S04.E09: That's Mighty Biggs Of You

[Tara Ariano]

The celebrity players are Jason Biggs; Bree Turner; Peter Facinelli; Chris Jericho; Tyson Beckford; and Melissa Etheridge.

[Watermelon]

I didn't care because I liked the other civilian better, but the girl in the final round got snowed. Chris Hardwick? Terry Bradshaw? Edward Snowden?!?!?  

[BobH]

Came here to post the same thing. Some of those final round names were impossible, it seemed much harder than any previous episode, and I give them credit for getting as many as they did.

 

Other than that, average episode. I'm sure we'll hear about Jane's singing in the podcast, but the other games were okay, and I don't think anyone was totally embarrassing, but I was kind of only half watching while doing something else. I don't think I like this new time-slot.

[Rinaldo]

I agree about that run of names in the final round; ridiculous. To my surprise, Tyson is quite a good party-game player, especially quick with the rebus (no need to resort to "emoji") movie titles and good at being the front half of acting out words. He can come back any time.

[Watermelon]

Came here to post the same thing. Some of those final round names were impossible, it seemed much harder than any previous episode, and I give them credit for getting as many as they did.

 

Other than that, average episode. I'm sure we'll hear about Jane's singing in the podcast, but the other games were okay, and I don't think anyone was totally embarrassing, but I was kind of only half watching while doing something else. I don't think I like this new time-slot.

Peter.  Sorry, not sorry, you aren't allowed to not know Earth Wind and Fire songs.

 

Civilian lost when she put Bree and Chris up to do her final round. She should have had Peter stand and do nothing, and Chris be behind him with the hands. Have Bree guess with her. She may not have won, bet she would have had a least 3 more answers though!

[Primetimer]

As the wholesome party moves to its insane new time slot, a gross celebrity fails to charm.

Read the story

[iMonrey]

 

Chris Hardwick? Terry Bradshaw? Edward Snowden?!?!?

 

I know, the bonus round names were unusually hard. On the other hand this was probably the best group of players I've seen in a long time and for once I didn't feel like either civilian was hosed because they got stuck with a bad team. Nobody was really awful. And I'm starting to warm up to "Song Sung Wrong." It's really a focus/concentration thing - you have to know the song and follow along and be able to block out the wrong line. It's tough.

 

I think I'd like Clue Boom better if we saw the clock on the screen so we knew it wasn't rigged. Obviously they don't want the players knowing the time but they could show it to us on the screen, and that way I wouldn't feel like they're just randomly pulling the trigger whenever they want.

[Racj82]

Chris hardwick isn't hard. He runs the biggest podcast company, host the after show for literally the biggest show on TV and has a show on comedy Central that airs nightly. Multiple ways to know who he is. And it's Singled Out Bree wanted to say. Not remote control.

I know, the bonus round names were unusually hard. On the other hand this was probably the best group of players I've seen in a long time and for once I didn't feel like either civilian was hosed because they got stuck with a bad team. Nobody was really awful. And I'm starting to warm up to "Song Sung Wrong." It's really a focus/concentration thing - you have to know the song and follow along and be able to block out the wrong line. It's tough.

I think I'd like Clue Boom better if we saw the clock on the screen so we knew it wasn't rigged. Obviously they don't want the players knowing the time but they could show it to us on the screen, and that way I wouldn't feel like they're just randomly pulling the trigger whenever they want.

they probably are randomly pulling the trigger whenever they want. All of the times should be at random to throw everyone off. I also don't want to know the time remaining. Part of the game is not knowing when the time is up. I, as a viewer, don't want to know either.

[peeayebee]

My first thought for Chris Hardwick was The Nerdist podcast, but not everyone knows that. I didn't think of this then, but he also hosts Talking Dead. Still, that's a hard name. Louis CK? What clues do you give? I was thinking, "He's a respected comedian, has a show on FX," but I couldn't come up with anything really good.

 

Terry Bradshaw - "He used to be a quarterback, now he's a commentator on Fox Sports. Has a big bald head."

 

Edward Snowden - "He stole a bunch of government data and leaked some of it, like about the NSA."

 

Yeah, they're tough names.

 

Most everyone was good, except for Peter Facinelli. In Trading Faces he said something like "Mr. and Mrs. Facinelli." What a jerk. Then there were things he didn't know about. However, I did like him saying "Mary Ann and..." I immediately said "Ginger!" So he knows Gilligan's Island from the 60's but not Earth Wind and Fire songs from the 70's.

 

I agree that Jill shouldn't have chosen Chris for Lend Me a Hand. Chris is too big to get your arms around. Tyson and Jason did so good in this game.

 

I thought Melissa and Bree were good choices for Celebrity Name Game, but I worried that each of them would try to dominate, and they did. It got confusing when they were both talking at the same time.

Edited March 15, 2016 by peeayebee

[Rinaldo]

Louis CK? What clues do you give? 

"He's a big, balding, red-haired comedian and actor, with 2 initials for a last name." They did seem to be trying to go for some of that, but the talking together obscured what they managed to say.

[opus]

Jane nailed me at one point. "Time to fast foward the DVR thru the commercials" That's exactly what I was doing :)

[BW Manilowe]

For Terry Bradshaw, you could also say he was a Pittsburgh Steeler; he's been married a lot, including to a professional/(I think) Olympic figure skater, Jo Jo Starbuck; & he does the commercials where he goes up to different people & tells them if they've ever had the chicken pox, they should get the shingles vaccine (because 1 in 3 people who've had the chicken pox will eventually get shingles because that virus stays behind in your body after you're over the chicken pox).

[BobH]

I wouldn't be able to get Terry Bradshaw with any clue up to and including his initials. Louis CK is pretty tough, since both his shows had variations on his name, and not really any other name characters. Chris Hardwick and Howard Stern are both kind of niche, I'd get them, but I know a lot of people wouldn't. Edward Snowden is tough, even though he's in the news a lot (maybe even more when this was taped a few months ago), but he's not really the kind of "celebrity" your head is tuned to for this kind of game. One or two of these types of names are to be expected in any round of the game, but five of them seemed a bit much. Especially three in a row, which really seemed to throw the civilian.

[Kel Varnsen]

When Jane started singing Heartbreaker I was hoping someone would sing the Steinbrenner lyrics from Seinfeld.

Heartbreaker, love-taker, shoemaker won't yoou cut my shoes for free.

I thought Snowden was hard, not because he isn't famous but he isn't really a pop culture person. I think it would be hard to go from thinking of people like Jennifer Aniston to someone famous for completely different reasons.

[TAG42481]

Chris Hardwick - I would start with "Talking Dead", then move to "Singled Out."

I was surprised about the editing for the last game with both contestants (game #5) with double charades.  I felt like the second team didn't go the full 90 seconds, and they definitely didn't.  I did not bother to time it exactly, but when I used my 30-second skip button, they were done within 60 seconds.  It was a foregone conclusion they were going to lose, but it still bothered me a bit.  Then again, if all of the other games showed pairs of contestants matching up against each other, it would be obvious if that got cut.  It's easier to shave a few seconds for time in a game like that.  Now it makes me wonder how often that's done.

[jhlipton]

Civilian lost when she put Bree and Chris up to do her final round.

 

I don't think she won any round.  Not that her team was bad, it's just the other team was better (even the "gross" one -- SMH).  By the last round, she needed to get 18 right!  It's been done, but not often.

 

Chris hardwick isn't hard. He runs the biggest podcast company, host the after show for literally the biggest show on TV and has a show on comedy Central that airs nightly.

 

So a podcast, an after-show and a show on Comedy Central.  Whoop. Combined audience of 10,000 people!  LOL  Trevor Noah is a bigger name (The Daily Show is the most popular show on CC by far, I think) and she couldn't guess his name.

 

I thought Melissa and Bree were good choices for Celebrity Name Game,

 

One thing I like is they weren't afraid to use race: Tyra Bank: Black, model.  George Lopez: Hispanic comedian.  Considering how often we rant about the clue-givers' delicacies, I thought this stood out.

[Racj82]

I don't think she won any round. Not that her team was bad, it's just the other team was better (even the "gross" one -- SMH). By the last round, she needed to get 18 right! It's been done, but not often.

So a podcast, an after-show and a show on Comedy Central. Whoop. Combined audience of 10,000 people! LOL Trevor Noah is a bigger name (The Daily Show is the most popular show on CC by far, I think) and she couldn't guess his name

Nice one. Except talking dead alone gets 8 million viewers a week and is the second highest rated show on cable. Podcasts are also huge business. Millions of people listen to them. Not thousands. @midnight has done good business for comedy Central. If you are of a certain age you know what Singled Out is. He's not just some random dude. He's well known. They never even got a chance to say what he does so no one knows if she would have guessed him with proper facts. The guest was given a clue of a TV show he didn't do and that was pretty much it.

[jhlipton]

I personally wouldn't have known, but I'm pretty bad at pop culture. (My clue would have been "He owned the candle store in "Debbie Does Dallas"!)

 

 

The guest was given a clue of a TV show he didn't do and that was pretty much it.

 

And a show from 1987 to m1990 at that!  (I used to watch Remote Control.)

[ae2]

After watching this episode I got excited thinking, "oh there's definitely going to be a heated argument on the forums about how difficult/easy the names in the final round were."

 

Not disappointed.

[Racj82]

After watching this episode I got excited thinking, "oh there's definitely going to be a heated argument on the forums about how difficult/easy the names in the final round were."

 

Not disappointed.

My only disagreement was the Hardwick thing. You have easy examples you can used to clue the civilian in. I don't actual disagree with the other two hard ones mentioned here even though most of the time I don't find the names hard at all. I honestly didn't know who Snowden is off the top of my head and it's real hard to describe on Bradshaw. Especially if you don't know sports.

[peeayebee]

I know Hardwick from Talking Dead. I don't watch The Walking Dead, but I still know he does that. I don't know Singled Out.

 

For Howard Stern I would say "Shock Jock." If Lauren didn't get it from that, I would go to the basics: He has a radio talk show, funny. Long curly hair.

[Dewey Decimate]

The celebs overall did a terrific job on this one, and all seemed invested enough to really compete. The pretty man quotient was also running high, which never hurts.

 

I enjoy both Talking Dead and @midnight, but hate what CH has done to both - imo, his schtick is too much (ex. "compuTOR" is the tip of the iceberg) - so an evil part of my heart delighted in the "who?" and skip at his name.

[frogzapper]

 

I'm sure we'll hear about Jane's singing in the podcast,

 

I gather that Song Sung Wrong continues to exist because no one's got the balls to tell Jane Lynch it's a transparent ego trip for her. But it is, and it needs to stop.

 

I only recently started watching HGN so I don't want to be overly critical, but my ears were bleeding during the Song Sung Wrong segment! I think the idea of the game is fine, but I couldn't take Jane's singing, so I hope that game doesn't come up too often! I'm not really a fan of Clue Boom either.

 

Overall this was just a meh episode for me. I didn't even know about the Jason Biggs tweet thing until I followed the link in the recap - ugh. Peter Facinelli was kind of useless, but I've never really cared for him as an actor so he didn't disappoint here. I liked Tyson and Melissa - I'd be glad to see them back anytime.

[Kel Varnsen]

I know Hardwick from Talking Dead. I don't watch The Walking Dead, but I still know he does that. I don't know Singled Out.

I have never really been interested in The Walking Dead and the only podcasts I ever listened to are ones that Previously.tv's Dave and Tara did years ago (where I got a name drop) so Chris Hardwick is a total pop culture dead zone for me.

The more that I think about it the more that I think Snowden is doubly hard because he is only famous one single thing. It is not like Jennifer Aniston where even if you have never heard of Friends there is multiple ways she can be described. With Snowden unless the clue giver and the guesser know about the leaking secrets thing, they have no chance of getting his name. That said this goes back my biggest complaint about the bonus round in that they don't use passes strategically.

[Tara Ariano]

I have never really been interested in The Walking Dead and the only podcasts I ever listened to are ones that Previously.tv's Dave and Tara did years ago (where I got a name drop) so Chris Hardwick is a total pop culture dead zone for me.

 

 

I feel I must inform you in case it has escaped your notice that we have a bunch more podcasts we do, including one on this very show! Scroll up on this page and click "Podcasts"!!!

[jRoxy13]

I personally could have gotten Terry Bradshaw from the clue "shows his butt in The Family Stone", but that is rather niche! If they took a second to think, they could have done it with first name rhymes with Carrie last name same SATC character or something, but that's still tough .

[BobH]

I don't think they can do "rhymes with" clues in that round, at least not directly. If you get the civilian to say "Carrie Bradshaw" you can probably say "same last name, rhyming first name", but that's such a convoluted route that you'd be better off passing, instead of risking "Mary", "Barry" and "Larry".

[sugarbaker design]

Deleted post.

Edited March 18, 2016 by sugarbaker design

[peeayebee]

To my ears, Carrie and Terry rhyme. However, I understand to speakers of English in different regions, the names don't rhyme.

[FormerMod-a1]

How is that?  Carrie - long A, long E,  Terry - long A, long E.  I've never heard either pronounced with a short A or any other variation from anyone anywhere.  From New York, to PA, to Arkansas, to Florida, to Michigan, to Ohio, to Minnesota, to Colorado, to California, to Alaska, to Canada, to Texas, etc.  You get my drift.  I've lived in many areas and visited almost all the states.   And I'm one of the weird people that can even pick up differences in various regional accents (e.g. there is not just one southern accent, nor just one northeastern accent).  I think I've heard a Kari pronounced with a short A, but not a Carrie, but that's assuming you meant for the difference to be the short A.

[Kel Varnsen]

I don't think they can do "rhymes with" clues in that round, at least not directly. If you get the civilian to say "Carrie Bradshaw" you can probably say "same last name, rhyming first name", but that's such a convoluted route that you'd be better off passing, instead of risking "Mary", "Barry" and "Larry".

Yea if you gave go get that creative you are way better off passing. And i just realized that while the celebs can't pass they can always force the pass by just saying the person's name.

[FormerMod-a1]

My 'hood:

 

Carrie: short a, long e

Terry: short e, long e

So, Terry would would rhyme with purr-y?  Terr=purr?  I don't think I've ever heard a that first syllable pronounced the same as turd.  Learn something new every day.  

 

That said I've only heard Terry Bradshaw use long A, long E, and Carrie Bradshaw only said her name as long A, long E, so I realized it doesn't really matter what we've heard in our 'hood, it would still rhyme because of how they say their names.  I only pronounce names the way people introduce themselves.  So long A, long E for both.

[peeayebee]

Terry with a long A, long E would be TAY-ree. Carrie would be CAY-ree. The first vowel sound of both is more like EH. I've only heard Terry pronounced as TAIR-ree (TARE-ree), and Carrie as CAIR-ree (CARE-ree).

[BW Manilowe]

I know Hardwick from Talking Dead. I don't watch The Walking Dead, but I still know he does that. I don't know Singled Out.

For Howard Stern I would say "Shock Jock." If Lauren didn't get it from that, I would go to the basics: He has a radio talk show, funny. Long curly hair.

You could also mention his book (autobiography/ biography?)/movie, Private Parts. And that he was recently a judge on America's Got Talent & he had a reality show on E! years ago.

Edited March 19, 2016 by BW Manilowe

[designing1]

Terry with a long A, long E would be TAY-ree. Carrie would be CAY-ree. The first vowel sound of both is more like EH. I've only heard Terry pronounced as TAIR-ree (TARE-ree), and Carrie as CAIR-ree (CARE-ree).

 

I just got off the Project Runway forum where a similar conversation is going on regarding the pronunciation of "forward", so I'll weigh in here as well.

 

Terry = TEH-ree

Carrie = CAH-ree

Purry (mentioned in another post above) = PUH-ree

 

E, A, and U -- all different letters with different sounds, none of them long (in the first syllables.) Add in regional differences in pronunciations, people's preferences as to how their names are pronounced, and people's perceptions of how things are being pronounced, and there's the rub in doing "rhymes with" clues.

[dcalley]

Aw, Remote Control! Good times.
 

Most everyone was good, except for Peter Facinelli. In Trading Faces he said something like "Mr. and Mrs. Facinelli." What a jerk. Then there were things he didn't know about. However, I did like him saying "Mary Ann and..." I immediately said "Ginger!" So he knows Gilligan's Island from the 60's but not Earth Wind and Fire songs from the 70's.

He was complaining about all the '70s songs and started to say "I wasn't born" or something like that. Nice try, 1973.