Transcript 01/15/09 - Becky Johnson Sabin (carryover)

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Becky Johnson Sabin
Sacramento, CA

Becky accomplished her lifelong dream by getting on a game show. Now, with the money, she hopes to help her husband achieve his dream. Greg, who is in the audience, says one dream is to have a very successful wife. Becky says Greg is accomplished in improv comedy and is also a freelance writer. She, with her very good earning potential, can be his Sugar Mama.

Question Topics:
* Patently False
* Racoons
* Literary Origins
* So They Say
* Logos
* Latitude Problem
* Clever Titles
* Just Say No
* Chucks
* Breakfast Cereal
* (Sound Off)
* (Mag Rack)
* (At the Supermarket)
* (Going Nowhere)
* (It's a Miracle!)

Becky has earned the Ask The Audience lifeline. Today's expert is the editor-in-chief of
Self magazine, Lucy Danzinger.


$2,000 * Breakfast Cereal
Fittingly, boxes of the breakfast cereal Puffins feature the image of what animal?

A: Frog B: Bird
C: Mouse D: Cat

Answer

B: Bird ( 24 )

$4,000 * Chucks
Inspired by the brand's namesake, "Chucks" is the affectionate nickname for a classic brand of what?

A: T-shirts B: Jeans
C: Sneakers D: Swimming trunks

Answer

C: Sneakers ( 22 )

$8,000 * Just Say No
Which of these hit-making bands features members who wear "promise rings" as a symbol of their vow to avoid premarital sex?

A: The Jonas Brothers B: The Killers
C: Fall Out Boy D: Danity Kane

Answer

A: The Jonas Brothers ( 20 )

$16,000 * Clever Titles
A 2008 book about the media's objectification of young girls had what apt literature-inspired had what apt literature-inspired title?

A: The Ulysses Effect B: The Bovary Effect
C: The Karamazov Effect D: The Lolita Effect

Answer

D: The Lolita Effect ( 22 )

$25,000 * Latitude Problem
Seattle, Washington is located farther north than all but which of these Canadian cities?

A: Vancouver B: Toronto
C: Ottawa D: Montreal

With 25 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA: A: 42% B: 19% C: 20% D: 19%

With 24 seconds left, Becky decides to Phone A Friend.
Becky's PAF team are Michael, Sacramento, CA; Ken, Sacramento, CA; and Bill, Sacramento, CA.
Becky decides to call her friend, Michael. She reads the question and answers.

Becky: 15 seconds. Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal.

Michael: Montreal.

[Becky takes a deep breath.]

Meredith: Sure?

Becky: Are you sure?

Michael: Pretty sure. On a scale of 1 to 10, 8--

[Time runs out.]

With 23 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Expert.

Lucy: I am not good at Canada!

Becky: Neither am I!

Lucy: Okay. Ummm, let's reason this out, for a second. I've gone skiing near Montreal, so I know it's not that far north, because it's just over the border, near Vermont. And I know people who go from Montreal to Stowe, skiing. So I'm going to say that's pretty far south. Umm, same with with Vancouver, on the west coast. I know people who go skiing at Vancouver and I don't think it's that far north of the border. It's the Canadian Rockies. And people tell me Toronto is not that far north. Not that much further than Portland, Maine. So, I mean, I don't know where Ottawa is, but I guess, because I don't know where it is, it might be pretty far north! Okay? That's my reasoning, so I don't know the answer, but I'm going to guess Ottawa.

Meredith: Does that help?

Becky: Well, I have three different answers from three different sources.

Becky walks away with $16,000.

Answer

A: Vancouver ( 8 )

-- Commercial Break --

[MarleysGh0st]

Lucy: Okay. Ummm, let's reason this out, for a second. I've gone skiing near Montreal, so I know it's not that far north, because it's just over the border, near Vermont. And I know people who go from Montreal to Stowe, skiing. So I'm going to say that's pretty far south. Umm, same with with Vancouver, on the west coast. I know people who go skiing at Vancouver and I don't think it's that far north of the border. It's the Canadian Rockies. And people tell me Toronto is not that far north. Not that much further than Portland, Maine. So, I mean, I don't know where Ottawa is, but I guess, because I don't know where it is, it might be pretty far north! Okay? That's my reasoning, so I don't know the answer, but I'm going to guess Ottawa.

Whew! There are times when paraphrasing can make a transcriptionist's job a lot easier, but I think Lucy set a record here for the longest expert rationalization for the wrong answer, so I had to be accurate, for history's sake.

And it's all Ottawa's fault, for not providing skiing opportunities for Lucy or any of her friends.

Seriously, if she had abandoned her skiing analysis for a second, she might have thought about Vancouver being north of that western border and Seattle being south of that same border, which makes the exact position of all those other cities immaterial.

[MarleysGh0st]

$25,000 * Latitude Problem
Seattle, Washington is located farther north than all but which of these Canadian cities?

A: Vancouver B: Toronto
C: Ottawa D: Montreal

With 25 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA: A: 42% B: 19% C: 20% D: 19%

The whole adventure into conflicting lifelines started with this ATA result, which Becky and Meredith seemed to think was a bad one. Really though, this was a perfect result for a "difficult" question. With three wrong answers being almost exactly tied, it looks like this was a case of 78% of the audience taking completely random guesses, with 22% actually knowing the answer.

Sometimes, that can be enough.

[madamemeisha]

Wow. I was shocked that this seemed to be such a hard question, but then again, I used to live smack dab in the middle of Seattle and Vancouver. They're so close though! If she had any idea where Vancouver was, it seemed obvious. I guess not, though, if not a single lifeline could help her.

[heelsrule1988]

It was obvious... I can't believe she burned three lifelines on that question. Brianne, can you please go back on the show so we can have people that can actually play this game? Ugh. I really hope Millionaire with Regis comes back, because those were the days when people that were truly smart sat in the hot seat.

[macrae1234]

Lucy: I am not good at Canada!

Obviously not good at the US either saying Vancouver is in the Rockies in the west and Seattle is on the west coast DUH

[ontellen]

Gnashing my teeth here. AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

[etaoin22]

I am glad I didn't watch this game, or I would have one fewer TV, and God knows what else.

Suffice it to say that the problem is not knowing where SEATTLE is, at least with respect to the boundaries of the United States in the West. Then all you have to do is not confuse Vancouver, British Columbia with Vancouver, Washington, and yu are home free.....

An interesting factoid is that the NY-QUE and VT-QUE border south of Montreal is just north of the 45'th parallel, in other words, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. What I did not know until five minutes ago is that the border was supposed to be the 45'th parallel,but the surveyors did a crappy job.

Detroit is basically north of Windsor, Ont, so if you cross the Ambassador Bridge (right next to which I lived in 1973-74), you are travelling iun the north-south direction. We used to count Point Pelee and the Park on the shore of Erie, southeast of Windsor, as the southiest point in Canada. I will go with Mac and the island he mentions ,which must be close to Pelee.

[etaoin22]

And maybe I can rewrite this expert;s name as Lucy Gdansker .....

And maybe she can edit something called SOLIDARITY rather than something called SELF.....

[NellyLunatic1980]

$8K: Ask the audience, please. These are not my types of groups.

$25K: A latitude problem, indeed. I totally misread this question. I knew that Vancouver was just north of Seattle, but I thought the question wanted the only city that was south of Seattle.

[gsabc]

With 23 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Expert.

Lucy: I am not good at Canada!

Or much of anything else that they've asked you, Lucy.

It's the ridiculous uncertainty of who will be the Expert that pushes me into the STQ column. I'd rather depend on the ridiculous uncertainty of the alternate question, where at least I'm dependent on my own knowledge without having to listen to someone I've never heard of blather on about how they don't know the answer either.

[nitrah55]

With 23 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Expert.

Lucy: I am not good at Canada!

Or much of anything else that they've asked you, Lucy.

It's the ridiculous uncertainty of who will be the Expert that pushes me into the STQ column. I'd rather depend on the ridiculous uncertainty of the alternate question, where at least I'm dependent on my own knowledge without having to listen to someone I've never heard of blather on about how they don't know the answer either.

I propose a new lifeline: "Switch the Expert."

[TexasMommy]

Do you guys remember when I wrote about my WWTBAM experience and said that my husband (who sat in the audience for this week's worth of shows waiting for me to come on) was so relieved that I didn't make it to the hot seat that "week" because the expert was horrible? Boy, was he right!

One word about Becky... I sat in the greenroom with her for several hours and she's not ignorant or lacking in common sense. Anyone who has actually experienced sitting in the hot seat will tell you that the questions that appear to be easy or those you feel should be outright common sense to you at home change dramatically when you are actually sitting across from Meredith. When it was my turn, there was one question I was asked where my brain was screaming the correct answer to me, but the only thing I had to go on was my own common sense. I ended up using a lifeline, but I think if I had had just a little more time, I likely would have answered it without having to use the lifeline, and I ended up being right. It's funny how your common sense seems to be very reliable when you aren't having to trust it or risk losing a bunch of money, and then, how much you will second guess it when faced with a ticking time clock and zero factual evidence in your head to support that common sense. I guess my point here is, don't be so quick to judge when you could very easily be the next one sweating and squirming in the hot seat facing the exact same situation. There's nothing on earth like it!

[MarleysGh0st]

I guess my point here is, don't be so quick to judge when you could very easily be the next one sweating and squirming in the hot seat facing the exact same situation.

I've been trying for quite a long time for the opportunity to be placed in that high pressure situation and judged harshly for my reactions to it.

[macrae1234]

Middle Island is a bird sanctuary a few miles south od Point Pelee and has an interesting history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Island_(Lake_Erie)

[frogman042]

I too misread the 25K ? as which is the only city south of Seattle - so I initially thought it would be Toronto. Those 'reverse/not' questions can throw you because once you misintpret it, I find that the mind (well, my mind at least) doesn't revisit that aspect and starts looking for the answer as opposed to looking to see if the question was misread. I recall a llama (pre-clock) who answered too quickly on a question about is the only country that doesn't drive on the left side - he interpreted as the only country that doesn't drive on the same side as the US and went with Australia, when the 3 wrong choices (Australia, India and Japan, IIRC) do drive on the left side - opposite of the US - when in reality the question was really asking what country drives on the same side as the US does - and the correct answer was Canada (BTW - what is it with the Canadian questions causing problems - or is it just me )

That said, once the ATA results skewed to Vancouver, I reread the question and realized I misparsed it. Cue yelling at the TV to tell Becky to GO WITH THE AUDIENCE - THEY GOT IT. I was surprised someone from Sacramento didn't get it because I would imagine they would know the cities directly north of them. I can't help but think that Becky really knew the right answer but the confluence of circumstances, the negative wording of the question ('all but') lead to everyone's confusion. It's too bad because she played really well to that point.

---Jay

[gsabc]

Do you guys remember when I wrote about my WWTBAM experience and said that my husband (who sat in the audience for this week's worth of shows waiting for me to come on) was so relieved that I didn't make it to the hot seat that "week" because the expert was horrible? Boy, was he right!

One word about Becky... I sat in the greenroom with her for several hours and she's not ignorant or lacking in common sense. Anyone who has actually experienced sitting in the hot seat will tell you that the questions that appear to be easy or those you feel should be outright common sense to you at home change dramatically when you are actually sitting across from Meredith. When it was my turn, there was one question I was asked where my brain was screaming the correct answer to me, but the only thing I had to go on was my own common sense. I ended up using a lifeline, but I think if I had had just a little more time, I likely would have answered it without having to use the lifeline, and I ended up being right. It's funny how your common sense seems to be very reliable when you aren't having to trust it or risk losing a bunch of money, and then, how much you will second guess it when faced with a ticking time clock and zero factual evidence in your head to support that common sense. I guess my point here is, don't be so quick to judge when you could very easily be the next one sweating and squirming in the hot seat facing the exact same situation. There's nothing on earth like it!

Which is exactly why we as a group tend to stress preparing for the actual experience, e.g., PAF practice, trial runs at the late, lamented Play It! game, having a set strategy going in, and so on.

Having been on a game show previously, I believe I know how I will react when (not if!) I'm in the hot seat. YMMV, of course. That said, IIRC I had a minor panic attack during my one shot at Play It! when I forgot about the clock and only remembered when I saw it reach the low single digits. I have this feeling that TDC will make me reach for a lifeline sooner than I otherwise would have. My goal is to resist that as much as I can and not worry about saving time for when I hit the $1MM question.

[owenziligation]

One word about Becky... I sat in the greenroom with her for several hours and she's not ignorant or lacking in common sense. Anyone who has actually experienced sitting in the hot seat will tell you that the questions that appear to be easy or those you feel should be outright common sense to you at home change dramatically when you are actually sitting across from Meredith. When it was my turn, there was one question I was asked where my brain was screaming the correct answer to me, but the only thing I had to go on was my own common sense. I ended up using a lifeline, but I think if I had had just a little more time, I likely would have answered it without having to use the lifeline, and I ended up being right. It's funny how your common sense seems to be very reliable when you aren't having to trust it or risk losing a bunch of money, and then, how much you will second guess it when faced with a ticking time clock and zero factual evidence in your head to support that common sense. I guess my point here is, don't be so quick to judge when you could very easily be the next one sweating and squirming in the hot seat facing the exact same situation. There's nothing on earth like it!

She's right. And besides, the Philbin edition has had its fair share of contestants who couldn't figure out easy questions (ie. Ronald Moya, Jeremy Conklin, etc.). And besides, the questions are actually 3 times harder on this version than on the PrimeTime Version (This show may as well now be called "Who Wants to Win $250,000" as the same amount of contestants who won $1,000,000 on the Philbin edition won $250,000+ on the Vieira edition, seasons 3+).

[earendel]

Becky Johnson Sabin
Sacramento, CA

Becky accomplished her lifelong dream by getting on a game show. Now, with the money, she hopes to help her husband achieve his dream. Greg, who is in the audience, says one dream is to have a very successful wife. Becky says Greg is accomplished in improv comedy and is also a freelance writer. She, with her very good earning potential, can be his Sugar Mama.

So she's not a WE® but he is.

$25,000 * Latitude Problem
Seattle, Washington is located farther north than all but which of these Canadian cities?

A: Vancouver B: Toronto
C: Ottawa D: Montreal

With 25 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA: A: 42% B: 19% C: 20% D: 19%

With 24 seconds left, Becky decides to Phone A Friend.
Becky's PAF team are Michael, Sacramento, CA; Ken, Sacramento, CA; and Bill, Sacramento, CA.
Becky decides to call her friend, Michael. She reads the question and answers.

Becky: 15 seconds. Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal.

Michael: Montreal.

[Becky takes a deep breath.]

Meredith: Sure?

Becky: Are you sure?

Michael: Pretty sure. On a scale of 1 to 10, 8--

[Time runs out.]

With 23 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Expert.

Lucy: I am not good at Canada!

Becky: Neither am I!

Lucy: Okay. Ummm, let's reason this out, for a second. I've gone skiing near Montreal, so I know it's not that far north, because it's just over the border, near Vermont. And I know people who go from Montreal to Stowe, skiing. So I'm going to say that's pretty far south. Umm, same with with Vancouver, on the west coast. I know people who go skiing at Vancouver and I don't think it's that far north of the border. It's the Canadian Rockies. And people tell me Toronto is not that far north. Not that much further than Portland, Maine. So, I mean, I don't know where Ottawa is, but I guess, because I don't know where it is, it might be pretty far north! Okay? That's my reasoning, so I don't know the answer, but I'm going to guess Ottawa.

Meredith: Does that help?

Becky: Well, I have three different answers from three different sources.

Becky walks away with $16,000.

Answer

A: Vancouver ( 8 )

Given the results of her lifelines I can't blame her for walking away. However I can fault her for not knowing the geography in question, particularly since she's from Sacramento. Surely she knows that Vancouver is north of Seattle.

[earendel]

One word about Becky... I sat in the greenroom with her for several hours and she's not ignorant or lacking in common sense. Anyone who has actually experienced sitting in the hot seat will tell you that the questions that appear to be easy or those you feel should be outright common sense to you at home change dramatically when you are actually sitting across from Meredith. When it was my turn, there was one question I was asked where my brain was screaming the correct answer to me, but the only thing I had to go on was my own common sense. I ended up using a lifeline, but I think if I had had just a little more time, I likely would have answered it without having to use the lifeline, and I ended up being right. It's funny how your common sense seems to be very reliable when you aren't having to trust it or risk losing a bunch of money, and then, how much you will second guess it when faced with a ticking time clock and zero factual evidence in your head to support that common sense. I guess my point here is, don't be so quick to judge when you could very easily be the next one sweating and squirming in the hot seat facing the exact same situation. There's nothing on earth like it!

She's right. And besides, the Philbin edition has had its fair share of contestants who couldn't figure out easy questions (ie. Ronald Moya, Jeremy Conklin, etc.). And besides, the questions are actually 3 times harder on this version than on the PrimeTime Version (This show may as well now be called "Who Wants to Win $250,000" as the same amount of contestants who won $1,000,000 on the Philbin edition won $250,000+ on the Vieira edition).

Being in the Hot Seat can do things to your brain - having been there I know. And the additional pressure of TDC® only makes things worse. Had she stayed calm she might have come through with the correct answer without having to use her lifelines.

[tanstaafl2]

Becky Johnson Sabin
Sacramento, CA

$25,000 * Latitude Problem
Seattle, Washington is located farther north than all but which of these Canadian cities?

A: Vancouver B: Toronto
C: Ottawa D: Montreal

With 25 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA: A: 42% B: 19% C: 20% D: 19%

With 24 seconds left, Becky decides to Phone A Friend.
Becky's PAF team are Michael, Sacramento, CA; Ken, Sacramento, CA; and Bill, Sacramento, CA.
Becky decides to call her friend, Michael. She reads the question and answers.

Becky: 15 seconds. Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal.

Michael: Montreal.

[Becky takes a deep breath.]

Meredith: Sure?

Becky: Are you sure?

Michael: Pretty sure. On a scale of 1 to 10, 8--

[Time runs out.]

With 23 seconds left, Becky decides to Ask The Expert.

Lucy: I am not good at Canada!

Becky: Neither am I!

Lucy: Okay. Ummm, let's reason this out, for a second. I've gone skiing near Montreal, so I know it's not that far north, because it's just over the border, near Vermont. And I know people who go from Montreal to Stowe, skiing. So I'm going to say that's pretty far south. Umm, same with with Vancouver, on the west coast. I know people who go skiing at Vancouver and I don't think it's that far north of the border. It's the Canadian Rockies. And people tell me Toronto is not that far north. Not that much further than Portland, Maine. So, I mean, I don't know where Ottawa is, but I guess, because I don't know where it is, it might be pretty far north! Okay? That's my reasoning, so I don't know the answer, but I'm going to guess Ottawa.

Meredith: Does that help?

Becky: Well, I have three different answers from three different sources.

Becky walks away with $16,000.

Answer

A: Vancouver ( 8 )

-- Commercial Break --

Geo nitwitism struck hard on this question as even the audience has a less than stellar effort. Could it be much easier? Lesee, Vancouver is on the west coast. Seattle is on the west coast. Washington State is south of Canada.

Duh.

Then again I wasn't 100% sure about chucks and had no clue on the pop culture boy band clue. Of course I make a deliberate effort to be a pop culture nitwit.

[MarleysGh0st]

If we're going to continue discussing the geography question, I also found it odd that Lucy, a New Yorker, used Portland, Maine as a reference of comparison for Toronto. Most New Yorkers--Upstate New Yorkers anyway--would say that Toronto is just across Lake Ontario from Rochester, NY, or just around the corner of the lake from Niagara Falls, NY. Portland is nowhere in the neighborhood!

[smilergrogan]

Geo nitwitism struck hard on this question as even the audience has a less than stellar effort. Could it be much easier? Lesee, Vancouver is on the west coast. Seattle is on the west coast. Washington State is south of Canada.

I don't think it's all that cut and dried. She may have been aware that a significant part of British Col. juts south into the northwest corner of Washington. Especially if she knew that portion is called Vancouver island, she may have thought that the city of Vancouver is located on the island, perhaps confusing it with Victoria (I would bet that those two cities are often confused). If she didn't know how far south on Puget Sound Seattle is located, she may have considered it possible that Seatlle is north of some part of Vancouver island.

[tanstaafl2]

Geo nitwitism struck hard on this question as even the audience has a less than stellar effort. Could it be much easier? Lesee, Vancouver is on the west coast. Seattle is on the west coast. Washington State is south of Canada.

I don't think it's all that cut and dried. She may have been aware that a significant part of British Col. juts south into the northwest corner of Washington. Especially if she knew that portion is called Vancouver island, she may have thought that the city of Vancouver is located on the island, perhaps confusing it with Victoria (I would bet that those two cities are often confused). If she didn't know how far south on Puget Sound Seattle is located, she may have considered it possible that Seatlle is north of some part of Vancouver island.

Perhaps, although she made no mention of Vancouver Island, noted Vancouver was on the west coast if the transcript is accurate and based on the rest of her response was likely to be unaware of the southern extension of Vancouver Island and location of Victoria which, despite being on the southern end, is still north of Seattle. Still pretty unimpressive.

[tlynn78]

. There's nothing on earth like it!

Amen, sister. It was hard enough attempting to keep any wits about me at all when the clock wasn't a factor. Very glad I did not have to deal with it.


t.