Some Algonquin College students were left deep in thought during New Girl trivia night Thursday evening in the Observatory as they tried to puzzle through questions such as which actor was originally offered the role of Winston, or which three cast members started a New Girl rewatch podcast.
This quiet event tested the knowledge of approximately a dozen New Girl fanatics with very specific and difficult trivia questions.
New Girl is a sitcom series that ran from 2011 to 2018, lasting seven seasons. The show starred the likes of Zooey Deschanel, Max Greenfield and Hannah Simone.
“Throughout the semester, we’ve enjoyed hosting these trivia events for different shows, and New Girl is our final one,” said Amanda Logan of the Students’ Association, the event’s programmer and host. “When selecting which shows are deserving of their own trivia night, we tend to go with what are the most popular shows according to the students. Sitcoms are extremely popular here.”
Students were allowed to cut up in teams of up to four people. The trivia event consisted of four rounds.
The first round was a selection of general questions, which participants answered in short answer form. For instance, students were asked to identify what conspiracy theory Nick believes in. The second round was called “finish the quote,” where you had to fill in the missing words of a well-known quote that a character in the show said.
The third round consisted of identifying the names of characters by their faces. This portion included characters like Abby Day, played by Linda Cardellini, and Paul Genzlinger, played by Justin Long.
The fourth and final round was called “behind the scenes,” where students were tested on facts that went beyond the on-air product. For example, students were asked if they knew which popular 2000s actress nearly got cast as the role of Jess instead of Zooey Deschanel.
As answers were being revealed, sighs were heard around the Observatory, as players wondered how questions that were so obvious were answered completely off the mark.
One pair was left very disappointed by their results in the trivia, despite their huge fandom of New Girl.
“We thought we knew a lot more about New Girl than we actually did,” said Quinn Maloney, a hairstyling student. “We came here with such confidence knowing how much we absolutely adore the show. We’ve seen the entire series three times each, so I really thought we had it in the bag.”
Despite their struggles throughout, New Girl trivia was another opportunity for them to bond over a show that they care deeply about.
“We just love the entire makeup of the show,” said Dominique Ranger, Maloney’s guest. “We enjoy the set of characters that we find ourselves relating to very well. Nick, Winston and Schmidt are definitely our favourites. The overall stupidity displayed by these guys simply makes the show all that more hilarious.”
At the conclusion of the event, the teams with the top three scores received Starbucks gift cards. The winning team got $20 worth, the runners-up got $10, while third place received $5.