Probably Unanswerable Questions
How long Phil was stuck; what Phil's next day is like; whether Phil and Rita stay together
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:29Read transcript
- An old ESPN.com mailbag answer of 27 months is called a huge miss; Ramis is said to have given 10 years on the DVD and later 30 or 40 years; the final answer offered is 18 years.
- Because he gets so good at the piano, the guest goes slightly above the 18-year answer and says 20 years. — Issa Rae
- The Buddhists are said to put it at 10,000 years, the time for a spirit to be reborn; the answer given is 32 years. — Sean Fennessey
- A stage-by-stage estimate: six or seven months trying to win Andy McDowell over, three or four months of suicide attempts, and perhaps 60 years for languages, ice sculpture and piano.
- No filmmaker settled on an answer: the studio reportedly wanted two months, Ramis moved from 10 years to about three decades, and the co-screenwriter suggested about a hundred years; the ambiguity makes it fun to debate.
- Asked what they would conquer in such a loop, one answer is a musical instrument.
- The guest rejects ice sculpture, would put piano on her list, and would try her hand at crime after the money-stealing scheme. — Issa Rae
- On Phil's next day, one view is that it is a huge letdown for Rita once he no longer knows everything; another asks whether he parlays his knowledge into becoming the Dosecci's guy.
- One view predicts PTSD from new experiences after 10,000 repeated days; the reply is that he would be delighted by uncertainty on February 4th.
- Asked whether he and Rita stay together, the answer is no: once he says he lived the same day for 38 years she would sleep at her friend's house, which is called reasonable.