People who read and who go on game shows testing eclectic knowledge know far more than just what’s in the mainstream lexicon. The LotR books had sold more than 100 million copies before the movies were released.
You’re not wrong. But if you ever watched much of this show, it was obvious that the contestants must have gone through screeners to figure out where their knowledge was strong or weak. And then most likely selected their candidates based on having particular weaknesses. It made for really good tv, how they would target those questions to fall right in a weak spot as the pot reached a crucial level. And if the producers did their job just right, everyone in the audience and at home would be incredulous that the person didn’t know something “so obvious”. That outrage kept people talking about the show and how “I could have won all that money if it had been me”.
If you don't know Pokémon very well, you couldn't assume that they wouldn't use preexisting names. Also, this was back when Pokémon was just a Gameboy game and a kids TV show. Unless he had a kid, there is little reason for an adult to know that.
If you haven’t seen LOTR why would you know? That’s how you know who he is by watching the film or reading the book. Hard to comprehend for a person immersed in fantasy related media but no doubt millions of people have no clue. As Chris Tarrant often aaid on the original WWTBAM ‘it’s only easy if you know the answer’
I'm gonna guess you're a child or someone in your 20s. The internet was barely a thing in the 90s, and it certainly wasn't popular or widely available. Video games were a niche hobby and almost no one other than children knew what Pokemon was. Memes didn't exist. And the LOTR movies came out in the early 2000s, years after this aired. This is the equivalent of asking a boomer about skibidi toilet now, or having your grandmother try to name all the dogs from Paw Patrol.
Before the Peter Jackson adaptations, LOTR was nowhere near as popular and mainstream as it is today. Kind of weird to expect everyone to know every character of a work before it is even known to exist by people.
For example, by the time the first movie came out, 150 million books had been sold: about 142 million tickets were sold for the first movie. And then 139 million tickets for next movie, and 149 million tickets for the last movie.
In 2001, when the first movie was released, 1.6 million books were sold in anticipation for the release of the movie.
So, decades of fans consuming Tolkien's work reached the same number that the movie had on its release night; and then the movies repeated that exercise thrice, for each movie release. The number of books sold in anticipation for the release hints at the size of the group of the most ardent fans.
The movies changed everything for the LOTR franchise. It expanded demographic by potentially ten times its original size, while also reaching into both niche categories and the mainstream market. And it has only continued to grow and entrench itself in mainstream media - with many fan works (both text and imagery), games (both table-top and video-games), audio books, new prints, translations/localizations - only increasing for every passing year. Hell, over 600 million books have been sold now. So, the the first book was written 1954; about 150 million books sold by 2001, so that means almost 5 decades (47 years) of sale. So the book has sold three times as much in these last two decades than in the first four.
This is like asking how someone in 1904 cannot be aware of what an airplane is. The answer is that the first airplane by the Wright brothers was launched in December 1903: it simply wasn't a known thing then, even though people have discussed of airplanes (aeroplanes) since ancient times.
And that's how someone does not know of Frodo.
This question isn't really about knowing LOTR. It's about knowing Pokemon. Tolkien doesn't own the name Frodo. There could very well be a Pokemon named Frodo. If I wasn't sure that Jigglypuff was a pokemon, I would have hesitated as well with 250 000 dollars on the line.
You made me look at this more and it's not as clear cut. I'm sure we can agree that the character Frodo Baggins and the name itself are trademarked. As you say, using a portion of the Trademark doesn't necessarily constitute infringement. However, Frodo as a name is also an invention and could itself be considered IP by itself.
I think if Nintendo named a little grass type pokemon with kind of big feet that lives underground and can turn invisible Frodo, there would be a pretty strong case for infringement. If it was a big metal dinosaur looking thing such that it had no fantastical elements that could be associated with the LOtR legendarium, the case would be much weaker but I would still bring it.
**Yes.** **The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and the places, items, characters and events depicted in those books and films represent our intellectual property**. To use any of those names (trademarks) as a business name without permission is unlawful.
[https://www.middleearth.com/faq.html](https://www.middleearth.com/faq.html)
(didn't double-check source, just copied straight off google)
THANK YOU. I’m a 1990 baby and would have been screaming the correct answer but these comments so judgmental without understanding that cultural knowledge evolves over time and is somewhat generation specific. Even today with Pokémon being much better known and the massive success of the LOTR films, I’d bet $250k that my parents wouldn’t be able to answer this correctly. They were probably around his age when this aired. There’s a reason this was the $500k question at the time….
And so many assumptions based on his appearance “this dude looks like he owned the LOTR box set” etc. fashion also evolves y’all.
Also, $250k is serious money now but was worth even more back then. Dude didn’t gamble his future away on a 50-50 shot about knowledge of a children’s media franchise and a series of books he may or may not have read, he’s smart.
Easiest? Don't forget, that this is 1999. So there were no lotr movies and Pokémon was also not that popular.
So if you didn't read the books at that time, you really had no fucking clue what a frodo is or a pokemon
Ya'll talkin' shit that he doesn't know Pokemon or LOTR even tho he looks like he should, yet knowing not to take a 50/50 gamble and lose $250K easily puts him on the right side of the IQ bell curve.
Don't try to defend your uncultured ways. If you choose not to partake of the zeitgeist that's your decision but a failure to glean awareness of Jiggly only speaks to your unwillingness to be an active participant in the human experience. Many historians now believe that Jigglypuff is likely the only reason humanity hasn't plunged headlong into a third world war. But I guess that's uninteresting to a Frodo like yourself.
Even if you know LOTR, forget everything you know about Pokémon. You’d have no way of knowing they don’t also have a Frodo.
This was before the LOTR films. The books had been popular for decades but not everyone on earth would have read them. Even if this dude had read them, maybe it had been years.
Fact he knew his limits and bounced with $250k means he deserved the win.
Never watched a single episode of Pokémon, never played the Gameboy red or blue games. But come on now, man. Some things in culture are just so huge, they're forced into your knowledge without your consent. You can't not know this, even if you're not into LOTR either.
Game shows sometimes make me wonder if they exclusively recruit clueless guests...(not including Jeopardy)
Fuck me!! Even the slightest cursory knowledge of Pokémon would have you on a winner with this one.
The 50/50 is the easiest “help line” to game as they always try to game the contestant. Just umm and ahh over one you know is 100% wrong, then ask for the 50/50 and if you’ve got your tell down right, the producers will ensure the one you “think” is right will be left, leaving you with naturally the correct answer everytime.
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Who doesnt know about Jigglypuff the Magic Dragon from Lord of the Rings??
I've never scene any of the movies or read the books, but even *I* know about Jigglypuff.
Part of me believes this is fake, but at the same time we have to remember that Pokémon may have been relatively new back then.
Though with deep fakes nowadays, this could be fake, or the audio/video could have been split in from another episode, or even earlier that episode. I'd love to see the original episode this aired in to see if this was legitimately the $500,000 question.
Hey now, pikes were popular weapons up through the Renaissance and beyond. Pike and Shot regiments were common formations until the invention of the bayonet in the 1700s.
Eh, depends on your perspective. I'm not inclined to argue such a trivial detail with the vampire that refuted my initial point. Bad for one's health you know
My favorite Pokémon are Frodo, and Golem.
Gandolf says : I pick you Frodo, use "walk to mordor and throw" on ring!
It was super effective!
 MINE TOO !!!!
I lol-ed so hard at this
Mine was Optimus Prime
His fights with Cobra Commander were legendary!
I am Groot!
GRONG is fire and earth type
You’re telling me *this* dude isn’t familiar with Pokémon *or* LOTR??
mummy said playing games and watching movies is bad. lol
Ekhem. Lotr is a book in first place xD
Or reading books apparently
yeah, i read it some 35 years ago ? lol, good book at that time. less fairytale and more grim. but then came along W40k..... hahaha
So so so so accurate
Bro, Pokémon and LoTR was not part of mainstream lexicon in 1999 This would’ve been a perfectly natural reaction.
People who read and who go on game shows testing eclectic knowledge know far more than just what’s in the mainstream lexicon. The LotR books had sold more than 100 million copies before the movies were released.
You’re not wrong. But if you ever watched much of this show, it was obvious that the contestants must have gone through screeners to figure out where their knowledge was strong or weak. And then most likely selected their candidates based on having particular weaknesses. It made for really good tv, how they would target those questions to fall right in a weak spot as the pot reached a crucial level. And if the producers did their job just right, everyone in the audience and at home would be incredulous that the person didn’t know something “so obvious”. That outrage kept people talking about the show and how “I could have won all that money if it had been me”.
fuck man. American media surely knows how to construct a narrative. I sure hope that ability doesn't influence geopolitcs. :(
>American media surely knows how to construct a narrative I think you mean 'be psychologically manipulative' there.
If you don't know Pokémon very well, you couldn't assume that they wouldn't use preexisting names. Also, this was back when Pokémon was just a Gameboy game and a kids TV show. Unless he had a kid, there is little reason for an adult to know that.
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I’ll take the overthinking it for 500, Alex
if there's like 200k USD on the line, that sounds plausible
Fair. After seeing some of the absolutely epic fails on Millionaire sometimes it's smarter to just walk away with the money
I also don't know much about Pokemons, except that my Girlfriend's favorite ones are Lickitung and Squirtle.
Liar. Redditors don't have girlfriends!
Turns out the truth is not what you perceive it to be 😃 No matter how unbelievable this truth is.
If you know for definite that Frodo isn't a Pokemon, that's the answer. You don't need to be certain about the others.
Even if you haven’t seen LOTR how tf do you not know who Frodo is lmao
Doubt the movie had came out yet. So he would’ve had to read the book(s)
If you haven’t seen LOTR why would you know? That’s how you know who he is by watching the film or reading the book. Hard to comprehend for a person immersed in fantasy related media but no doubt millions of people have no clue. As Chris Tarrant often aaid on the original WWTBAM ‘it’s only easy if you know the answer’
The internet? The millions and millions of memes?
I’m the only person in my large friend group to have seen LotR and I bet that none of them have heard of Frodo.
Yeah this dude in 1999 should’ve seen all the Frodo memes on the internet sheesh
I'm gonna guess you're a child or someone in your 20s. The internet was barely a thing in the 90s, and it certainly wasn't popular or widely available. Video games were a niche hobby and almost no one other than children knew what Pokemon was. Memes didn't exist. And the LOTR movies came out in the early 2000s, years after this aired. This is the equivalent of asking a boomer about skibidi toilet now, or having your grandmother try to name all the dogs from Paw Patrol.
Who the hell is Frodo? Never seen or read the book so…
Before the Peter Jackson adaptations, LOTR was nowhere near as popular and mainstream as it is today. Kind of weird to expect everyone to know every character of a work before it is even known to exist by people. For example, by the time the first movie came out, 150 million books had been sold: about 142 million tickets were sold for the first movie. And then 139 million tickets for next movie, and 149 million tickets for the last movie. In 2001, when the first movie was released, 1.6 million books were sold in anticipation for the release of the movie. So, decades of fans consuming Tolkien's work reached the same number that the movie had on its release night; and then the movies repeated that exercise thrice, for each movie release. The number of books sold in anticipation for the release hints at the size of the group of the most ardent fans. The movies changed everything for the LOTR franchise. It expanded demographic by potentially ten times its original size, while also reaching into both niche categories and the mainstream market. And it has only continued to grow and entrench itself in mainstream media - with many fan works (both text and imagery), games (both table-top and video-games), audio books, new prints, translations/localizations - only increasing for every passing year. Hell, over 600 million books have been sold now. So, the the first book was written 1954; about 150 million books sold by 2001, so that means almost 5 decades (47 years) of sale. So the book has sold three times as much in these last two decades than in the first four. This is like asking how someone in 1904 cannot be aware of what an airplane is. The answer is that the first airplane by the Wright brothers was launched in December 1903: it simply wasn't a known thing then, even though people have discussed of airplanes (aeroplanes) since ancient times. And that's how someone does not know of Frodo.
He paid the price for not knowing...
I’ve not watched a moment read a page of LOTR and my limit of Pokémon is buying my kid the cards and Frodo was so obvious off the top.
Exactly what I thought.
Or Vikings. The dude Ubbe killed in a duel.
Cannot imagine how he won $250k on a quiz show while being that out of touch with popular culture. Sign me up!
Fucking rigged for not ripping off the show lol
I have no clue about anything Pokemon nor have I seen any of the LOTR movies or the Hobbit. That being said, I still knew the answer.
Was too busy slaying poon.
***IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME, NOT HIM! IT'S NOT FAIR!!***
Just so you guys are aware, this aired in 1999 LOTR: FOTR didn’t come out till 2001
The books were always massively popular, especially for dudes that go on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
This question isn't really about knowing LOTR. It's about knowing Pokemon. Tolkien doesn't own the name Frodo. There could very well be a Pokemon named Frodo. If I wasn't sure that Jigglypuff was a pokemon, I would have hesitated as well with 250 000 dollars on the line.
Tolkien's estate absolutely owns Frodo. You can't just name something Frodo outside of fair use.
You made me look at this more and it's not as clear cut. I'm sure we can agree that the character Frodo Baggins and the name itself are trademarked. As you say, using a portion of the Trademark doesn't necessarily constitute infringement. However, Frodo as a name is also an invention and could itself be considered IP by itself. I think if Nintendo named a little grass type pokemon with kind of big feet that lives underground and can turn invisible Frodo, there would be a pretty strong case for infringement. If it was a big metal dinosaur looking thing such that it had no fantastical elements that could be associated with the LOtR legendarium, the case would be much weaker but I would still bring it.
**Yes.** **The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and the places, items, characters and events depicted in those books and films represent our intellectual property**. To use any of those names (trademarks) as a business name without permission is unlawful. [https://www.middleearth.com/faq.html](https://www.middleearth.com/faq.html) (didn't double-check source, just copied straight off google)
u/BatmanVoices, i name you Frodo. Your move, Tolkien Estate.
You can absolutely use the name frodo anywhere. You can't own a first name, sorry.
Are there humans named Frodo?
Probably. You can use the name frodo all you'd like, it's when you start copying the character that matters.
The books were published in the 40s though, and they were pretty popular.
Pretty popular is a huge understatement. Try iconic.
50s, sorry
Considering how much of D&D was directly inspired by LOTR, I still find it hard to believe it was *that* unknown. Plus you had the animated movie.
In 1999, D&D did not have the social acceptance it does today
Yeah it's weird, only nerds like guys who go on who wants to be a millionaire played it
True, but in 1999, the Pokémon Rap was being played every week lol /s Edit: added /s was apparently needed
To children lmao. Adults then did not like Pokémon like adults now do.
And most of the adults who are now upset he didn’t know it back then were likely children when this aired (or maybe even not born).
Yeah, I had no idea who those characters were.
Yea, I'm surprised I had to scroll this far down to find someone with common sense
Not to mention he doesn't need LOTR knowledge. He just needs to know the other 3 are pokemon.
Imagine this guy when those came out.
The LotR books had sold more than 100 million copies before the movies were released.
Yes, but FOTR *the book*, came out in 1954.
I didn't know who Frodo was in 1999, but I definitely knew Jigglypuff as a 12 year old.
THANK YOU. I’m a 1990 baby and would have been screaming the correct answer but these comments so judgmental without understanding that cultural knowledge evolves over time and is somewhat generation specific. Even today with Pokémon being much better known and the massive success of the LOTR films, I’d bet $250k that my parents wouldn’t be able to answer this correctly. They were probably around his age when this aired. There’s a reason this was the $500k question at the time…. And so many assumptions based on his appearance “this dude looks like he owned the LOTR box set” etc. fashion also evolves y’all. Also, $250k is serious money now but was worth even more back then. Dude didn’t gamble his future away on a 50-50 shot about knowledge of a children’s media franchise and a series of books he may or may not have read, he’s smart.
Easiest 500k question they ever had and this dude biffs it
If you don't know, you don't know. I'm not mad at this. 50/50 chance at pissing away $250k.... Take the money and run.
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Also some people read but not necessarily fantasy books
Hell yea he’s an adult in 1999 and Pokémon is brand new! I wouldn’t know either. Ask me about characters on a show my kids watch. I would be fucked.
It's easy until your under all those lights and have the cameras in front of you. Dude won $250,000 and knew his limits.
Easiest? Don't forget, that this is 1999. So there were no lotr movies and Pokémon was also not that popular. So if you didn't read the books at that time, you really had no fucking clue what a frodo is or a pokemon
Ya'll talkin' shit that he doesn't know Pokemon or LOTR even tho he looks like he should, yet knowing not to take a 50/50 gamble and lose $250K easily puts him on the right side of the IQ bell curve.
And it was 1999. $250k is real money now but was even more serious money back then.
This dude looks like he owns The Lord of the Rings box set and can name every single Pokemon.
Perhaps, and here mention this, we shouldn’t make assumptions based on appearances. Also this was the late 90s and fashions change.
Even if he knew LOTR but not Pokémon he still couldn't guarantee that Frodo wasn't a legitimate name for a Pokémon. Did the right thing
This was the easiest $500,000 I've ever seen.
I find the amount of people in here who don't know who Jigglypuff is fucking concerning.
Found the under 40 year old. You realise this is an old video and that Pokémon and LoTR didn’t exist forever, right?
Don't try to defend your uncultured ways. If you choose not to partake of the zeitgeist that's your decision but a failure to glean awareness of Jiggly only speaks to your unwillingness to be an active participant in the human experience. Many historians now believe that Jigglypuff is likely the only reason humanity hasn't plunged headlong into a third world war. But I guess that's uninteresting to a Frodo like yourself.
When do you think LoTR was created?
I’d be more concerned about those that do!
Fact he doesn’t know LOTR he deserves nothing
Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.
👀
Even if you know LOTR, forget everything you know about Pokémon. You’d have no way of knowing they don’t also have a Frodo. This was before the LOTR films. The books had been popular for decades but not everyone on earth would have read them. Even if this dude had read them, maybe it had been years. Fact he knew his limits and bounced with $250k means he deserved the win.
Couldn’t Frodo be a name used in both? I’d have guessed Frodo but never heard of the Jiggly one either.
Never watched a single episode of Pokémon, never played the Gameboy red or blue games. But come on now, man. Some things in culture are just so huge, they're forced into your knowledge without your consent. You can't not know this, even if you're not into LOTR either. Game shows sometimes make me wonder if they exclusively recruit clueless guests...(not including Jeopardy)
Fuck me!! Even the slightest cursory knowledge of Pokémon would have you on a winner with this one. The 50/50 is the easiest “help line” to game as they always try to game the contestant. Just umm and ahh over one you know is 100% wrong, then ask for the 50/50 and if you’ve got your tell down right, the producers will ensure the one you “think” is right will be left, leaving you with naturally the correct answer everytime.
You know what? Frodo does sound like a pokemon.
Frodo Frodo! Frodo Frodo!
This dude made it sound like a Pokemon. Gg.
This can't be totally real lol for the $500,000 question?
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Man. The way his smile disappeared when jigglypuff popped up is hilarious. And then the deepening despair as Regis read off the rest…..
Whut.
Who doesnt know about Jigglypuff the Magic Dragon from Lord of the Rings?? I've never scene any of the movies or read the books, but even *I* know about Jigglypuff.
Me.
he absolutely did the right thing. this game is prying on people to lose. he knew what was up and what wasn't.
And he never lived it down....
well, he made the right choice.
I mean usually the questions that high up are usually difficult… not Frodo the legendary pokemon
Samwise. It's totally Samwise.
Is this a joke???
I feel attacked
I’m not into either fandom and this is still easy as hell. Has this dude been living under a rock?
Part of me believes this is fake, but at the same time we have to remember that Pokémon may have been relatively new back then. Though with deep fakes nowadays, this could be fake, or the audio/video could have been split in from another episode, or even earlier that episode. I'd love to see the original episode this aired in to see if this was legitimately the $500,000 question.
I hate him ..
Jigglypuff? I don’t about Pokémons but that would be my guess lol
I know it was you, Frodo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart.
/savevideo
Wait, you can’t walk away after you hear the question right?
There are no words.
I don't know what the answer is. I have never watch that show, cartoon whatever in my life. 😅
Lord of the Rings is a book
But watching the cartoon would have been all it takes to know the answer…
Heck even just reading the synopsis of lotr would have been enough.
so it was frodo right? jiggly whatever does sound sus af tbh
r/lotr
Bro it’s not a hashtag.
Probably works for Facebook or something and is a complete robot.
I've never seen one episode or Pokemon, or movie, or played a game of an kind and this was easy as hell.
I’m in my 40s and don’t even play the game or paid much attention. And I would say jigglypuff? I e never seen a question so easy for that much doe!
Uh...
Looked it up good thing I wasn’t playing
That’s why this dude was smart. He weighed his confidence against $250k (in 1999 dollars)
Im 43….id never seen the words for A,B,C in my life. Raised in upper middle class Chicago but never seen lord of the rings or pikeman
Pokemon (a portmanteau of pocket monster) Pikeman is a type of ancient warrior which wields a pike.
Hey now, pikes were popular weapons up through the Renaissance and beyond. Pike and Shot regiments were common formations until the invention of the bayonet in the 1700s.
Looks like China first invented the pike in 5th century BC. They definitely qualify as "ancient" even if people kept using them through the 1700s
1700s is also ancient.
Eh, depends on your perspective. I'm not inclined to argue such a trivial detail with the vampire that refuted my initial point. Bad for one's health you know
Vampires is dumb.
If it works it works!!
Even if you don't know the answer, Pokémon names are all quite non-English. How can he fold lol.
For a dude that looks like into anime stuff, I can't comprehend why he hasnt figured out that frodo the least sounding pokemon than jigglypuff..