You Don't Know Jack
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You Don't Know Jack is a series of computer games developed by Jellyvision. YDKJ, promoted as the games "where high culture and pop culture collide," combines trivia with comedy.
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How it works
One, two, or three players can play the game. The premise of You Don't Know Jack is similar to that of a TV quiz show: players compete for money by answering trivia questions. (Since this is not a real quiz show, however, players do not win real money.) All versions of the game have an off-screen "host" who is voiced by a Jellyvision staff member and referred to by his nickname -- "Cookie" and "Schmitty" are the two most common in the series. However, in YDKJ: The Ride, all the hosts from the previous games, including Nate Shapiro, the original host from the first game, take turns hosting, with the exception of Buzz, the host from the second game who is known for being hated by most fans of the game due to his nasel voice. He keeps getting tossed down a trapdoor.
Most versions of YDKJ offer the choice of playing a 7- or 21-question game; some versions offer only 15 questions, and the 4th volume, The Ride, offers only 13 questions. In a 21-question game, there is a brief intermission after the tenth question.
In most versions, a randomly-chosen player is given a choice of three different categories. Each category has a humorous name that vaguely describes what that question is about. After a short animated introduction (often accompanied with a jingle about the question number), the host asks the question. The first player to buzz in with the correct answer -- using their specified buzzer key on the keyboard -- wins the money for that question and gets to choose the next category. Players lose money with an incorrect guess like they would on Jeopardy!, but not before the host wisecracks about it. (One running gag in the series relates to questions about The Facts of Life: "Tootie" is never a correct answer.)
In most versions, the more difficult questions are worth more money. Two versions (The Ride and 5th Dementia) allow players to buzz in before the question to determine how much it is worth.
In multi-player games, players have the opportunity to "screw" their opponents by buzzing in, typing "S," and selecting one of his or her opponents. That player is then forced to give an answer within ten seconds. If the player who is "screwed" answers correctly, he or she wins the money while the player who "screwed" him or her loses money. Players are only allowed to "screw" once in each half of the game (they each receive a new "screw" in the second half of a 21-question game). The basic dedesign has rarely changed, but is different in some games. For example, in the Ride, instead of just forcing an opponent to answer with a screw, you launch screws into the screen blocking the view of the question, then force them to answer it even if it's unreadable.
Hosts
There have been many different hosts of You Don't Know Jack over the years. The following is a list of hosts and the games they appear in.
- Nate Shapiro, voiced by Harry Gottlieb: Nate Shapiro, the first host of the You Don't Know Jack series is still quite popular today. He is voice-acted by Harry Gottlieb, the C.E.O of Jellyvision. However, in the real world, he doesn't like being in a cramped sound booth, so he's only hosted two games. He hosts the first YDKJ, the Netshow, the tabletop game, and hosts for part of YDKJ: The Ride.
- Guy Towers, voiced by Andy Poland: He appears in YDKJ Sports, YDKJ Sports: The NetShow, and part of the Ride.
- Buzz Lippman, voiced by Peter B. Spector: This host has appeared in two versions: Volume Two and The Ride, which he only plays a bit part. He his disliked by most fans due to his nasal-like voice.
- Cookie Masterson, voiced by Tom Gottlieb: Cookie is one of the most well known of any of the hosts. He is also one of the most popular among YDKJ fans. He hosts in Movies, Volume Three, The Netshow, Playstation versions, part of the Ride, and Offline.
- Josh "Schmitty" Schmitstinstein, voiced by Phil Ridarelli: Josh Schmitstinstein, or "Schmitty", is the most recent of all the American CD-ROM hosts.
- Jack Cake, voiced by Paul Kaye. British fans will remember him as the host of the only UK version of YDKJ.
- Quizmaster Jack, voiced by Kai Taschner, host of the Germen volumes.
Question types
The majority of You Don't Know Jack questions are multiple-choice, with four possible choices. Some questions are fill-in-the-blank, requiring a typed response.
Special questions are also played during the game. Each version of YDKJ has its own different types of special questions, but some of the most common are:
- Dis or Dat: One player plays, with a 30-second time limit. The player is given two categories and seven different subjects, and it is up to the player to determine which category the subject falls under. (For instance, a player would have to determine if Jay Leno was a daytime or a nighttime talk show host.)
- Gibberish Questions: Players are given a phrase that makes no sense, but that phrase rhymes with a more common phrase or title. The first player to buzz in with the correct answer wins the money. Clues are given as time passes, but the amount of money the player can win decreases with the amount of time that elapses. If you get annoyed over not being able to solve it, a word of advice: It never helps to swear at the host. Never.
- Impossible Questions: Impossible questions, which appear in the later versions, are worth very large amounts of money, but as the name implies, are very, very difficult. One who is far behind in the game, of course, can still guess the answer out of the four possible choices.
- Anagram Questions: These follow the same ruleset of the Gibberish Questions, however, instead of trying to figure out a rhyme, you must rearrange the letters given to you into a saying, name, or other group.
- Fiber Optic Field Trip: These only exist in the early games. A random person is called from out of the phonebook and asked to come up with a trivia question. Values and enjoyment vary.
- Pub Quiz: In the British edition, this replaces the Fiber Optic Feild Trips. Instead of calling a random person in a city, here, you call a bartender in a random pub around the UK and ask them to host the question.
- Bug Out: Existing only in 5th Dementia, the goal is simple: Bugs will crawl and display a choice. When you see a choice that doesn't match the clue, buzz it. If you're right, your opponents pay you money. If you're wrong, you pay your opponents.
- Fill in the Blank: Instead of having four answers to choose from, you have to type the answer out.
- Wendithap'n: In this question type, you are given an event, followed by several more events which you have to decide when it happened in relation to the main event: Before, after, or if it never happened at all.
- Pissed About A Question: Jellyvision creates new questions about angry letters they've received from irritated players.
- Road Kill: In this fast-paced question type, you're given two clues. Then a series of words fly by. You have to buzz in when the word the connects the two is on the screen. Pay attention to all the answers for a chance at the bonus at the end.
- Jack BINGO: Here, you are given a five-letter word. Then you're given a series of clues. Your job is to buzz in when the first letter of the answer is lit up. If you collect all five letters, you get the bonus prize.
- The Three-Way Question: Clear your dirty mind! Here, you are given three words that have something in common. Then you're given a bunch of clues that only relate to one of words. Your job? To match up the clues to the proper words.
- Guest Host Question: Someone else hosts and gives a question.
- Super Audio Question: A sound will play, and you'll be asked questions about it.
- Whatshisname Question: In this question, the host is trying to remember a certain someone's name. They'll give you a bunch of clues and you have to buzz in and type in the name.
- Picture Question: In this question, you are shown a picture and then asked a question about it.
The Jack Attack
The last question of each game is known as the "Jack Attack," which is a word association question. A clue is given, and after that a word, phrase, or name that fits the category of that clue appears in the middle of the screen. After that a series of potential matches appears on the screen; each potential match appears for only a few seconds before disappearing.
Players win money if they buzz in when the correct match is displayed on the screen; the match must fit the clue that is given at the beginning of the Jack Attack. An incorrect guess at any time -- even if that player already buzzed in for the same word -- deducts money from the player's score.
The winner of the game is crowned after the seventh Jack Attack match.
Commercials
One of the most memorable features takes place after the game has ended. Before you start a new game, you can choose to listen to the game show stations commercials. These humourous spoofs of real ads are so popular, other games have picked up the design and added fake ads in radio stations and in in-game music. The commercials range in absurdity, selling products such as scented suppositories. ( Break wind without breaking the mood with now Flatuscents. Available in peach, butterscotch, potpourri, seabreeze, and freshly sharpened pencil.)
Versions of the game
The original American version of You Don't Know Jack was released on CD-ROM in 1995. An expansion pack with more questions was released for it, but now the two are sold as one whole program. These sequels have been released:
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 2 (1996)
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 3 (1997)
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 4: The Ride (1998)
- You Don't Know Jack: 5th Dementia (2000)
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 6: The Lost Gold (2003)
Three specialty versions have also been released:
- You Don't Know Jack: Sports (1996)
- You Don't Know Jack: Movies (1997)
- You Don't Know Jack: Television (1997)
Two versions were created with questions from their online game, which has since been discontinued:
All CD-ROM versions of the game can be played on Windows and Mac systems.
British, French, German, and Japanese versions of the game also exist.
Two free online versions of You Don't Know Jack, The Netshow, used to be available but was abandoned due to server space, technical issues, and the fact that, well, the game was free. The last reason was the official reason given by the company. There wasn't enough reason to continue it with new material. The first was normal trivia, and the second was themed on sports trivia.
Two versions were made for PlayStation consoles in the United States: You Don't Know Jack (1999) and You Don't Know Jack: Mock 2 (2000).
There was also a tabletop version of the game, as well as two books of questions, one with regular trivia and one geared to TV trivia.
Jellyvision also developed a computer game called Head Rush (1998), which was similar to YDKJ but was geared toward younger players; the majority of its questions were based on 1990s popular culture.
You Don't Know Jack was made into a TV game show in the summer of 2001, starring Paul Reubens as host "Troy Stevens." The show, which aired on ABC, lasted only six episodes in prime time.
External links
- Official Jellyvision/You Don't Know Jack website (http://www.jellyvision.com)
- The Green Room (http://www.ydkj.org), a fansite devoted to the YDKJ games.
The official unofficial YDKJ message board. It's now official, due to Jellyvision linking to it. (http://www.ydkjforum.cjb.net)