Recap: A historical night

Historically speaking, tonight was a big night for the Big Quiz Thing, as we introduced two exciting new elements to the world's greatest live quiz spectacular. New Element the First: The Text-Message Challenge. I implored everyone to take out their phones (having earlier done my usual don't-cheat admonishment to put the damn things away) and to send me their team name, along with the last name of the most previous governor of California…

…BACKWARDS!

Three bonus points for the first four teams to successfully reach my phone. (Full disclosure: This was the rare BQT question that I cribbed from another quiz professional, the kind folks behind the U.K.'s premier trivia company, QuizQuizQuiz. Jolly good of them.)

The reaction was good, though one team lobbied for a smaller reward than three points for the winners. Two points? One points? A point and a half, as EDP suggested? Feed me back, friends. Regardless, it looks like it'll be a familiar part of the quiz from now on, though we will be forced to forgo it at the next edition, February 27 at Hill Country Live, since phone service is hard to come by there. (It may be because that room is somewhat subterranean, or perhaps it's because massive amounts of pork are known to deflect cell phone signals, who knows.)

New Element the Second: Actually, it's more like we announced the new element and will introduce it next show. As you're well aware, for some time now I've been posting the Google-Proof Question of the Day on the Twittscape. First correct answer each day earns 1 million BQT Bucks. And starting now, you can cash in your million for one free point at a live BQT event. There are a couple restrictions, which I'll outline in this blog in the coming days, but now you have even more reason to waste time online.

Otherwise, it was a straight-between-the-eyes excellent BQT. "The '90s Music-Video Mash-Up" was piercingly nostalgic for some of us; just a glimpse of this instantly transports me back to simpler and shallower days:

And the "Sex!!" audio round—the sound of people getting it on in movies—was risqué in all the right ways. Sorry, no 9 1/2 weeks, but could you really tell this by sound?

Plus, I revived my post–Super Bowl tradition of asking a four-parter about ads from the big game (e.g., Teleflora flowers = oral sex), and I provided the requisite Whitney Houston question. Speaking of which, I mentioned this video from the stage, and it must be seen to be believed (can't be embedded, so click.)

At last, the Three-Way Finale. Returning champs Incontinental Valentine vs. Cash Cab for Cutie vs. Gerard Depardouche, who'd gone surprisingly long without a Three-Way appearance. It was a bit of a nail-biter—the Incontinental Ones could've taken it if they'd just been able to name a second of the three American women who've owned their own TV or movie studio (they knew her, but not her and, surprisingly, not her)—but Cash Cab triumphed by knowing which Olympic sport is competed on the same track as luge and bobsled. It's this:


And here are your winners; an all-male version of Cash Cab, turns out.


The standings:
1. Cash Cab for Cutie
2. An Incontinental Valentine
3. Gerard Depardouche
4. Fat Kids Only Date for the Russell Stovers
5. Inappropriate for Polite Company
6. Fantastic Fournicators/Sugah Titz (tie)
8. Strippers for Stephen Hawking
9. Jews Against Jesus/Romping Trollops/The Santorum Surge (tie)

NEXT: Two weeks hence, we're back at Hill Country Live. Two weeks after that, March 12, Le Poisson Rouge is looking likely. Stay tuned, pick up some extra points on Twitter, and remember: No matter what they take from you, they can't take away your dignity.