2197: Game Show
| Game Show |
 Title text: Eventually they agreed to "an auto-retracting dog leash with one end clipped to your house, so you can press the button on the handle and water-ski home." |
Explanation
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by an UNHAPPY STATUE OF LIBERTY. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks. |
Many shows have situations where the participants are asked hypothetical questions. A common hypothetical question asked to ascertain someone's values and problem solving skills is the one item they would take to a deserted island.
Black Hat is on such a game show, and he does his best to undermine the point of the system, listing various things that would either bring him back home from the deserted island (e.g. a boat, a plane), thereby undermining the point of the question, or would be nearly impossible to obtain (e.g. Amelia Earhart's skeleton, the Atlantic Ocean).
- Amelia Earhart was a female U.S. aviator who went missing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on an attempt to circumnavigate earth. There have been many claims of the rediscovery of Earhart's remains, but it is unlikely that a game show would expend the energy to give their contestant either Earhart's plane or her skeleton; and even if they did, it wouldn't be in an appropriate condition for getting back.
- The internal structure of The Statue of Liberty was designed by Gustave Eiffel, best known for his work on the Eiffel Tower. It would be near impossible, not to mention illegal, to even remove the support frame,[citation needed] let alone get it onto a remote island.
- The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom are ceremonial objects owned by the kings and queens of the UK. The items are kept under heavy guard and are valued at about $4 billion; it would therefore be difficult for Black Hat to get them onto a deserted island with him.
- The Greenland ice sheet is the body of ice covering the island of Greenland. As the second largest ice sheet on Earth, it would not quite fit on a deserted island.[citation needed]
- Earth's north magnetic pole is the point on earth that all compasses point towards because of the magnetohydrodynamic (magic) forces in the earth's mantle; presumably Black Hat wants the pole to be at his deserted island, though the north magnetic pole is rather difficult to adjust.
- The Atlantic Ocean is the ocean left behind by the split of North America and Afroeurasia; it would be hard to get it onto a deserted island.
The title text reveals that the game show has ultimately acquiesced to one of Black Hat's wishes in a way: the dog leash mentioned would allow him to water-ski home, though such a dog leash is implausible (for example, a dog leash from San Francisco to Hawaii would be over 2000 miles long and therefore difficult to manufacture).
Transcript
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This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks. |
- [Single-frame panel with Cueball, Black Hat, and Megan as game show contestants standing behind lecterns and Hairy as the game show host standing in front of them. Cueball and Megan do not speak.]
- Black Hat: A boat. A plane. Amelia Earhart's plane. Amelia Earhart's skeleton. The Statue of Liberty's internal support frame. The Crown Jewels. This show's entire television audience. The Greenland ice sheet. Earth's north magnetic pole.
- Black Hat: Am I in the Pacific Ocean?
- Black Hat: If so, the Atlantic Ocean.
- Hairy: Uhh.
- Hairy: Our producers are going to need some time on this one.
- [Caption below the comic:]
- The game show realized that they should have added some restrictions to their "take any item to a deserted island" challenge, but it was too late.
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Suggestion for comic explanation: Black Hat does the things that Black Hat always does. -- 172.68.65.90 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
I'm unable to find a single instance of any game show ever asking this sort of question. 172.68.142.161 22:35, 2 September 2019 (UTC)
- The wording of the caption implies this is a new show which was not well thought out. And, as is usual for XKCD, completely fictional. However the QUESTION is an old and common thought experiment, seemingly to get to know a person better by finding out what they value. This is just suggesting somebody made a game show out of the question. Often, as the commenter below seems to have linked to, the question is specifically about what handful of musical albums you'd bring (in other words, what music would you not get sick of after hearing it a million times). NiceGuy1 (talk) 06:42, 7 September 2019 (UTC)
How about https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Island_Discs?
Desktop link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Island_Discs
Note that Desert Island Discs does have a restriction on the item to be taken to the desert island - it must be a luxury item of no practical use. (Note you also get the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare thrown in for nothing). 141.101.99.203 07:53, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
- Desert Island Discs is not a game show: it isn't competitive and has no prizes. It's more like a celebrity interview or chat show. 162.158.34.64 13:39, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
- The long running "Expedition Robinson" a.k.a. "Survivor" franchise does have the concept of a single personal item that each contestant may bring to the island. At least the original Swedish version does. I don't know about the 50+ other versions of the show. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_(franchise) and https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264245/. Epsilon (talk) 07:36, 9 September 2019 (UTC)
I find myself wondering what Black Hat would do if he had the skeleton. Probably some kind over-elaborate scheme to mess with people? Or maybe it's just because there are so many people who'd be interested in the possibility of bringing it back from a desert island. Angel (talk) 01:07, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
At first it looks like Black Hat is playing a different type of game show game - to associate each item to the one before. The links are mode of transport, plane, relating to Earhart, internal structure, has a crown. Beyond that, items seem to simply be random and hard to obtain.--172.69.63.89 01:53, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
- Well, when you consider that Queen Elizabeth is a big fan of this show... --Account (talk) 02:05, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
Seems like water skiing back home would also require skis. Miamiclay (talk) 06:25, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
Seems DgbrtBOT failed because of the interactivity of the How To release day comic 2198: Throw, which came out on a Tuesday, the release day! --Kynde (talk) 07:45, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
- I have tried to create it, and the REDIRECT 2198 page as well. Hope it works... --Kynde (talk) 07:48, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
Is part of the joke also that in pedantic logic "any" can be more than one item? Which is why he lists so many things?162.158.90.66 08:40, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
Having the crown jewels would quite garanty him to return to continent, I guess, as UK would want to get it back.
08:47, 3 September 2019 (UTC)Thy
I disagree with some of the suggested motivations for Black Hat's items. I think in most cases he is simply listing things that he knows would be impossible to supply - not because he wants the fame of finding or owning them. Amelia Earhart's plane is lost to history, as is her skeleton (which would be subject to laws regarding the treatment of remains in any case, so it would be difficult to give this to Black Hat). The internal skeleton of the Statue of Liberty is currently holding up the Statue of Liberty; removing this would be difficult and probably illegal as it would destroy a historic landmark. The Crown Jewels belong to the British monarchy and cannot be sold, and stealing them would be difficult (and illegal). The audience of the show are people, not items, and would not consent to being taken to a deserted island. Greenland's ice sheet is too large and heavy to supply. Earth's North magnetic pole is a conceptual point, not an item. Transplanting an entire ocean into another one would be difficult (and probably illegal). Hawthorn (talk) 12:28, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
According to the current article, if Black Hat was given the entire television audience to take with him, "then at least it would no longer be a deserted island, but of course it would be even more difficult to survive." But why? Does Black Hat seem the type to be disturbed by cannibalism? Wouldn't a crowded island make it easier (for at least one person) to survive? 162.158.75.22 17:37, 4 September 2019 (UTC)
- I seriously doubt he would survive. Assume for a moment that you are not particularly interested in getting dumped on a remote island, expecting to fend for yourself. But black hat wanted to bring the entire audience. So you wake up one morning and realize you have been transported to said island. Then you happen to meet the person responsible for your predicament. Now, you yourself might be a good christian and meek as a lamb. But in a large audience you must assume there are a number of people that are not. Epsilon (talk) 07:14, 9 September 2019 (UTC)
