The Ann B. Davis 2001 -- A Trash Odyssey -- Popular Culture Tournament
Sunday, 14 January 2001
The questions must be submitted in either Word or RTF Format to
mmb5@earthlink.net. If the
questions are in my grubby little hands by the 9th of December, your fee
is drastically reduced. You must have a packet submitted by 8 January,
2000, otherwise you will not be allowed to participate. NO EXCEPTIONS
You should submit 25 tossups and 25 bonuses based on the guidelines listed
below. These are not iron-clad requirements, instead, they are suggesstions
on what we consider a good trash packet. Any well written packet is
acceptable, but we are expecting something along the lines of the
guidelines. You may find them a bit anal for a trash tournament, but we
have had a concern on the decline of the quality of the trash questions
in team-submitted packets over the last few years and we would like to
help stem that tide.
When submitting your packet, make sure you:
- The Ann B. Davis uses NAQT-style 15-point power tossups. Therefore,
please bold the 15-point portion. Also, please
remember to put the (*) to note the deliniation between the 15 area and
the 10 area.
- To make my life easier and to allow my software to catch repeats, please do the following for tossups:
- Start off a question with a unique, whole, positive integer between 1 and 25.
- Then hit the tab key.
- Then type in the body of the question, placing a "(*)" where you want the power mark to be.
- Then add a blank line.
- Then type the word answer and a colon (i.e. "Answer:")
- Then hit the tab key.
- Then type the answer, underlining the porition that will be needed for 10 or 15 points.
- Then add a blank line.
- Repeat until 25 questions. Lather is not necessary.
- Example Tossup:
1. The 1956 pilot for this show was hosted by Mike Wallace and featured one of Frank Sinatra's backup singers.
(*) Bud Collyer was the host for the entire CBS run, which lasted until 1968. Garry Moore took
over as host in a syndication version in 1969. After a disastrous run on NBC in 1990, the show is
back and is hosted by J. Peterman himself, John O'Hurley. For 10 points -- name this classic game
show with four panelists and three contestants and asks one of the contestants to "please stand up."
Answer: To Tell the Truth (accept Nothing But the Truth until Bud Collyer)
- To make my life easier and to allow my software to catch repeats, please do the following for bonuses:
- Start off a question with a unique, whole, positive integer between 1 and 25.
- Then hit the tab key.
- Then type in the lead-in.
- Then add a blank line.
- Then type the letter 'a' and a period followed by the tab key
- Type the first part. Make sure you state the point value if the point value is not stated in the lead-in.
- Then add a blank line.
- Then type the answer, underlining the porition that will be needed for points.
- Then add a blank line.
- Repeat the last five steps either once, twice, or three times, incrementing the letter as needed until the bonus parts attain 30 points. You may use any integer for a bonus part between 1 and 29.
- Then add a blank line.
- Repeat all of the steps until 25 questions. Apply conditioner if necessary.
- Example Bonus:
1. For 10 points each -- identify these celebrities who actually have had careers outside the realm of game shows.
a. He was a regular on several Dean Martin shows, the voice of Hunch in Rock-A-Doodle and has portrayed Jose Chung on both the X-Files and Millenium.
Answer: Charles Nelson Reilly
b. He played Ben Edwards in Wildcats, the Tinman in the Wiz and Officer/Captain Anderson in Car 54, Where are You?
Answer: Nipsey Russell
c. She was the head of the New York State Arts Council during the Cuomo administration, played Rosa Castaldi in A Night at the Opera and Mrs. Bannister in Six Degress of Separation.
Answer: Kitty Carlisle-Hart
- Please do not be long winded. A tossup shouldn't go more than 4 lines of 10 point type or 5 lines of 12 point type. A bonus shouldn't have more than 4 parts.
- When writing questions, say to yourself "Can at least a winning team
answer this tossup?" If you can't answer yes, don't write the tossup. Then
say to yourself "Can a good team average 15 points per bonus over these
few questions." If they can't, write them so they will. The goal of this tournament is to have 90% of all tossups read answered for a positive score and an average of 15 points on each bonus.
- Adherence to the guidelines listed both above and below will make my
life eaiser and will make the tournament fun for all and keep
kerfuffles to a minimum. Nobody wants to
slug through questions on the standings in the Polish First Division of soccer, lesser known works of Gary Numan or characters in Battletech.
- Movie Questions - Movie questions have three requirements: genre, era and type.
- Genre:
The genres of comedy, drama, science fiction, action/adventure and romance should be covered at least once. The remainder five questions should be of a minor genre (foreign, independent, childrens', documentary, porn) or a repeat of the first five types. In no case should a major genre be used three times or a minor type twice.
- Era:
Three questions should be about movies released in the past 24 months. Two questions should be about those released at some other point in the 1990s. One each should come from the 80s, 70s and pre-70s. The remaining two could come from any era.
- Type:
At least one question should refer to either directors or producers. At least two questions (preferably toss-ups) should revolve around plot. Three questions should refer to actors or actresses. The remaining four should either repeat the previous types or be of other types, such as the business of movies, marketing, business, etc.
Sports Questions - These questions probably cause the most problems. People tend to be very passionate about some sports and not about others. Variety is the key here - almost everyone likes some form of sport - even if it is figure skating or cycling.
There should be six questions from the following eight categories:
- Professional baseball in North America
- Professional football in the United States
- College football in the United States
- Professional basketball in the North America
- College basketball in the United States
- Professional hockey in North America
- Professional auto racing (NASCAR, CART, IRL or F-1)
- An olympic sport, although not necessarily about the Olympics. For example, a question about Skate America or the Tour de France would qualify.
- The remaining four should come from any other sport imaginable, including up to two repeats from the above topics.
Television Questions - Television questions break down pretty much like movies, with some minor differences:
- Genre:
There should be two questions on both situation comedies and dramas. There should be at least one question on news/reality shows, childrens' shows and daytime shows (soaps, game shows or talk shows). The remaining three can come from a genre not mentioned or a repeat of any of the aforementioned genres.
Era: Three questions should be about shows currently on the air. Two questions should be about those released at some other point in the 1990s that are no longer on the air. One each should come from the 80s, 70s and pre-70s. The remaining two could come from any era.
Type: At least two questions (preferably toss-ups) should revolve around plot. Three questions should refer to actors or actresses. The remaining four should either repeat the previous types or be of other types, such as the business of TV, marketing, business, cable channels, directors/producers, etc. No more than four questions should be cable-related.
Music Questions - Another sore spot. This distribution should please even the finicky music person:
- Genre:
There should be at least one of the following: pop (sugary-sweet kind, i.e. Spice Girls), pop-rock (venturing into four-chord territory, i.e. R.E.M.), hard-rock (metal, industrial), "alternative", rap, hip-hop and country. The remaining three can either be a repeat of the above or one of the lesser genres, such as gospel, new age, current jazz, contemporary instrumental, blues, techno, etc.
Era: Three questions should be about songs released within the last two years. Two questions should be about those released at some other point in the 1990s. Two should come from the 1980s. One each should come from both 70s and the pre-70s. The remaining question can come from any era.
Everything Else - This category usual makes or breaks a packet. This area can generally be extremely obscure. This area can also make the packet stand out. Try for the following:
- One question about current popular literature
- One question about prior popular literature (not from the same genre as the previous question)
- One question about gaming (this includes computer gaming, RPGs and family-style board games)
- One question about food or a food-serving establishment
- One (read that again, one) question about comic books
- One question about newspaper-based features (comics, advice, Dave Barry, etc.)
- One current-event related question
- One question about a consumer product
- Two questions about anything not covered above, such as physical challenges, Internet-related, weird facts, urban legends, etc.
Questions, mail them to:
Mike Burger.
- Ann B. Davis home
- Michigan Academic Competitions home
Last updated: 6 December 2000