Jeopardy! Season 37 (2020-2021)

[catrice2]

Why can't I remember the champion who won tonight? Is his hair or something different? Or maybe I wanted to forget him.....

[BuckeyeLou]

I liked Buzzy as Host: he is upbeat, cheerful, understands the game, kept it moving along, no pauses for answers and had good enunciation. 

[zoey1996]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

There was a LOT of construction between Hampton Roads and Chincoteague.

Taking to Small Talk.

[saber5055]

55 minutes ago, GreekGeek said:

I was rooting for Sarah to come through in FJ and was saddened when she not only was the only one of the three to miss it but bet the whole bundle.

Sarah's FJ bet was the right one, she was trying for a Wild Card. If she had bet nothing, her low total would not have given her a Wild Card anyway. It was just bad luck that she didn't get the answer. I admired her gutsy bet. Nothing ventured ...

Hoping a Wild Card comes through for Jason.

Buzzy is my No. 1 favorite host of all times. And I mean all times. He ROCKED this episode. Sorry Ken, you are now No. 2 with me and will have to Try Harder.

[853fisher]

I got everything under PBS and was a little disappointed the NewsHour didn't come up.  Their team and presentation are really marvelous and don't get their due, in my opinion.  Plenty of other almost-cleared categories on a good board for me.

I was surprised that "chicken scratch" would have been accepted as well as "chicken feed" for "an insignificant amount of money."  I have only ever known the former to refer to untidy handwriting.  Is that regional?

Buzzy did a fine job for me.  The game moved along well and a bit of pep was appreciated here after Bill's softer-spoken turn.  Not any more pep than that, though, please.  "That's so sweet" seemed a bit simpering in response to Sarah, but it's difficult to stick the landing on that kind of story.

Ryan seemed like a dweeby kid not used to positive social attention and drinking a bit too deeply from that cup.  I empathize and bet he'll grow out of it with a few more years on him.  I was surprised by how quickly he became insufferable to me, but he did play well, so good for him.  I am sure he was focused on the task at hand and did not intend to go over the top.

All three players were new to me, since I didn't watch last season.  I wonder how I will feel when we get to people I recognize!  Something has been missing for me the last little while, but I think this could be a great few weeks.

On 5/11/2021 at 8:21 PM, Driad said:

Have you seen the 1967 movie "The President's Analyst"?

I haven't, but I looked it up and it piqued my interest, so thanks!

Edited May 18, 2021 by 853fisher

[Egg McMuffin]

Thumbs up on Buzzy. Good energy and a clear love of the game.

[saber5055]

4 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

was surprised that "chicken scratch" would have been accepted as well as "chicken feed" for "an insignificant amount of money" under Fowl Language.

"Scratch" is a slang word for money.

[853fisher]

1 minute ago, saber5055 said:

"Scratch" is a slang word for money.

No kidding!  Maybe if I could keep any I'd know that.

[3 is enough]

I vaguely remembered Ryan because he is from Macungie PA, and I lived in another Allentown suburb for a few years.  However, I do not remember him being so annoying.  I hope Jason gets a wild card spot.  
Buzzy did a great job.  I think I read somewhere that he is not interested in the permanent spot though. 

[teebax]

3 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

I vaguely remembered Ryan because he is from Macungie PA, and I lived in another Allentown suburb for a few years.  However, I do not remember him being so annoying.  I hope Jason gets a wild card spot.  
Buzzy did a great job.  I think I read somewhere that he is not interested in the permanent spot though. 

I lived in Whitehall and then Allentown before moving to the southwest, so I was excited when he was announced. That fizzled fast. 

At least he's a Gettysburg alum and not one from my Alma mater, which is a rival school. When he said he was going for the kill, I was really done with him. 

Buzzy did great. 

[ams1001]

14 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

However, I do not remember him being so annoying.

I just googled him to refresh my memory of his original run and the first thing I found was an article about how much people hated him tonight...to the point that the J! twitter account had to remind people to be nice.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, 853fisher said:

I was surprised that "chicken scratch" would have been accepted as well as "chicken feed" for "an insignificant amount of money."  I have only ever known the former to refer to untidy handwriting.  Is that regional?

Oops.
Oh.
Apparently yes (from the OED online): 

 

[Prevailing Wind]

I am gobsmacked. I actually liked Buzzy. For FJ, not having ANY idea, I said Mediocrates.  Good enough for at-home playing.

[Pallida]

My brother and I basically thought to text about Ryan’s persona at the same time. The unsportsmanlike conduct of “going for the kill” took competitiveness to a gross place. 

[853fisher]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Apparently yes (from the OED online): 

Thanks for that!  I like weekends down in Santa Cruz but have never made it as far as Salinas.  I guess I'll have to now, so I can find out what other turns of phrase they have going on there. ;)

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

I just googled him to refresh my memory of his original run and the first thing I found was an article about how much people hated him tonight...to the point that the J! twitter account had to remind people to be nice.

I saw that article.  I loathe the school of "journalism" / content creation that weaves a few tweets from random people into "people are saying XYZ" like it's gospel truth, and I notice "people" never seem to be saying much of anything positive in those stories either.

He gave a reply on Reddit, where admins also had to tell people to chill out, which struck me as wounded but dignified.  It's good for everyone, including me, to remember that these are "real people," and not accustomed to the spotlight.

Some of the criticism seems just as "extra" to me as anything he did.  A few people are bent out of shape because he pronounced the composers' names with panache.  If J! isn't the right place to say "Richard Strauss" as Strauss would have, where is?

I stand by my opinion, that his behavior on the night was obnoxious, but I'm sorry that some folks are taking it too far.  I hope someone he trusts will help him understand that extreme remarks say more about the one making them.

Edited May 18, 2021 by 853fisher

[3 is enough]

2 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I saw that article.  I loathe the school of "journalism" / content creation that weaves a few tweets from random people into "people are saying XYZ" like it's gospel truth, and I notice "people" never seem to be saying much of anything positive in those stories either.

He gave a reply on Reddit, where admins also had to tell people to chill out, which struck me as wounded but dignified.  It's good for everyone, including me, to remember that these are "real people," and not accustomed to the spotlight.

Some of the criticism seems just as "extra" to me as anything he did.  A few people are bent out of shape because he pronounced the composers' names with panache.  If J! isn't the right place to say "Richard Strauss" as Strauss would have, where is?

I stand by my opinion, that his behavior on the night was obnoxious, but I'm sorry that some folks are taking it too far.  I hope someone he trusts will help him understand that extreme remarks say more about the one making them.

I very much agree with everything you have written.  I remembered him as "the guy from Macungie", not " the annoying guy from Macungie".  While I found his behavior tonight to be over the top, it doesn't change the fact that he played an excellent game. In his Reddit reply he did say that he was very excited and he got carried away.

I did see a lot of comments from people who appreciated his skill and not all the remarks were unkind.  

[DrSpaceman73]

8 hours ago, 3 is enough said:

I vaguely remembered Ryan because he is from Macungie PA, and I lived in another Allentown suburb for a few years.  However, I do not remember him being so annoying.  I hope Jason gets a wild card spot.  
Buzzy did a great job.  I think I read somewhere that he is not interested in the permanent spot though. 

Really?  I specifically recall the idea of him hosting being brought up once during the interviews in the show and he said he'd love the job.  But that was probably 3 or 4 years ago

But I liked him as host, though I thought he was rushing everything a bit. 

Ryan's a douche. 

 

[Clanstarling]

11 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Buzzy is my No. 1 favorite host of all times. And I mean all times. He ROCKED this episode. Sorry Ken, you are now No. 2 with me and will have to Try Harder.

Ken was my no. 1 previously, now Buzzy is the one to beat. I always liked him, but thought he would not be well received. But he toned it down a smidge - and really nailed the professional host vibe.

Am I the only one who's noticed that both he and Ken use some of Alex's hand gestures? I'd guess that comes from them being around Alex for so many games.

[3 is enough]

I have been trying to find the article but no luck.  I was surprised when it said Buzzy did not want the permanent spot.  Of course, it could have been a misquote.  I was under the impression Buzzy wanted the job.

[Egg McMuffin]

Buzzy gave a interview that was published I believe in Yahoo Entertainment this week and  he said he’d love to have the job.

[Mindthinkr]

I just had a so so night and didn’t get FJ. So far so good as far as seeing Buzzy as host. Especially as this was only his first time hosting. 

[saber5055]

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Am I the only one who's noticed that both he and Ken use some of Alex's hand gestures?

I didn't notice Buzzy using any specific gesture but Ken uses the same one so much, here and on The Chase, that he is teased about it on Twitter, with people posting photos of his hands and making funny comments. It's kind of like if he stopped, it would be even more noticeable by its absence.

I don't have any problem with Ryan or his play yesterday. He did a fabulous job and deserved to make it to the semis. As is stated above, those dissing him says more about the disser than the dissee. Like that old glass-house analogy, all Ryan haters need to get on the show and see what posters say about you ... your pronunciation, clothes, stance, buzzer holding, dumb answers ... the list is endless for people sitting at home on their couch to use to slam people who, frankly, are smarter than they are.

And that's my lecture for today.

Buzzy's Twitter has some very nice posts and the most adorable photo of him with Alex as its header. He's a classy guy. Plus, Harold Lloyd. Anyone out there know what I mean?

[chitowngirl]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Plus, Harold Lloyd. Anyone out there know what I mean?

Yes!!!

[illdoc]

https://tvline.com/2021/05/18/jeopardy-player-gonna-go-for-the-kill-apology-ryan-bilger-video/

[Katy M]

15 minutes ago, illdoc said:

https://tvline.com/2021/05/18/jeopardy-player-gonna-go-for-the-kill-apology-ryan-bilger-video/

Why did he feel the need to apologize?  It isn't as if he were actually threatening to kill the competition.  

[3 is enough]

Lots of former contestants are speaking up for Ryan on Twitter today. 
 

Everyone is guilty of making the occasional ill- advised comment.  Fortunately most people don’t have cameras recording them when they do.

[bankerchick]

19 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

Buzzy! I’ve always liked him. However Ryan is a gold plated douche bag. 

I would just like to restate this comment because I agree with every word of it.  And his comments on TVLine didn't do him any favours either.  Is he smarter than me?  Perhaps.  He certainly knows more Pennsylvania history than I do, but I might be able to kick his ass in a football category.

Edited May 18, 2021 by bankerchick

[Katy M]

What am I missing?  What did Ryan say in his non-necessary apology that was so wrong?  What did he do in the game that was so wrong?

[ABay]

Since I skip the interviews, I had no idea what he said and I don't care. What struck me as douchey were his pumping the air and other OTT gestures.

[3 is enough]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

What am I missing?  What did Ryan say in his non-necessary apology that was so wrong?  What did he do in the game that was so wrong?

I don't think he said anything in his apology that was wrong.  He basically said he was excited and got carried away.  The backlash from the Twitter-verse was probably unexpected.

I will admit I found his OTT gestures to be annoying last night, and I didn't remember him doing that in his original run. That said, it was mild annoyance- I didn't immediately assume he was a horrible person, which seems to be happening online, and is what I guess prompted his apology, originally posted on Reddit, and reposted on Twitter.

 I think in general people just expect Jeopardy contestants to be more reserved. There was a tweet which described him as having Price is Right behavior on Jeopardy which seemed to sum things up. 

 The tournaments always seem to have a more competitive atmosphere than the regular games. There was definitely some trash talking going on during the GOAT tournament and the team tournament, and I don't remember any backlash then.

Edited May 18, 2021 by 3 is enough

[ams1001]

I don't even want to admit how I did tonight. I got all the Daily Doubles, Old Ironsides (TS), and Final J! (instaget!), but that's the best I can say. I ran Poetry and got 4 each in Women's Hall of Fame and Quintuple, but got zero in Four of the Same Letter and Comedians (which I thought I would do better with). 47% in each round, plus FJ for an overall score of 48%. 😳

 

Well, somebody had to...

[Katy M]

FJ was an instaget. and that's about all I can say for myself.

I did get the missed clues of cordial, FDR and Rosalynn Carter.

I got the entire category of hits wrong.

[Browncoat]

I got to watch tonight!  I wasn't sure I'd be able to, but I ended up bringing dinner (crab imperial) back to the room instead of finding somewhere outside to eat.  And, it took a little effort, but I finally found the right channel, too.  All that to say that FJ was an instaget.  I even knew what the literal translation from the German was.

I also got the TS of Rosalyn Carter and tattletale, but otherwise, it was just as bad a game for me as it was for the contestants.  

Edited May 19, 2021 by Browncoat

[saber5055]

I was wondering if the poster here who has a boat (a sailboat I believe, on the Chesapeake?) ran that category.

Comparing today's game to yesterday's ...  not even close. Yesterday there were five TSs. Today there were 16 if you count the missed DD of Rosaliynn Carter. And today's winner moves onto the semis with less money than second-place Jason got yesterday.

I do like Nabir, who carried on the tradition of College Tournament mime intros. I was rooting for him.

Finally, a FJ category right up my alley, Animals! Yeay! And it was an instaget for me ... Javelina! So disappointed to see the real answer was armadillo. Folks, there are armadillos in Arkansas and Missouri, they are not isolated in Texas. *sigh* That part of the clue ruined it for me. Javelinas are tank tough and real pigs on top of that.

Side note: To capture an armadillo when it goes to ground, stick your hand down the hole and compress the sides of its shell, which it expands to prevent it from being pulled backwards. Then you can easily pull it out and fix it for dinner. Yes, dinner. They roast up great and are delicious baked with BBQ sauce and yes, taste just like pork. Plus the shells make fabulous plant hangers. And yes, I'm speaking from first-hand experience.

Edited May 19, 2021 by saber5055

[Mindthinkr]

I was very surprised at how many clues the contestants didn’t know. Especially because a handful of them were $100 or $200 clues. 15 in all. I got the ones of R.Carter, Whitney Cummings, Pauley Shore and FJ was an instaget. Do you want to know what I noticed about Buzzy? It’s the fact that I don’t notice him. He’s unobtrusive and just keeps things moving along. I don’t even think he has had nerves doing the show. 

[Browncoat]

Buzzy did make a nice host.  I'm surprised that I liked his hosting as much as I did.

[Prevailing Wind]

I always wonder if Mrs. Carter gets secretly annoyed when people (Buzzy) mispronounce her first name. It's not Rozzalyn, it's Rose-alyn. She's way too gracious to express any annoyance in public, but I wonder if she grumbles to Jimmy when they're alone.

10 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

And, it took a little effort, but I finally found the right channel, too

https://www.jeopardy.com/watch

I have that link saved as a bookmark on the laptop I take on my Road Trips. It's one of the first things I check when I check in, to see when I can go out for dinner - before or after the show.

Blew FJ again. Prairie Dogs was my answer.  Maybe I should get some Prevagen. Or that thing Mayim Bialik's shilling.

 

ETA: I'm as gobsmacked today as I was yesterday on how damn competent Buzzy is. He keeps the game moving along so there are no clues left. Good Job, Mr. Cohen.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Prevailing Wind

[Browncoat]

6 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

https://www.jeopardy.com/watch

I have that link saved as a bookmark on the laptop I take on my Road Trips. It's one of the first things I check when I check in, to see when I can go out for dinner - before or after the show.

Thanks!  I totally forgot about that!  I just channel-surfed until I found Wheel Of Fortune at 7, and hoped that Jeopardy! would follow as it does at home.  And it did!

[chessiegal]

17 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

I was wondering if the poster here who has a boat (a sailboat I believe, on the Chesapeake?) ran that category.

That'd be me, it is a sailboat, and yes we ran the category.

[saber5055]

Just now, chessiegal said:

That'd be me, it is a sailboat, and yes we ran the category.

And that deserves a Good For You! I knew you would.

[GreekGeek]

I got Rosalyn Carter (Jackie Kennedy was a terrible guess!), cordial, alienation, address, FDR, Old Ironsides, and tattletale. I missed FJ, though. I knew "schwein" was a pig, but couldn't think of what "panzer" meant.

Yay, at least one woman in the semis!

[Katy M]

57 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

Especially because a handful of them were $100 or $200 clues.

Funnily enough, I only missed the top clue in homynms and poetry.

[secnarf]

56 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I always wonder if Mrs. Carter gets secretly annoyed when people (Buzzy) mispronounce her first name. It's not Rozzalyn, it's Rose-alyn. She's way too gracious to express any annoyance in public, but I wonder if she grumbles to Jimmy when they're alone.

...

ETA: I'm as gobsmacked today as I was yesterday on how damn competent Buzzy is. He keeps the game moving along so there are no clues left. Good Job, Mr. Cohen.

 

Well, I wouldn't have mispronounced her name, as I couldn't remember it! I did come up with "Carter", and knew Jackie Kennedy was a terrible guess as she died in 1994, but if I was asked to BMS there is no way I would ever have come up with her first name at all.

I agree Buzzy is doing a great job hosting (coming from someone who previously didn't like him) but I think for tournaments they have to get through all the clues, due to the wild card spots that rely on the amount of money the contestants earn in different games.

The hit music category was terrible. It drove home that I actually listen to absolutely no current music whatsoever. In non-COVID times I will at least typically hear it when I go out shopping as stores often have top 40 music playing, but nowadays I apparently have no exposure to current music.

[opus]

45 minutes ago, GreekGeek said:

I got Rosalyn Carter

She immediately sprang to mind because of that Carters/Bidens photo that was newsworthy recently 

[saber5055]

10 minutes ago, opus said:

She immediately sprang to mind because of that Carters/Bidens photo that was newsworthy recently 

The one with the Teeny Tiny Carters!

[Bastet]

I got a call just before last night's game started, and didn't have a chance until this afternoon to check the archive.  I missed four in the first round (only one of which was a Bible place) and got FJ, but only ran one category in DJ and missed eight that round.

Buzzy is less annoying as a host than a contestant.

Lots of TS and wrong answers for a ToC game!  Address really surprised me.

I did not get a single clue in Playing Today's Hits right (I recognized Kenny Chesney, but couldn't come up with his name in time), but I ran all the other first round categories except boats, in which I missed two.

In DJ, I only ran comedians and "A", but I only missed eight total, and I correctly guessed FJ, so it was a decent game for me.

[HyeChaps]

How did none of them guess tattletale?!

[Cotypubby]

Jackie Kennedy!? 🤣

I could not come up with FJ even though I knew the translation was tank-pig. Never would have got to armadillo. I was trying to think of some kind of wild boar.

There were a lot of missed 200/400 clues, but in their defense I don’t think I knew any of those either. Or rather couldn’t come up with the answer in seconds like “tattletale” or “address.” Obvious once given, but could not get there that quick. 

Edited May 19, 2021 by Cotypubby

[zoey1996]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I just channel-surfed until I found Wheel Of Fortune at 7, and hoped that Jeopardy! would follow as it does at home.

WVEC 13 ABC? That's where we get it here, and I think I remember getting that and WAVY 10 NBC in Chincoteague too.

[MooCat Pretzel]

I really want to like Buzzy as the host because so many others do and I am a follower who easily succumbs to peer pressure. (Ha!) However, I don’t care for just how much he speeds the game up.  There is a balance to moving things along and letting the game soak in that I don’t think he’s mastered yet.  Two games in and it’s just been a bit frantic for me.