Party Of Five

Transcript

JONATHAN COULTON: From NPR and WNYC, live from The Bell House in beautiful Brooklyn, New York, it's NPR's hour of puzzles, word games and trivia, ASK ME ANOTHER. Here's your host, Ophira Eisenberg.

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OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

Thank you, Jonathan. You might know our VIP as Dr. Denise from "Scrubs." You might know her as Jane, the control freak from "Happy Endings." Now she stars in the highly comedic role of Nina, a corporate lawyer who after a public nervous breakdown finds herself working as a public defender and it is hilarious. Comics and lawyers I feel like they have a lot of common. A courtroom is much like a standup comedy club. You have to win over a hostile, drunk crowd, you better have a killer closer and either way, your mom wishes you became a doctor.

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EISENBERG: Our VIP is of course Eliza Coupe.

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EISENBERG: Let's welcome our first two contestants, Pranjali Desai and Alla Rubinstein.

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EISENBERG: This game is called "Party Of Five." We're going to give you a series of clues about Bailey and Sarah's relationship problems with a bonus round about Neve Campbell. Are you ready?

PRANJALI DESAI: Sure.

EISENBERG: OK great. No, this game is not about that. It's simple, all of the answers have the number five in them. Pranjali, what is the fifth most important thing in your life?

DESAI: Cumin.

EISENBERG: Cumin.

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DESAI: You know how...

EISENBERG: That's amazing.

DESAI: You...

EISENBERG: What's four? I've got to know what four is if cumin is five.

DESAI: Sleep.

EISENBERG: OK, got it. Sleep then cumin, yes.

DESAI: It's at the top of my mind. We ran out yesterday. When you, you know, lose something you love you realize how important it is.

EISENBERG: OK, stakes are high, Alla. What's your fifth most important thing in life?

ALLA RUBINSTEIN: Probably my computer.

EISENBERG: All right, you know what? That didn't hit the top four. I feel like you live a healthy lifestyle.

RUBINSTEIN: Sometimes I'd like to smash it, so...

EISENBERG: Yeah, just do that. And to help us with our first game is our one-man house band, Jonathan Coulton.

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EISENBERG: OK, here we go. The remake of a classic CBS show from the '60s stars Alex O'Loughlin as a former Navy officer working on the Big Island.

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EISENBERG: Pranjali.

DESAI: "Hawaii Five-0."

EISENBERG: Yes, exactly.

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EISENBERG: Although interestingly enough - and everyone, this is so stupid - that the remake of it is actually "Hawaii Five-0." I swear to God they had to change the name because of some sort of copyright problem. We're giving you the point because the name is "Hawaii Five-0" is stupid.

COULTON: Yeah.

DESAI: Yeah. I guess...

COULTON: It would've been extremely unreasonable to expect you to say "Hawaii Five-0" because nobody says that.

EISENBERG: Nobody says that.

COULTON: That's not the name of the show.

EISENBERG: Book 'em, Daniel.

COULTON: That's right.

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EISENBERG: No one says that.

COULTON: Mitch Albom's best-selling book about the afterlife contains the line all endings are beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.

EISENBERG: And it has five in it.

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COULTON: Just say five and then some other words. You might get it.

EISENBERG: For a hint let's go to our puzzle guru, Mary Tobler.

MARY TOBLER: It follows the journey of someone who encounters a certain number of persons.

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COULTON: Pranjali

DESAI: "Five People You Meet In Heaven."

COULTON: Yeah, that's right.

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EISENBERG: There you go. How did you pull that out?

DESAI: It sounded familiar once I got into it.

EISENBERG: Nice, well done. The movie "Short Circuit" featured Ally Sheedy and Steve Gutenberg. The real star was this robot.

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EISENBERG: Pranjali.

DESAI: Number Five.

EISENBERG: Yeah, Number Five.

DESAI: All right.

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EISENBERG: You guys got - both really excited about that movie. Does that hold a special place in your heart?

DESAI: It's number six.

EISENBERG: It's number six.

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COULTON: There's nothing better than sitting on a couch with a big cup of cumin and "Short Circuit" on the TV.

EISENBERG: That best-selling book, I'll read that later.

COULTON: I'll read that later. I've got a lot of cumin to eat. This hamburger and hotdog franchise got its start in Virginia in 1986.

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COULTON: Alla.

RUBINSTEIN: Five Guys?

COULTON: That's right.

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EISENBERG: This bittersweet 2012 romantic comedy starring Emily Blunt and Jason Segel is about two people who take a really long time to get married.

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EISENBERG: Pranjali.

DESAI: "Five-Year Engagement?"

EISENBERG: Yes.

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COULTON: This '90s song was the claim to fame for German singer Lou Bega, who had a little bit of Monica in his life.

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COULTON: Pranjali.

DESAI: "Mambo No. 5."

COULTON: Yeah, that's right.

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EISENBERG: There's no Ophira in that song. Does he say Pranjali? No he doesn't. It's like the adult version of "Romper Room" where they look through that mirror and never say your name. One of these primary religious responsibilities is daily prayer. Another is to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life.

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EISENBERG: Alla.

RUBINSTEIN: Five pillars? The...

EISENBERG: I think we can go with that, right?

COULTON: Yeah sure.

TOBLER: We'll accept that.

EISENBERG: We know what you're talking about.

TOBLER: We'll accept that.

EISENBERG: Puzzle guru says yes...

TOBLER: Yes.

EISENBERG: Five Pillars of Islam. Five Pillars nails it just well enough.

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COULTON: This is your last clue. It's a well-known slang term for shoplifting.

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COULTON: Alla.

RUBINSTEIN: Five-finger discount.

COULTON: Very fast on the buzzer, yes. That's right.

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EISENBERG: How did our contestants do, puzzle guru Mary Tobler?

TOBLER: They did great. It was a close one, but Pranjali, well done. You are the winner. And we'll see you again at our Ask Me One More final round at the end of the show.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.