History Main / GameShowGoofballs

* Played with on ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': In the episode "The Gang Go On Family Fight," Dennis tries to keep the gang under control when they are contestants on a ''Series/FamilyFeud'' {{Expy}}. They frustrate the host by giving bizarre answers, Dee trying to give inappropriate double entendres, and Mac trying to steal his lines. Yet they still end up doing well, especially when Frank gives a series of good answers at the end; [[spoiler: Ironically Dennis then blows it.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' short "How to Be Smart", WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} is on a quiz show, does miserably, and ends up following absurd instructions to make himself smarter. When he returns to the quiz show, he does much better but ''still'' has no idea on the final answer and only gets it by chance, as his blurting out "Heavens to Betsy" [[WhosOnFirst actually constituted the correct answer]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' episode "Divided We Sail," cast goofball Barney is a contestant on "The Prize is Priced" (a pastiche of...well, you know). An item up for bids was a fishing pole. Barney quips, "Well, I'll put my two cents in," and two cents was rung up as his bid. He winds up winning the pole and the bonus prize that came with it: a houseboat.

** The best-known example is the recurring "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch where an exasperated Alex Trebek (Creator/WillFerrell) has to regularly contend with celebrity contestants who are either blissfully ignorant, self-absorbed, or--in the case of Sean Connery (Creator/DarrellHammond)--belligerent and antagonistic. The categories start off normal, but quickly turn into childish and blatantly easy stuff like "Drummers Named [[Music/RingoStarr Ringo]]", "Colors That End In 'Urple'", and "The Number After 2", categories that Connery intentionally misreads as a DoubleEntendre, and categories with no clues whatsoever like "Automatic Points" and "[[INeedAFreakingDrink I Have a Chardonnay]]" (which Connery vandalizes to make say "I HAVE A [[RagingStiffie HARDON]]").

* ''Series/{{SCTV}}'' also used this trope in their game show spoofs. One was called "Half Wits" which, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the title indicated]], featured contestants who plumbed the depths of human stupidity to such a degree that the host (played by Creator/EugeneLevy) would explode in anger at the show's end.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The fourth story of ''WebOriginal/{{Cubnet}}'', "Dollars for Scholars", zig-zags this trope - the students competing to win money for their school give answers that, while incorrect, range from having a tiny bit of logical basis, such as answering "isosceles" for the type of triangle the Pythagorean Theorem applies to[[note]]it applies to right triangles[[/note]] (a reference to Scarecrow incorrectly reciting the Pythagorean Theorem in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'') or thinking the executive branch of government makes laws because it's the branch with the president in it, to nonsensical such as thinking that words like "if" and "but" are examples of candy and nuts[[note]]they're examples of conjunctions[[/note]] (a reference to the phrase "if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas") or answering "eleventeen" as the square root of 169 (after the other team was disqualified from answering due to a member being about to say "[[LOL69 heh heh, you said 69]]"). When the third round ends in a tie at zero due to running out of time, host Alex Armadillo starts a round of sudden death, [[spoiler:which the winning school only wins because Alex asks for a food from Mexico and got a ruling from the judges that chili was debatably a Mexican food - the first answer given, "fish and chips", was obviously not (it's a British dish).]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

--->'''Host:''' What's the matter with you?!
--->'''Kyle:''' So many things.

-->'''Dorothy:''' He created ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''!\\

--> '''Don Pardo''': You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game. You're a complete loser!

-->'''Walter:''' Regis, I am just not sure what the answer is. But I am really getting off on calling you Regis, Regis.
-->'''Regis:''' As you know, Walter, you have three lifelines: You can poll the audience; you can make a phone call; or you can have me shout the correct answer out loud, like this: "IT'S 'D,' YOU MORON!"

[[folder: Webcomics]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Web Video]]

-->'''Host:''' What city--
-->'''Scott:''' ''[buzzes in]'' Pass!
-->'''Host:''' --is best known for entertainment--
-->'''Scott:''' ''[buzzes in]'' South Carolina!
-->'''Host:''' --besides Hollywood?
-->'''Scott:''' Oh, a city...''[[[RuleOfThree buzzes in]]]'' South America!
-->''[cut to Scott in his room]''
--> '''Scott:''' Hey all, Scott here. I'm an idiot.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* During the 1940s, there was the quiz show spoof [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Pays_to_Be_Ignorant It Pays To Be Ignorant]] which featured a panel of CloudCuckooLander "experts" who, in the course of incorrectly answering ridiculously easy questions, would drift off-topic telling StockJokes or [[ShaggyDogStory Shaggy Dog Stories]] that would end with [[IncrediblyLamePun painful puns]].

** The best-known example is the recurring "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch where an exasperated Alex Trebek (Creator/WillFerrell) has to regularly contend with celebrity contestants who are either blissfully ignorant, self-absorbed, or--in the case of Sean Connery (Creator/DarrellHammond)--belligerent and antagonistic. The categories start off normal, but quickly turn into childish and blatantly easy stuff like "Drummers Named [[Music/RingoStarr Ringo]]", "Colors That End In 'Urple'", "The Number After 2", categories that Connery intentionally misreads as a DoubleEntendre, and categories with no clues whatsoever like "Automatic Points" and "[[INeedAFreakingDrink I Have a Chardonnay]]" (which Connery vandalizes to make say "I HAVE A [[BiggerIsBetterInBed HARDON]]").

** The best-known example is the recurring "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch where an exasperated Alex Trebek (Creator/WillFerrell) has to regularly contend with celebrity contestants who are either blissfully ignorant, self-absorbed, or--in the case of Sean Connery (Creator/DarrellHammond)--belligerent and antagonistic. The categories start off normal, but quickly turn into childish and blatantly easy stuff like "Drummers Named [[Music/RingoStarr Ringo]]", "Colors That End In 'Urple'", "The Number After 2", and categories with no clues whatsoever like "Automatic Points" and "[[INeedAFreakingDrink I Have a Chardonnay]]" (which Connery vandalizes to make say "I HAVE A [[BiggerIsBetterInBed HARDON]]").

** The best-known example is the recurring "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch where an exasperated Alex Trebek (Creator/WillFerrell) has to regularly contend with celebrity contestants who are either blissfully ignorant, self-absorbed, or--in the case of Sean Connery (Creator/DarrellHammond)--belligerent and antagonistic. The categories start off normal, but quickly turn into childish and blatantly easy stuff like "Drummers Named [[Music/TheBeatles Ringo]]", "Colors That End In 'Urple'", "The Number After 2", and categories with no clues whatsoever like "Automatic Points" and "[[INeedAFreakingDrink I Have a Chardonnay]]" (which Connery vandalizes to make say "I HAVE A [[BiggerIsBetterInBed HARDON]]").

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow'':
** In "[[Recap/TheCupheadShowS1E5RollTheDice Roll the Dice]]", King Dice's titular game show is already so easy that no contestant has ever lost before (they have to name a piece of music the band plays, answer a trivia question, and roll any number on a pair of dice). Then Cuphead becomes a contestant and proves so dense that King Dice has to specifically rig the game in his favor so he'll win — and he still blows it. He somehow doesn't recall the name of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and when he tries to roll the dice, [[EpicFail they shatter to bits]].

** The best-known example is the recurring "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch where an exasperated Alex Trebek (Creator/WillFerrell) has to regularly contend with celebrity contestants who are either blissfully ignorant, self-absorbed, or--in the case of Sean Connery (Creator/DarrellHammond)--belligerent and antagonistic. The categories start off normal, but quickly turn into childish and blatantly easy stuff like "Drummers Named [[Music/TheBeatles Ringo]]", "Colors That End In 'Urple'", and "The Number After 2", and categories with no clues whatsoever like "Automatic Points" and "[[INeedAFreakingDrink I Have a Chardonnay]]" (which Connery vandalizes to make say "I HAVE A [[BiggerIsBetterInBed HARDON]]").

** The best-known example is the recurring "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch where an exasperated Alex Trebek (Creator/WillFerrell) has to regularly contend with celebrity contestants who are either blissfully ignorant, self-absorbed, or--in the case of Sean Connery (Creator/DarrellHammond)--belligerent and antagonistic. The categories start off normal, but quickly turn into childish and blatantly easy stuff like "Colors That End In 'Urple'" and "The Number After 2", and categories with no clues whatsoever like "Automatic Points" and "[[INeedAFreakingDrink I Have a Chardonnay]]" (which Connery vandalizes to make say "I HAVE A [[BiggerIsBetterInBed HARDON]]").

** The best-known example is the recurring "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch where an exasperated Alex Trebek (Creator/WillFerrell) has to regularly contend with celebrity contestants who are either blissfully ignorant, self-absorbed, or--in the case of Sean Connery (Creator/DarrellHammond)--belligerent and antagonistic. The categories start off normal, but quickly turn into childish and blatantly easy stuff like "Colors That End In 'Urple'" and "The Number After 2", and categories with no clues whatsoever like "Automatic Points" and "I Have a Chardonnay" (the latter additionally [[INeedAFreakingDrink allowing Trebek to have a glass of wine]], and Connery to vandalize the board to make it say "I HAVE A [[BiggerIsBetterInBed HARDON]]").

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' episode, "Fair Game", Yakko, Wakko, and Dot are contestants on ''Quiz Me Quick'', a game show hosted by Ned Flatt. The Warners drive Ned crazy by guessing "UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton" before he even has the chance to ask the question. When Ned finally does get to ask the question, "Who first identified the laws of gravity?", [[{{Irony}} the Warners actually have a hard time answering it]] (Yakko even answers "Corey Spelling"). To get the game over with quicker, Ned sends Wakko to the lightning round, where the goal is to solve a puzzle ([[VisualPun Eyes+Tack-T Newt+Ton]]). Wakko keeps guessing wrong (Isaac Newtweight, Isaac Newtheavy, Isaac Newtanvil, and [[OddNameOut Isaac Newttrapezoid]]), which leads to Ned telling him "Isaac Newton". This results in Ned winning the game and a six-month trip to the Rock of Gibraltar, which he doesn't even want. Of course, the Warners' main gimmick is screwing with people anyway.

* ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' featured a short game show segment titled "Swift Wits" where contestants were given a simple secret word to guess or else Big Mean Carl would eat an animal. However, nearly all the contestants were too stupid to have even a remote chance of winning. Two insisted on one answer, one refused to answer at all because they had gotten his name wrong (and didn't mention this until after the game was over), one (a pair of twins) kept spouting off generic answers and not listening, and in the last sketch, even when the word was given, the contestant mistook it for a clue. By the fourth sketch, even the host was getting tired of having idiots on the show. The only time a contestant got the answer right (on his first try, no less), Carl decided to spite the host by eating the animal anyway and then eating the contestant.

* ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' featured a short game show segment titled "Swift Wits" where contestants were given a simple secret word to guess or else Big Mean Carl would eat an animal. However, nearly all the contestants were too stupid to have even a remote chance of winning. Two insisted on one answer, one refused to answer at all because they had gotten his name wrong, one (a pair of twins) kept spouting off generic answers and not listening, and in the last sketch, even when the word was given, the contestant mistook it for a clue. By the fourth sketch, even the host was getting tired of having idiots on the show. The only time a contestant got the answer right (on his first try, no less), Carl decided to spite the host by eating the animal anyway and then eating the contestant.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow'', King Dice's game show, "Roll the Dice", is already so easy that no contestant has ever lost before (they have to name a piece of music the band plays, answer a trivia question, and roll any number on a pair of dice.) Then Cuphead becomes a contestant and proves so dense that King Dice has to specifically rig the game in his favor so he'll win — and he still blows it. He somehow doesn't recall the name of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and [[EpicFail when he tries to roll the dice, they shatter to bits]].