A Decent Pear

Welcome back everyone, this time to a completely new setting. This is not the first quiz I have competed in at the Bristol Pear in Selly Oak (do come along), but I thought I'd get it out of the way first - now that I finally have some time - to get some momentum back on this blog. It's been a little neglected recently, and I can't promise that won't happen again in January, but please remember everybody that I am always thinking of you. Our two outings at the Pear have brought us heavy blows, despite decent scores.. I was particularly gutted to lose this one, as our percentage of questions answered correctly was approximately 92%, which probably makes this quiz a record for our best ever loss (or something like that). Let's get stuck in shall we?

Venue: The Bristol Pear                    Team: Me + The Stand-Up Comedian and the Director
Score: 55/60 - 3rd/11                  Prize(s): None               Joker Round: Christmas #1 Singles

Best Team Name

Not a particularly good haul this week, even with Christmas as an inspiration. See what you think and get voting by commenting or tweeting me @MPRTaylor.

- Spunk Drips Off My Forehead

- Ringo

- You're Not My Real Dad and You Never Will Be

- Driving Home For Quizmas

- Amanda Hug'n'Kiss

All inspired, I'm sure you'll agree. And those were the ones worth mentioning. We were 'Threeskin', which is a name that looks pretty much set to stick. Without further ado then, here are your questions...

Questions

1) Who won this year's BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year?

 These next 3 questions are all either Troy McClure films (from the Simpsons) or real life creations. Can you tell if they are 'Troy or False'?

2) 'The Karate Dog'

3) 'The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel'

4) 'A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell'

5) Music Round: What was the name of X Factor winner Shayne Ward's Christmas UK Number 1 single?

In addition to these, we also got these 3 bonus questions incorrect:

B1) In which year was Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite first performed?

B2) The X Factor final received the lowest TV ratings for a final since its debut series in 2004. How many views did it receive on average?

B3) In which year did Troy McClure last appear in an episode of the Simpsons?

Answers
 

1) Claudia Fragapane
2) Real Film
3) Troy McClure Film
4) Real Film
5) 'That's My Goal'

B1) 1897
B2) 9.1 million
B3) 1998

Post Match Analysis

 

Best Moment: Getting 10/10 on the 'Complete the Joke' round. My answer to 'What's the fastest fish?' didn't fire the blank that was expected ('A motorpike'), and it really set up the last round as the high octane thrill fest it would turn out to be.

Most Embarassing Moment: We did so well there wasn't anything to be embarrassed about this time, but I did manage to guess the correct Spice Girls Christmas Number 1 single played (2 Become 1), without the satisfaction of winning the quiz to compensate. Still, I have a feeling we'll be back... 

 

1) I hadn't watched the ceremony and fatefully assumed that for quizzes all I would need to know was the winner and second placed candidate of the main award. Not so, though the main winner (Lewis Hamilton) did make an appearance. I remembered Fragapane instantly when I heard the name as she had performed well enough at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games to warrant a mention on the news, but had since forgotten about her. I had even forgotten that there was a Young SPOTY award at all.

Fact File: The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year has been awarded since 2001, when it replaced the Newcomer Award. To qualify, the nominees must be 16 or under on January 1st of the relevant year. Born in Bristol in 1997, Fragapane won the medal on the back of taking four gold medals for artistic gymnastics at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, as well as a silver at the European Championships in Sofia. Her golds were for the Team All-Around, Individual All-Around, Vault and Floor Exercise.
  

 

2) I'm happy to admit that this one had me fooled. I don't suspect that I shall be queuing up to find the DVD release of this movie.

Fact File: Perhaps one of the (many) reasons we hadn't heard of the Karate Dog was because it was an American made for TV film shown on ABC Family in 2004. It has since been released on DVD however (thank goodness). It stars Chevy Chase as Cho Cho, the eponymous dog who tries to bring the murderer of his owner to justice. The film also features Oscar winner Jon Voight.

 

3) Probably should have got this one. It cost us dear.
Fact File: 'The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel' is a pet project of McClure's, for which he is both the lead actor and director. He turned down the opportunity to be the supporting role in McBain IV: Fatal Discharge for the privilege. The film is never shown on the Simpsons, like so much of McClure's other output.

4) I could have sworn that I heard Troy mention this one in a Simpsons episode, but fortunately it appears that this is a genuine creation.
Fact File: 'Nymphoid Barbarian' was released by Troma Entertainment in 1990. There's not much more I can say that can't be illustrated better by this trailer. Go on, you have to see it. Or alternatively, the whole movie in on YouTube if you're that excited.

5) As if I cared what the song was called. (Note to self: Always care what the songs are called.) We went with the title of Steve Brookstein's X Factor winner 'Against All Odds'.
Fact File: 'That's My Goal' became the first X Factor single to achieve a Christmas number 1 in the UK beginning an unbroken sequence lasting until 2009, when Rage Against the Machine beat Joe McElderry's 'The Climb'. That's My Goal stayed at Number 1 for 4 weeks in total, has sold over 1 million copies and is still the fastest ever selling X Factor song. It is also unique for being an original song written for the programme, rather than a cover. You can listen to it here.

6) As a bonus question, this one didn't really matter, though we might have won some beer. However, as we weren't going out after, we weren't too bothered. We got surprisingly close with our guess of 1897.
Fact File: First performed independently of the ballet, the Nutcracker Suite was incorporated as part of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's ballet later that year, with Tchaikovsky providing the whole of the score. The ballet, premiering at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, was not received particularly well, but the 20 minute suite has endured, and consequently revived interest in the ballet, particularly in the USA.

7) Ironically, this years' X Factor final was one of the few I have ever watched, due to one of my friends having gambled a significant amount of money on the outcome. I'll leave you in suspense as to how he came out of that one...
Fact File: 9.1 million amounted to a still healthy 35% share of the TV audience, but it was beaten by BBC1 rival entertainment show Strictly Come Dancing, which reached 9.6 million. The show saw Ben Haenow beat Fleur East and (you guessed it) secure the 2014 Christmas UK Number 1 slot. The record high for an X Factor final was in 2010, when an estimated 17.2 million saw Matt Cardle take the glory, and some might argue, the inevitable path to obscurity...

8) It was really a case of 'put down whatever year, it doesn't matter,' but this date seems much further back in history than I would have thought. Perhaps this was from growing up on endless repeats of the Simpsons at 6 on BBC 2.
Fact File: One of the show's most popular recurring characters, McClure was based in part on two B-movie actors, Troy Donahue and Doug McClure. First appearing in 1991, McClure was retired out of respect in 1998 when voice artist Phil Hartman (who also played bungling lawyer Lionel Hutz), was shot dead by his wife. Possibly McClure's most notable episode is 'A Fish Called Selma' in 1996, where he engages in a somewhat cynical marriage to Marge Simpson's sister in order to boost his career. 
   

 

 There we go, and sorry again for having been so lazy. I'm in two minds about whether to leave out the fact files in order to upload the 10 or so quizzes I haven't done yet. Would appreciate some feedback on that. Until later everyone, and don't forget to tweet me - @MPRTaylor.