A man has become the first contestant to answer every question correctly in a popular Polish TV game show that has been running for almost three decades, during which time over 3,300 episodes have been broadcast.
However, after his exploits brought Artur Baranowski to nationwide fame, the story ended in misfortunte after his car broke down while he was travelling to the show’s grand final, which is airing today.
Tadeusz Sznuk czekał 29 lat, całe 140 edycji, 3310 odcinków, aby na własne oczy zobaczyć zawodnika, który osiągnął szczyt teleturnieju zdobywając 803 punkty, czyli maksymalny wynik.
A tymczasem Pan Artur rozbił tylko obóz, bo już w piątek Wielki Finał. Będą cztery cyfry? pic.twitter.com/pKbDgsP60k
— Wiktor Strzelczyk (@wiko_strz) November 22, 2023
Baranowski’s feat came on the show Jeden z dziesięciu (Ten to One), which first aired in Poland in 1994 and is based on the format of British show Fifteen to One.
In an episode broadcast on Wednesday this week, Baranowski, an economist by profession, outclassed his opponents by not making a single mistake and achieving a record score of 803 points. Additionally, in the final part of the episode, he did not allow his rivals to answer any questions.
The questions he answered covered subjects such as philosophy, theatre, sport, music, chemistry and mechanics.
He was asked, for example, how many satellites the planet Mercury has (none); how many mountain peaks are higher than 8,000 metres above sea level (14); and which Dutch philosopher of the Renaissance period wrote In Praise of Folly (Erasmus).
For his achievement, Baranowski won 5,000 zloty (€1,144), a hotel stay, cosmetics and a Swiss watch. He also qualified for the grand final, which will be broadcast tonight and at which the winner receives 40,000 zloty.
However, Polish media report that Baranowski did not manage to attend the recording of the final episode because his car broke down while travelling to the studio from the small village where he lives. The episode will be shown today at 6.55 p.m. on TVP1.
In addition to traditional media interest, Borowski’s feats have also spawned a wave of internet memes, which present him as an all-knowing figure akin to Chat GPT or Google.
Source: Onet
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Main image credit: TVP1 screens
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
