Transcript 1/20/2012 - Michele Buchanan

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Michele Buchanan
Newark, NJ
Former college professor, now a personal chef

If Michele makes enough money she'd like to open a French bistro. She gives a shoutout to her boyfriend who lives in Pennsylvania. They're planning on getting married later this year. She also says hello to her friends at the laundromat she uses. She watches the show with them and is always shouting at the TV. Her friends kept saying she should be on the show.

Topic Tree: (randomized)
Global Brands
Google Hideouts
Pop Up Event
In the Beginning
Lift Off
Man of God
Occupational Inspiration
Second Careers
The Need for Speed
Graduation Day

Question #1 (Graduation Day)
After her 2011 commencement speech at the University of Vermont, who whacked tennis balls into the crowd?
A - Billie Jean King
B - Mary Lou Retton
C - Mia Hamm
D - Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Spoiler

Answer: A (Billie Jean King)
Value: $1,000
Bank: $1,000

Question #2 (The Need for Speed)
In a move sure to please Sammy Hagar, in 2011 what state raised its maximum speed limit to a whopping 85 miles per hour?
A - Texas
B - Alabama
C - Montana
D - Alaska

Michele jumps the question.

Spoiler

Answer: A (Texas)
Value: $7,000
Bank: $1,000 (no change)

Question #3 (Second Careers)
RollingStone.com once quoted Paul Newman as saying, "I'm the only Oscar winner with his mug on a bottle of" what?
A - cough syrup
B - champagne
C - salad dressing
D - chocolate milk

Michele says she knows the answer to this. She says

Spoiler

C is my final answer

then shouts, "No, no, no, no, no, no", followed by "Oh, yes, yes."

Spoiler

Answer: C (salad dressing)
Value: $3,000
Bank: $4,000

Question #4 (Occuational Inspiration)
Ken Kesey was inspired to write "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" after working where?
A - a fast food restaurant
B - a veterans hospital
C - a government office
D - a police station

Spoiler

Answer: B (a veterans hospital)
Value: $100
Bank: $4,100

Question #5 (Man of God)
Though it's spelled differently, before taking his papal name, Pope John Paul II shared which first name with Mrs. Brady?
A - Karol
B - Jan
C - Anne
D - Francis

Spoiler

Answer: A (Karol)
Value: $25,000
Bank: $29,100

commercial break

As they went to the break Michele said to Meredith, "All those years of being a good Catholic paid off."

Question #6 (Lift Off)
Launched into space by NASA in 1952, Mildred and Albert were what type of animal?
A - cats
B - mice
C - rabbits
D - dogs

Michele says she actually knows a lot about the space program. They usually sent

Spoiler

dogs, but they wouldn't have sent two at the same time. Cats they didn't send. It's definitely dogs or mice,

but she's going to jump the question because she can't decide.

Spoiler

Answer: B (mice)
Value: $500
Bank: $29,100 (no change)

Question #7 (In the Beginning)
In 1871, Charles Darwin suggested in a letter to a fellow scientist that life on Earth may have begun in a "warm little" what?
A - cloud
B - cave
C - pond
D - desert

Michele's former students in anthropology would kill her if she got this wrong.

Spoiler

Answer: C (pond)
Value: $10,000
Bank: $39,100

Question #8 (Pop Up Event)
After historic legislation in 2011, the website The Knot sponsored a "Pop Up Chapel" in Central Park to perform what?
A - holy communion
B - rock concerts
C - gay marriages
D - political protests

Spoiler

Answer: C (gay marriages)
Value: $5,000
Bank: $44,100

Question #9 (Google Hideouts)
After the raid on Bin Laden's compound, Internet users employed Google Earth to get a glimpse of his hideout in what city?
A - Islamabad
B - Kandahar
C - Mazar-i-Sharif
D - Abbottabad

Michele remembers this because it was such a weird name.

Spoiler

Answer: D (Abbottabad)
Value: $2,000
Bank: $46,100

commercial break

Michele wants to say something before going on with the game. "If there are any kids watching this is why it pays to stay in school and learn everything you possibly can because when I was teaching high school I had students who didn't understand why it was so important to learn everything you can because you could end up doing something like this."

Question #10 (Global Brands)
Before it was ranked on Fortune's Global 500 list, what company aspired to rule the world market by giving itself a name that means "three oceans"?
A - Hitachi
B - Casio
C - Sanyo
D - Nokia

Michele tries to think of the Japanese she knows. She finally says

Spoiler

Hitachi, A, is my final answer.

Spoiler

Answer: C (sanyo)
Value: $15,000
Bank: $1,000 (consolation prize)

[SportsFan68]

Question #2 (The Need for Speed)
In a move sure to please Sammy Hagar, in 2011 what state raised its maximum speed limit to a whopping 85 miles per hour?
A - Texas
B - Alabama
C - Montana
D - Alaska

Michele jumps the question.

Spoiler

Answer: A (Texas)
Value: $7,000
Bank: $1,000 (no change)

JTQ.

Question #6 (Lift Off)
Launched into space by NASA in 1952, Mildred and Albert were what type of animal?
A - cats
B - mice
C - rabbits
D - dogs

Michele says she actually knows a lot about the space program. They usually sent

Spoiler

dogs, but they wouldn't have sent two at the same time. Cats they didn't send. It's definitely dogs or mice,

but she's going to jump the question because she can't decide.

Spoiler

Answer: B (mice)
Value: $500
Bank: $29,100 (no change)

JTQ 2.

Question #9 (Google Hideouts)
After the raid on Bin Laden's compound, Internet users employed Google Earth to get a glimpse of his hideout in what city?
A - Islamabad
B - Kandahar
C - Mazar-i-Sharif
D - Abbottabad

Michele remembers this because it was such a weird name.

Spoiler

Answer: D (Abbottabad)
Value: $2,000
Bank: $46,100

I don't remember this. Let's pretend the audience knows it so I can go on.

Question #10 (Global Brands)
Before it was ranked on Fortune's Global 500 list, what company aspired to rule the world market by giving itself a name that means "three oceans"?
A - Hitachi
B - Casio
C - Sanyo
D - Nokia

Michele tries to think of the Japanese she knows. She finally says

Spoiler

Hitachi, A, is my final answer.

Spoiler

Answer: C (sanyo)
Value: $15,000
Bank: $1,000 (consolation prize)

Walk away, final answer.

[VAdame]

Every time I see this thread, I wonder what Michele BACHMAN is doing playing WWTBAM! Celeb week?

Gotta get my eyes checked

[MarleysGh0st]

Every time I see this thread, I wonder what Michele BACHMAN is doing playing WWTBAM! Celeb week?

Now that would be entertainment!

[Bob Juch]

Every time I see this thread, I wonder what Michele BACHMAN is doing playing WWTBAM! Celeb week?

Now that would be entertainment!

She'd probably use all her lifelines and walk on the 4th question.

[earendel]

Michele Buchanan
Newark, NJ
Former college professor, now a personal chef

If Michele makes enough money she'd like to open a French bistro. She gives a shoutout to her boyfriend who lives in Pennsylvania. They're planning on getting married later this year. She also says hello to her friends at the laundromat she uses. She watches the show with them and is always shouting at the TV. Her friends kept saying she should be on the show.

So she's a "reluctant contestant" because she had to be coaxed into trying out.

Question #2 (The Need for Speed)
In a move sure to please Sammy Hagar, in 2011 what state raised its maximum speed limit to a whopping 85 miles per hour?
A - Texas
B - Alabama
C - Montana
D - Alaska

Michele jumps the question.

Spoiler

Answer: A (Texas)
Value: $7,000
Bank: $1,000 (no change)

Texas seems like one of the possible answers (Montana being the other one). I don't know why this would please Sammy Hagar, but I'm sure someone will explain it. I'll JTQ.

Question #5 (Man of God)
Though it's spelled differently, before taking his papal name, Pope John Paul II shared which first name with Mrs. Brady?
A - Karol
B - Jan
C - Anne
D - Francis

Spoiler

Answer: A (Karol)
Value: $25,000
Bank: $29,100

Shouldn't it have been spelled "Carol" since that was Mrs. Brady's name, and Karol was the pope's?

Question #6 (Lift Off)
Launched into space by NASA in 1952, Mildred and Albert were what type of animal?
A - cats
B - mice
C - rabbits
D - dogs

Michele says she actually knows a lot about the space program. They usually sent

Spoiler

dogs, but they wouldn't have sent two at the same time. Cats they didn't send. It's definitely dogs or mice,

but she's going to jump the question because she can't decide.

Spoiler

Answer: B (mice)
Value: $500
Bank: $29,100 (no change)

Her reasoning was right - NASA didn't launch dogs in pairs, and I don't believe they ever launched rabbits or cats.

Question #10 (Global Brands)
Before it was ranked on Fortune's Global 500 list, what company aspired to rule the world market by giving itself a name that means "three oceans"?
A - Hitachi
B - Casio
C - Sanyo
D - Nokia

Michele tries to think of the Japanese she knows. She finally says

Spoiler

Hitachi, A, is my final answer.

Spoiler

Answer: C (sanyo)
Value: $15,000
Bank: $1,000 (consolation prize)

I'll JTQ. I doubt the audience would have known this.

[elwoodblues]

Texas seems like one of the possible answers (Montana being the other one). I don't know why this would please Sammy Hagar, but I'm sure someone will explain it. I'll JTQ.

In 1984 he had a song called I Can't Drive 55, in which he complained about the 55 mph speed limit.

[earendel]

Texas seems like one of the possible answers (Montana being the other one). I don't know why this would please Sammy Hagar, but I'm sure someone will explain it. I'll JTQ.

In 1984 he had a song called I Can't Drive 55, in which he complained about the 55 mph speed limit.

Thanks, elwood. I knew someone would explain it.

[plasticene]

Question #10 (Global Brands)
Before it was ranked on Fortune's Global 500 list, what company aspired to rule the world market by giving itself a name that means "three oceans"?
A - Hitachi
B - Casio
C - Sanyo
D - Nokia

Michele tries to think of the Japanese she knows. She finally says

Spoiler

Hitachi, A, is my final answer.

Spoiler

Answer: C (sanyo)
Value: $15,000
Bank: $1,000 (consolation prize)

I thought maybe she was going to get it. It wasn't until she started talking about knowing a little Japanese that I realized I might know enough Japanese to get this: there are three Scrabble words that refer to Japanese immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants: issei, nisei, and sansei. Issei are first generation immigrants (the first syllable is short for ichi, I presume), nisei the second generation, and sansei the third.

[earendel]

Question #10 (Global Brands)
Before it was ranked on Fortune's Global 500 list, what company aspired to rule the world market by giving itself a name that means "three oceans"?
A - Hitachi
B - Casio
C - Sanyo
D - Nokia

Michele tries to think of the Japanese she knows. She finally says

Spoiler

Hitachi, A, is my final answer.

Spoiler

Answer: C (sanyo)
Value: $15,000
Bank: $1,000 (consolation prize)

I thought maybe she was going to get it. It wasn't until she started talking about knowing a little Japanese that I realized I might know enough Japanese to get this: there are three Scrabble words that refer to Japanese immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants: issei, nisei, and sansei. Issei are first generation immigrants (the first syllable is short for ichi, I presume), nisei the second generation, and sansei the third.

Brilliant! And as a cruciverbalist myself, I should have seen that progression myself.

[MarleysGh0st]

Question #10 (Global Brands)
Before it was ranked on Fortune's Global 500 list, what company aspired to rule the world market by giving itself a name that means "three oceans"?
A - Hitachi
B - Casio
C - Sanyo
D - Nokia

Michele tries to think of the Japanese she knows. She finally says

Spoiler

Hitachi, A, is my final answer.

Spoiler

Answer: C (sanyo)
Value: $15,000
Bank: $1,000 (consolation prize)

I thought maybe she was going to get it. It wasn't until she started talking about knowing a little Japanese that I realized I might know enough Japanese to get this: there are three Scrabble words that refer to Japanese immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants: issei, nisei, and sansei. Issei are first generation immigrants (the first syllable is short for ichi, I presume), nisei the second generation, and sansei the third.

I would have credited my karate sensei, back in the day, who had us drill counting to ten in Japanese. Ichi, ni, san...

[themanwho]

Question #10 (Global Brands)
Before it was ranked on Fortune's Global 500 list, what company aspired to rule the world market by giving itself a name that means "three oceans"?
A - Hitachi
B - Casio
C - Sanyo
D - Nokia

Michele tries to think of the Japanese she knows. She finally says

Spoiler

Hitachi, A, is my final answer.

Spoiler

Answer: C (sanyo)
Value: $15,000
Bank: $1,000 (consolation prize)

I thought maybe she was going to get it. It wasn't until she started talking about knowing a little Japanese that I realized I might know enough Japanese to get this: there are three Scrabble words that refer to Japanese immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants: issei, nisei, and sansei. Issei are first generation immigrants (the first syllable is short for ichi, I presume), nisei the second generation, and sansei the third.

Brilliant! And as a cruciverbalist myself, I should have seen that progression myself.

Indeed! That's fun to know.

[elwoodblues]

I had heard that Mitsubishi means "three diamonds". I checked and saw that "mittsu" also means three. A different dialect, maybe?