Jeopardy! Season 37 (2020-2021)

[chessiegal]

23 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I call foul. In Double J! Amal answered with somebody's name without the question phrasing and "Dr" Ass ruled him correct. I understand "they" may be cutting him some slack because he's a stunt host, but it's not fair to the contestants.

I've read that sometimes the editing seems to cut the clear use of the question form. If Oz was wrong, the judges can stop play and review the tape so that if it needs correcting, they can.

[DrSpaceman73]

Noooooolo!!!!!!!!

 

Most annoying champion ever.  I can hardly take watching him.

What on earth is he doing to that buzzer!!?

 

And spit out your damn answer!!

 

 

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

What else would a poet defend?

If he's writing an essay, amybe he's defending essays?  

[Cotypubby]

Damn! I was rooting for anyone but Amal. How does pressing down on a button cause his whole arm to flail upwards!? He almost smacked himself in the face one time. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Cotypubby

[Bastet]

As others have said, the poetry TS was quite surprising.  Effectively: What literary form would a poet write in defense of?  Um, is this a trick question?  They can't have all three been unaware Shelley was a poet, so maybe they thought it was too obvious an answer, but in the $400 slot that's not a clue that should have gone unanswered.  (Maybe it seemed higher-valued because they got to it late in the game?  I don't know; I am seriously puzzled by this one.)

That oddity aside, a good game.

I sat here in complete silence for the entire Nebula Awards (which I've never heard of) category; sci-fi is not my thing.  I missed one or two each in most other first-round categories, too - the only ones I ran were problems and ME.  I almost ran songs, and should have; when the Cuban missile crisis answer was revealed, I told my cat, "Oh, duh."  Oh, well; I'm in good company on that one as it was a TS.

I rebounded in DJ, when I ran everything but essays and bodies of water (almost, but I could not pull Beaufort out of my brain in time), and only missed three total.

FJ was nearly (I wasn't sure it was that old) an instaget, so after a rough start I had a decent game.

[Driad]

The Nebula Awards

Nebula Award Winners by Year

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, 853fisher said:

It was not a great day for closed captioning.  Whoever worked this show up thinks "Brad Berry" is a sci-fi author

Hah! I was on the phone and trying to read the Closed Captioning when I thought I saw “Brad Perry” for “Ray Bradbury.” 🙄

[Cherpumple]

I took a wild guess at Ikea for FJ, but had to read the clue a few times to figure out what the phrasing actually meant. In hindsight, I think I was getting tripped up by the concept itself because it doesn't usually apply to me. I do a lot of crafty/DIY projects and sometimes I do feel the pride of the Ikea Effect, but more often than not, once I learn "how the sausage is made" through the use of specific tools and techniques, the final products somehow seem less impressive. It's kind of a "if I can do it, it must not be very difficult" mind set, even if it's a skill I've been honing for years. I also tend to fixate on the mistakes I make, even if I know that no one else can see them and the overall results objectively look really good. It's basically imposter's syndrome.

I think Amal is fine (his mustache is pretty epic), but his slow response time bugs me. Between that and Dr. Oz's long pauses in ruling on responses, it's amazing they got through so many clues.

[PaulaO]

I pulled Ikea out of my butt.  I didn’t know it was founded in the 40s.  Seems like it’s a very 60s company.  “Oh look, we get to put it together ourselves instead of The Man.”

[Clanstarling]

12 hours ago, PaulaO said:

I have no use for Dr Oz but he’s not bothering me much.  Except he should have insisted on initials in Monday’s game.  I HATE whistling and those who whistle, but Amal was most excellent doing Mozart.  Props to Bastet!

I hate whistling (not the whistler generally), but I was very impressed with Amal's performance. I don't know that I'd hate whistling so much if everyone was as good as he is. Of course, I may hate whistling because I can't manage to do it.

12 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I may grow to like Amal if he keeps up impressive displays of knowledge and scores, but not yet.  Honest to God, I thought he was going to fall off the dais the way he was flailing on that last DJ clue.  He did whistle well.

I haven't noticed a thing about Amal, but so many of you have. I guess I'll have to watch more closely tonight.

12 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I thought FJ was an Insta-Get, as was "the defense of poetry."

Yeah, it seemed like a no brainer to me, unless you talk yourself out of it because it seems to easy - which I have done many times, but not this time.

12 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I was really rooting for Jon, at least partly because he reminded me of David Hyde Pierce.

I really liked Jon, though I can't say he reminds of of DHP (we're currently re-watching Frasier). But I liked him more than any contestant in a long time - which doesn't mean I've disliked any contestants. I just really liked him and was disappointed he lost.

9 minutes ago, PaulaO said:

I pulled Ikea out of my butt.  I didn’t know it was founded in the 40s.  Seems like it’s a very 60s company.  “Oh look, we get to put it together ourselves instead of The Man.”

To me it's more "why should we have to pay labor costs, when we can just make the customer do it."

[Mindthinkr]

I got hip and poetry. When the answer was given for Lent, to me it sounded as though he said “lenden” the first time around. I was sure he was going to get ruled wrong, but then Dr Oz gave him a second chance to get it right. I also tho that Big Bear Lake was too easy of a clue for 1k. I blanked on FJ. 

[DaveA]

Between Amal and Dr. Ooze I think I'll stop watching for a few days and check back later.

 

[ams1001]

41 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I haven't noticed a thing about Amal, but so many of you have. I guess I'll have to watch more closely tonight.

I haven't noticed his movements so much, but then I look away from the screen a lot (especially when I'm keeping score, which I do in Excel, so I'm constantly looking back and forth to make sure I'm marking the right cell.

28 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I also tho that Big Bear Lake was too easy of a clue for 1k.

Me too. Especially since it's the only one I got in the category.

[Katy M]

18 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I haven't noticed his movements so much, but then I look away from the screen a lot (especially when I'm keeping score, which I do in Excel, so I'm constantly looking back and forth to make sure I'm marking the right cell.

All I've noticed is that he often takes forever and a day answering.  I don't really care about anything else.

[DrSpaceman73]

He takes forever and he appears to be having a seizure when ringing in.   And not the typical 'lets smash on the button hard and repeatedly ' but truly hard to watch sort of disturbing clicking

Edited March 25, 2021 by DrSpaceman73

[shapeshifter]

53 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

I haven't noticed a thing about Amal, but so many of you have. I guess I'll have to watch more closely tonight.

I haven't noticed his movements so much,

Since I was on the phone during almost the entire episode and watching it on mute, I did notice Amal's movements --which made Seinfeld's Elaine dance look like Swan Lake in comparison, LOL. But, hey, it's winning him money, and he probably doesn't have the requisite social skills to rise to the top of his game in life otherwise. Plus, it's money for charity.

With mute on, I also noticed how much all of them are rapidly pressing and repressing their buzzers after the first one get in. I guess this is to try to be the next one called if the first one blows it. 
Dear Jeopardy engineer team: Please consider updating the buzzer mechanisms both for enhanced viewer enjoyment and so the contestants aren't at risk of repetitive stress injuries.
IDK, but maybe TPTB think the crazy buzzer thumb-whomping adds to the viewer excitement, in which case: Dear PTB: No. It doesn't. It irritates us.

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Since I was on the phone during almost the entire episode and watching it on mute, I did notice Amal's movements --which made Seinfeld's Elaine dance look like Swan Lake in comparison, LOL. But, hey, it's winning him money, and he probably doesn't have the requisite social skills to rise to the top of his game in life otherwise. Plus, it's money for charity.

With mute on, I also noticed how much all of them are rapidly pressing and repressing their buzzers after the first one get in. I guess this is to try to be the next one called if the first one blows it. 
Dear Jeopardy engineer team: Please consider updating the buzzer mechanisms both for enhanced viewer enjoyment and so the contestants aren't at risk of repetitive stress injuries.
IDK, but maybe TPTB think the crazy buzzer thumb-whomping adds to the viewer excitement, in which case: Dear PTB: No. It doesn't. It irritates us.

I hadn't thought of that but you'd think they could do a touch screen update on the buzzers, something on the podium in front of them.  

And I assumed after a missed question they have to ring in again and are locked out until after the first person's answer and being ruled incorrect

[TaraS1]

I love all things royalty (well, minus the Sussexes lol), so I ran the Kings & Queens category.  But I missed FJ - my guess was 50 years.

And as others have said, Amal's flailing is just bizarre and distracting.  But I could forgive that if he'd just speed things up.

[Browncoat]

4 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

When the answer was given for Lent, to me it sounded as though he said “lenden” the first time around.

I think he said "Lenten" at first -- that's what I said, as the plant is called "Lenten rose".  I don't remember whether the clue asked for the plant's name or the season for which it was named, but Amal gave both in the end.

[Katy M]

3 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I think he said "Lenten" at first -- that's what I said, as the plant is called "Lenten rose".  I don't remember whether the clue asked for the plant's name or the season for which it was named, but Amal gave both in the end.

They asked for the season.  However, most times in a situation where lenten rose, contains lent, it will be judged a correct answer.

[Katy M]

I got FJ.  Finally.  Educated guess. 

i got the ts of bias, Newport Jazz Fest, antenna, Ishtar and Pele.

I got the entire categories of Bi and play right.  

I ended my slump tonight.

[ams1001]

Round 1: I ran celebrity sibling surnames and got one wrong in every other category. 83%

Round 2: Made up for it by getting at least two wrong in every category except vocabulary (in which I got one wrong). 50%

Got 2 DDs and my only TS were Pele, finch, and bias.

FJ…I answered before he was halfway done reading the clue. 67% overall. 😑

I don't know why but it really bugs me when Oz gives extra little tidbits of info about a clue/answer. I know Alex did the same thing but somehow it felt more organic when he did it.
 

[Browncoat]

Instaget FJ for me tonight.  Galvani somehow led me to electricity, which led me to Frankenstein.  Congrats to Lisa!  Glad to have a new champ.

So many TS tonight, though!  Ones I got include bias, finch, Newport Jazz Festival, lamprey, antennae, Colorado River, MARTA, and Pele.   was a little surprised by bias, Newport, and Colorado River.  

WTH pronunciation did Dr. Quack give MARTA?  It was weird.

[Gimmick Genius]

Waiting for Godot ? I'd rather wait for Gadot -- she's good looking!

[M. Darcy]

I thought the name sounded Italian so I guessed Frankenstein! 

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Newport Jazz Fest

I should have gotten that one...my friend got married at Fort Adams; the wedding was in the late afternoon so one of my other friends and I had some time to explore Newport. Didn't know there was a jazz festival associated with it but I should have at least thought of the city name.

[853fisher]

I think the interviews work best when the "fun fact" stories are three of a kind.  Three trips or three hobbies or similar can be really great, but just a similar tone is good.  To me, "my wife was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer one month after the wedding" is awkward and jarring between "our family is a bunch of champion cherry spitters" and "I've found I enjoy Winnie the Pooh even more as I grow older."  I'm glad Doug's wife recovered, and I'm sure he wouldn't've put that down on the form if he wasn't comfortable talking about it, but I would not have picked that one if I were them.  No doubt my reaction says more about my baggage around cancer than about anything objectively done wrong, but I just thought it seemed weird and perfunctory to address that subject in that way.

I'm not enjoying the show much this week.  I guess now I know how folks who just didn't like previous host(s) felt.  I know I'm probably picking too many nits and ought to just relax or do something else with my half hour, but I'm not good about shutting that kind of thing down.  Perhaps tomorrow I need to take ten deep breaths and work on manifesting all categories I'll do well in or something.  If you told me at this time last year that I'd be counting the days until a Packers player showed up to host my favorite game show, I would've called you a real cheesehead .

Edited March 26, 2021 by 853fisher

[Bastet]

I'm going to be watching something else at 7:00, so I just "played" via the archive.

The bias TS was surprising.  Colorado River and Newport Jazz Festival a bit, too.

I ran the first round other than technology, and I'm pretty sure I'd have ran that category, too, if I was watching and could see the pictures (just like I'm giving myself credit for finch, because I'm sure if I'd seen the photo, I'd have known it).

In DJ, though, I bombed gods and goddesses (the only one I knew was the TS Pele) and missed three in TV locales.  I also missed one each in Civil War and chemical romance.  The only categories I ran were public transportation and vocabulary.

I correctly guessed FJ.

[ams1001]

24 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

I think the interviews work best when the "fun fact" stories are three of a kind.  Three trips or three hobbies or similar can be really great, but just a similar tone is good.  To me, "my wife was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer one month after the wedding" is awkward and jarring between "our family is a bunch of champion cherry spitters" and "I've found I enjoy Winnie the Pooh even more as I grow older."  I'm glad Doug's wife recovered, and I'm sure he wouldn't've put that down on the form if he wasn't comfortable talking about it, but I would not have picked that one if I were them.  No doubt my reaction says more about my baggage around cancer than about anything objectively done wrong, but I just thought it seemed weird and perfunctory to address that subject in that way.

I'm not enjoying the show much this week.  I guess now I know how folks who just didn't like previous host(s) felt.  I know I'm probably picking too many nits and ought to just relax or do something else with my half hour, but I'm not good about shutting that kind of thing down.  Perhaps tomorrow I need to take ten deep breaths and work on manifesting all categories I'll do well in or something.  If you told me at this time last year that I'd be counting the days until a Packers player showed up to host my favorite game show, I would've called you a real cheesehead .

This is one of those posts where I wish I could do two reactions. I was just hitting the heart for the first paragraph and then I changed it to a laugh for the second.

If it makes you feel better, I muted the TV as soon as Oz opened with "so your wife survived cancer, huh?" (probably not an exact quote). Unmuted in time to hear that the champ likes Winnie the Pooh.

[DrSpaceman73]

Fj knew immediate. ....

 

Combo of things but for one the year and many argue it's the original sci fi story.  Nothing else like it from that time period.   The electricity part is just a bonus. 

 

Goodbye amal thank God one of the two people ahead of him got it. 

[Prevailing Wind]

All those times I couldn't stay awake for Jeopardy! and today I actually TRIED to fall asleep during it and couldn't.  I swear I heard the wind generated from that Amal swaying. Thank FSM he's gone.  I'm embarrassed that I didn't get FJ. I said "Journey to the Center of the Earth."  I KNEW Galvani was electricity, but somehow, I threw "hollow earth" in there, as well.

The MARTA busses & trains have tri-color bands on them and I once read someone claim that MARTA stands for Motorized Automated Rainbows Throughout Atlanta.

[shapeshifter]

I was glad I never totally threw slow-to-respond, bad-dancer Amal completely under the bus when he revealed that he learned to read from Winnie the Pooh, as did I. 
But I’m also glad he’s gone. 

I yelled “Pele!”

Jimmy Fallon just made a joke in his monologue about Jeopardy fans’ anger at Oz being a guest host is a National crisis. 

[Cherpumple]

2 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I think the interviews work best when the "fun fact" stories are three of a kind.  Three trips or three hobbies or similar can be really great, but just a similar tone is good.  To me, "my wife was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer one month after the wedding" is awkward and jarring between "our family is a bunch of champion cherry spitters" and "I've found I enjoy Winnie the Pooh even more as I grow older."

Yes! I blame the producers for creating an awkward segue, but I found the story itself to be really off-putting and took an instant dislike to the contestant. He had a chance to tell the world one interesting/fun thing about himself and he chose to talk about something terrible that happened to his wife? It's not even about him! Yikes.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Cherpumple said:

Yes! I blame the producers for creating an awkward segue, but I found the story itself to be really off-putting and took an instant dislike to the contestant. He had a chance to tell the world one interesting/fun thing about himself and he chose to talk about something terrible that happened to his wife? It's not even about him! Yikes.

I wonder if Alex (or Katie, whose husband died of cancer) would have responded to that contestant’s story with something like: So I’m sure you’re hoping all of you win lots of money on Jeopardy today since that amount will be matched and donated to cancer research. 
––which might have been where the contestant intended to go with the story but didn’t quite get there with the cameras rolling and everything. 

[Clanstarling]

 

21 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

He takes forever and he appears to be having a seizure when ringing in.   And not the typical 'lets smash on the button hard and repeatedly ' but truly hard to watch sort of disturbing clicking

I paid close attention this time, and I did notice the swaying, but nothing at all with him ringing in. I don't mind swaying too much, I figure it's an automatic stress/comfort reaction.

10 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I think the interviews work best when the "fun fact" stories are three of a kind.  Three trips or three hobbies or similar can be really great, but just a similar tone is good.  To me, "my wife was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer one month after the wedding" is awkward and jarring between "our family is a bunch of champion cherry spitters" and "I've found I enjoy Winnie the Pooh even more as I grow older."  I'm glad Doug's wife recovered, and I'm sure he wouldn't've put that down on the form if he wasn't comfortable talking about it, but I would not have picked that one if I were them.  No doubt my reaction says more about my baggage around cancer than about anything objectively done wrong, but I just thought it seemed weird and perfunctory to address that subject in that way.

I did find it a bit jarring, but since they are raising money for cancer research, I figure that's why they chose it.

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I was glad I never totally threw slow-to-respond, bad-dancer Amal completely under the bus when he revealed that he learned to read from Winnie the Pooh, as did I. 
But I’m also glad he’s gone.

We liked Amal, slowness aside. Then he became my husband's favorite with his Winnie-the-Pooh story (also my husband's favorite book).

Ran the tech category, but then I work in the field and have since well before the internet. On the other hand, I ran the Born Before the Civil War category, and I may be old, but not that old!

 

[Katy M]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I wonder if Alex (or Katie, whose husband died of cancer) would have responded to that contestant’s story with something like: So I’m sure you’re hoping all of you win lots of money on Jeopardy today since that amount will be matched and donated to cancer research. 
––which might have been where the contestant intended to go with the story but didn’t quite get there with the cameras rolling and everything. 

But it's not going to cancer research this week. i don't watch the interviews, but obviously his wife's cancer effected his life.  If that's what he wanted to talk about, his choice.

[Driad]

Doesn't each contestant submit several possible stories, and the host chooses which one to ask about?

[ams1001]

12 minutes ago, Driad said:

Doesn't each contestant submit several possible stories, and the host chooses which one to ask about?

Yeah, I think they submit three to five or so. Not sure if it's the host or the producers who actually choose which one to use.

[illdoc]

23 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Not sure if it's the host or the producers who actually choose which one to use.

I believe it was mentioned a while ago (in some thread here) that Alex would choose 3 and ask the contestant which one to talk about that day. I believe it was mentioned in conjunction with some former member of a band, who waited until day 3 to mention her band days (her choice).

[SoMuchTV]

24 minutes ago, illdoc said:

I believe it was mentioned a while ago (in some thread here) that Alex would choose 3 and ask the contestant which one to talk about that day. I believe it was mentioned in conjunction with some former member of a band, who waited until day 3 to mention her band days (her choice).

I also remember hearing that Alex would choose the topic, but I hope the guest hosts aren't expected to do that.  I would expect that everything would be much more scripted for them than it was for Alex, who'd been doing this for so long.

[zoey1996]

I seem to remember the goddess Pele was answer in the not too distant past? Can’t find it at the moment, though, so maybe I’m misremembering.

[DrSpaceman73]

Amal was not as bad with the buzzer the last game.  

 

Still slow in answering though. 

[Mindthinkr]

I had a fun time playing although annoyed at the slowness of Amal. I adapted to avert my eyes when they were ringing in to avoid all those  extra distracting movements he made. I was able to come up with finch, lamprey, antennae, Colorado River, as well as all three DDs.  K I’m distracting myself for FJ, which is why I’m not getting any. I usually move onto my next project waiting for it. I am going to try and sit still and pray to the Jeopardy Gods to see if that helps. 

[Trey]

I liked Amal and I too like Winnie the Pooh.  However his slowness was annoying so I am glad the new champ kept things moving.

My ts's were finch, antennae and Colorado River.

Got my first FJ for the week but it was pretty much just a guess. I had also thought of Journey to the Center of the Earth but stuck with Frankenstein.

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Trey

[shapeshifter]

20 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

I seem to remember the goddess Pele was answer in the not too distant past? Can’t find it at the moment, though, so maybe I’m misremembering.

Yes. Found it! 
On February 11
Category: SUPERSTITION, for $1,000:

• "People mail back rocks taken from Hawaii, believing in bad luck caused by the so-called curse of this Hawaiian volcano goddess"
  • "Who is Pele?"

--was also a TS, which was also an instaget for me then, as well, because my Jeopardy-devotee parents lived on the slopes of Kīlauea for their last 27+ years of marriage (until my father's death at 91) and my mom was very eager to learn the Hawaiian language, history, and culture and share it with us whenever we visited. 

So, to all of you long-time, careful Jeopardy watchers: 
Is it typical for them to redo/update a TS within a couple of months? 
The Category changed from the February 11 "SUPERSTITION" to "GODS & GODDESSES" for March 25 (https://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=6980),
and the March 25 clue ($800 instead of $1,000) was: "In Hawaiian religion, she is the goddess of volcanoes & fire"
instead of the Feb. 11 clue of "People mail back rocks taken from Hawaii, believing in bad luck caused by the so-called curse of this Hawaiian volcano goddess."

[MrAtoz]

How the contestant interview topic was chosen, circa February 2018 (when I recorded) --

The contestant coordinators would help you select three potential anecdotes that you wanted to talk about, and would practice your interview with you.  They would even give you little pointers to help you make your story sound more interesting.  They would also ask you which of the three you most wanted to talk about.

Those three anecdotes would go on the cards that Alex had, and your "most want to talk about" topic would be marked.  Alex would choose whichever of the three he wanted to ask you about.  Sometimes it would be your favorite, sometimes it wouldn't.  He didn't ask me about the one I had marked as my favorite until my fourth and last game, for example!  If you were a returning champion, they would add another story to the card for each game, so that there were always three for Alex to choose from.

I suppose it's probably a similar system for the guest hosts, but who knows how much leeway the guest hosts have in choosing which story to ask about?  The producers may be steering them more than they would have done for Alex, just because the guests don't really have that much experience with this sort of thing.

[Clanstarling]

 

3 hours ago, Trey said:

Got my first FJ for the week but it was pretty much just a guess. I had also thought of Journey to the Center of the Earth but stuck with Frankenstein.

I'm still waiting for my first FJ this week - I picked Journey to the Center of the Earth because for some  highly incorrect reason I tied galvanic to earth movements rather than electricity.

It'll be tense on the Starling sofa tonight as I cross my fingers for an FJ I can get.

[ams1001]

This first round was not good (but better than my 50% DJ yesterday). Got zero numbers but all the Monkey Business… I was doing so well in Dinosaurs but I couldn't come up with Titan in time.

DJ was a little better. Got all the authors, four in No Doubt and Add a Letter, and even three in Opera, which I don't usually do that well with.

TS: Byzantine, Ankylosaurus, incontrovertible, Dostoyevsky,

Got both DDs in the second round and FJ (after a couple seconds of thought). 🙂 Still my second worst game of the week at 62%. 😕 

At least I can pronounce Dostoyevsky.
 

[SeanC]

I overthought the 1790 states question and guessed 36, because I couldn’t remember how quickly Vermont joined.

[ams1001]

5 minutes ago, SeanC said:

I overthought the 1790 states question and guessed 36, because I couldn’t remember how quickly Vermont joined.

I figured it was just 13 and 50 but my brain was not quick enough with the mathing.