Jeopardy! Season 37 (2020-2021)

[Roaster]

Veronica accumulated over $22K with the help of only one Daily Double (and only $1000 from that Daily Double), which is pretty good.  She didn't know FJ, but neither did I (although it seems obvious in hindsight.)

Gotta love a contestant with an alliterative name: Veronica Vichit-Vadakan.

 

[ams1001]

Not a lotta TSs tonight…and I didn't get any of 'em. But I did get the Pegasus DD, and ran She Sang it in a Movie, Corporate Jargon, and T-Pain.

Actually did better in the second round than the first. Got 60% in the first round (my third highest first round score this week) and 77% in the second (a full 30 points more than my next highest DJ score).

I got FJ but only because I accidentally scrolled down too far in the archive and saw the word Edgar (quoting Buzzy's comment about who the character was) at the top of the box. I'm sure I would not have gotten it otherwise, so I am not counting it, for a total score of 67%. Best game of the week.
 

[Katy M]

I got FJ, but only because I couldn'tt think of any other male 19th century American authors.  I never read King Lear, so had no clue on the name.

i got the ts of the Dead Zone.

I got the entire category of TV right and cancelled that out by getting the entire category of AKA wrong.  But, other than that, I actually did really well tonight, especially for a TOC.

[Browncoat]

I did not get FJ tonight.  I spent far too much time trying to think of characters in "King Lear" instead of focusing on the birth year.  I feel like I should have gotten it, though, since this show loves Poe!  Oh, and by the way, middle dude, Dickens was not an American author.

I also did not get any TS.  I am blaming still being knackered from getting up for the sunrise, and also from the looooooooooooooooooong drive home yesterday.  Plus having to get up far too early this morning to go to work.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

That was a nice tribute to Brayden.

[Katy M]

I forgot to mention:

PIVOt!!!!!!!!!!

[saber5055]

15 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Oh, and by the way, middle dude, Dickens was not an American author.

Yeah, but he WAS an author from somewhere around that time period so Middle Dude's guess-answer was better than if he'd written Art Gurfunkel.

[shapeshifter]

I can't be the only one who got the TS of Yugoslavia.
I've been watching the reruns from a year ago most mornings, which is probably why I knew Yugoslavia. That and because the college where I worked had a lot of students from that area.
Watching those reruns has also allowed me to "meet" some of the champions.

Still feeling verklempt about Brayden. So young.

[ams1001]

45 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I forgot to mention:

PIVOt!!!!!!!!!!

37 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Yeah, but he WAS an author from somewhere around that time period so Middle Dude's guess-answer was better than if he'd written Art Gurfunkel.

Dickens was born in 1812, so it wouldn't have been a bad guess if he wasn't, y'know, not American.

[GreekGeek]

I should have known Poe because I knew the answer came down to a choice between Edmund and Edgar. I was thinking "Edmund...Wilson? Edgar...Rice Burroughs?" Boo, hiss. I did know The Dead Zone and Yugoslavia.

Nice tribute to Brayden tonight. Looking back, it made more sense to mention him at the end of the week, after we had seen all the competing ex-champs.

[Bastet]

I think I vaguely recognized Veronica.

I missed two prefixes (including cyber, which was a major duh! moment when revealed) and two Stephen King titles, but otherwise ran the first round. 

In DJ, the "sweetheart" hint in the first Hole clue led me to say "love" rather than "bogey", even though that is completely the wrong sport.  Yikes.  I got the rest of that category, and ran countries, jargon, and T.  But I didn't get a single mythology clue right (I should have come up with Electra, but the others I had no chance at) and only got two in She Sang It In a Movie.

I didn't even have a guess for FJ.

[853fisher]

I wasn't watching when Veronica was first on, but I was rooting for her after her story.  What a creative way to make a difference.  I can't pretend I wouldn't revel in the attention if I got on the show and did well, but I can only hear so many variations of "after I won I walked into the ice cream social / parent-teacher conference / bar trivia night and all eyes were on me!" before my eyes roll into the back of my head.  I understand why the show directs them all to talk about their winning streak's impact on their lives, but I wish they'd let that be one of a few options.  They all end up sounding samey and a little shallow or self-involved.  (Grumpus, table of one!)

Another instance of "wow, what a clever FJ question!  I wish I'd had any idea at all."  I suddenly forgot all American authors of the 1800s other than Mark Twain, and I didn't recall a Samuel or a Langhorne in "King Lear."  Maybe next time.  I cleared only "Also Known As."  I was looking at the Tenderloin on a map a few hours ago, trying to see whether I could get away with describing something as in a better reputed neighborhood, but it was too many blocks off to fudge.  I'll try St. Ann's Valley next time!  I hadn't heard that before.  One tale says it came to be called the Tenderloin because a cop could afford to bring some home if he got hazard pay for working there.

Finally, I am fortunate in life.  I have a mostly functional body and enough money to meet my basic needs and enjoy more than a few luxuries.  I have a nice family, wonderful friends, and many hobbies.  But I'm not sure I've ever felt as happy as Taft in that photo!  Especially relative to other photos of that era, I thought he was practically beaming.  Here's hoping I can figure out how to feel the same way without being named to the bench first. ;)

PS: for the numbers people, the wild card scores were $22.4K (Veronica), $18.8K (Jason), $12.2K (Nibir), and $11.6K (Ryan H).  Veronica's score would have won on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

Edited May 22, 2021 by 853fisher
wild card scores

[Browncoat]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

In DJ, the "sweetheart" hint in the first Hole clue led me to say "love" rather than "bogey",

Maybe if Alex had been here to do his "best" Bogart impersonation?

[GreekGeek]

8 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I

Finally, I am fortunate in life.  I have a mostly functional body and enough money to meet my basic needs and enjoy more than a few luxuries.  I have a nice family, wonderful friends, and many hobbies.  But I'm not sure I've ever felt as happy as Taft in that photo!  Especially relative to other photos of that era, I thought he was practically beaming.  Here's hoping I can figure out how to feel the same way without being named to the bench first. ;)

It was hard to see completely, but Taft also looked quite a bit slimmer in that photo than in many others, because he finally had his dream job and was no longer stress-eating because of being miserable as President. 

[Trey]

My only ts was cars (what Earl Scheib paints).

I had no clue for FJ but Edgar A. Poe was the only American author I could think of who was likely to have been born in that year.  King Lear was no help at all.  I was just lucky Poe was all I could come up with.

 

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I can't be the only one who got the TS of Yugoslavia.

I got it after a second (in time). I have a hard time remembering the "new" countries there.

11 hours ago, 853fisher said:

Another instance of "wow, what a clever FJ question!  I wish I'd had any idea at all."  I suddenly forgot all American authors of the 1800s other than Mark Twain, and I didn't recall a Samuel or a Langhorne in "King Lear."  Maybe next time. 

Same for me.  I've never read Lear completely through (despite a course in Shakespeare), I only remember the main characters - so I was trying to match "Goneril," "Cordelia," and "Regan" to an American Author (I might have snuck in a Macbeth character as well...).

I ran Stephen King - but given the amount of space his books take up on my bookshelf, I would have been shamed if I didn't. I did have a bit of a brain blip with The Dead Zone for a second - which seems appropriate.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Clanstarling

[shapeshifter]

This coming Tuesday the 25th my local station is pre-empting Jeopardy for the Rochester [NY] Mayoral Debate, but then then they will air it at 2:37 a.m.
Thank you? 
I will try to record.

While I'm probably the only one here watching via Rochester NY's WROC CBS station, if anyone else encounter local pre-empting, I was able to see this via titantv.com.
To see your lineup, at the top of the grid, begin your setup by clicking Broadcast Stations.

[ams1001]

13 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

Same for me.  I've never read Lear completely through (despite a course in Shakespeare), I only remember the main characters - so I was trying to match "Goneril," "Cordelia," and "Regan" to an American Author (I might have snuck in a Macbeth character as well...).

We read it in high school, but that was a long time ago (and we actually listened to it on vinyl in class). I only remember Lear and the daughters' names as well.

[Cotypubby]

I got FJ but it was just a random guess of “Name a famous American author from the 1800s. Edgar Allen Poe?” I could only remember the daughters names from Lear so that was no help.

(For a second when I read the clue, my mind went to John Wilkes Booth with the mention of a Shakespearean actor parent, then I remembered the category! 😆)

Edited May 22, 2021 by Cotypubby

[Ailianna]

1 hour ago, Cotypubby said:

I got FJ but it was just a random guess of “Name a famous American author from the 1800s. Edgar Allen Poe?” I could only remember the daughters names from Lear so that was no help.

(For a second when I read the clue, my mind went to John Wilkes Booth with the mention of a Shakespearean actor parent, then I remembered the category! 😆)

Are you in my brain? That's exactly how I jumped around, including John Wilkes Booth.

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, Cotypubby said:

I got FJ but it was just a random guess of “Name a famous American author from the 1800s. Edgar Allen Poe?” I could only remember the daughters names from Lear so that was no help.

(For a second when I read the clue, my mind went to John Wilkes Booth with the mention of a Shakespearean actor parent, then I remembered the category! 😆)

I knew I'd forgotten something. This was my initial reaction to the clue too.

22 minutes ago, Ailianna said:

Are you in my brain? That's exactly how I jumped around, including John Wilkes Booth.

My dear spouse back up and reran the music for me - sadly, I did not get to Poe.

I tried to match the Lear characters I knew to authors, and not too surprisingly there aren't many named Goneril.

[GrannySmith]

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

This coming Tuesday the 25th my local station is pre-empting Jeopardy for the Rochester [NY] Mayoral Debate, but then then they will air it at 2:37 a.m.
Thank you? 
I will try to record.

While I'm probably the only one here watching via Rochester NY's WROC CBS station, if anyone else encounter local pre-empting, I was able to see this via titantv.com.
To see your lineup, at the top of the grid, begin your setup by clicking Broadcast Stations.

I’m in Canandaigua, and WROC is where I watch it. I’ll check that out. Thanks. 

[snarktini]

For the past 4 years I've watched Jeopardy religiously with my partner. It was our little dinnertime tradition! But this week we broke up. Tried watching an episode tonight, the first ToC -- I'm behind because of breakup stuff -- and it felt so sad. It wasn't any fun. I'll have to take a break and see if I can come back later.

That said, I am not surprised that Ryan caught crap for his game. While I don't think he did anything objectively egregious, the J! community does NOT like anything perceived to be immodest or unsportsmanlike. He positively reveled in his victories and that never goes over well.

[Prevailing Wind]

On 5/19/2021 at 8:44 PM, GreekGeek said:

 The other TS's I got were Bill Sikes--who in the illustration looked a lot like Oliver Reed, who played him in the 1969 musical

I have the Original B'way Cast album and when the clue was presented, I shouted "Bill SYKES!" and then gasped like they do in the song. And then I continued with "Strong men tremble when they hear it..."  Of course, it scared the hell out of the cats when I gasped.

On 5/20/2021 at 10:11 PM, secnarf said:

For anyone curious as to why some people argue for the base 12 system: https://io9.gizmodo.com/why-we-should-switch-to-a-base-12-counting-system-5977095

Well, crap. We can't even convert to metric in the US and they want base 12??!??!?  Never gonna happen.

On 5/21/2021 at 7:02 AM, shapeshifter said:

Has Buzzy been mentioning alternative answers? I can’t recall.

Yes. I don't remember what the correct response was, but it had to do with money, I think, and he suggested chicken scratch was also a correct answer, which I had always thought of as bad handwriting - nothing to do with money.

18 hours ago, Trey said:

My only ts was cars (what Earl Scheib paints).

 

Living the SE USA most of my life, the only way I ever heard of Earl Scheib was jokes from Johnny Carson's monologue.

[GreekGeek]

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I have the Original B'way Cast album and when the clue was presented, I shouted "Bill SYKES!" and then gasped like they do in the song. And then I continued with "Strong men tremble when they hear it..."  Of course, it scared the hell out of the cats when I gasped.

I thought of that song too. It's a shame it was cut from the movie, though I understood the rationale for making Sykes more frightening by having him play his role straight and not singing. 

[Clanstarling]

5 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I have the Original B'way Cast album and when the clue was presented, I shouted "Bill SYKES!" and then gasped like they do in the song. And then I continued with "Strong men tremble when they hear it..."  Of course, it scared the hell out of the cats when I gasped.

My youngest was in a local children's theater version of Oliver (not a musical). Her "Bill SYKES!" brought down the house. Perhaps not the intent of the line, but a fond memory nevertheless.

[saber5055]

Never mind.

Edited May 23, 2021 by saber5055

[Bastet]

9 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Living the SE USA most of my life, the only way I ever heard of Earl Scheib was jokes from Johnny Carson's monologue.

That clue got me curious.  It was an instaget for me, but when it was a TS, I thought perhaps he'd never gone national, then thought that would be an odd $200 clue in the ToC if it was region specific.  According to Wikipedia, those "I'm Earl Scheib, and I'll paint any car any color for $29.95" commercials were national, but ran in only about 100 cities across the country, and in the late '90s a lot of shops closed down, making it mostly a West coast thing.

[PBnJay]

20 hours ago, Bastet said:

According to Wikipedia, those "I'm Earl Scheib, and I'll paint any car any color for $29.95" commercials were national, but ran in only about 100 cities

I never saw any commercials but we drove past the Earl Scheib place often and I remember the big sign on the building saying the price. I think someone my family knew got a car painted there and he had to do all the taping and cover the windows himself as the cars were all spray painted in one big shot. At least that's the story I remember.

Edited May 24, 2021 by PBnJay

[SoMuchTV]

21 hours ago, Bastet said:

That clue got me curious.  It was an instaget for me, but when it was a TS, I thought perhaps he'd never gone national, then thought that would be an odd $200 clue in the ToC if it was region specific.  According to Wikipedia, those "I'm Earl Scheib, and I'll paint any car any color for $29.95" commercials were national, but ran in only about 100 cities across the country, and in the late '90s a lot of shops closed down, making it mostly a West coast thing.

 

10 minutes ago, PBnJay said:

I never saw any commercials but we drove past the Earl Scheib place often and I remember the big sign on the building saying the price. I think someone my family knew got a car painted there and he had to do all the taping and cover the windows himself as the cars were all spray painted in one big shot. At least that's the story I remember.

I don't think I've ever seen an Earl Scheib location, or even seen the ad in my area, but I had no trouble knowing he paints cars.  Not sure why.  If the clue had been phrased in the opposite way "This person will paint any car for @29.95"), I don't know that I would have come up with the name, though.

 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

If the clue had been phrased in the opposite way "This person will paint any car for @29.95"), I don't know that I would have come up with the name, though.

Living in Los Angeles, those commercials were ubiquitous, but I don't know that I'd have remembered his name if the clue had been phrased that way, either.  Now, Cal Worthington and his "dog" Spot, that'll never leave my brain.

[proserpina65]

On 5/21/2021 at 7:59 PM, Katy M said:

I got FJ, but only because I couldn'tt think of any other male 19th century American authors.  I never read King Lear, so had no clue on the name.

It's been years since I read King Lear, but I did remember that one of the characters is named Edgar.  I briefly thought the answer was Edgar Lee Masters, author of Spoon River Anthology, but then looked at the date and had a "come to mythical god of choice" moment and realized it had to be Poe.

And Yay!  My cutie Sam made it to the semis.  Although Veronica was very impressive so I was glad to see her get a wildcard spot.

On 5/21/2021 at 8:33 PM, shapeshifter said:

I can't be the only one who got the TS of Yugoslavia.

I can't believe none of them got it.  I mean, it had Serbs, Croats and Slovenes right there in the clue.  Has it really been so long since it broke up that no one remembers who was in it?

On 5/22/2021 at 10:48 AM, Cotypubby said:

got FJ but it was just a random guess of “Name a famous American author from the 1800s. Edgar Allen Poe?”

Jeopardy loves Poe.

[PaulaO]

Chicago person here.  I remember seeing Earl Scheib commercial in the 70s.  I thought he was only in Chicago..

[ams1001]

Not off to a good start this week. Didn't get more than 3 in any category (and got zero emperors). 

I did get the TS of Vince Vaughn, the missed DD of jettison (and the potassium DD), and FJ.

4 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

My cutie Sam made it to the semis.

And the final! Yay!

[Roaster]

Sam was burning it up today, especially in the second round.  I felt a little sorry for the other two.

After a bunch of hard Final Jeopardy's last week, they had an easier one today.  At least one that I got, as did all three contestants.

[Katy M]

I said NIghtwatch, no that's not it.  Nightwatch, no that's not it.  What is it?  Night something.  I don't think that counts.

I got the missed clues of jettison and Vince Vaughan and missed the entire category of songs, and overall just did terribly.

In the same vein as my FJ answer, I said, Sam, Sam, Sam something.

[Browncoat]

Almost instaget FJ today -- I first had to re-read the clue to determine whether they wanted the painting or the artist.  I could have given either one.

I also got the TS/missed DD of hogan, huarache, jettison, and Sam Elliott.  How dare they not know Sam Elliott and his fabulous moustache!  🙂

Edited May 24, 2021 by Browncoat

[chessiegal]

My husband pre-called FJ when he saw the category.

[Kimmmmmm]

Apparently an unpopular opinion,  but I don't like Sam...didn't like him during his initial run and still don't.  Have a bad feeling he'll win, too.

[HissyFit]

5 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I also got the TS/missed DD of hogan, huarache, jettison, and Sam Elliot.  How dare they not know Sam Elliot and his fabulous moustache!  🙂

And his fabulous voice! I'd buy an audiobook of the property tax rolls if Sam Elliott narrated it.

[bankerchick]

41 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

 How dare they not know Sam Elliott and his fabulous moustache!  🙂

I know, but I couldn't come up with his last name either.  I can't believe I drew a blank on that. I feel bad if he's a fan of the show.

[853fisher]

I could picture the painting but struggle with filling in “Night_____.” I’ve finally connected that title to the name of a great orchestra a friend of friends helms, the Nighthawks. They do Jazz Age music with authentic orchestrations. I understand they did most of the band music for “Boardwalk Empire” and are in residence at a nice restaurant in Manhattan. Listen to a few of those songs and maybe the painting will stick!

That was definitely a ToC board, I thought. The footwear they name drop in “Surfin USA”? At least give me a few seconds to sing through it all! ;) If I ever got on the show, I would have to learn some of the things like major rivers of Europe that they often ask about but which have never particularly interested me. For now, I remain blissfully ignorant.

Edited May 25, 2021 by 853fisher

[zoey1996]

I could picture the painting, but got the painter wrong (thought Turner instead of Hopper), and couldn’t pull Nighthawks out fast enough.

[shapeshifter]

For FJ I thought they wanted “the artist” (Hopper). Yeah. I know. 🤦‍♀️
 

I liked all 3 of the champions. And I’m glad that a substitute teacher won. But Ryan Hemmel might have won if he hadn’t blanked on “jettison” for his “true daily double,” and I thought maybe he was distracted when Buzzy pointed out that it would be $6400, because I know I momentarily got distracted thinking: Oh. As in “The $6400 Question.” I actually did refocus in time to come up with “jettison,” but I could tell by the look on Ryan’s face and his response that he wasn’t able to focus. Of course, I did not have $6400 riding on the response like he did.

Being a Boomer, the TS of huraches was easy even though I didn’t recall that line from "Surfin' U.S.A." 
But, hey, I hummed the tune! 🎶

[secnarf]

I could only think of "jetsam" and couldn't get to "jettison".

Lacklustre game for me - suppose I can blame the May 2-4 drinking!

 

[Roaster]

Tomorrow's contestants include our triple-V librarian: Veronica Vichit-Vadakan.  Who wins the award for coolest name in this year's tournament.
 

[SoMuchTV]

45 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Being a Boomer, the TS of huraches was easy even though I didn’t recall that line from "Surfin' U.S.A." 
But, hey, I hummed the tune! 🎶

Am I the only one who thought  Buzzy was channeling Alex with the pronunciation on this one? 

[ams1001]

I realized after the game that this is the first time I wasn't aware of the fact that it was a guest host while I was watching. It just felt normal.

[Bastet]

I was rooting for Karen, but, wow, Sam ran away with it in DJ; great performance.

I ran flags, what to wear, and starts with something you can ride (well, I said busser instead of busboy, because I don't use gendered terms for jobs, but that would have been accepted because it's the name of the position and fits the category) and only missed one each in music and history books, but I missed three in zodiac.  I'm normally very good with rhyme time clues, but I do not know astrology well at all, so I was too slow to come up with most of them.

In DJ, I didn't get a single emperor.  I also missed one each in handprints (Vince Vaughn stumped me just as he did the contestants; he once hit on me in a bar while incredibly drunk, but there was nothing in the clue to lead me to him), elements, and river.  I only ran too much and never enough.

I was not at all confident going into FJ based on the category, and, indeed, it wasn't something I knew.  Nice painting, though.

So I'm not off to a great start in the semi-finals.

[SoMuchTV]

7 minutes ago, Bastet said:

In DJ, I didn't get a single emperor.  I also missed one each in handprints (Vince Vaughn stumped me just as he did the contestants; he once hit on me in a bar while incredibly drunk, but there was nothing in the clue to lead me to him), elements, and river.  I only ran too much and never enough.

Okay, I think you’re burying the lede here. 

[Pallida]

2 hours ago, HissyFit said:

And his fabulous voice! I'd buy an audiobook of the property tax rolls if Sam Elliott narrated it.

Here in Oregon, he narrates a defensible space/wildfire protection commercial. I skip fast forwarding it because of his voice.