I really wanted the MIT graduates to be dumb,but,looking at the first part of the clip,I think they were"set up".
The "light bulb" they were provided with was not a 1.5v one,or certainly, was unlike any bulb for that voltage which I have ever seen.
The "bunnies" could have connected the circuit correctly,got no light ,& started to doubt themselves.
Fair Go,guys---Either ask them:- "Why the bulb doesn't illuminate?"( which would be a more serious test),or use the correct bulb for the circuit voltage.
This is classic TV show crap--I remember a programme which purported to show that TV Repair Shops were ripping off their customers.
They found some so-called "Engineer" to put a fault on a TV.
He did this by tweaking a trimmer pot.
The Station had dozens of Techs & several EEs who could have made a more convincing fault,(Hell,even the old "drawing pin in a capacitor" would have been better),but no,they got this dope.
The TV was sent out to various Repair shops.
Naturally,they assumed the trimmers were all correctly set,& looked everywhere else,before ultimately readjusting the trimpot & returning the TV with a note that they had adjusted it to work,but asking the owners to return it if it failed again.
The "Engineer" pontificated at length on how they should have found the maladjusted pot in a couple of minutes.
All the Techs & EEs at our Studio called BS on this,but we only had decades of "hands on " experience--what did we know?