You Don't Know Jack (commonly abbreviated as YDKJ) is a recurring game series developed by Jackbox Games, back when they were formerly known as Jellyvision Games.
YDKJ is now one of the most successful interactive franchises of all time, with over a dozen products spanning CD-ROMs, console titles, online versions, books and one short-lived television show starring Paul Reubens on ABC. The franchise has won over 50 major awards within the software and design industries. In 1996, competing against all software released in the previous year from companies such as Adobe, Macromedia, and Electronic Arts, YDKJ won both the 'Most Innovative Interface' and 'Best Overall Interface' at Apple Computer's distinguished Human Interface Design Excellence Awards.
History[]
In 1991, Jellyvision's former identity, Learn Television, released the award-winning film The Mind's Treasure Chest, which featured lead character, Jack Patterson. When Learn Television sought to use new multimedia technologies to create a more active learning experience, the company teamed up with Follett Software Company and developed "That's a Fact, Jack!", a reading motivation CD-ROM game show series covering young adult fiction targeted to 3rd through 10th graders. The game would give a title for a child to read, and then ask questions related to that title.
The idea for You Don't Know Jack began while That's a Fact, Jack! was still in development. The game's title comes from the less vulgar version of the phrase "You don't know jack shit."
Gameplay[]
The You Don't Know Jack series is a trivia game, but with questions delivered in a way where "high culture and pop culture collide!" In other words, instead of asking questions and answers in a straight forward manner, they are asked in a roundabout sense that ties in a completely unrelated subject to mask the original question and answers. Players that are right gain money; those that are wrong lose money.
Early games in the series allowed players to choose from three categories, with each question being a different monetary value. Some games functioned more linearly and had episodes that play preset questions one after the other. You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream is unique in that it uses the linear format, but the questions are usually randomized save for a few instances.
Most games also have a "Screw Your Neighbor" feature, where-in a player can "screw" one of the other players and force them to answer the question, even if they don't know the answer. Some games have slight variations on this, such as You Don't Know Jack Volume 4: The Ride allowing players to fire screws into the screen and obscure the question and answers, and Full Stream changing the screw functions entirely to affect everyone - including the audience.
There have been a few consistent rounds and round types that have appeared across multiple games in the series. These range from Dis Or Dat, where you categorize items into two seemingly unrelated groups; and the Gibberish Question, where a nonsense phrase is read out that rhymes with something more well known and players have to guess it.
Question Types[]
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Anagram Questions | These exist only in 5th Dementia, The Lost Gold, and its German counterpart Vol. 4 (as Buchstabensalat, meaning “letter salad”) and follow the same rules as the Gibberish Questions; however, instead of trying to figure out a rhyme, players must rearrange the letters given into a saying, name, or another group (as in the example of "frog ladder" being an anagram of "Gerald Ford"). Unlike in other question types requiring a typed-in answer, the answer to an Anagram Question must be spelled exactly right to win the money. This type of question has appeared in the Facebook version, as well, with the difference being the players are given four choices. |
| Binjpipe Recommends | This only exists in Full Stream. A question is based on the genre, subject(s) or rating of a movie or TV show that is recommended by Binjpipe, presumably influenced by your prior "viewing choices" or internet research as referred to in the question. |
| Bug Out | This exists only in 5th Dementia. The goal is simple: Bugs will crawl and display a choice. When you see a choice that does not match the clue, buzz in. In a multiplayer match, if you are right, your opponents pay you money, but if you are wrong, you pay your opponents. |
| Can You Remember? Question | Similar to a "Fill in the Blank", but I'll give out clues to what I'm thinking about. |
| Celebrity Collect Call | These exist in Vol.2 only and follow the same basic format as the Fiber-Optic Field Trips. The host calls a celebrity who is asked to come up with a question. Celebrities include Tim Allen, Florence Henderson, and Vanessa L. Williams. Sometimes, the conversation between the host and the celebrity lasts a very long time. |
| Cookie's Fortune Cookie Fortunes (with Cookie "Fortune Cookie" Masterson) | This exists in You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, the Facebook version, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015. This mini-round appears randomly and includes trivia questions inspired by cliche fortune cookie messages that Cookie Masterson receives. For example, the fortune "You have a magnetic personality." leads to a question regarding which metal-based fictional character might be most attracted to him. |
| Data Mining | This only exists in Full Stream. A selection of a well-known personality's search history, in the form of queries or statements, are read to the players, who then have to choose the correct person the searches came from. For example, the searches "Directions to get around that track", "Is 'I ain't no' grammatically correct?", and "Why do these bananas taste like [REDACTED]?" would belong to Gwen Stefani (referencing lyrics from her song Hollaback Girl). Data Mining is a spiritual successor to Funky Trash. |
| DisOrDat | This exists in all versions except Vol. 1 and Sports. Only one player plays the DisOrDat with a 30-second time limit (in earlier games, this is played by the player that got the question right, in later games, this is played by the player with the lowest score). The player is given two categories and seven different subjects, and it is up to the player to determine which category the subject falls under (or, in some cases, whether the subject fits both of the two categories). For example, the player might have to determine if Jay Leno was a daytime or a nighttime talk show host, if orecchiette is a type of pasta or a parasite, or if "Urban" is the name of a Pope or a Britney Spears song. Money is added for every correct answer, and deducted (or stolen by the other player(s) in the offline version of You Don't Know Jack 2011, Roku, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015) for every wrong answer, as usual; any questions not answered before the 30 seconds expires are treated as wrong, and penalized accordingly. In Full Stream, all players play the DisOrDat simultaneously with a 5- or 10-second time limit for each subject. |
| Elephant, Mustard, Teddy Roosevelt or Dracula? / Kangaroo, Peanut, Albert Einstein or Uranus? / Octopus, Coffee, Queen Elizabeth or Frankenstein? | First appeared in the iOS and Facebook versions, questions in this category always have the same four answer choices: Elephant, Mustard, Teddy Roosevelt and Dracula. The question is posed in definition form, such as "Could be considered a Bull Moose". The player must decide, of the four answer choices, which one fits the definition. In this case, the answer is Teddy Roosevelt; he ran for president in 1912 as the Progressive Party's candidate, and his party was nicknamed the Bull Moose Party. The concept is the same in You Don't Know Jack 2015 with Kangaroo, Peanut, Albert Einstein, and Uranus, and in Full Stream with Octopus, Coffee, Queen Elizabeth, and Frankenstein, which could be either the monster or the Doctor (and is specified in the question's animation). |
| Fiber-Optic Field Trip | These only exist in Vol.1, Sports, Vol.2, and Movies, and only appear in full-length (21-question) games. A random person is called from out of the phonebook and asked to come up with a trivia question. Fiber-Optic Field Trips are initiated during the first half of the game, and the trivia question hosted by the special guest is the first question of the second half. |
| Fill in the Blank | Instead of having four answers to choose from, you have to type the answer out. |
| Funky Trash | This exists in You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, the Facebook version, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015. The host roots through the trash of a famous person, and the players must identify that person by his or her trash. For example, a World War I ambulance driver's license, cigar butts from Cuba, and a can of ointment for 6-toed cats would be clues to Ernest Hemingway. Although 2011 was the first game to make this a special question type, “Whose trash is this?” questions had appeared in many entries before. This was succeeded by Data Mining in Full Stream. |
| Gibberish Questions | These exist in all versions except HeadRush, the PlayStation versions, the website, You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, Roku, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015. Players are given a mondegreen: a nonsensical phrase whose syllables rhyme with a more common phrase or title. For example, "Pre-empt Tires, Like Crack" could be the gibberish to The Empire Strikes Back. The question has a time limit of 30 seconds, and the first player to buzz in and type the correct answer wins the money. Clues are given as time passes, but the money decreases by 5% of the initial starting value with every 1.5 seconds that elapse. The money could go unrewarded if the amount goes down to $0. In The Ride, the money decreases steadily over the entire 30 seconds. This question is famous for an Easter egg where if the first player types in the phrase "fuck you" ("fuck off" in the British version, and "Arschloch" in the German versions) as the answer, the host will respond annoyed and will either deduct $50,000 from their score or reset their score to $0 (whichever punishment is bigger), may deduct an additional $100,000 from their score, and may change their name. If another player does it, the host will respond by chastising that player for a lack of originality, but will not deduct any money from their score or change their name. If a third player does it, the host will declare the game to be over and leave, automatically closing out the software. If the player presses any key while the host is talking, the host will say an extra statement regarding that the game is ending regardless of what the player does before the software closes out. This Easter egg varies in later volumes of the game. In the 5th Dementia, the host will respond by deducting $100,000 from the first player that typed the offending answer and replacing the player's spaceship avatar with a bare foot. If another player does it, the host will deduct $2 from that player's score. If a third player does it, the host will declare the game to be over and leave, automatically closing out the software as usual. No additional dialogue from the host is provided from pressing any keys. Furthermore, no name change is given to any of the players. In "The Lost Gold", the host will respond by deducting $52,681 from the first player that typed the offending answer and changing the player's name to "Arschloch" (a hold-over from the German Vol. 4, where the easter egg is triggered by typing "Arschloch"). If another player does it, the host will deduct $92,681 from that player's score, but will not change their name. If a third player does it, the host will declare the game to be over and leave, but instead of forcing the software to close out, the host will take the players to a joke mini-game called "Gorilla Hunter"; the player is given six bullets, but there's nothing to shoot at and the gun cannot be reloaded, forcing the players to exit the game manually through the pause menu. In the Facebook version, the host mocks the player saying that he can say the "nasty words" as well and proceeds to say a lot of them bleeped-out of context; no extra money is lost other than the normal wrong answer penalty. In Full Stream, after the answer is revealed, the host will beam an Easter egg to the device of any players who entered in “fuck you” which explains the history of the Easter egg to them, with the host assuming they entered it in only for the Easter egg, and like in the Facebook version, no extra money is lost. |
| Guest Host Question | Someone else hosts and gives a question. Only appearing in Vol. 3, The Ride, the German counterparts of both (as “Gastmoderator”), and Full Stream, the last of these as a "Special Guest" Question with Jimmy Fallon (which bleeds over into the rest of that particular game). |
| HeadButt | Only existing in HeadRush, these also follow the rules of the Gibberish Questions. Players are given a word equation such as "color of pickles + opposite of night" and have to put it together to form a name or other group (in this case, the colour of pickles is "Green", and the opposite of night is "Day", so the answer would be "Green Day", the name of a band). |
| Impossible Questions | Only appearing in Vol. 3, its German counterpart Vol. 2 (as die total unmögliche Frage meaning “the totally impossible question”), the PlayStation ports of both, and The Lost Gold, Impossible Questions are worth very large amounts of money, but as the name implies, they are almost always very, very difficult. An example of an Impossible Question is one which asks the players what colour eyes the bald guy has on the box of You Don't Know Jack Sports, the number of years between the invention of the can and that of the first practical can opener within a two-year range (high or low), what number between one and nine Cookie is thinking of, or what the third word is in the third scene in the third act of Richard III. In a case of double-bluffing, one question, 'What has four legs, a tail, and barks?', has the category 'It's a Dog!' and the answer 'a dog'. The Lost Gold’s variation of this question was not formally named, and consisted of Pirate-oriented questions, for example, "What was the name of Blackbeard's Parrot?". This was connected to the game's plot; as explained in the game's introduction, a pirate has been cursed to haunt the game until its players accrue enough 'booty'. The pirate has thus secretly arranged the pirate-themed questions, which he believes are still common knowledge, in an attempt to speed up the process, not realizing how obscure and archaic his knowledge has become. |
| It's The Put The Choices Into Order Then Buzz In And See If You Are Right... Question | This exists in You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, the Facebook version, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015. The host gives three or four items and the player has to buzz in to the corresponding correct answer. The question is multiple choice, meaning that, technically, the player does not have to put the answers into the right order themselves but rather just pick the right order out of the four possibilities. For example, the player might have to determine the order in which the St. Louis Arch, the McDonald's Golden Arches, and the Archie comic book series debuted. Answering correctly awards the player an extra $1,000, however, the extra money is not lost if a player is wrong. |
| Jack BINGO | This only exists in The Ride. A five-letter word related to the episode's theme is first given (for example, W-I-M-P-S in an episode about gym class). A clue to an answer is provided, after which the letters in the given word are randomly lit. The players must buzz in when the first letter to the clue's answer is lit. (In the example, the clue may be "SNL's Doug and Wendy ______"; the player rings in when the "W" is lit for the word "Whiner.") $500 and that answer's letter is given to the first player who is correct, and the next clue is given; a $ |
| Nocturnal Admissions (with Cookie Masterson) | Only existing in You Don't Know Jack 2011, Cookie Masterson tells the player about a dream he had, which is based on a movie. The player then has to tell which movie that dream was about. The characters of the movie are replaced by Cookie himself, his cats and his mother, which often makes it difficult to figure out the correct one. For example, Cookie tells of a dream in which he transferred his mind into a fake cat body so he could learn the culture of his two cats. He does this to help with his mother's research, but falls into love with the cat world and is therefore attacked by his mother's troops. The correct answer to this dream would be James Cameron's Avatar. This question type does not appear in the DS version of the game. |
| Picture Question | Similar to the Super Audio Question, but based on a picture rather than a sound. |
| Pissed About A Question | A special kind of sequel question. This exists in both Offline volumes. Jellyvision creates new questions about angry letters they have received from irritated players. Each of these questions is based upon a letter from a viewer who complained about the previous question. |
| Player's Choice | This only exists in Full Stream. At a moment of the game, the Binjpipe host asks players, including the audience, to vote between two question categories. The question with the highest percentage of the votes is the question that will be asked. (In case of a 50%/50% tie, the Binjpipe host chooses between the two, presumably at random.) Examples of choices include: "An easy question" or "A hard question", and "A question with airhorns" or "A question ABOUT airhorns". |
| Pub Quiz | This replaces the Fiber Optic Field Trips and Celebrity Collect Calls in the British edition of the game. Instead of calling a random person in a city, the host calls a bartender in a random pub within the UK to host the question.
|
| RoadKill / Coinkydink | This only exists in The Ride (as RoadKill) and Mock 2 (as Coinkydink). In this fast-paced question type, players are given two clues (for example, "Sexy voice" and "Hefty kid"). Several words fly past in rapid succession, and the players must buzz in when the word on the screen connects the two clues in a pair (in this case, the answer is "husky"). At the end of the question, players can earn a bonus for choosing the category which all the correct answers have in common. |
| Sequel Question | Some questions have questions that refer to them and are guaranteed to appear immediately after them. When this happens, all three selectable categories will refer to the sequel question. In The Ride, 5th Dementia, Mock 2, You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, Ouya, Party, and You Don't Know Jack 2015 all questions are arranged into 'episodes' whose questions always appear in the same order. This allows for a question to refer to any previous question, and for running jokes to be made. In You Don't Know Jack 2011 as the question sets are set into episodes, you will get questions that are 20 or 30 questions after the first. ('A Harp out of Harp' related to Cookie's party episode.) In Full Stream, there are also Sequel Questions, most notably in a series of questions with a "Special Guest" (see Guest Host Question below). |
| Super Audio Question | A sound will play, and the player is asked a question about it. |
| Trash Talkin’ with Milan | Only existing in HeadRush, "Milan the Janitor" (voiced by Igor Gasowski) hosts a standard multiple choice question about grammar and janitorial duties. |
| Three-Way | Found only in Vol.3, its German counterpart Vol. 2 (as der Flotte dreier, meaning “the flock of three”) and the PlayStation ports of each. Players are given three words that have something in common (for example solid, liquid, and gas) and several clues that only relate to one of the words (for example, "______ Plumr"). Players must match the clues to the proper words. The possible answers flash up on the screen, and the player must buzz in when the correct answer appears (in this case, "liquid"). |
| Wendithap'n | This exists in Louder! Faster! Funnier!, Mock 2 and the German counterpart of The Lost Gold: You Don't Know Jack VOL.4 (as Wann War Was?, meaning “When was what?”) and it follows the same rules as the Three-Way. The player is given an event (either in pop culture history, or in sequence order) and must decide if several other events occurred before it, after it, or never occurred at all. |
| Whatshisname Question | In this question, the host is trying to remember a certain name. A clue is provided every few seconds, and the players must buzz in and type the name. In HeadRush, this question type is known as Old Man's Moldy Memories and in You Don't Know Jack 2015 as Foggy Facts with Old Man both featuring the character of "Old Man", voiced by Andy Poland in which he hosts the question. |
| Who's The Dummy? | This exists in You Don't Know Jack 2011, iOS, the Facebook version, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015. The host has taken up ventriloquism, and asks a trivia question by way of his ventriloquist dummy, Billy O'Brien (or his sister Betty O'Brien). As the host explains, he has difficulty pronouncing consonant sounds such as B's, P's, and M's (which become D's, T's, and N's, respectively, and are translated as such in the text of the question and the answer choices), which adds a minor layer of difficulty to the question. The dummy also hosts one question in Full Stream. |
| Wrong Answer of the Game | Not a question in and of itself, the Wrong Answer of the Game appears in You Don't Know Jack 2011, OUYA, Party and You Don't Know Jack 2015. Before the beginning of the game, Schmitty announces a satirical sponsor for the episode (similar to The Ride). If a player manages to buzz in with the wrong answer associated with the sponsor, they win $4,000 (double in Round 2) and a 'prize' from the sponsor, instead of losing money. For example, in the episode sponsored by 'BloodCo.', answering with the incorrect answer 'Dracula' awards money and a bucket of human blood. Only appears in the console versions of the game. |
Other Features[]
Some of the volumes have a feature called "Don't Be a Wimp" („Sei kein Feigling“ in German), which is activated if one player has a very large lead. If no one answers a question, the host may deride the leading player, calling on the audience to shout "Don't be a wimp!" (in the German versions, chant „Feigling! Feigling! Feigling!“), and forcing the leader to answer the question.
In some volumes, the host also punishes a player who buzzes in too early; the question disappears, leaving the player with ten seconds to type the answer. For both The Ride and 5th Dementia, this is replaced by different punishments: the player is forced to pick from a list of four nonsensical answers, all of which are wrong, or both the question and answers are scrambled. This punishment is only triggered if a player buzzes in at the very instant that the question appears on the screen. In those three instances, the player that buzzed in is not permitted to "screw" the other players.
Setting[]
The You Don't Know Jack series is consistently presented in a game-show format. This is most evident in how the sign-in process is presented as a green room, with the only graphics being a large "On Air/Stand By" sign. Numerous crew members, including the host, can be heard in the background during the sign-in process talking among themselves, performing singing rehearsals, of just abusing each other. Sometimes, if a player waits around long enough, they would start playing satirical parodies of commercials that often promote a ridiculous product, such as scented suppositories or foreign language cassettes to help you learn how to speak American.
Throughout its lifespan, the show has been sponsored by strange and often ridiculous companies, with equally bizarre products or services. Initially, these sponsors served little purpose other than for comedic effect, but starting with You Don't Know Jack 2011, they began sponsoring the 'Wrong Answer of the Game.' If a player correctly identifies a wrong answer that relates to the sponsor, they will "win" a ridiculous prize associated with that company, along with bonus cash that goes to their score.
In You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream, the show is partnered with the streaming service Binjpipe. However, given the implications made by the 'Escape the Simulation' episode, it is possible that the show is all a fabrication created by Binjpipe for Cookie Masterson to host.
Jack Attack[]
The final round of the game is called the Jack Attack. A word or phrase will appear in the middle of the screen, and multiple answers will appear one after the other for a brief moment. When a player sees an answer associated with the given word or phrase, they buzz in and either earn money if they are right or lose money if they are wrong. Answers usually follow a specific rule - or clue - as determined either by the player if they had the option of the game otherwise. For example, the clue might "Hail To The Chef" and the associated word is Hell's Kitchen; therefore, the correct answer could be Gordon Ramsay.
Once the Jack Attack is complete, the final scores are shown. The player with the most money is declared the winner... Even if—
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK!
Easter Eggs[]
In a number of You Don't Know Jack games, there are several Easter Eggs that carry over and are expanded upon each time.
"Fuck You"[]
One of the most common and popular Easter Eggs in the series is the Gibberish Question Easter Egg, also known as the "Fuck You" Easter Egg. Starting from the first game, if a player types in "fuck you" ("fuck off" in the UK version and „Arschloch“ in the German versions) at certain points of a game—generally during a Gibberish Question or HeadButt—the game will swear back at the player and punish them. In a game of three players, this means it can be done up to three times in a row with different effects each time. The exact results for each iteration of this Easter Egg have stayed largely consistent over the years, but the 'story' to each Easter Egg has been expanded upon and exaggerated for more hilarious results.
The first player to trigger the Easter Egg will have a LOT of money taken away from them (usually $150,000 but the amount can vary) and their name changed; the second player won't receive anything instead being told that it's "not original"; and the third player will cause the host to shut the game down. Additionally, players can press any key during the host’s rant after the third activation to receive extra dialogue; usually the host telling the player off for doing so.
In most instances, there isn't much to the Easter Egg other than the hosts showing their disappointment at the player for swearing at them. You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2 is largely the same, except Old Man steps in to take over from Buzz. Old Man appears again in Movies, TV and Vol. 3, though largely just to be a nuisance to the hosts. Later games introduce other characters to take part and have comically expanded upon stories behind them, such as Headrush featuring Abraham Lincoln and a goat.
The Lost Gold is the first game in the series to do something different; both the first and second players have random large amounts of money taken away from them - with the first player still having their name changed, while the third player causes a "minigame" to appear called 'Gorilla Hunter.' This minigame cannot be beaten as there are no targets and no way to reload your ammo, effectively soft-locking the game. (This minigame was not present in the German Vol. 4, on which US Vol. 6 was built. In German Vol. 4, a traditional, Vol. 1-style "fuck you" response is done.)
In 2011, if you enter the game with the name “Fuck you”, Donny, the green room organizer, will disapprovingly acknowledge your name, and give you a different name, with no penalty.
In You Don't Know Jack 2015, upon entering the game with the name "Fuck You", Cookie will change the players name before telling them off. The first time a player does this, they have $1,000 taken away before play starts; the second time, they have $50,001 taken away—although this amount doesn't carry over into actual play. On the third and all subsequent times after that, a screen showing a goat will appear, effectively ending the game before it has even started. In all instances, however, Cookie will still change their name.
Full Stream does not punish the player(s either), instead making Cookie ruminate for a moment on how long the gag has been running, and giving the player a description of the Easter Egg's history on their device. This description also includes a link to an unlisted YouTube video that serves much the same purpose but with the "Wrong Answer of the Game" chicken in the background, which ends up exploding at the end. If the player enters their name as "Fuck You," it will be changed to something else prior to the game starting.
Special Names[]
Later entries in the series began adding in unique reactions for either the host or sign-in host to say upon a player entering a specific name. Most games from You Don't Know Jack 2011 onward feature Cookie acknowledging some pretty unassuming names, such as Gavin. There are also a few specific ones, such as "Fard" (pronounced foh-rahd), a long time fan of the You Don't Know Jack series that even worked on the Facebook version. Another is "Cookie" - an obvious nod to the host, Cookie Masterson. All of these name references only ever play once, however.
In both The Ride and You Don't Know Jack 2011, an extension of the above-mentioned "Fuck You" Easter Egg can be triggered when entering your name. In The Ride, the sign-in host will kick you out of the game instantly before it has even started. In 2011, they will instead show their disapproval of the name before changing it. Additionally, some sign-in hosts will also acknowledge a player's name and/or mock it; or if a player takes too long to create one they will give the player a name on their behalf. In most You Don't Know Jack games, using the name "Jack" will trigger a special intro where in You Don't Know Jack 2015, the host will tell you about how long they have been waiting for this to happen, and then proceed to put out a weird noise they were keeping secret.
Special Introductions[]
Starting from You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2, on certain days or at certain times, the sign-in host will mention the time of day or the special holiday if you are playing on that specific day... and then sometimes grumble about the game being played at that time or on that day. These usually vary from something simple like a Saturday night to more specific days, such as April Fools Day, American Thanksgiving and President's Day.
Other Media[]
During the 2000 presidential election, Sierra On-Line president David Grenewetzki challenged the presidential candidates to play a political version of YDKJ. The game had been distributed to a few radio stations, and was described as a "litmus test" of the candidates' political knowledge.
YDKJ also appeared as two books: You Don't Know Jack: The Book and You Don't Know Jack: The TV Book. Both were published in 2001.
There was also a Tiger Electronic Table-top game of You Don't Know Jack, voiced by Nate Shapiro. It featured question cards with a number code on it and a grey button to open a sliding door to show the answers. It was the first game to features 4 players instead of 3 players. There were also, "Sports", "Movies", and "TV" question packs that were sold separately.
You Don't Know Jack was briefly aired as an actual television game show in 2001 on ABC. Starring Paul Reubens (best known for his role as Pee Wee Herman) as over-the-top game show host Troy Stevens, with 'Cookie' as the announcer. The show lasted only six episodes.
After the You Don't Know Jack TV show ended, another show from the makers of YDKJ called Smush aired on USA Network. It was a game of taking two or more words and combining them into one long word. The show started late at night, but was later pushed to later and later times, even up to 3:00 A.M.; until it was eventually canceled.
In 2001, AMC released You Don't Know Jack about MonsterFest, an online game on their website hosted by Schmitty, and the MonsterFest movie marathon was hosted by Clive Barker and Carmen Electra, who gave clues for the game.
In 2002, during the "Global Color Vote" (to choose the new color for M&Ms candy) the M&Ms website had a game called "You Don't Know Color", mostly based on the same game used for the MonsterFest game. It was hosted by Billy West as the Red M&M and you played for points, not dollars. At the end of the game, after finishing the "Color Attack", you made a choice between the 3 colors to vote for.
Cast[]
Hosts[]
The series has had a variety of hosts over the years. Each host is remarked for their fast and witty sense of humor and their ability to mock players for doing badly.
- Nate Shapiro - known as the original You Don't Know Jack host; cousin of Buzz
- Buzz Lippman - known as the host of You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2; cousin of Nate
- Guy Towers - known as the host of You Don't Know Jack Sports
- Cookie Masterson - originally the sign-in host, became a main host starting with You Don't Know Jack Movies; the most recognized host in the series
- Josh "Schmitty" Schmitstinstein - started hosting with You Don't Know Jack TV and has hosted the second most amount of games behind Cookie; became a sponsor announcer starting with You Don't Know Jack 2011
- Bob - the host of Headrush; not the same person as the sound guy from 2011 also named Bob
- Quizmaster Jack - The host of all 4 German versions
- Jack Cake - The host of the British version
- Jacques - The host of the French version
- Masatoshi Hamada - The host of the Japanese version and real-life TV personality and comedian
Crew[]
Aside from the hosts, there is a whole cast of crew members that work behind the scenes. Though not all of them are known to be helpful.
- Helen - one of the lead producers; has been present in just about every game of the series
- Bob - one of the producers; not to be confused with the host of Headrush
- Billy O'Brien - first appeared in You Don't Know Jack 2011, the first iOS game, OUYA, Party, 2015 & 2018; Cookie's Ventriloquism puppet and question reader of the "Who's the Dummy?".
- Old Man - first appeared in You Don't Know Jack Vol. 2, an old man that more often than not causes trouble for the hosts
- Sandy - the sign in-host for You Don't Know Jack Louder! Faster! Funnier!
- Donny - the sign in-host for You Don't Know Jack 2011; speaks in a warped version of English with over-extended words
- The Captain - the sign-in host for You Don't Know Jack Vol. 6: The Lost Gold; he is cursed after finding Jack's Gold to remain within the game unless the player/s can amass $1,000,000 in total.
- Gerard - the sign-in host for 5th Dementia.
- Kim - first appeared in You Don't Know Jack 2011, who would occasionally interrupt questions in order to point out mistakes in the questions or Cookie's comments in great detail.
- Chad - first appeared in You Don't Know Jack 2011. He is remarkably dimwitted and frequently annoys Cookie with his idiocy and his habit of losing the quotes he’s supposed to hand Cookie.
- Milan The Janitor - the Trash Talking With Milan host for Headrush, a question type which involves English and grammar.
Games[]
Listed below are the major releases in the You Don't Know Jack series:
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 1 - the original high-culture meets pop-culture trivia game; hosted by Nate Shapiro
- You Don't Know Jack Sports - a game themed around sports trivia; hosted by Guy Towers
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 2 – the general knowledge sequel to the first game; hosted by Buzz Lippman. Regional versions released in the UK, Germany, France, and Japan.
- You Don't Know Jack the NetShow – 1996-2000
- You Don't Know Jack Movies – a game themed around movies; hosted by Cookie Masterson
- You Don't Know Jack Television – a game themed around television; hosted by Schmitty
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 3 – the third general knowledge installment; hosted by Cookie Masterson; ported to Playstation.
- You Don't Know Jack Headrush – a teenager spin-off title; hosted by a one-off host named Bob
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 4: The Ride – the fourth general knowledge installment, now featuring themed episodes; hosted by Nate, Buzz, Guy, Cookie and Schmitty
- You Don't Know Jack Offline – a disk-based version of the NetShow from 1996-2000; hosted by Cookie Masterson
- You Don't Know Jack (PlayStation) - a PlayStation release of the game from 1996, featuring questions from Volume 3, Movies & Offline; hosted by Cookie Masterson
- You Don't Know Jack Louder! Faster! Funnier! - hosted by Schmitty
- You Don't Know Jack 5th Dementia - the first version of the game to feature online functionality; hosted by Schmitty
- You Don't Know Jack Mock 2 – the second PlayStation game, set in a galaxy themed dimension with questions from The Ride, Louder! Faster! Funnier!, & 5th Dementia; hosted by Schmitty
- You Don't Know Jack about Monsterfest – AMC web game – 2001
- You Don't Know Color – M&Ms web game – 2002
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 6: "The Lost Gold" – the sixth general knowledge installment, set in a strange dimension and with the goal to make enough money to free the pirate trapped inside; hosted by Schmitty
- You Don't Know Jack 2007-2008 (Online beta game on the You Don't Know Jack website) – 2007–2008. The first version to feature the question-timer-as-dollar-amount system used in 2011, Facebook, and 2015.
- You Don't Know Jack 2011 – a version released for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and PC, this format would be re-used for later iOS and Facebook versions of the game; all versions hosted by Cookie Masterson
- You Don't Know Jack for OUYA – hosted by Cookie Masterson
- You Don't Know Jack (2012) - trail and paid Mobile Version of YDKJ for iOS and Roku. Both have been shut down since 2015 and are not playable on IOS 11+
- You Don't Know Jack Party – an updated version of the YDKJ 2011 game – 2013
- You Don't Know Jack Facebook - an online version featuring online play, in-game currency, and the ability to play online with users of both this game and the IOS game. Shut down on 2015
- You Don't Know Jack: VMA Edition – MTV Video Music Awards web game – ~2011/2015?
- You Don't Know Jack 2015 - an evolved version of the 2011 game, part of The Jackbox Party Pack; hosted by Cookie Masterson
- You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream - a version available in The Jackbox Party Pack 5; hosted by Cookie Masterson
There is also a British version, a French version, a Japanese version, and the following German versions:
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 1 – based on U.S. Vol. 2
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 2 – based on U.S. Vol. 3
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 3: Abwärts! – based on U.S. Vol. 4 ("The Ride")
- You Don't Know Jack Volume 4 – later used as a base for U.S. Vol. 6 ("The Lost Gold")
Other[]
- You Don't Know Jack tabletop edition (from Tiger Electronics) – 1998
- You Don't Know Jack (Game Show) – real show that aired on ABC – 2001
- JackPad – controller on the phone to play YDKJ OUYA – 2013
Trivia[]
Section not completed It is necessary to complete the information in this section.
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- The game has its very own Twitter.
- In You Don't Know Jack 2011, Question 4our has it's own story. in summary, 4 gets shot, and is replaced with an f, making it four. In addition, the next YDKJ game, You Don't Know Jack 2015, the question segues have a ghost 4our, and an easter egg that shows 4our's dead body floating above a river.
- The game after that, You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream, continues this story with 4 Jr., as they now have a stepdad named Brian and still mourn the loss of their previous parental figure.
- The PC games up to Volume 6: The Lost Gold do not play on Windows 7 and later. They require the use of a compatibility layer, a virtual machine, or Steam re-release to play on a modern Windows machine.
- The bald head in the box art and game graphics is called the Jack Head. Before the computer graphics version began to be used, the Jack Head is portrayed by the model Vladimir Tomljenovic, also known online as "Mick T".[↑]
- The series is a shortened form of the insult "you don't know jack shit", only cutting out the "shit" part. This is a visual indicator of the series overall mean-spirited tone.