Is That Your Final Answer?

Earlier this week I managed to wake up before noon (I know, it's a pretty big accomplishment) and upon turning on the television, I was greeted by an episode of the daytime version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. I used to watch this show all the time, but ever since Mr. Cooper was a contestant on the show back in junior year of college, it just hasn't been as exciting. How can I care about Bob Bunkerton from Wichita, Kansas trying to win enough money to buy a new home, when I've already experienced the excitement of Mr. Cooper and Meredith Vieira shooting the breeze!?

Anyway, I was watching the show and the current contestant was a 25-ish year old guy who seemed to be pretty intelligent. And then this happened....here was the $1000 question:

Q: When covering a fire with a blanket, you are depriving the fire of...

(A) Oxygen................................(B) Carbon Dioxide

(C) Hydrogen.......................................(D) Nitrogen

After a few moments of silence, the seemingly intelligent guy muttered "Well...I know it's not (C) or (D)." Excuse me!? YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THIS!? How does a person get on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire without knowing facts that every 3rd grader learns, facts like "A fire requires OXYGEN"!!! Just sad. And guess what he did next? That's right, he decided to "ask the audience". Wow, nice job...way to waste your lifelines, moron. I guess I should also be surprised and appalled that only 96% of the audience said "Oxygen" (with 2% choosing "Carbon Dioxide" and 1% choosing "Hydrogen" and "Nitrogen" each); then again, in a previous episode of Millionaire, a good 8% of the audience believed the last word in the title of the popular children's game "Duck, Duck, ____" was "Bear", rather than "Goose". That would certainly change the way the game is played: after little Kimberly taps little Tommy on the head, Tommy gets up, chases Kimberly around the circle, and then mauls her to death.