History Main / ThePointsMeanNothing

->''"I find the quiz aspect of this show to be overrated anyway."''
-->--'''Paul Merton''', ''HaveIGotNewsForYou''

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* "Welcome to ''WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', the show where everything is made up and the points don't matter! That's right, the points are like the [[ExcusePlot plot of a porn movie]], they don't matter!" The phrase was used in the U.S. version by Drew Carey, to highlight American audiences being unused to {{Panel Game}}s. The same principle applied to the Clive Anderson-hosted British seasons, but at least it could be demonstrated that Clive was, in fact, awarding points (and deducting them for references to baldness). Drew Carey himself didn't seem to keep track of the points he was awarding; eventually, he just defaulted to saying "a thousand points to everyone" after every game, and later they only seemed to come up when Drew was using that tag-line.

* "Welcome to ''WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', the show where everything is made up and the points don't matter! That's right, the points are like the [[ExcusePlot plot of a porn movie]], they don't matter!" The phrase was used in the U.S. version by Drew Carey. The same principle applied to the Clive Anderson-hosted British seasons, but at least it could be demonstrated that Clive was, in fact, awarding points (and deducting them for references to baldness). Drew Carey himself didn't seem to keep track of the points he was awarding; eventually, he just defaulted to saying "a thousand points to everyone" after every game, and later they only seemed to come up when Drew was using that tag-line.

* ''WouldILieToYou?'' generally averts this as the points are awarded on a very simple and straightforward basis, although not all of the questions make it through to the edit so sometimes it seems like a team is on top yet loses because the points the opposing team scored were cut. Both team captains (particularly Lee Mack) are quite competitive about the scores and who has won which series.

* [[TheSimpsons]] episode "Pygmoelian", where Moe competes in a bartending competition hosted by Duffman: When they got to the final round of the game, Duffman said :"Now, the final round [[GoldenSnitch makes up 98% of the total score, making the previous rounds a complete waste.]] Oh Yeah!"

* [[TheSimpsons Moe]] once competed in a bartending competition once, hosted by Duffman. When they got to the final round of the game, Duffman said :"Now, the final round [[GoldenSnitch makes up 98% of the total score, making the previous rounds a complete waste.]] Oh Yeah!"

* The TropeNamer: "Welcome to ''WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', the show where everything is made up and the points don't matter! That's right, the points are like the [[ExcusePlot plot of a porn movie]], they don't matter!" The phrase was used in the U.S. version by Drew Carey. The same principle applied to the Clive Anderson-hosted British seasons, but at least it could be demonstrated that Clive was, in fact, awarding points (and deducting them for references to baldness). Drew Carey himself didn't seem to keep track of the points he was awarding; eventually, he just defaulted to saying "a thousand points to everyone" after every game, and later they only seemed to come up when Drew was using that tag-line.

* ''WouldILieToYou?'' generally averts this as the points are awarded on a very simple and straightforward basis, although not all of the questions make it through to the edit so sometimes it seems like a team is on top yet loses because the points the opposing team scored were cut. Both team captains are quite competitive about the scores and who has won which series.

* [[TheSimpsons Moe]] once competed in a bartending competition once, hosted by Duffman. When they got to the final round of the game, Duffman said :"Alright, this last round [[GoldenSnitch will count for 98% of all the points, making the other 3 rounds completly pointless.]] Oh Yeah!"

* ''WouldILieToYou?'' generally averts this as the points are awarded on a very simple and straightforward basis, although not all of the questions make it through to the edit so sometimes it seems like a team is on top yet loses because the points the opposing team scored were cut.

* The Australian current affairs panel show ''GoodNewsWeek'' does keep clear track of points, but is extremely casual about how they are awarded. Host Paul [=McDermott=] can be talked into awarding points for answering questions which weren't asked, for incorrect answers which are vehemently defended, and generally whenever it's entertaining. On one particularly bizarre occasion [=McDermott=] ''won''.

* GoodNewsWeek. Just Good News Week. The amount of points scored seems a little erratic, on the occasion a question gets an answer that is. In the end the host makes up the scores and decides the winners. He's biased and once made himself the winner. This is attributed to the RuleOfFunny however.

** In yet another episode, Drew simply brought in a ''tape recorder'' of himself saying "One thousand points!" [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Wayne stole it during a commercial break and overwrote the tape with himself chanting ''"My ass... my ass... my ass..."'']]

** The score recap the only time Drew did one: Wayne: Who knows, Brad: Who Cares, Colin: I forgot, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Ryan: -73]]

** Apparently every point can be explained if the panellists wish. They never ask, but it is correct.

** Like HIGNFY above, at least some of the apparent randomness of the points is due to the edit down to half an hour for broadcast - if someone gets forfeits or right answers during this time, their points gained in the half hour can vary wildly from those shown at the end, but of course, they can't change the points for the edit. It becomes clearer in the extended editions, but one presumes that even more is lost from the original recorded length.

* Norway's own news-mocker ''Nytt på nytt'' (''News in a new way'', but can be read as ''Again and again'') has some fun with this. Points are awarded (in a way), with even a counter visible...for those in the studio. The shots used in the aired version NEVER show the points, discreetly pushing them off-screen, so the viewer is left guessing to what the score is until it's (apparently) summed up and a winner (and the loser) is awarded with something funny and news-related.

* that mitchell and webb look has the recurring sketch numberwang which gives points for shouting random numbers

* Averted by ''{{AQuestionOfSport'' - while it is a celebrity panel show and is both funny and entertaining, the panelists are all sportsmen and women and therefore ridiculously competitive...

* Averted by ''A Question of Sport'' - while it is a celebrity panel show and is both funny and entertaining, the panelists are all sportsmen and women and therefore ridiculously competitive...

** The score recap the only time Drew did one: Wayne: Who knows, Brad: Who Cares, Colin: I forgot, Ryan: -73
** Subverted on one occasion where the points actually ''did'' matter.