My all time favourite is: "In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." - Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Douglas Adams)
You left out "The story so far:" The whole opening of Chapter 1 is "The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." There are also the following lines at the beginning of the book before Chapter 1: "There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another which states that this has already happened."
watching this patiently waiting for "it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possension of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" lol
Ironically the opening to A Tale of Two Cities was actually "bad" but intentionally so. It was making fun of that type of hyperbole which is very obvious if you read the next part of the opening "in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
"The sky was the colour of cat vomit." - Scott Westerfeld, Uglies My English class did a quiz about first lines once. That was one of the more popular ones.
@@shabadoo572Yes! Thankyou. I appreciate your precisely correct answer. Although, the line in question was taken from the novel 'Peter Pan and Wendy'.
I got so excited.. this is such a fun theme.. also I knew all the answers too… I would have been epic at this game… I have to figure out how I can create a party game based on famous first lines.. then organise a party and win like a boss!!
I can't believe that anyone alive (who speaks English) wouldn't know all of these. I also can't believe that there was someone who didn't know ANY of these! To not know fairy tales, classic literature, or pop culture? Not any of them? Inconceivable.
Have you considered the fact that they are comedians on a comedy quiz show and that they may strive to provide humor rather than facts in their answers?
This Christopher Bliss's writing is so funny and ingenious, it's just his acting is annoying and a bit to try-hardy. I think when he drops his over-acting with time (like Russel Kane did with time for example) he's gonna be absolutely brilliant!
Boy did you hit the nail on the head about his acting though! I've already seen a half dozen comedians put on this EXACT SAME CHARACTER and all of them made it a modern marvel of subtlety compared to this guy. It reminded me of that one comedy actor (don't know his name) who spends half his time doing a ham-fisted Ricky Gervais impression. Tough watch!!
Call Me Ishmael one of the worst openers? Probably the most famous opening line ever, and a much discussed one at that. Maybe nowadays with generally low attention spans people need to get instantly hooked or they stop reading. Host is painfully unfunny.
Richard trying not to laugh, is amazing. He is generally so hard to break!!
My all time favourite is:
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
- Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Douglas Adams)
You left out "The story so far:" The whole opening of Chapter 1 is "The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
There are also the following lines at the beginning of the book before Chapter 1: "There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another which states that this has already happened."
All I know is, the answer is 42
watching this patiently waiting for "it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possension of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" lol
I LOVE WHEN RICHARD USES SWEARY WORDS!!
Such rare precious moments
Ironically the opening to A Tale of Two Cities was actually "bad" but intentionally so. It was making fun of that type of hyperbole which is very obvious if you read the next part of the opening "in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
It was nice of Richard to let Gussie Finknottle come on and do this.
Let's get some great first sentences, shall we?
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
(1984)
"It was love at first sight." Catch - 22
"First."
(Best RUclips Quotes)
"Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure." - Camus, The Stranger
"The sky was the colour of cat vomit." - Scott Westerfeld, Uglies
My English class did a quiz about first lines once. That was one of the more popular ones.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. - Pride and Prejudice.
“Let’s crack off!”
Fun fact, "Peter Pan" is the name of the screenplay, the novel is called "Peter and Wendy", so technically, no one got that question right.
Stage play, not screenplay. He appears in a book called The Little White Bird then the play which eventually became the novel Peter pan and Wendy.
Reading is HARD
@@shabadoo572Yes! Thankyou. I appreciate your precisely correct answer. Although, the line in question was taken from the novel 'Peter Pan and Wendy'.
You might be very happy with a little game show called "Um, actually...", to which your comment fits perfectly lol.😂
@@singenstattatmen5096 I will second the recommendation for Um Actually
"Tell me about the rabbits, George. "
In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf.
"Sadly, this is the show"
Apparently if you listen to a book, there's no way to know what the first sentence is.
Harry potter and the Wizards was my favourite one of the series
Why isn't Ayoade playing?
Strange, I thought these were all quotes from the Oxford Book of Literary Quotations.
Too bad they didn't use the first sentence from The Stranger by Albert Camus.
I got so excited.. this is such a fun theme.. also I knew all the answers too… I would have been epic at this game… I have to figure out how I can create a party game based on famous first lines.. then organise a party and win like a boss!!
The stupid thing is that I've never read any of these but STII:TWOK deals with two of them.
I thought this channel's name was Rodney?
"Eh? Ow long ya been called Rodney then Dave?"
@@michaelstamper5604 lol :)
was it originally called harry potter and the philosopher's stone and then switched to "and the sorcerer's stone"
Switched to Sorcerer's Stone for Americans. They didn't think Philosopher's Stone would play well with us. Probably right too.
@@TroubleToby3040 had a feeling ;)
No I'm pretty sure it was always called Harry Potter and the Wizards.
Why was that guy dressed at Bernie from Weekend at Bernie's?
Bro looks like Keegan Key dressed up as a nerd
Suggestion to the chapter namer, don't name them after the answers. #Spoilers
Carrie threw the last one. She knew it.
I'm sad for the person who knew none of them.
A bit sad as Tanya can't spell her name
English schools
I can't believe that anyone alive (who speaks English) wouldn't know all of these. I also can't believe that there was someone who didn't know ANY of these! To not know fairy tales, classic literature, or pop culture? Not any of them? Inconceivable.
Seems like we've got ourselves a book nerd over here.
C'mon boy's, let's get 'im
Have you considered the fact that they are comedians on a comedy quiz show and that they may strive to provide humor rather than facts in their answers?
@@twowheellatteclearly that was not the reason
I didn't know Hansel and Gretel and I agree with Richard that it wouldn't count.
I thought it was either Hansel and Greta or Red Riding Hood
Peter and Wendy
Who is this guy? I’ve never seen him before, I love his delivery! Yes I know who richard and bob are, I mean the guy asking the questions
Christopher Bliss!
Christopher Bliss is the character, Rob Carter is the comedian
This Christopher Bliss's writing is so funny and ingenious, it's just his acting is annoying and a bit to try-hardy. I think when he drops his over-acting with time (like Russel Kane did with time for example) he's gonna be absolutely brilliant!
Boy did you hit the nail on the head about his acting though! I've already seen a half dozen comedians put on this EXACT SAME CHARACTER and all of them made it a modern marvel of subtlety compared to this guy. It reminded me of that one comedy actor (don't know his name) who spends half his time doing a ham-fisted Ricky Gervais impression. Tough watch!!
How embarrassing that the contestants actually had to struggle with these ridiculously easy questions. We're doomed.
These questions perpetuate the Anglo-Saxon hegemony
Well, that was boring.
The quizzer guy is a dud sorry
This guy was a pain to watch...
Why's everyone laughing? He's a not very funny comic character who quickly outstays his welcome.
Maybe everyone has a different opinion?
It's almost as if comedy is subjective and people like different things. Crazy shit, I know.
No black authors or readers
A bit sad
I can't believe you've cancelled this programme, yet you continue to 'crack off' with the stupid Richardsons thing.
Is this an anti-show?
Call Me Ishmael one of the worst openers? Probably the most famous opening line ever, and a much discussed one at that. Maybe nowadays with generally low attention spans people need to get instantly hooked or they stop reading. Host is painfully unfunny.
You do realise that it was a joke snd he was being ironic… playing a stupid role? Mayhap you yourself are being meta-ironic? Methinks not though.
In the beginning ..... is the most famous . Of those given here I would have thought - it was the best .... though Call me ... is up there
Looking for more Christopher Bliss now
He's multifaceted, he is!
Baldy in the middle truly is a thicko
Between you and Bob Mortimer there's only one thicko and it's not the baldy
You do not talk about a man who does his own dentistry that way. Beware. He will show up in your garden!
@shantayedincsoy1611, but he would ask your pardon.
He wasn't being sincere when he said it was one of the worst. If you missed that, it's no wonder that you didn't find him funny