With few exceptions, contemporary TV game shows seem to choose contestants on the basis of providing unintentional laughter. Most of the participants seem happily oblivious to that fact, as evidenced by this video collection of the stupidest game show answers of all time. It must have been a Herculean task to cull these clips from such a rich treasure trove, but one of our favorites is the dumb blonde who thinks Europe is country and France isn't. Running a close second is the contestant on Wheel of Fortune who guessed the mystery phrase to be "self-potato"! And don't overlook the Family Feud show in which two entire family teams could not come up with the name of a single country that starts with the letter "A" except America. Doubtless, these folks have promising careers as television script writers. To view click here 

Peter Graves, who became an icon of 1960s TV as the star of Mission:Impossible, collapsed and died at his house from an apparent heart attack yesterday. He was 83 years old. Graves toiled for years as a supporting actor in feature films, having made an impression as a German.spy among American POWS in the 1953 classic Stalag 17. Graves was the star of the popular 1950s TV western series Fury. Both he and his younger brother James Arness, who starred in Gunsmoke, found major success on CBS. Graves played agent Jim Phelps in the hit 1960s spy show Mission: Impossible and the opening of every episode, in which a tape self-destructs after reading him his assignment, remains an iconic aspect of TV history.The role won him a Golden Globe award.  Graves was generally cast as stalwart heroic types, but in the 1980 big screen comedy Airplane! he displayed a deft flair for comedy as the macho airline pilot with a penchant for little boys and gladiators. Graves worked consistently over the decades, also hosting the popular Biography TV series for years. For more click here

UPDATE

Michael Douglas is slated to play Liberace in a big screen bio pic. Ironically, if an openly gay actor were to be cast, his career might be ruined.

By Lee Pfeiffer

In an article for the Times of London, writer Tim Teeman exposes the blatant hypocrisy in Hollywood when it comes to gay rights. The film capital teems with liberal thinkers who pride themselves on wearing red ribbons, raising funds to battle AIDS and giving the world lectures about being tolerant and open-minded about minorities. Yet, as the article points out, those few homosexual actors who have come out of the closet have mostly seen their careers nose-dive. Although studios don't expect anyone to believe that straight actors who play action heroes are really the same as their on-screen persona, when it comes to gay actors Hollywood apparently thinks the audience will confuse their personal and professional lives. The situation is somewhat arguably somewhat different for lesbians, but only because straight males find female-to-female love scenes to be erotic. Meanwhile, gay males in the industry often regret coming out of the closet and have to tolerate the irony of the fact that their straight counterpoints often win kudos and awards for playing gay characters. For the article click here