Jeopardy! Season 38 (2021-2022)

[possibilities]

It looked to me like Mark had a problem with his wrist. He was steadying it, either because of a tremor or because it hurts, is how it looked to me. 

[shapeshifter]

38 minutes ago, secnarf said:

I did get Final Jeopardy (thankfully).

I got FJ too -- not quite an instaget, but I was very sure once I thought of Eeyore -- and then I thought of you, @secnarf! 

It was my first FJ in 2 weeks. I learned to read by "taking naps" with my A. A. Milne books.

I managed to run a category: TRAVEL IDIOMS 
I grew up in a home where it was very important to know idioms and slang, to prove we weren't "just off the boat" although my grandparents were, literally.

I got the TS of sea shell (after somehow managing to reject mollusk, @Browncoat).

Thank goodness Ed wasn't wearing that horrible coat today with the enormous shoulder pads! He looked so much better!

[dgpolo]

3 hours ago, Hedgehog2022 said:

Frankly, I think the producers have bungled this whole "replacement host" thing from the get go.

I think they weren't really -trying- to find a 'replacement host', if they were we would have seen people like Brooke Burns or others that have actually hosted game shows. What they were doing was stunt casting and it backfired when Mike Richard coup blew up in their faces. So they went with the 'next best thing' Ken, because he's the GOAT and Mayim because she did well and was a woman (I really think they wanted some diversity)

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

I immediately knew it was someone from Winnie the Pooh for FJ tonight,

That clue totally bewildered me, I had no idea what they were looking for, the 'friend'? the 'title creature'? I was very confused.

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I said Thumper. 

Somewhere in my confusion I did think of Bambi.

9 minutes ago, possibilities said:

It looked to me like Mark had a problem with his wrist. He was steadying it, either because of a tremor or because it hurts, is how it looked to me. 

I think he was just steadying his wrist so he could mash his buzzer harder.

[ECM1231]

Finally got a FJ. Winnie the Pooh was my son's favorite and the date seemed about right, so quickly went through the names of Tigger, Roo, and finally Eeyore.

TS's were Freddy Highmore and Mecca.

[alias1]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

If we have to keep her, I hope Ken at least gets promoted to an official host and not just "hosting" next season.

I hope they keep "hosting" for Ken and change her to "hosting" also.  There is no "The Host."

[ams1001]

49 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I got the TS of sea shell (after somehow managing to reject mollusk, @Browncoat).

I said shellfish for that one but apparently whelks are sea snails, not fish.

42 minutes ago, SierraMist said:

I hope they keep "hosting" for Ken and change her to "hosting" also.  There is no "The Host."

That would be acceptable, I guess. If they're going to keep alternating them, they should have the same title.

[PBnJay]

1 hour ago, BuckeyeLou said:

I said "Tigger"

That was all I could come up with too, even though I knew it was wrong. The next farm has donkeys and none of them make any sound like "EEE-ORR." Never would have ever come up with that, sorry @secnarf.

[SHD]

I immediately thought of Winnie the Pooh, but never got to Eeyore. I was like, “There was an owl...was his name Hoot? Let’s say it was!”

I love Ken’s little asides. They’re never intrusive or come across as trying too hard. Today’s “The fraud of Froot Loops” made me laugh.

[Bastet]

Yikes; in the first round, I missed three each in plays and states.  I also missed two in circles, but I ran history, Sirius, and idioms.

In DJ, I didn't run anything.  I got all but one in scientific, and only missed two in gullet, but otherwise I was terrible -- I missed all but Michelle Obama in middle names, and missed three each in mountains, idols, and TV (it would have been four in that one, but, even though I have never seen Highlander in my life, somehow a friend who was a fan talking about "there can be only one" has stuck in my head and this it at least the second time that hint has allowed me to get a clue I'd have never come up with based on just the actor/character).

For FJ, I don't know why Winnie the Pooh popped into my head fairly quickly, as I'm only vaguely familiar with it, but I somehow felt confident that was the universe, so started going through characters to see whose name sounds like the sound their animal makes:  Tigger, nope.  Eeyore, nope.  Piglet, nope.  The kangaroos, nope.  Must be one I don't know.  Wait, unless they think a donkey's bray kind of sounds like "eeyore"?  Eh, fine, let's go with that.

But that never would have happened in time up on that stage instead of in my office.

[secnarf]

3 minutes ago, SHD said:

I immediately thought of Winnie the Pooh, but never got to Eeyore. I was like, “There was an owl...was his name Hoot? Let’s say it was!”

The owl was called Owl :P

[ams1001]

5 minutes ago, SHD said:

I immediately thought of Winnie the Pooh, but never got to Eeyore. I was like, “There was an owl...was his name Hoot? Let’s say it was!”

lol...his name is Owl. 🦉

(But he spells it "Wol" because spelling is apparently not a priority in the Hundred Acre Wood.)

Edited July 27, 2022 by ams1001

[30 Helens]

I liked Alexa because she looked like Amy Schumer. (I’m an Amy Schumer fan.) Even though the mention of her name kept making the little robotic device near my TV light up.

I liked Mark because he seemed like a genuinely good guy. Even though another day or two of the frenzied buzzer action would have driven me crazy. I would have been happy with either one of them winning. Oh, well.

After first saying and rejecting “Thumper”, I quickly settled on Eeyore. But again, I have to give the judges a little side eye. “Ee-ore” is phonetically correct, so I get why that was accepted. But “Eeyure”? That’s a different pronunciation. 

Anyway, I got FJ, and I know how to spell it, so I win! (That’s really all that matters, right? 😉)

[Prevailing Wind]

I pre-guessed Cheshire Cat, but once the clue was revealed, it was an insta-get - and I've NEVER read any Winnie the Pooh books. Cultural Osmosis works again!

They didn't hear me yelling "SEA SHELL!  SEA SHELL!"

[Mindthinkr]

   Monday I had a decent game. I came up with atomic weight, Allegheny, but like another poster I was in Gladys Knight and the Pips area of thinking for FJ. 
   Last night was even a bit better. I got seashell, Dave Matthews (He was my daughter’s first concert with me. She was in a baby carrier on a friends back as it was outdoors in New Paltz, N.Y.) I also knew the missed DD of absolute zero, and Reagan. Finally after a two week drought I guessed Eeyore. It wasn’t an instaget, but I used logic and got it within the time frame. I was so worried about ending the year with another zero week. 

[DrSpaceman73]

13 hours ago, Hedgehog2022 said:

Frankly, I think the producers have bungled this whole "replacement host" thing from the get go. Trebek has been dead for over two years and we're still having to deal with who is going to be the permanent host? So now we are going to have two hosts? And more Jeopardy shows? For me I find Mayim Bialik to be haughty, arrogant and smarmy. Initially, I disliked Jennings but he has evolved into being a better host since he started. I believe that the producers are doing this because they fear backlash from Bialik fans and maybe from Bialik herself. Jennings would easily find work elsewhere on another game show or some other endeavor. He always brings in the ratings whereas Bialik's ratings stink. I don't see her graciously stepping down with out a fight carried out on social media or elsewhere.

I don't know what the ratings have Been but agree they totally screwed up the transition.  

And they knew it was going to happen, had time to prepare and consider everything. They still messed up pretty much along every step of the way. 

Ken is just the better host. If some like mayim personally more, I guess you may prefer her. But the better host is Ken, clearly. 

I got FJ because I just read about Winnie the pooh losing its copyright and this being made. 

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/winnie-the-pooh-blood-and-honey-director-1235278405/

It's not a joke. Real movie. 

[Trey]

Not such a great game for me.  My only ts's were absolute zero and Highlander.

I immediately said Thumper for FJ and never thought of anything else.  When the correct answer was given I looked up Bambi to see if it was at least published in the same era.  It was, just a few years off, but apparently the rabbit in the book wasn't called Thumper - that was a Disneyfication.  The book sounds pretty awful; I don't think I want to read it.

[NoReally]

5 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

They didn't hear me yelling "SEA SHELL!  SEA SHELL!"

I kept yelling "Mollusk! Mollusk!"  Think they would've given it to me?

[Welshman in Ca]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

For FJ, I don't know why Winnie the Pooh popped into my head fairly quickly, as I'm only vaguely familiar with it, but I somehow felt confident that was the universe, so started going through characters to see whose name sounds like the sound their animal makes:  Tigger, nope.  Eeyore, nope.  Piglet, nope.  The kangaroos, nope.  Must be one I don't know.  Wait, unless they think a donkey's bray kind of sounds like "eeyore"?  Eh, fine, let's go with that.

But that never would have happened in time up on that stage instead of in my office.

If you heard me say either you would think it was the same apparently. I asked my wife & she said it makes perfect sense with the right accent, hee haw.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Welshman in Ca

[possibilities]

I knew whelk and was yelling SHELL! at my TV, but I think the problem is that people can't imagine why a state would have a state shell. I've read enough stories about elementary school classrooms making a project out of asking the legislature to declare an official state... [some category of thing]... that it seems not that strange to me anymore.

They do it to teach kids how government works, apparently. So you'll have obscure categories of things become the Official State [Type of Thing].

For that reason, it probably would not be correct to say the whelk was the state mollusk. The legislature probably declared it the state shell, officially. And they may in fact have a different State Mollusk.

[SomeTameGazelle]

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I think the problem is that people can't imagine why a state would have a state shell.

 I'm sure it was part of the problem. But wild guesses of tree and bird also indicate that Ed and Mark also had no idea what a whelk is. 

[ams1001]

15 minutes ago, possibilities said:

For that reason, it probably would not be correct to say the whelk was the state mollusk. The legislature probably declared it the state shell, officially. And they may in fact have a different State Mollusk.

According to this site of official NJ State Stuff there is not a mollusk, specifically. Googling "official state mollusk" pulls up NJ and the Whelk (which sounds like an indie rock band).

[M. Darcy]

After two episodes where I got FJ and none of the contestants didn't get it, I missed last night.  And grr- Eeyore is my spirit animal.  

[Clanstarling]

16 hours ago, dgpolo said:

That clue totally bewildered me, I had no idea what they were looking for, the 'friend'? the 'title creature'? I was very confused.

I'm glad I'm not the only one, in my confusion I thought the title character and the friend had the same name, so of course I could not come up with anything.

15 hours ago, PBnJay said:

That was all I could come up with too, even though I knew it was wrong. The next farm has donkeys and none of them make any sound like "EEE-ORR." Never would have ever come up with that, sorry @secnarf.

Maybe it's based on European donkeys. Different accents, you know. 😉 But seriously, the donkeys next door to our house in Spain definitely said "eeyore."

I did fairly well in the first round, very poorly in the second. Oh well. Still fun.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Clanstarling

[30 Helens]

3 hours ago, Trey said:

When the correct answer was given I looked up Bambi to see if it was at least published in the same era.  It was, just a few years off, but apparently the rabbit in the book wasn't called Thumper - that was a Disneyfication.  The book sounds pretty awful; I don't think I want to read it.

Yeah, like most things Disney, the source material is much darker than the Disneyfication.  It was apparently meant to be a parable about the persecution of Jews in Europe. I haven’t read it myself, but I read an article about it recently in the New Yorker. Apparently the book has many grisly descriptions of animal suffering.  There is a character (a fawn) who is presumed killed during a hunt but returns sometime later, having been living with humans all that time. Since he has come to trust them, he has no fear, and of course is shot and killed during the next hunt because he doesn’t run away. 

While piling on the bleakness, the book also pushes a theme of self-reliance, equating interdependence with restriction and danger.  That’s why the article calls it “‘The Fountainhead’, with fawns.”

I have no desire to read it, either.

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think the problem is that people can't imagine why a state would have a state shell. 

That was certainly my problem. (Me, after the answer reveal: “A what?”

[proserpina65]

17 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I got FJ too -- not quite an instaget, but I was very sure once I thought of Eeyore

I knew it had to be from Winnie the Pooh and was running through characters in my head, but did not come up with Eeyore.  Despite him being my father's favorite children's book character.

3 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

 I'm sure it was part of the problem. But wild guesses of tree and bird also indicate that Ed and Mark also had no idea what a whelk is. 

I couldn't come up with shell, but at least I knew it was an ocean thing.  I said shellfish, then mollusk.

7 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

And they knew it was going to happen, had time to prepare and consider everything. They still messed up pretty much along every step of the way. 

I don't know how they could've done a worse job of the transition.  I guess making Dr. Oz the host, but that's about it.

[ams1001]

Ken will host the TOC!

Quote

In Mayim and Ken, we have two outstanding hosts at the beginning of their Jeopardy! hosting careers who connect with their own unique fanbases, new fans, and the traditional Jeopardy! viewer. Ken will kick off the season in September, host the inaugural Second Chance competition and the heavily anticipated Tournament of Champions featuring Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, Ryan Long, and many, many more. His initial hosting run will take us through December. In the meantime, Mayim will host Celebrity Jeopardy! on ABC in primetime. When she takes over from Ken in January, the current plan is to have her host a couple of new tournaments as well as the Jeopardy! National College Championship and as many weeks as she can manage with her other primetime commitment to “Call Me Kat.” We know you value consistency, so we will not flip flop the hosts constantly and will keep you informed about the hosting schedule.

More info here.

[DrSpaceman73]

I can't believe that call Me Kat show is still on.  But thank you whoever watches because otherwise we'd be stuck with her more. 

[borninboston]

I had to unplug my Amazon Echo to watch last night’s game — every time Ken said “Alexa” it would alert and then attempt to answer the question. I thought about letting her play along, but nah…

[HyeChaps]

Quote

I hope they keep "hosting" for Ken and change her to "hosting" also.  There is no "The Host."

And now, a host of Jeopardy!. . . 

[ams1001]

67% / 67% / 67%

Not great, but consistent again. Ran 2-Letter Scrabble Words and The Animal Kingdom. Got all the DDs and FJ was not quite an instaget but almost (I also thought of Spenser first but that's mostly because when I was in college I took a class called Spenser & Milton so in my head they just kinda go together). TSes were Betty Botter, (Special) Ed, Renee Zellweger, Brazil, Conestoga (DD). My college's yearbook is called The Conestogan.

26 minutes ago, HyeChaps said:

And now, a host of Jeopardy!. . . 

and now, some guy or gal reading the clues...

[Driad]

55 minutes ago, HyeChaps said:

And now, a host of Jeopardy!. .

And now, one of our host of Jeopardy! hosts ...

[Browncoat]

I knew who they were going for in FJ tonight, but just could not dredge his name from my brain.  I suppose "that well-known astronomer, you know, with the telescope" wouldn't cut it, eh?  

And I only got one TS -- Conestoga.

Not my best night.

[PBnJay]

I'm with Ken, never heard of Betty Botter.

I went with Copernicus for FJ. Only one century off (and then some).

[shapeshifter]

I did get FJ's Galileo after deciding Copernicus was earlier.

I can picture watching Jeopardy while visiting Mom and Dad and both being proud of me for knowing Galileo.
I was the only science-y one in the family.
If FJ had required more actual poetry knowledge, Mom would have gotten it. She might have anyway with Milton in the clue. 

Ed wore that terrible jacket with the football player-like padding in the shoulders again, but I did like him.

Brianne was a good player. I wonder how far she'll go.
 

[ams1001]

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter;
“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit o’ better butter
Will make my batter better.”

Then she bought a bit o’ butter
Better than the bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit o’ better butter.

[Bastet]

I cannot remember the last time this happened -- I didn't run a single category in the first round.  Ouch!  I got all but one in southern and Scrabble (I was hoping to run that one, since I play Scrabble on my computer almost every day, but I didn't know George Takei's catchphrase), but I missed three each in tennis and device (better than I thought I'd do in that one) and two each in alliteration and fiction.

I didn't run a damn thing in DJ, either, but I got all but one everything except transportation, in which I missed three.

I figured out FJ pretty quickly.

[ams1001]

13 minutes ago, Bastet said:

but I didn't know George Takei's catchphrase

[The Wild Sow]

2 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter;
“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit o’ better butter
Will make my batter better.”

Then she bought a bit o’ butter
Better than the bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit o’ better butter.

I think there are several variations of that one.  In the tongue-twister book where I first learned it (back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth!), she was Betty Botta. 

 "Betty Botta bought some butter, etc..."

Other versions just say "Betty bought a bit o' butter..." - no last name at all.

[ams1001]

24 minutes ago, The Wild Sow said:

I think there are several variations of that one.  In the tongue-twister book where I first learned it (back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth!), she was Betty Botta. 

 "Betty Botta bought some butter, etc..."

Other versions just say "Betty bought a bit o' butter..." - no last name at all.

Yeah, I saw a few different ones (including "Botta"). What I posted is what wikipedia and another site claim to be the original wording. There was also a more "modern" (I guess) version that uses of instead of o'. 

[ProudMary]

Interesting piece of Jeopardy! trivia.

[30 Helens]

10 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Ken will host the TOC!

More info here.

So reruns start on Monday? ☹️ Time for my annual break, then. I never watch the reruns. I was hoping that, with so many spare hosts, they’d be able to make new episodes year round.

I’m happy we’ll have Ken for the rest of the year. I’m not happy that means we’ll be stuck with Mayim for several months afterward. Maybe one of these days they’ll come to their senses.

[Caoimhe]

13 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I can't believe that call Me Kat show is still on.  But thank you whoever watches because otherwise we'd be stuck with her more. 

I enjoy it and will keep watching.  I just wish her role as Jeopardy host was also confined to the prime time versions.

[vibeology]

5 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

So reruns start on Monday? ☹️ Time for my annual break, then. I never watch the reruns. I was hoping that, with so many spare hosts, they’d be able to make new episodes year round.

The rest of production needs a break. Reruns aren't my favourite but I like knowing that the staff of the show get vacation.

[bad things are bad]

I really wish they could have found a role for Buzzy. He was surprisingly awesome during his stint 

[Clanstarling]

16 hours ago, PBnJay said:

I went with Copernicus for FJ. Only one century off (and then some).

Having a somewhat fluid sense of time, I went with Copernicus instead of Galileo (we're always picking one or the other, picked wrong this time).

13 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

I think there are several variations of that one.  In the tongue-twister book where I first learned it (back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth!), she was Betty Botta. 

 "Betty Botta bought some butter, etc..."

Other versions just say "Betty bought a bit o' butter..." - no last name at all.

"Botta" and "bought a" can sound alike, so I can see how different versions evolved. (notice I said "can" to forestall our pronunciation discussions. 🤣)

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

So reruns start on Monday? ☹️ Time for my annual break, then. I never watch the reruns. I was hoping that, with so many spare hosts, they’d be able to make new episodes year round.

2 hours ago, vibeology said:

The rest of production needs a break. Reruns aren't my favourite but I like knowing that the staff of the show get vacation.

Not to mention it costs money - money for the contestants, money for production, for extra staff (so vacations can happen) etc, etc. They just shot the wad with hiring multiple hosts.

It was a decent game for me. I did fairly well in the first round, but didn't run anything. In double Jeopardy I ran Notable Women, and did fairly well in most of the other categories. Though I managed to screw up the Shakespeare answer by saying "Avon on Stratford." LOL.

Picked the wrong astronomer, so I didn't get DJ.

Not at all happy at their decision, which isn't really a decision so much as "I can't decide if I want pie or cake, so I'll have both, and ignore my stomach ache." Oh well...

Edited July 28, 2022 by Clanstarling

[853fisher]

I'm always a little sorry to see reruns approaching, but that's tempered by this show's remarkable consistency when it's in season.  As I think I've said before, hardly any other shows on TV other than newscasts seem to consistently deliver every day / week / etc of their scheduled run anymore.

Curious - when did it became usual for game shows to take a summer break?  AFAIK new episodes year-round was still the norm for daily network (maybe that's the difference?) games well into the '80s.  I guess production was probably less involved on something like "Password" or "Pyramid" than on "J!"

Edited July 28, 2022 by 853fisher

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, ams1001 said:

That's the notification sound on my cell phone.

Last night's game was pretty good for me.

I didn't run any of the categories in the first round, but only missed 1 clue in most of the categories.  I should've run Southern U.S. - I knew Tuscaloosa but said Birmingham instead, oy.

I did run Notable Women, Animal Kingdom, Transportation and "B.C." in DJ.  I only missed 3 clues total in that round, and got the stumpers gyrocopter, dhow and Conestoga.  I've actually been to Conestoga, PA.  It's a lovely little town and used to have a really nice Christmas fair.  (don't know if it still does, though)

And I got FJ, although I did say Isaac Newton first, but then I remembered that Galileo had created his own version of the telescope in plenty of time to change it.  (He didn't invent the telescope, but constructed his from a written description of the original and actually made several improvements.)

14 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

I think there are several variations of that one.  In the tongue-twister book where I first learned it (back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth!), she was Betty Botta. 

 "Betty Botta bought some butter, etc..."

Other versions just say "Betty bought a bit o' butter..." - no last name at all.

I've never been into tongue-twisters.  Maybe that's why I'd never heard this one before?

10 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I was hoping that, with so many spare hosts, they’d be able to make new episodes year round.

I'm thinking the crew still needs vacation time.

[PBnJay]

3 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

That's the notification sound on my cell phone.

Oh, MY! that is SO COOL! (I love George Takei.)

Edited July 28, 2022 by PBnJay

[proserpina65]

29 minutes ago, PBnJay said:

Oh, MY! that is SO COOL! (I love George Takei.)

I found it on Zedge.

[30 Helens]

2 hours ago, 853fisher said:

 AFAIK new episodes year-round was still the norm for daily network (maybe that's the difference?) games well into the '80s.  I guess production was probably less involved on something like "Password" or "Pyramid" than on "J!"

Soap operas still run year round, and I’m guessing they make less money than Jeopardy, so I’m pretty sure the show could afford enough staff to allow for vacations. Even small companies (in the real world) don’t have to shut down every year while people take time off!

Maybe it is a question of network vs syndication. Maybe J! requires a more specialized staff that can’t be easily rotated. Maybe it’s just tradition. Or maybe Sony is too damn cheap and doesn’t care about my Jeopardy needs. 😉

Anyway, I was hopeful that an extra host would solve the problem, because it seemed to me that that would be the only sticking point.