Before dismissing Netflix’s trivia-based “Bullsh*t: The Game Show” as another passing fancy, remember that it is merely carrying on part of a larger quiz show tradition of lying. If shows like “Twenty-One” hadn’t been exposed for deceiving audiences by feeding answers to some contestants, general knowledge competitions such as “The Weakest Link” and “Jeopardy!” would not be held to regulatory standards prohibiting the rigging of TV contests of intellectual knowledge or skill. This is why we can trust that “Jeopardy!” champions like Ken Jennings or Amy Schneider legitimately earned their winnings.
Oddly, though, such demonstrations of high-level ability elicit disdain from people who associate intellectual prowess with elitism. They prefer people who brag about clawing their way to the mountaintop using nothing but street smarts and guts, and without a fancy education. The honesty of their stories matters less than whether people believe in the myths they spin.
