BQT recap: Change is good

Plus, Above, you see the image from question No. 1 in tonight's video round, "Celebrities vs. Monsters." Funny, right? Worth it, even though it's pretty easy to name both the celeb and the monster (or rather, the movie that the monster is from). We have fun at the Big Quiz Thing. Plus, tonight's audio round, "This Song Title Is Unnecessarily Long, Wouldn’t You Say So?," was a challenge for the mind and the carpal tunnel nerve.

These were highlights of an excellent quiz (despite complaints of Macedonia being a boring question topic, or Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand not being up for "reelection" next fall). We witnessed the birth of the Not-So-Secret Secret Clue on this question: "What is probably the most populous bird on earth?" If you read this blog, or followed us on Twitter, or were a fan on Facebook, you knew that there's no way "pigeon" is correct.

Now, as for the big announcement at the end of the show: Next BQT, December 7, we're trying something new. To shake things up at the very end, we're instituting an automatic runoff round at the end of the quiz, i.e., we won't even read the scores of the top three teams, instead inviting them to each nominate one member to come up onstage for a runoff round: First to two correct answers wins. Will this thwart the perpetual domination of the Fantastic Fournicators? Let's see, shall we.

Now tonight's standings. The Fournicators, of course, did not win tonight—they were at half strength, after all, since half their team was off with DJ GB at the Pixies concert. Really? Kim Deal is more entertaining than Quizmaster Noah? Doubtful.

1. Cash Cab for Cutie
2. The Fantastic Two-nicators (as they called themselves)
3. Tattoos for the Elderly
4. Gerard Depardouche
5. Fat Kids Call the Butterball Hotline to Talk Dirty

And we're back on 12/7, then 12/21, then that's it for '09. We begin 2010 on January 4, with our return to (Le) Poisson Rouge. Stay classy.