Episode 001: Jimmy Pardo & Beth Littleford

== Description ==
It's the inaugural episode of Go Fact Yourself!  Hosts J. Keith van Straaten and Helen Hong test whether comedians Jimmy Pardo ("Never Not Funny") and Beth Littleford ("Dog with a Blog") are as smart as they think they are about topics they love. For Jimmy, it's 1980s music, the band Chicago and Post-90s Chicago White Sox, while Beth professes in-depth knowledge of old school funk music, artificial sweeteners, and therapy. Beth and Jimmy may say they know about these subjects, but DO they? To find out, J. Keith and Helen enlist the help of actual experts, and pepper them with fascinating, but useless, trivia questions about things they might know and things they should know along the way. 
== Rounds ==
=== What's The Difference? ===
Subject: The Best
==== Optimal vs Optimum ====
Jimmy's Response: Agree with Beth
Beth's Response: Optimum is a noun, optimal is an adjective
Answer: Optimal is an adjective, optimum is a noun; optimum can also be an adjective
Point totals at the end of this round: Jimmy 2 | Beth 2
=== Trivia ===
==== Beth Littleford ====
===== Topics =====
* Old School Funk Music 
* Artificial Sweeteners 
* Therapy 
#	Question 	Response 	Answer 	Hint
1	What is the world's bestselling diet soda? 	Diet Coke 	Diet Coke	None Taken
2	What artificial sweetener was banned in 1981 as a food additive, but was still available to be purchased in pharmacies as long as it had a warning label? 	Aspartame 	Saccharin	None Taken
3	What artificial sweetener was accidentally discovered in 1965 when scientists were developing an anti-ulcer drug? 	Aspartame 	Aspartame	None Taken
4	When Nutrasweet was introduced in 1984, what confection containing the sweetener did the manufacture mail out to millions of U.S. households? 	Round mint	Gumball 	"The item is round"
5	In a 1980 movie, one of the main characters thinks she's killed her boss by confusing rat poison with an artificial sweetener called Skinny & Sweet. What's the movie?	9 to 5 	9 to 5 	None Taken
===== Cluster Fact =====
Context: What are the best selling brand names for each of these chemicals?
#	Question 	Response 	Answer
1	Aspartame	Nutrasweet	Nutrasweet
2	Sucralose	Splenda 	Splenda
3	Stevia 	Truvía 	Truvía
Expert: Food scientist and author Dr. Steven Witherly
Point totals at the end of this round: Jimmy 2 | Beth 8
==== Jimmy Pardo ====
===== Topics =====
* 1980s Music 
* The Band Chicago 
* Post-90s Chicago White Sox 
#	Question 	Response 	Answer 	Hint
1	What 1980s album was the bestselling album two years in a row? 	Michael Jackon's Thriller 	Michael Jackon's Thriller 	None Taken
2	What singer-songwriter hosted the Grammy Awards 6 times (including 4 times in the 1980s) despite never winning a competitive Grammy until after he died? 	John Denver 	John Denver 	
"The first two times, he hosted in the 1970s and also he's considered a bit of a country-folk singer"
3	In 1982, a song written by a man who was 95 years old at the time became an international smash, making him the oldest living songwriter to have a top 10 hit. Who wrote that song?	None 	Irving Berlin 	"The artist has one name"
4	Of the five James Bond movies released in the 1980s, which one's theme song had the most success on the pop charts? 	a-ha "The Living Daylights"	Duran-Duran "A View to a Kill"	None Taken
5	What music star wrote hit songs for other artists in the 1980s under the pseudonyms "Jaime Star","Joey Coco", and "Alexander Nevermind"? 	Prince 	Prince 	None Taken
===== Cluster Fact =====
Context: An artist had a Top 40 song in 1981, and that probably would have been their best known work, because that same year, another song of theirs peaked at number 79. But then, six years later, that song that had peaked at number 79 rocketed to number 1 thanks to an association with a Hollywood couple. It regained its popularity thanks to being featured repeatedly on a TV show.
#	Question 	Response 	Answer
1	Name the artist 	Christopher Cross	Billy Vera & The Beaters
2	Name the #1 song 	Think of Laura 	At This Moment
3	Name the Hollywood couple	None 	Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan
Expert: Singer-songwriter and and music historian, Grammy winner Billy Vera.
Point totals at the end of this round: Jimmy 5 | Beth 8
=== Fast Facts ===
# 	Guest	Question 	Response	Answer
1 	Beth 	It takes the Earth 1 year to travel around the sun 	True 	True
2 	Jimmy	There are 8 continents on Earth 	False 	False
3 	Beth 	The Houston Astros used to be named the Colt 45s 	True 	True
4 	Jimmy	Advertising icon Betty Crocker was a real person 	True 	False
5 	Beth 	Kiwi fruit grows in bunches 	False 	False
6 	Jimmy	Greta Van Susteren in a Scientologist 	True 	True
7 	Beth 	Neither of Benedict Cumberbatch's parents use the last name	True 	True
8 	Jimmy	Burt Reynolds turned down the role of Han Solo 	True 	True
9 	Beth 	Bernie Sanders is Catholic 	False 	False
10	Jimmy	Levi's sells a line of red velvet jeans called cake 	False 	False
Point totals at the end of this round: Jimmy: 9 | Beth: 13
== Promotions ==
Where to find Beth Littleford: "Look up my name on your DVR"
Where to find Jimmy Pardo: jimmypardo.com or nevernotfunny.com
Where to find Billy Vera: billyvera.com Category:Episodes