My name is unimportant, the answer is Ghostbusters 2

April 23, 2009 9:40 AM

Tony wants to know, is it Ghostbusters 2?
posted by piratebowling (66 comments total)

I hate to think how much this guy's phone bill will be.
posted by tapeguy at 9:45 AM on April 23 [1 favorite]

tapeguy: "I hate to think how much this guy's phone bill will be."

Is it... Ghostbusters 2?
posted by defenestration at 9:48 AM on April 23 [7 favorites]

The host's name is "Vaj Guard?"
posted by chococat at 9:48 AM on April 23

You know how there are things on the Internet that just happen to hit you at the right time, place, and frame of mind where all you can do is laugh uncontrollably?

Yeah, this did it for me.

(I think you're wrong, it's definitely Ghostbusters 2)
posted by Dr-Baa at 9:57 AM on April 23

PS, brundlefly, this is for you.
posted by piratebowling at 9:58 AM on April 23

God dammit. Why is this so funny?
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 10:07 AM on April 23 [2 favorites]

Genius.
posted by From Bklyn at 10:09 AM on April 23

This is seriously a TV show in the UK? On the actual TV (or "telly")? I feel a lot better about America right now.
posted by DU at 10:13 AM on April 23 [2 favorites]

Why is this so funny?

Is it Ghostbusters 2?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:13 AM on April 23

How much does it cost to call?
posted by now i'm piste at 10:14 AM on April 23

Ghostbusters 2?
posted by Dr-Baa at 10:14 AM on April 23

Disappointingly little under the 'Ghostbusters2' tag. Come on, MeFi!
posted by Edwahd at 10:15 AM on April 23

About a week or so after I saw these clips, I was up late, watching Gameshow Network and a US version of these kinds of all in quiz shows was on. In a daze, alone, I kept watching. People calling in, not winning money, sucking at answering the totally arbitrary answers chosen by the crew.

Finally, a new category came up, "Films starting with G."

I flipped out. I wanted to scream, I couldn't stop laughing, and NEITHER of my roommates were home for me to verify that this was happening. I just kept hoping the next call would be, "It's TOOOOOOOONY!" I was desperately, DESPERATELY hoping that in this instance, if he had called up, he would have won $500. That is one of those moments in my life that will never be complete. It was a moment that could have reached the platonic ideal of comedy and didn't make it.
posted by piratebowling at 10:16 AM on April 23 [36 favorites]

In the last YT video in the post, the caller ("Tony") is outed as Iain Lee, a contemporary of Ali G and Ricky Gervais.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:16 AM on April 23

Iain Lee's YT channel.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:18 AM on April 23

Is this something I'd have to spell words with -our instead of -or to find amusing?
posted by Burhanistan at 10:23 AM on April 23

Or is it some kind of jokey critique on how the acting and writing in "Ghostbusters 2" was simply "phoning it in"?
posted by Burhanistan at 10:25 AM on April 23

My conscience is having a huge battle right now, because the better half of me says that Iain Lee was being a jackass, but the cynical side of me can't stop laughing at it. You'd think they'd have put up a category where he'd have been correct, just to see if it'd make him stop.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 10:25 AM on April 23

This is seriously a TV show in the UK? On the actual TV (or "telly")? I feel a lot better about America right now.

Oh, it's about a dozen TV shows at any given time, spooling away into the lonely black weekday nights, the hosts buzzing on speed, coke or desperation as they shout and cajole and plead for calls, just one call, just one short call that could net you an easy £100, £200 a thoooouuusand pounds, easy, so easy, hoping they'll get their break into real showbusiness before they have to greet their millionth hopeful insomniac and stretch their millionth grin, hoping against hope, £500, £700, they can do another night of this, one more night until the agent calls, he'll call any time, call any time, £60, £80, £100, just one call and you could be a winner, just one show and you could be a star, just talk and smile and take the call and take the call and take the call, just make the call and be a winner, hey there, how's it going, where you from love, what's your answer, why am I here-... and the next day, the host is new, younger, louder, with a wider grin, fresh, sparkling with energy and promise for another ten days.
posted by teresci at 10:25 AM on April 23 [19 favorites]

This is seriously a TV show in the UK? On the actual TV (or "telly")? I feel a lot better about America right now.

I think these things might be across Europe now and as piratebowling mentioned, they're here now too, mostly taking the place of infomercials. YMMV, though: the German-language ones I saw had attractive hostesses who switched into increasingly skimpy outfits.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 10:29 AM on April 23

DU: yes, they actually are (or were) genuine programmes. Cheap filler for the daytime and small hours, mainly on obscure satellite and cable channels, and handy money makers when you consider that every call could be charged at something like 50p to £1. There aren't so many of them any more after some of them got busted by OFCOM for running questions that were virtually impossible:

Viewers complained after two answers to the question "what items might be found in a woman's handbag" were revealed to be balaclava and Rawl plugs.

posted by Electric Dragon at 10:31 AM on April 23

The host's name is "Vaj Guard?"

I think I saw a commercial for one of those on late-night TV.
posted by rokusan at 10:32 AM on April 23 [1 favorite]

As pranks go, this is pretty good natured. And the gambling channels still get their exorbitant call fee, so for once - albeit briefly - everyone's a winner.
posted by RokkitNite at 10:35 AM on April 23

As an evening progresses I find it useful to use the appearance of these shows (as well as dubious, cheaply made, tacky 'chat line' ads) to indicate to myself when it's well past time to switch off the TV and hit the sack.

"Oops nothing but 24hr news and quiz shows... time for bed!"
posted by stumcg at 10:37 AM on April 23

Help me metafilter! My boyfriend wants to declaw my cat. What do I do?
posted by anonymous to grab bag (2 comments total) [add to favorites]

Is it Ghostbusters 2?
posted by tony at 3:04 AM on April 23 [+] [!]


yeah, it's definitely Ghostbusters 2
posted by name unimportant at 3:10 AM on April 23 [+] [!]
posted by Dr-Baa at 10:46 AM on April 23 [9 favorites]

Help me metafilter! My boyfriend wants to declaw my cat. What do I do?
posted by anonymous to grab bag (2 comments total) [add to favorites]


Circumcise him?
posted by inigo2 at 11:02 AM on April 23

I liked the small Lucifer bit.
posted by prufrock at 11:13 AM on April 23

In one of these, the host starts singing "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. He should really be rapping Bobby Brown's hit single, "Ghostbusters 2".
posted by condour75 at 11:54 AM on April 23

> He should really be rapping Bobby Brown's hit single, "Ghostbusters 2".

I think you mean "On Our Own", and it was somewhat of a jam at the time, and actually has aged passably, if I may offer such ambivalent praise.
posted by Burhanistan at 11:57 AM on April 23 [3 favorites]

This is great. These shows are a scam, so it really is fair enough.
posted by ob at 12:04 PM on April 23

I liked when the blonde got totally stymied by him calling in and just blundered about for 2 minutes. Brilliant.
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:06 PM on April 23

I liked when he kept saying "Ghostbusters 2"
posted by mrnutty at 12:11 PM on April 23 [2 favorites]

Oh god. This SHOULD be horrible.....why can't I stop laughing? Brilliant.

My name is unimportant, the answer is Ghostbuster 2.
posted by Stunt at 12:15 PM on April 23

When he was on with Ali G and Ricky Gervais, Iain Lee cultivated an image of being a smart-arsed prick... which might have contributed to him not achieving their stratospheric success.

He did a great documentary Iain Lee's Brief History Of Video Games where he went round trying to beat the inventors of famous video games at their own game. Unfortunately it looks like it's no longer on youtube.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:15 PM on April 23

To us here in the US, late night quiz shows failed. However, GSN Live currently on GSN is similar to this but is shown in addition to shows.

PlayMania on GSN during the early days was hilarious because no one called.
posted by ALongDecember at 12:20 PM on April 23 [1 favorite]

Wrong! The answer, obviously, is "Ba Ba Booey."
posted by fungible at 12:39 PM on April 23

Note: Ask MetaFilter is as useful as you make it. Please limit comments to answers or help in finding an answer. Wisecracks don't help people find answers. Also don't say "Ghostbusters 2" unless the question is "Which movie had people control the Statue of Liberty with an NES Advantage?" Thanks.
posted by ALongDecember at 12:43 PM on April 23 [2 favorites]

Only Copycat I could find...

so far...
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:55 PM on April 23

Ummm... what?
posted by indiebass at 12:55 PM on April 23

All well and good, Burhanistan, but I'm pretty sure I meant "Ghostbusters 2".
posted by condour75 at 1:40 PM on April 23

PlayMania on GSN during the early days was hilarious because no one called.

Yes, this was indeed hilarious. They were completely unprepared for it, too. They had no filler, and the hosts were not very good at improvising things to say for the minutes on end of dead air between callers. It was one of the few things I've seen on TV other than public access that had a visibly uncomfortable host that didn't do much other than stand around and look awkward.
posted by burnmp3s at 1:48 PM on April 23

Watching these all in a row creates a very werid feeling. I think it's what delirium feels like.


I have to lie down now.
posted by The Whelk at 2:05 PM on April 23

Yes, this was indeed hilarious. They were completely unprepared for it, too. They had no filler, and the hosts were not very good at improvising things to say for the minutes on end of dead air between callers. It was one of the few things I've seen on TV other than public access that had a visibly uncomfortable host that didn't do much other than stand around and look awkward.


As a nocturnal teenager I LIVED for these moments on TV. Seriously, nothing was more fun then watching the scripted slick sheen of TV completely melt away in the early hours. Hosts would bumple and fuckaround and act like goofs. The ABC early news show had what looked like interns shuffling papers around in shortsleeves and holding up the news to read (cause all the fancy equipment was off and the screens where dead and you could see people working in the background, picking up garbage and getting coffee) and just shooting jokes and behaving like human beings cause no one was watching .

But nobody did it better than Mike Rowe
posted by The Whelk at 2:11 PM on April 23 [2 favorites]

"Oops nothing but 24hr news and quiz shows... time for bed!"

Maybe it's just me, but growing up if I ever saw the opening video for Cable in the Classroom I knew I really had to go to bed.
posted by ALongDecember at 2:28 PM on April 23 [3 favorites]

I saw one of these shows on TV in Sweden once, and the question was "What do you do on the weekend?" Some guy called in and said, "celebrate my birthday alone." That's when it was time to turn off the TV and cry myself to sleep.
posted by 1adam12 at 2:50 PM on April 23 [3 favorites]

I worked in England for two years and I can confidently say I had never once heard about anyone called Iain Lee. He is completely self-producing at this point. He is relying on other's gags, and he never had a real career to begin with except for some chance encounters that have now brought your attention.
posted by parmanparman at 3:10 PM on April 23

"Oops nothing but 24hr news and quiz shows... time for bed!"

I really miss a kindly sounding announcer wishing me goodnight before the national anthem... 'and we go over to News 24' is just not the same.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:10 PM on April 23

The way British people say "YouTube" is just delightful. "YewwTube". Lovely.
posted by Awakened at 3:44 PM on April 23

1adam12: These shows are on all the time in Sweden, but the only "episode" anyone remembers is the one where the woman that puked mid sentence.*

*Youtube clip of Swedish woman puking
posted by monkeystronghold at 4:59 PM on April 23 [7 favorites]

This is the funniest thing I've seen all month.
posted by danb at 5:09 PM on April 23

"Ghostbusters 2" is now my default answer for any possible question.
posted by seanbickford at 6:23 PM on April 23

Ghostbusters 2 was my favorite movie for a while as a kid. I must have seen it at least 9,000 times. Gotta love dancing toasters.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:46 PM on April 23

vy am i dripping vis goo?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:54 PM on April 23 [4 favorites]

Every time I find myself completely convinced that American television is the most unholy, most vile and disgusting perversion of everything good and decent and noble about the human spirit...

I see a clip of some English TV show on the internet.
posted by koeselitz at 11:49 PM on April 23 [1 favorite]

Seriously, you people watch this shit?
posted by koeselitz at 11:49 PM on April 23

It's been a long, tragic decline since the interstellar apex of MPFC.
posted by Burhanistan at 11:55 PM on April 23

... of course, I can't imagine you all have anything like that gross malfeasance and utter denigration of all that is pure which is the bizarrely disturbing Burger King / Spongebob Squarepants / Sir Mix-A-Lot commercial over in England, so I suppose we get the 'innovation in creepy and wrong' prize.
posted by koeselitz at 11:55 PM on April 23

KokuRyu: ... Iain Lee, a contemporary of Ali G and Ricky Gervais.

Ah, but aren't we all, really?
posted by koeselitz at 12:06 AM on April 24

I'm kinda disappointed that there wasn't a 'movie sequels starting with g' clip at the end where he answered "war and peace" or something.
posted by empath at 8:33 PM on April 24

I liked when the blonde got totally stymied by him calling in and just blundered about for 2 minutes. Brilliant.

Yes! That was absolutely my favorite bit. I loved how she just kind of stood there, literally speechless for a while until the next call came. And once that was done, she went back to talking about how Tony only likes dark-haired girls. She looked smitten actually.

God this is hilarious.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 10:49 AM on April 25

I loved how she just kind of stood there, literally speechless for a while until the next call came.

I think she was listening to the director in her earpiece. He was probably bringing her up to speed on who this guy is and how he keeps calling in to say Ghostbusters 2. But ya, it looks funny.
posted by chococat at 10:59 AM on April 25

Ah, a little more background on the blonde in the red top.

Her name is Lisa Hanlon. In the first clip, when she asks if the caller was Chris Moyles, this is a reference to this incident apparently.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:08 AM on April 25

I think she was listening to the director in her earpiece. He was probably bringing her up to speed on who this guy is and how he keeps calling in to say Ghostbusters 2. But ya, it looks funny.

On second viewing, yeah, I think you're right. I wish I could find this website of hers where she said she wrote about Iain Lee. All I've been finding is the Chris Moyles tiff.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:09 AM on April 25

I claim this thread and all its riches for the glory of myself and my descendants.
posted by onlyconnect at 5:35 AM on April 26

In the last YT video in the post, the caller ("Tony") is outed as Iain Lee, a contemporary of Ali G and Ricky Gervais.

I thought she said "That's 3133+, isn't it?"
posted by exogenous at 9:01 AM on May 9

Or is the answer Ghostbusters 3?
posted by dersins at 1:47 PM on May 20