Quiz (2020)

Quiz is an enjoyable dramatization of the Charles Ingram scandal on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It is part courtroom drama, part heist, part game show drama. The genius of Millionaire was always its simplicity: questions, and four possible answers, unlimited time. It was unbelievably suspenseful. Quiz is about appointment TV in an era that no longer has appointment TV thanks to streaming. I readily admit that there is a nostalgia factor to this miniseries.

I really appreciated the different perspectives displayed in the movie, not only from Charles and his wife, but his brother-in-law, and the showrunners. There is a very real community (especially in the land of the pub quiz) of trivia enthusiasts that only formed by word of mouth in the early internet era, before the advent of Facebook and Reddit. And while they didn't break the game, they very cleverly broke the process to get on the game. The show rightly asks whether that is against the spirit of the game, and if that's even a real problem? A show would kill to have a community of devoted fans; publicity of that sort is priceless. In the era of James Holzhauer, is there something wrong with studying for a test of knowledge? Is there something wrong with preparing for a once in a lifetime chance at a million pound prize? And then the central tension of the plot is whether Ingram cheated at all. Episode 2 certainly looks like cheating but Episode 3 throws in sufficient ambiguity to raise serious doubt. You sympathize for this couple who was skewered in the tabloids and by the public. The Army Major is portrayed as a simpleminded guy compared to his wife, but he earned membership in Mensa, he answered many questions without any coughs, and maybe he just got lucky? And didn't he make for great TV?