You Don't Know Jack (franchise)
In 1991, Jellyvision's former identity, Learn Television, released the award-winning film The Mind's Treasure Chest, which featured lead character Jack Patterson.", a reading motivation CD-ROM game show series covering young adult fiction, targeted to 3rd through 10th graders.The Full Stream edition in The Jackbox Party Pack 5 can accommodate up to eight players plus up to 10,000 additional "Audience" members.The game usually opens with a green room segment, in which the players are prompted to enter their names and given instructions for play.The only graphics are a large "On Air/Stand By" sign in the middle of the screen, visual representations of the players' button assignments, and a box for name entry.(The console versions of You Don't Know Jack 2011 also allows players to make new names in the "Contestants" section.)If one or more players choose the "I don't care" option, the announcer or the host will tell that they refused to enter their names.Additionally in these games, the sign-in screen is famous for an Easter egg where if the player types in the phrase "fuck you" as their name.For example, in the teen spinoff HeadRush, the screws are replaced by pairs of false teeth, so players "bite" their opponent instead.In The Ride, the feature is known as "FlakJack" and allows a player to fire multiple screws into the screen, partially or totally obscuring the question and answers.Others include forcing the players to enter a password, scroll through an excessively long "Terms of Service" form, or change their screen names before being able to select an answer.If no one answers a question, the host may deride the leading player, calling on the audience to shout "Don't be a wimp!The category for this final round—which generally describes the desired correct answers—was determined differently, depending on which version of the game is being played.The money earned or lost was $2,000 in most You Don't Know Jack volumes, $5,000 in HeadRush, an amount set by the players in The Ride and 5th Dementia, $4,000 in You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS and Roku, $1,000 in the Facebook version, and $100, $500, or $1,000 in Full Stream depending on how long it takes the player to press the answer.Before you start a new game, you can choose to listen to You Don't Know Jack staff performing parodies of various radio commercials.The commercials vary in absurdity, selling products such as scented suppositories or foreign language cassettes to help you learn how to speak American.Most You Don't Know Jack games feature recurring characters like "Chocky the Chipmunk", a breakfast cereal mascot with the catchphrase "Pink and tartie!"or "Xenora: Queen of Battle", a parody of Xena, Warrior Princess that gets involved in overtly erotic situations.Others are "The Movie Ending Phone", "1-800-me4-sale", "Cancer Stick tobacco lip balm", "Momma's Pride Human Breast Milk", "Buster's Bait Shop" and parodies of public service announcements from the fictional "United States Department of Condescending Paternalism".[25] You Don't Know Jack XL won two 1996 Spotlight Awards, for "Best Script, Story or Interactive Writing" and "Best Trivia or Puzzle Game".And for that we salute the folks at Berkeley Systems and Jellyvision, game designers who really do know Jack, at least where our funny bones are concerned.[29] You Don't Know Jack: Huge received a score of 4.5 out of 5 from Michael Gowan of Macworld, who wrote that the game "will strain your brain while amusing you with its witty banter and rapid-fire action."[30] In 1998, The Huge collection was named the 48th-best computer game of all time by PC Gamer US, whose editors called it "essential stuff.It featured question cards with a number code on them and a grey button to open a sliding door to show the answers.An actual television show version of You Don't Know Jack had a brief run on ABC in prime time during the summer of 2001.[32] It starred Paul Reubens (the actor and comedian best known for his character Pee-wee Herman) as over-the-top game show host Troy Stevens, with Tom Gottlieb's 'Cookie' as the announcer.[citation needed] A previous attempt had been made by Telepictures Productions and Warner Bros. Television in 1996, produced by Ron Greenberg in Chicago; this version, intended as a weekday syndicated show, was not picked up (after initial tests and run-throughs necessitated a retooling of the show; Telepictures subsequently chose to drop the project).