Jeopardy! Season 37 (2020-2021)

[Prevailing Wind]

5 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

🤣 
... Double Stuf Oreos?
(NY Times crosswords)

Was that in the regular puzzle? I saw it in the mini puzzle.  I have a FB friend who posts the pangram on weekdays and it's amazing the answers people come up with.

[GreekGeek]

55 minutes ago, Tunia said:

Tonight's episode was SNL-worthy!  Has there ever been a game played this poorly before?

 

Well, there were this game, and this one, with a one-player FJ. I'm sure there are others. There was one really bad Celebrity Jeopardy game a few years ago where all the celebs played badly (apparently "potent potables" were involved). But I can't find any clips of it right now.

[DrSpaceman73]

When he got the daily double at the end of dj, he had exactly 1/4 of the leader.  I know he missed it, but double up twice with the daily double and fj and you could catch her.   He bets less than double.  Game over.  

Had no idea for fj again.  

I think they all out thought themselves with appalachian mountains, thought they wanted something more specific.  Technically it's also the blue ridge mountains.   

[Katy M]

16 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Technically it's also the blue ridge mountains.   

I said Blue Ridge mountains and kiln for oven.  Wasn't sure if either was right also.

[stonehaven]

Does anyone sing the phrase "Blue Ridge Mountains" to the tune of Country Roads? Just me? Okay then...

[secnarf]

11 minutes ago, stonehaven said:

Does anyone sing the phrase "Blue Ridge Mountains" to the tune of Country Roads? Just me? Okay then...

Yes, definitely.

Doesn't help that the song came on the radio earlier tonight as I was driving.

[853fisher]

I bet Kalee would be a great partner for bar trivia, with a bit less pressure.  I didn't do much better overall than her or Steve, but I didn't come up with quite as much nonsense either.  So curving for the difference between sitting on my couch and being under the light, I guess we're all about even.

Jamie is doing very well and seems like a lovely person.  The competition wasn't terribly stiff today, but 25 correct answers is pretty darn good.  She plays much more confidently than some of her faces suggest she may be feeling!

I would have liked to see photos of all the wacky animals!  Maybe during the credit roll next time. ;)  Finally, this is Steve.  If he has Italian tonight, I hope he doesn't set it down on the filibuster.  Mamma mia.

[dcalley]

On 5/5/2021 at 2:37 PM, Driad said:

Standing for an hour or two is difficult for many people (bad back etc.).  A while ago I asked if the show can accommodate contestants who cannot stand for the time it usually takes to play a game (50 minutes?).  No one answered then; does anyone know?

I have no proof, just my memory telling me there have been contestants seated before (on barstools, maybe?--not super noticeable).

On 5/4/2021 at 11:19 PM, saber5055 said:

No, the first episode taped with Bill was the only time this has happened. There were a lot of problems connected to this specific host that required multiple do overs.

Not as bad, I guess, but Dr. Oz reportedly had to rerecord saying "antidisestablishmentarianism"... 

Quote

“seven or eight times,” Seaman says. “He just couldn’t get it. And more than that he couldn’t get it, he didn’t know when he hadn’t gotten it, so it kind of seemed like the producers were like, Are you gonna tell him that we’ve done this six times and he didn’t get it?

For the Tuesday clue "He was named the Canadian Press' Newsmaker of the Year every year from 1968 to 1975," the Dan Rather answer puzzled me, but I think I figured it out. I think the contestant was thinking of Peter Jennings.

[3 is enough]

I said pizza oven instead of oven.  Wonder if that would have been considered correct?

[opus]

22 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

I said pizza oven instead of oven.  Wonder if that would have been considered correct?

I said that too. I decided to neither add nor subtract from my score (if I watch alone I use a scorekeeper app).

[Trey]

12 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I give Bill major props for pronouncing "Appalachians" correctly.

I learned the correct pronunciation from watching Barnwood Builders.

12 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Then I said Liechtenstein for FJ.

I did too.  I figured it was a small country and there were several to choose from - I chose the wrong one.

I did get the the ts's or missed dd's of Appalachians, bakers, lodestone, rhetoric, and Shaft.

Wasn't much of a FJ matchup.  Current champ still looks so nervous but comes through with the answers.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Trey

[Clanstarling]

19 hours ago, Driad said:

Depending on where you live, there may be stores that buy and sell used records.  

Since I've been telling myself I should get rid of them for nearly 40 years, I kind of doubt I'm going to haul them to the local store used record store. Part of the reason (though only one tiny part) is that the shop's hours are at the owner's whim - and he's very whimsical.

16 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I actually read a biography of William Bligh once.  The man had 3 different mutinies against him: the Bounty in 1789, HMS Director in 1797 (as part of the much larger mutiny amongst the British Navy ships on the Nore) and the Rum Rebellion in New South Wales in 1808.  The second had nothing to do with Bligh personally - it was a protest against harsh conditions in the Navy, and the third would've happened to any royal governor who attempted to put an end to the private trading which the New South Wales corp engaged in.

I knew about the Rum Rebellion (though I didn't remember the name), but I didn't remember the Director mutiny.

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

The Appalachians TS surprised me.  So did amphitheater, helicopters, stage fright, and Munich (at least that no one threw that out there as a guess, but it was a $2000 clue, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised no one wanted to risk it).

Munich was easy for me - but then I lived in Munich as a military brat, had a mother who endured the war not too far from Munich - and read a small library's worth of books about the Third Reich.  So I don't expect it to be so easy for others, which I guess is why it was a 2,000 dollar clue.

 

10 hours ago, stonehaven said:

Does anyone sing the phrase "Blue Ridge Mountains" to the tune of Country Roads? Just me? Okay then...

Well NOW I do, thanks a lot! 😄

9 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I would have liked to see photos of all the wacky animals!  Maybe during the credit roll next time. ;)  

The mister and I had just watched a YouTube video about hybrid animals (one about the pizzly/grolar bears started us off). So it was easy for us, and a fascinating video to watch - even if this zrhino (rhinbra?) isn't a real one.

I didn't get FJ, though the mister did. For some reason I have this weird and enduring belief that Andorra is a fictional country, despite it coming up in Jeopardy many times.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Clanstarling

[MrAtoz]

17 hours ago, Gimmick Genius said:

On Facebook this morning I saw a clip from Jeopardy noting that outgoing champ Hanna Howard's sister had been a contestant. They included a brief screen shot of Liz Howard's appearance from July 4, 2018. I realized, I met her! We were in the studio the same day. I was in the second show taped, she was in the third, and neither of us was a winner. After her game came the lunch break so Liz and I had lunch together in the Sony Cafeteria (at the LOSERS' TABLE, since we could no longer mingle with the other contestants!😉).

So, Scott (Mr. Atoz)... you and I  and Liz all had the dubious honor of losing to Suzanne Koppelman!😆

I saw a post from Suzanne, who had also realized that she had played against Hanna's sister, and apologized for beating her by a dollar! 😀  So I must have met Hanna's sister as well.  If I remember right, Suzanne was a three-day champ, so you, me, and Liz are the entirety of her victims. 😀

[ams1001]

11 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I would have liked to see photos of all the wacky animals! 

I googled a couple of them. The swoose looked kinda like a swan with goose-colored patches.

Google assumed I was trying to translate "cama" from Spanish and then showed me a bunch of pictures of beds. 🐫+🦙=🛌🏻

[bad things are bad]

15 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

16 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I really want to know what kind of furniture a filibuster is.

 

It's the ottoman Dick van Dyke stumbled over, much like our boy did on this question! 

[Mean Machine]

I don't mean to pile on Kalee but her unfunny and cringe-inducing(for me) joke about Michael Bolton(and Gene Simmons and George Washington?) was a good reminder of why I often skip the player interviews.  

 

[Browncoat]

15 hours ago, stonehaven said:

Does anyone sing the phrase "Blue Ridge Mountains" to the tune of Country Roads? Just me? Okay then...

I sing it to the tune of "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" --

 

[ams1001]

I love when the category names go together.

Ran Cinematic Weddings and Cliches. My only TS's were transatlantic cable and callus/callous, plus the missed DD of Mendel. No FJ. 67% for the game.

I was kinda rooting for Sara. Guess her baby only had enough good luck charm power for the audition.

[Katy M]

It took me a few seconds to understand what they were asking, but I got FJ.

i got the missed clues of Hope, transatlantic cable, Mendel and Pierre Curie.

I got the entire categories of cliches, sheep and real right.

 

[Driad]

Since the FJ clue was about Scottish kings, would/should they have accepted James VI?

[Browncoat]

I said James VI, since that's who he was in Scotland.  Do you suppose they would have given it to me?

I did get the TS/missed DD of Hope, trans-Atlantic cable, and Mendel.

ETA:  Jinx, @Driad!

Edited May 8, 2021 by Browncoat

[Prevailing Wind]

I missed the second half of regular J! - when ya gotta go, ya...well, you know.

I had a grand time laughing at myself during DJ - I had such wild guesses. Who knew Hubble had a constant?  Well, I do now. Let's see if I can remember it.

I know very little about English and/or Scottish royalty. I'm happy to keep it that way - especially the modern royals. I'm so glad we fought wars to get away from them.

[ams1001]

10 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Who knew Hubble had a constant?

I did but the only one I could think of in the moment was Planck's.

[853fisher]

I bet they would have accepted James VI.  I might have said just "James," and that's a lot hairier.  I didn't know it at all.  I just occasionally get lucky guessing common names.

I wonder why Bill doesn't say a little more about his charity?  I looked them up and they've been providing important social services in their community for a long time: book clubs, down payment assistance for homebuyers, etc.  But I think he's only said anything beyond the name once, and that was pretty vague.

Everyone else has played for an organization that's pretty self-explanatory or had a zippy mission statement to share, like Aaron and Oz.  "Media Fellowship" sounds, at least to everyone I've discussed it with, like a club for reporters or something, not an organization in Media, PA.  So why not take ten seconds to give their work a national platform?

Yeah, I know, what have I done for charity lately that I feel like criticizing someone who's arranged a few hundred thousand bucks of donations in his name?  And most of us have Google on hand, sure.  It just stands out because I thought everyone else has handled this very well, and I just keep wondering when Bill's going to say a little more.

[shapeshifter]

Was this the first time they identified a contestant as a "Stay at home parent" instead of a "Stay at home mother"? So much better.

 

Why was "Black sheep, black sheep" retroactively allowed instead of "Baa, baa, black sheep"?

 

Sara seemed to almost hear me yelling repeatedly (instaget) "Mendel! Mendel! Mendel! Mendel! Mendel!" I'm surprised that was a $2K clue, but maybe it was more common knowledge to young Boomers when DNA was still just bursting onto the scene.

 

4 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

wonder why Bill doesn't say a little more about his charity?  I looked them up and they've been providing important social services in their community for a long time: book clubs, down payment assistance for homebuyers, etc.  But I think he's only said anything beyond the name once, and that was pretty vague.

Everyone else has played for an organization that's pretty self-explanatory or had a zippy mission statement to share, like Aaron and Oz.  "Media Fellowship" sounds, at least to everyone I've discussed it with, like a club for reporters or something, not an organization in Media, PA.  So why not take ten seconds to give their work a national platform?

He did one day. Maybe Tuesday? But I've been wondering the same.
Maybe because Anderson Cooper's charities were a tough act to follow? (only half joking)

[M. Darcy]

49 minutes ago, Driad said:

Since the FJ clue was about Scottish kings, would/should they have accepted James VI?

I probably would have answered “James I (England)/James VI (Scotland)” since both are his name. And since it’s a royalty question I would  have overthought it.

I’m still wondering why they gave credit her for black sheep answer. The four words are baa baa black sheep. 

[853fisher]

I said "Baa Baa, Black Sheep" too, but was not surprised "Black Sheep, Black Sheep" was accepted in the end.  I was sure I'd heard it that way somewhere, and these children's rhymes are loosely passed down sometimes.  Apparently the black sheep don't baa first in at least one edition of L Frank Baum's "Mother Goose in Prose," so there we have it.  Style points would've been awarded for the baas, though.

41 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Maybe because Anderson Cooper's charities were a tough act to follow? (only half joking)

Some of the usual suspects on Jeopardy's Facebook page, which I only check once in a while when I'm feeling particularly masochistic, were complaining at length because his charities were not based in the United States.  I'm sure they give generously to American causes themselves.  🙄

Edited May 8, 2021 by 853fisher

[stonehaven]

It's been awhle since I ran a category but the folk music one was in my wheelhouse....makes me feel so smart...

[Bastet]

A picture of the Empire State Building, really?

I only missed four in the first round.  I did even better in DJ, when it's usually the reverse; I didn't know Hubble and I could not get Wilmington out of my brain in time, but got everything else.

My fantastic game came to a screeching halt with FJ, though; I had no idea.  Royalty is not in my wheelhouse, and it's been quite a long time since I read Macbeth.

[shapeshifter]

Just now, Bastet said:

A picture of the Empire State Building, really?

Right??!!? 
Would 30-40-somethings have not immediately recognized a photo of the Empire State Building?

[Mindthinkr]

I have been having decent games (for me). I came up with hope, the missed DD of trans-Atlantic cable, Mendel, and the FJ of James I which was a guess, but evidently a good one. 

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, Driad said:

Since the FJ clue was about Scottish kings, would/should they have accepted James VI?

Don't know if they would - they are erratic, but I would definitely.

I was confused for a little too long, never saw Macbeth, so I thought maybe there was an audience in a scene. My Shakespeare teacher would disown me. Anyway,  once I started going down the path of Shakespeare/Elizabethan times, it timed out.  Too bad, I would have arrived at James I, I think.

13 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I did but the only one I could think of in the moment was Planck's.

Thank you, that was the constant orbiting around in my brain that I couldn't quite get hold of. Oh well, it was wrong anyway.

 

[Trey]

I got the ts's or missed DDs of wait, transatlantic cable and Mendel.

My mind was totally blank for the first couple of seconds for FJ but gradually James I emerged as the most significant future king Macbeth could have foreseen; plus, he might have been in the audience of a Shakespeare play.  I think James VI is really more accurate than James I (of England), since it was Scottish kings Macbeth was thinking about. I believe the judges would have accepted James VI as correct. But, I am not a judge.

[dcalley]

17 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Was this the first time they identified a contestant as a "Stay at home parent" instead of a "Stay at home mother"? So much better.

I searched j-archive, and the earliest "stay-at-home parent" I found (of four) was in 2015.

 

17 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I wonder why Bill doesn't say a little more about his charity?  I looked them up and they've been providing important social services in their community for a long time: book clubs, down payment assistance for homebuyers, etc.  But I think he's only said anything beyond the name once, and that was pretty vague.

Everyone else has played for an organization that's pretty self-explanatory or had a zippy mission statement to share, like Aaron and Oz.  "Media Fellowship" sounds, at least to everyone I've discussed it with, like a club for reporters or something, not an organization in Media, PA.  So why not take ten seconds to give their work a national platform?

Thanks! I wanted to know more about it, but never remembered to look it up myself! Bill's mother was one of the co-founders.

'60 Minutes' journalist Bill Whitaker speaks at Media Fellowship House’s 75th anniversary celebration (2019):

Quote

The 75-year-old organization was formed in 1944, after Marie Whitaker, with her baby daughter and her sister Edna Best, were refused service at a restaurant in Media because they were African American. Two white women, Dorothy James of Wallingford and her friend Julia Fowler, witnessed the discrimination and took them to a different restaurant where they all were served. As a result of this incident, the non-partisan, interfaith and interracial Media Fellowship House was born.

 

[bankerchick]

On 5/6/2021 at 10:16 AM, Trey said:

During the commercial break I had also been thinking of the difference between British and US spellings of some words so that really confirmed my answer.

Me too.  And I spent 30 seconds trying to think of albums titles with the words colour or honour (or jewellery.)

[Cotypubby]

5 hours ago, dcalley said:

I searched j-archive, and the earliest "stay-at-home parent" I found (of four) was in 2015.

 

Thanks! I wanted to know more about it, but never remembered to look it up myself! Bill's mother was one of the co-founders.

'60 Minutes' journalist Bill Whitaker speaks at Media Fellowship House’s 75th anniversary celebration (2019):

 

Wow, well now I wish he had given a brief mention of what that charity did because until I read this post I thought the “Media Fellowship” was something to do with journalism and media, especially since he’s from 60 Minutes. I’d never have guessed it was named after a town called Media!

[DrSpaceman73]

I think the novelty of the guest hosts has worn off and fans don't care as much now.  Doing it for months on end with so many involved is a bit much.  

Should have like 3 months And make a choice.  

I know part of that was due to when Alex passed and how much was left in the season but still, seems like the lists keeps get longer and less of an honor or privilege. 

[PBnJay]

On 5/8/2021 at 7:12 PM, DrSpaceman73 said:

I think the novelty of the guest hosts has worn off and fans don't care as much now.  Doing it for months on end with so many involved is a bit much.  

Should have like 3 months And make a choice.  

I know part of that was due to when Alex passed and how much was left in the season but still, seems like the lists keeps get longer and less of an honor or privilege. 

The novelty maybe has worn off with less coverage by news programs and less water-cooler chatter, but Jeopardy fans are still watching the show regardless of host. Maybe someone tuned in to see a host they liked or tuned out so they didn't see a host they did not like, but the true fan watches every day, regardless.

I agree with the show not naming a permanent replacement in the middle of a season. The guest hosts and donating to charities is a good idea. I doubt any of the guest hosts feel they are less important because they were named later than those named first. If I were named today to guest host, it would be a fabulous feather in my resume cap and I would not turn it down because I was not picked before Ken Jennings. It is still an honor and privilege to that person, considering all the famous people who were NOT chosen as guest host.

[shapeshifter]

29 minutes ago, PBnJay said:

The novelty maybe has worn off with less coverage by news programs and less water-cooler chatter, but Jeopardy fans are still watching the show regardless of host. Maybe someone tuned in to see a host they liked or tuned out so they didn't see a host they did not like, but the true fan watches every day, regardless.

I agree with the show not naming a permanent replacement in the middle of a season. The guest hosts and donating to charities is a good idea. I doubt any of the guest hosts feel they are less important because they were named later than those named first. If I were named today to guest host, it would be a fabulous feather in my resume cap and I would not turn it down because I was not picked before Ken Jennings. It is still an honor and privilege to that person, considering all the famous people who were NOT chosen as guest host.

If my parents were still alive to watch [FU Parkinson’s] I’m pretty sure they would have a few lively debates about the merits of some of the guest hosts (Mom would swoon over Aaron Rodgers even more than I have) and they’d likely agree that they “just can’t stand” a couple of guest hosts (e.g., Oz), but invariably after each show they’d agree that no one could replace Alex.

And now @PBnJay has me thinking about being a Jeopardy guest host, heh. I think I could host, but I would never make it as a contestant. 

[DrSpaceman73]

TV Ratings are slipping by the week with each new host.  At one point it fell behind family feud in the time slot

Edited May 10, 2021 by DrSpaceman73

[saber5055]

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

TV Ratings are slipping by the week with each new host.  At one point it fell behind family feud in the time slot

Jeopardy isn't on at the same time as Feud in my market. And ratings these days don't include people who watch at all different times of day and night ... streaming, recording, watching the next day. Basically, the days of "ratings" are over just as the days of three networks is done too.

Where is it on in the same time slot as Feud? People who watch Feud are NOT going to watch Jeopardy. Different brain types. And Jeopardy isn't a network show, it's syndicated. Different networks show it, NBC, ABC ... it varies by market as does time slot.

I doubt Jeopardy is ending any time soon. Or any time late. It's not going anywhere. And Family Feud is pretty much for people who like dirty jokes more than knowing/learning anything. The quoted statement means nothing to me.

[DrSpaceman73]

25 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Jeopardy isn't on at the same time as Feud in my market. And ratings these days don't include people who watch at all different times of day and night ... streaming, recording, watching the next day. Basically, the days of "ratings" are over just as the days of three networks is done too.

Where is it on in the same time slot as Feud? People who watch Feud are NOT going to watch Jeopardy. Different brain types. And Jeopardy isn't a network show, it's syndicated. Different networks show it, NBC, ABC ... it varies by market as does time slot.

I doubt Jeopardy is ending any time soon. Or any time late. It's not going anywhere. And Family Feud is pretty much for people who like dirty jokes more than knowing/learning anything. The quoted statement means nothing to me.

It's on at the same time here in charlotte.  

Didnt say jeopardy was going away.  And yes there are other ratings besides live audience.  But tracking a single rating over time gives you a trend about the audience.  I doubt the plus 3 or plus 7 ratings are going to change the overall trend of the ratings slipping as the guest hosts continue.  It slipped from a 6.2 or so high with Ken to 4.9 with Dr oz.  Bumped up a bit with Aaron Rodgers but the trend is still down overall.   

 

[ams1001]

My only TS in the first round was Spitfire, which is not a category I would have expected to get. Round 2 I only got Miami Vice Versa (but there were only two in the round). FJ was an instaget (or maybe I should call it an instaguess).

 Tag Team! 

"Pro bonobo" made me giggle. 

 

[Browncoat]

I knew I would not get FJ as soon as I saw the category, and I was correct.  I did not get FJ.  Oh well.

I did get Mike Tyson, Spring forward, and Tetons.  I'm claiming Spring forward, though I also said the less specific, "change the clocks", which I like to think would have been accepted as well. 

[Katy M]

I got FJ but thought it couldn't be that easy and i was missing something.

I got the missed clues of  Mike tyson (a guess), set clocks ahead (before she said to set them back), spitfire and tetons.

 

[853fisher]

I liked the "Latin Overlappin'" category.  It must be fun to be in the writing room on those days.  There were plenty of little details I wanted to learn more about, which I like, but I didn't do especially well otherwise.  I totally missed the "!" clue in the Music category.  I think Juliet had as many correct answers as the others put together.  She is good.

I think she mumbled-swallowed it but I did hear "what is" before the response about which she was warned.  If she didn't, I thought the long-standing rule was that you'll be prompted in the first round and incorrect in the second if you fail to phrase your response appropriately.  Maybe they just felt it was very ambiguous.  That was an odd moment.

I wondered why, of all the charming love connection stories we hear, "my mother set me up with someone I didn't connect with until years later, but it was a great match" got a round of applause when most don't?  Maybe a few of the upcoming contestants watching clapped, and they sweetened it so it didn't sound odd.  The tale was cute, but not all that.

I guess it's to be expected that ratings might slip at a time of transition, although they still seem pretty high.  I have come around on the wisdom of using guest hosts, but I wish they had picked a smaller number for longer stints.  As soon as it all starts to settle, poof, there's another one!  I think many fans like the ritual of tuning in and want consistency.

Edited May 11, 2021 by 853fisher

[shapeshifter]

I don’t understand how neither of the other 2 contestants buzzed in with “Spring Ahead.”

OTOH, I recognized the Grand Tetons immediately, but I don’t expect everyone would. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by shapeshifter

[Bastet]

The spring ahead TS was quite surprising since Alyse's wrong answer took them halfway there.

I only ran historic happenings and time in the first round, but I only missed one each in three others and two in I'll Fight You; I don't like boxing, wrestling, MMA, etc. so I thought I was going to bomb that category, but I came up with all but two.  So I had a decent first round.

In DJ, I ran mountaintop, science, and Latin Overlappin' (loved that category!) and only missed one each in the rest, and FJ came to me very quickly, so this was a great start to the week for me.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

OTOH, I recognized the Grand Tetons immediately, but I don’t expect everyone would. 

I did. One of my best memories ever was being locked out of Yellowstone after I exited the south gate (it was snowing on the Continental Divide, mine was the only vehicle in the park) and spending the night in Jackson after passing by the Tetons. Had to drive back to Bozeman through Idaho ... I know, poor me!

[Driad]

Some ranger, when asked what Tetons meant, suggested "sweater girl mountains."

I like continental divides, especially triple divides.  For example, Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park in Montana sends water to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans.