possibilities, the synonymous answers are tossed out by Google (and it only shows the most common one).

Okay another example of the same.  This one is distinctive enough (whereas weed isn't) I'll spoiler tag the whole thing.

 

The question was:

 

"when you die you   "

 

I answered "shit yourself" 

 

It didn't realize this was the same as "poop yourself".

[fastiller]

Also their answer logic.

 

In the real Feud, for example, if someone had "weed" on the board as an answer, the judges would take "pot", "marijuana", ganja", "mary jane", etc. as "right" answers.  Unless it was specifically a question like "what are the five most popular slang names for marijuana"?  But Google Feud has "weed" (meaning marijuana specifically) as an answer to a particular question (I won't say which) and didn't accept any of the words meaning the same thing.

 

 

Share with the class Kromm.

 

Also - I wish it took misspellings into consideration.

Edited March 18, 2015 by fastiller

[Aethera]

Yep I spent 30 minutes goofing off on Google Feud, and had the same problem, Kromm.  Best I could do usually about about 3 of the top 10.  Fun though!

[biakbiak]

But that is the entire point of Google Feud, it's much more specific than Family Feud, it's not about the number of times people have finished those sentence with the exact same wording, not just the concept.

[fastiller]

If I made Ron Funches laugh like that, I'd celebrate too, Bianca.

[ottoDbusdriver]

While I love Ron Funches, I was a little put off that both Ron and Rick Glassman couldn't even be bothered to pay attention during the results of FTW, but were involved in the their own private conversation on stage.  It was kind of rude.

[Dewey Decimate]

Wow, just when I thought CH's mentioning of his mom couldn't be any more gratuitous, on Tag Team Thursday we happen to get a Twuck Buddy whose profile includes A MENTION OF CH'S MOTHER'S TWITTER FEED. This is about as teeth-grindingly unbearable as being trapped in a funhouse mirror maze with Gary Busey. Please, someone, kill me now...

[nachomama]

Dewey, go to your happy place...Ron Funches giggles when you poke him in the stomach. 

[Dewey Decimate]

Dewey, go to your happy place...Ron Funches giggles when you poke him in the stomach. 

 

Wow, great idea: a press-able, giggling Ron Funches doll, like those "easy" buttons from Staples. 

[Princess Sparkle]

Even though I like him, it seems like a bit of a cheat to have Chris Cubas as the first Points Me winner. He's an established comedian (I've been hearing him on Doug Loves Movies for at least the past year and a half), so I get why they did it - it's a guarantee that you'll have someone funny up there who won't bomb. But it kind of goes against what I thought was the spirit of the contest, which was that a regular viewer would get to compete on the show.

[zxy556575]

... and sometimes I'm reminded why I continue to watch this show. I might, in fact, enjoy an entire 30 min of Sweet Emoji.

 

I didn't mind that Cubas is a comic because he was comfortable and fit in onstage. I'd feel bad if a "real person" got on the show only to lay a horrible bomb.

[nachomama]

The way they prep non-comedians, ie actors, who appear on the show, I wouldn't think they would let the winner bomb completely. I imagine they give them topics ahead of time and they can brain storm their best lines, then edit the best and my guess is if the non comedian/winner didnt come up with winners they would provide. But yes, I can see how a complete novice didn't win.

[Aethera]

Even though I like him, it seems like a bit of a cheat to have Chris Cubas as the first Points Me winner. He's an established comedian (I've been hearing him on Doug Loves Movies for at least the past year and a half), so I get why they did it - it's a guarantee that you'll have someone funny up there who won't bomb. But it kind of goes against what I thought was the spirit of the contest, which was that a regular viewer would get to compete on the show.

 

This is exactly what I said this morning when I saw who the guest had been last night.  I enjoy Chris Cubas on DLM, but I feel the #pointsme winner should not have been a professional comedian.  I do think Hardwick should be hitting Doug up for suggestions though to use in place of HIS repeated appearances - Geoff Tate would be good on @midnight, for instance.

[ChelseaNH]

If Ron Funches and Chris Cubas were on a panel together, at least half the show would consist of their delightful giggles.

[ABay]

I thought the same thing! We need to find a 3rd panelist to join them.

[Kromm]

Sigh.  Even more talk about Chris Hardwick in the middle of @midnight lately.  Bringing up his mom again last week, as has been mentioned, and more recently the whole attempt to make a joke out of "I brought X-Files back".  We get it Chris.  You're the Nerd King. Now move on.

[BeatLA24]

Even though I like him, it seems like a bit of a cheat to have Chris Cubas as the first Points Me winner. He's an established comedian (I've been hearing him on Doug Loves Movies for at least the past year and a half), so I get why they did it - it's a guarantee that you'll have someone funny up there who won't bomb. But it kind of goes against what I thought was the spirit of the contest, which was that a regular viewer would get to compete on the show.

 

I was surprised as well. As soon as they showed some of the tweets from the winner, I immidiately recognized who it was. Cubas was even on the most recent Tournament of Championships episode of DLM, and I have been listening to his own podcast, "Canceled."

[Kromm]

So... they didn't exactly go for a Joe Normal.  They went for someone who was already in show biz.

 

Typical.

[nachomama]

It's possible that the "real" folk just sucked that much. 

[weightyghost]

From the things that the @midnight account was retweeting, yes the normals just aren't that funny.there are some great things on the hashtag wars each night but the pointsme hashtag was garbage.

I don't even care that he ultimately wasn't a true normal bc it was one of the funnier episodes in weeks.

Edited March 26, 2015 by weightyghost

[AstaCharles]

I don't know how show-biz he is if he's listing his line of work as bartender/comedian. If he's starting to break out because he's talented on Twitter and podcasts then that really doesn't bother me.

Actually, I'm glad he won because I hate Twitter . 90% of posters are obnoxious twats. (I'm old)

Edited March 26, 2015 by AstaCharles

[zxy556575]

There are some great things on the hashtag wars each night but the pointsme hashtag was garbage.

 

The @midnight site used to have a daily summary of the funniest viewer responses to hashtag wars but if they still do, I can't find it anymore. Those submissions are frequently funnier than whatever the panelists said.

[trow125]

lordonia, they usually post the top 10 Hashtag Wars responses on their Tumblr page.

 

It's funny, when the #PointsMe thing was announced, I mentioned to my husband that I sort of hoped they would pick a stand-up comedian who needed a break to put on the show because I felt that would guarantee they got someone who already had some stage presence. Even though Cubas has been on DLM, he's probably someone who was not on the @M guest bookers' radar (particularly since he lives in Austin) and I suspect he was unfamiliar to the vast majority of the viewing audience. He did a great job and hopefully they'll have him back on @M someday.

[zxy556575]

lordonia, they usually post the top 10 Hashtag Wars responses on their Tumblr page.

Ah, there it is. Thanks!

[Skyfall]

Let's be honest here, a 30 minute special on that Biden picture should've happened! Also Jade just kept pressing and pressing and never got a happy ending.

[possibilities]

I thought it was strange that Jade's score was so much lower than the others. I thought she was by far the funniest one there.

[zxy556575]

The women often seem to have trouble mastering the buzz-in.

[fastiller]

The women often seem to have trouble mastering the buzz-in.

That's what he said!

 

More seriously, I've heard something similar about the Jeopardy! auditions.  Men just seem to be quicker.

 

ETA: I can actually spell: seam; s/b seem.

Edited April 9, 2015 by fastiller

[Skyfall]

That's what he said!

 

More seriously, I've heard something similar about the Jeopardy! auditions.  Men just seam to be quicker.

Well who uses their hands more? ;)

[justjen]

I was so excited to see Justin Willman on the other day. He is one of my favorites and I was recently thinking that they should have him on again. I have NOT been recently thinking that they should have the Sklar Bros on again. So I'm pretty sure I have super powers. :)

[biakbiak]

I was so excited to see Justin Willman on the other day. He is one of my favorites and I was recently thinking that they should have him on again. I have NOT been recently thinking that they should have the Sklar Bros on again. So I'm pretty sure I have super powers. :)

 

The Sklar Brothers are on next week, so you either don't have super powers are they are your kryptonite.

[justjen]

Apparently proper grammar is my Kryptonite. Wow! I type at sucking!! (<-- accidental error but totally awesome so I'm keeping it)

Edited April 10, 2015 by justjen

[Kromm]

The women often seem to have trouble mastering the buzz-in.

I have no idea if the buzzer devices used are even remotely similar, but I remember a bit on the last King of the Nerds season where there was a female contestant who just couldn't get their buzzer to work in one of their contests that was a quiz.  

 

There's got to be more to these devices than simply pressing something if it's people actually have difficulty making them register. Maybe there's more to it so that they aren't constantly going off accidentally?

[nachomama]

I can't imagine this show's budget affords them state of the art buzzing technology. besides speed really isn't an issue on this fake game show. The men may end up giving twice the number of answers, they keep the best lines. I don't think men are funnier than women, it's all in how it shakes out on any given program. If it was consistantly 2 chicks and a guy the odds would swing back to women. I like that they play off of each other, I sort of think everyone is interested in the funniest show because there is no prize. 

[Dewey Decimate]

Of course it's all a "fake" game show, fake points, no real prize, but I think one's buzzing capability is almost the MOST important element in winning. The jokes are mostly pre-written, and CH most often awards points for answers regardless of how funny they are (I'm looking especially at hashtag wars and other "60 seconds on the clock" games). I really wish he'd come down on some of the answers that are just 'meh' and not award points, but that I suppose would be embarrassing for the less funny guests. You can easily tell when Chris' face has that weak, plastered smile.

 

Unrelated, but I also realized the best way to win against Doug Benson is to make a dumb reference to something he mentioned earlier in the show. The lemming audience assumes it's he who wrote it, and voila. Because of course DB must win every time. I think it's in his contract.

[biakbiak]

Doug has lost.

[Princess Sparkle]

Yeah, Doug has only won 6 times out of the 16 times he's been on.  Kyle Kinnane and Ron Funches have much better records I think.

 

ETA - I just checked, they do.  Kyle has won 7 out of 9 times, and Ron 8 out of 10 times.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Princess Sparkle

[Kromm]

Heh.  Of course "winning" on this show means just a combination of a few things:

 

1.) Not pissing off Dictator Hardwick, who awards the points.

2.) Not being the worst of three people.

3.) Being able to put a "button" on one particular joke per episode (the last one). That's the real thing being tested.  The joke WITH the bigger more outrageous button is what virtually always wins.  The order they're revealed might help too, but those show ending jokes are basically about audience manipulation.  It sometimes helps to make it obvious who the joke came from with a callback to an earlier joke.  It's better to be crude (in a funny way, I mean) rather than too clever.  I get the impression that short actually probably works better than long (but am not sure so I wonder if we checked historically against winners if that would hold up).  A good dick joke often works.

[Monty]

I think the biggest driver of reaching the finals is probably the joke coming out of the commercial break, where (normally) only one person gets 1000 points. Winning in the finals is mostly a function of who goes second, with callbacks helping a lot. I haven't done research on any of this to verify my intuition, because I want to be able to live with myself.

[biakbiak]

But seriously does anyone other than Chris D'Elia think he is funny. Apparently, Hardwick and the bookers but they don't find him as funny as he finds himself, god he is the worst.

[nachomama]

/me very tiny voice, I don't hate Chris D'elia. slinks away

 

I just wish they had Ron Funches to complete the trio. I do think having worked together it makes a fun show. 

[giovannif7]

Chris: We're TOTALLY NOT being paid to promote Paul Blart 2!!!!!!

 

Me: Oooohhhh... I TOTALLY believe you!!!!!!

[ottoDbusdriver]

Chris: We're TOTALLY NOT being paid to promote Paul Blart 2!!!!!!

Me: Oooohhhh... I TOTALLY believe you!!!!!!

 

Then again, Chris did say that Matt Mira wouldn't STFU about Paul Blart, which I tend to believe Chris because the last time Matt was on @Midnight he wouldn't shut up about the movie 'Chappie' -- he made it a part of almost all his answers -- and 'Chappie' kind of sucked.