Obscure quiz questions (lighthearted)

[Allergictoironing]

I was having a chat with a friend over the weekend (by phone ofc) and we were discussing the questions he had prepared for a Zoom quiz - all male participants, mid-50's.

I vetoed a few of his questions as they required a bit of very specific technical knowledge you could only know if you had good reason to by way of your job or hobbies. Then a question comes up about a US comedy series called Brooklyn 99, and I immediately said it was too obscure and I'd never heard of it. He insisted on putting it in, and told me today that every participant also said they'd never heard of it.

He keeps insisting it isn't obscure as both he, a close relative and a friend of theirs had heard of it. AIBU to tell him that as not only had I not heard of it (let alone the slightly geeky related question) but as none of the 7 quiz participants had either, it IS obscure.

TLDR:
Brooklyn 99 IS obscure - YANBU
Brooklyn 99 is well known and a perfectly valid series to include in a general knowledge quiz - YABU

I remember seeing constant advertisements for it and thinking 'nope, not for me'.

Eventually ended up half watching it in the background and was quickly hooked.

I think most modern shows are 'obscure' by the standard of previous decades, because there's so much more choice these days, but Brooklyn 99 is very popular.

@LalalalalaLlama I proper snorted at that

@LalalalalaLlama

I've never heard of it and never watch E4. We've had Netflix in the past but cancelled it as we weren't using it except for the odd film but we got a deal on Now TV so have that now.

Context, isn’t it. We’ve been doing two weekly pub quizzes over zoom, one with my mates, one with DH’s. Usually I’m a useful addition to their group and he’s a useful addition to mine, but this backfires when question setting as I do awfully in the quiz his friends set and vice versa! I’d not have a clue about Brooklyn99 (Netflix subscriber, 31 yr old female, just never seen it) but I’m sure his late 30s mates would do fine.

Now my friend who set an entire quiz round on Spooks the other day - that was annoying

Very torn as if I was asked do you know Brooklyn 99 I'd say yes, but I've never watched it!

If you look at the official demographics for E4 you'll see it's primarily 16-34 year olds. While there'll be plenty of people who watch it outside that age group that's actually the show's target market.

YANBU. For a group of 50 year olds it's not really an appropriate question.

I have heard of it.
But don't know anything about it.

If you asked me to write down the number after Brooklyn that is a TV series, I might get it.

YABU as its very well knwon in my social circle (late 30's/early 40's) but also in this era TV shows are much more spread out across platforms that it could be considered obscure to a large group of people so also, er, YANBU.

(Sorry!)

While there'll be plenty of people who watch it outside that age group that's actually the show's target market.
While I do think it's more popular with millennials, in the US (where its produced), the target demographic is 18-49.

Yes, there's overlap with E4's target demographic, but its not one and the same.

(I do note that the quiz participants were older than 49, but I dont think its unreasonable to include some popular culture from the preceding 10 years in a quiz).

It wouldn't be obscure to me, my circle of friends or my dad (late 60's), however I'm not sure how many people know about Lonely Island... though they should!

Andy samberg is pretty famous I would say

It’s quite obscure in the UK. One of E4’s most popular programmes, but with fewer than a million viewers.

However, quizzes should always have some obscure and difficult questions. Sorts the wheat from the chaff.

Ah it is a well known show. Part of the joy of quizzes is showing off random bits in your head and hearing trivia you wouldn't have guessed otherwise. Everyone has knowledge, sometimes a pub quiz situation is the only time we get to show it off.

However, quizzes should always have some obscure and difficult questions. Sorts the wheat from the chaff.

Oh there were PLENTY of obscure questions in this particular quiz, including sports ones relating to "my" sports (e.g. cricket) or other areas of interest for me that I hadn't got the faintest idea of. Plus one where I had to tell him his proposed answer was technically incorrect (equine anatomy one).

"Bear in mind" - title of your sex tape

Sorry

B99 is not obscure though

“Then a question comes up about a US comedy series called Brooklyn 99, and I immediately said it was too obscure and I'd never heard of it. He insisted on putting it in “

He Insisted On Putting It In = title of your sex tape.

It’s quite obscure in the UK. One of E4’s most popular programmes, but with fewer than a million viewers.
But it was also one of the top ten most watched shows on Netflix in the UK last year (which is pretty good going considering it's been running for years).

I've never heard of it and I do have Netflix.

I’m a big fan, but I’d say it’s pretty obscure. The only other person 8 know who watches it is my brother, who got me into it.

My 12 year old won the family quiz last week - his chosen specialist subject was Brooklyn 99.