• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content

Home> Entertainment

Published 18:56 9 Jun 2023 GMT+1

Man struggles with 'easiest' $500,000 Pokemon question on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire fans think a contestant missed out on the 'easiest' $500,000 for not knowing his Pokemon.

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Back in 1999 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire viewers were screaming at the television as one contestant struggled to answer the 'easiest' $500,000 question ever.

Toby Moore - a statistician from Tulsa, Oklahoma - featured as a contestant on the US primetime version of the show on November 17/18, 1999.

Toby was stuck.
ABC

Advert

Having already answered 13 questions in a row correctly, Toby was sitting comfortable with $250,000 in the bank.

Remember, that a quarter of a million was worth even more back then, due to inflation.

Now, with a possible $500,000 on the line, Toby was tasked with answering the following question, about Pokemon.

Which of the following characters is not considered a 'Pokemon'?

A: Jigglypuff

Advert

B: Frodo

C: Squirtle

D: Pikachu

After deciding to use a '50:50 lifeline', Toby was down to two options:

A: Jigglypuff

Advert

B: Frodo

After minutes of deliberation, Toby decided to call off his bets and take home the $250,000.

It seems that the contestant had never watched an episode of Pokemon, or read 1937 classic, 'The Hobbit'.

Notably, The Lord of the Rings was a follow-up from that book and the film hadn't come out until 2001.

The Frodo we all know and love today perhaps was not as well known in 1999.

Advert

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire viewers were screaming at the television.
ABC

Incase you haven't already figured it out, the answer is B: Frodo.

Years later, this moment is considered a classic in US primetime history and some viewers still think it's 'one of the easiest questions ever'.

"This is one of the easiest f**king answers to a $500k question I've ever seen," commented one viewer.

"Either this guy never had a childhood or has kids who played this.

Advert

"It's insane; this is so freaking easy. This is a $500 question. What's crazy is that Regis Philbin was like, 'Omg, fine,' at the end, because he knew it was such an easy answer that he didn't do it."

Another added: "Are you serious? This is like a $1,000 question. Or have your kid as a phone a friend."

However, some did have a little sympathy for the contestant, as one person pointed out: "Frodo wasn’t much of a household name back then. The Lord of the Rings movies were from 2001-2003."

Someone else wrote: "Kids had the knowledge, the adults did not. So Regis was right when he said every kid in the country (myself included) was screaming at the TV when this question came up LOL."

Featured Image Credit: ABC

Topics: TV and Film, US News, Lord Of The Rings, Social Media

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

X

@Anish_Vij

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
4 hours ago
6 hours ago
  • 3 hours ago

    People concerned over what Justin Bieber posted after wife Hailey deleted 'savage' comment over his Father's Day post

    "I don't know why this is even being put in public"

    Entertainment
  • 4 hours ago

    Why Channel 4 can showcase graphic sex on TV as man threw up over letting partner sleep with someone else

    Channel 4's Open House is unafraid of showing full frontal intimacy

    Entertainment
  • 4 hours ago

    Ben Stiller originally apologised for character in huge movie after it was 'initially boycotted'

    It's the most controversial movie in his filmography

    Entertainment
  • 6 hours ago

    Netflix fans given less than a week to watch ‘addictive’ BBC drama hailed as one of the most realistic ever

    Netflix fans have less than a week

    Entertainment
  • Amazon release epic first trailer for Rings of Power season two
  • The 1% Club fans divided over 'sneaky' final question as contestant wins huge jackpot
  • Man who didn't look at a screen for two weeks explains shocking way it changed his life
  • Man who accidentally live streamed missing 17-year-old had no idea who he was until he checked his emails