William
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Post by William on Feb 28, 2013 21:18:11 GMT -5
As stupid as this sounds, this may be why:
On the last taped episode that used Fictional Character (2/20), the puzzle was DAFFY DUCK, to which Pat replied, "Fictional?!" (as in jokingly thinking he was real). This may have turned on a light bulb in Harry's head that these "Fictional" puzzles might disappoint younger children when they learn that these characters are not real, especially when they use puzzles like SANTA CLAUS.
Even though younger children probably don't even know what "Fictional" means, this seems like the only explanation as to why the category was re-worded.
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tenpoundhammer
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Post by tenpoundhammer on Feb 28, 2013 21:50:22 GMT -5
That reminds me of something Pat said on a Christmas Week 1988 episode. The puzzle was DASHER DANCER PRANCER AND VIXEN, and Pat said something like "Don't worry, kids, it was just the closest category we had" to imply that they're not really fictional.
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WayoshiM
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Post by WayoshiM on Feb 28, 2013 21:55:41 GMT -5
Pat's made the same joke a handful of times before in this situation.
The real answer is they're too lazy to come up with proper FICTIONAL puzzles without repeating too much, and want their generic puzzles.
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William
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Post by William on Feb 28, 2013 22:04:16 GMT -5
I've never heard him say that, it just raised my eyebrow that he said it after it's last use.
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MarioGS
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Post by MarioGS on Feb 28, 2013 22:09:31 GMT -5
Wasn't it already confirmed that it was because of puzzles that referred to TYPES of characters like werewolves, goddesses, etc.?
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Guint
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Post by Guint on Feb 28, 2013 22:23:40 GMT -5
See, that makes no sense. I really don't think renaming the category clears up any confusion whatsoever.
I'm all for Wayo's theory.
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jmdarrall
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Post by jmdarrall on Feb 28, 2013 22:30:54 GMT -5
Well, with the recent example of "GREEK GODDESS," I think the best explanation is that some "characters" are believed to be real (like the Greek Gods and Goddesses) or cannot be proven to be completely real or completely false (there are some living people who claim to be vampires or Jedi Knights, for instance). Crazy as it sounds, I think this is the best explanation.
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William
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Post by William on Feb 28, 2013 22:58:10 GMT -5
Kind of like an early episode of Double Dare, when in the bonus round, the subject was "The Devil" and Alex said to the Spoilers that the subject may or may not be a fictional character.
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jmdarrall
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Post by jmdarrall on Feb 28, 2013 23:02:22 GMT -5
^ Exactly. I remember a 1977 episode of that show in which the subject was "WEREWOLVES," and Alex told the Spoilers that the subject cannot be categorized. He explained to the contestant they couldn't fully consider it a character, a person, or a thing.
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Post by djcchs2004 on Mar 1, 2013 0:38:42 GMT -5
Huh, now I know why Fictional is gong. I remember one of Toss-Up puzzles back in 2001 or 2002 (can't remember which year) and the Fictional Characters puzzle was "Tooth Fairy." Pat did made a joke to younger viewers about ignore the category, and tooth fairy is real. I wonder if they did used Santa Claus as "Fictional" back then.
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William
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Post by William on Mar 1, 2013 0:40:23 GMT -5
KRIS KRINGLE was a Fictional Character puzzle in 1980.
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StrangerCoug
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Post by StrangerCoug on Mar 1, 2013 16:25:36 GMT -5
The only thing that makes sense to me regarding simplifying "FICTIONAL CHARACTER" to "CHARACTER" is getting rid of redundancy. I don't remember caring if characters were fictional or not when I was little, but we very rarely hear real people described as "characters" outside of historical fiction. If anything was ever wrong with the categories in terms of catering to younger viewers, I feel a few of them can fly right over their heads. I distinctly remember asking my mother what an UNBREAKABLE PLASTIC SURGEON was, and she responded with a brief explanation of how BEFORE AND AFTER worked.
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tenpoundhammer
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Post by tenpoundhammer on Mar 1, 2013 16:56:24 GMT -5
^ Funny, I also struggled with B&A as a child. The two I remember were PARDON MY FRENCH FRIES and CHARLIE BROWN PAPER BAG.
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