Jeopardy! Season 38 (2021-2022)

[bankerchick]

8 hours ago, 853fisher said:

Although I got 3/5 right, the AMA category annoyed me to no end because those clips were just way too long.

Well I did learn one thing from this.  Justin Bieber is just as ridiculous and talentless as I had always suspected.

Just this week, Joan Rivers and Glen Campbell have both been triple stumpers.  How depressing.  I can only hope that in 10 years, no contestant will know who Justin Bieber is.

[Bklyndeb]

15 hours ago, IdEatThat said:

Those dumplings looked like Japanese shumai to me.

I said soup dumplings, since the pictured dumplings looked nothing like wonton to me.  Since wonton are dumplings in soup I gave myself credit. 

[Trey]

2 hours ago, Bklyndeb said:

I said soup dumplings, since the pictured dumplings looked nothing like wonton to me.  Since wonton are dumplings in soup I gave myself credit. 

I didn't care what they looked like and didn't really notice their appearance - dumplings in soup are wontons to me.

[Gimmick Genius]

16 hours ago, Bastet said:

I didn't know Kim Cattrall was British (and the picture was much needed for that clue, so I'm glad this wasn't an archive night for me).  

Kim C was on one of those family history/genealogy programs. Not Finding your Roots on PBS, but maybe Who do You Think You Are? on one of the networks. She was born in Liverpool and her dad abandoned the family. They basically relied on charity from relatives. His wife and kids didn't know where he'd gone but some of his older relatives at the old place finally came clean years later. He'd moved several hours away to Newcastle and when the show traced him, it turned out he eventually emigrated to Australia where he married and lived out his days with a whole new family. Kim went to Aus and met half-siblings, nieces and nephews she'd never known about..

She also did a British film My Boy Jack about the son of Rudyard Kipling, killed in WW 1. Kim plays Kipling's wife, who was American. Daniel Radcliffe played the son and Carey Mulligan was a daughter.

[possibilities]

5 hours ago, Trey said:

I didn't care what they looked like and didn't really notice their appearance - dumplings in soup are wontons to me.

What, you've never had kreplach? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreplach

[nokat]

On 11/19/2021 at 4:35 PM, ams1001 said:

DJ: Ran Rabbits

I was wondering if I should feel embarrassed by that.

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, nokat said:

I was wondering if I should feel embarrassed by that.

Why? Rabbits are adorable.

[Trey]

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

What, you've never had kreplach? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreplach

Those look good.  I probably have had them.  I should have specified Asian style soup.

[Bklyndeb]

On 11/20/2021 at 7:31 PM, possibilities said:

What, you've never had kreplach? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreplach

I love kreplach. My aunt made the best kreplach ever.  Maybe I'll make some after Hanukkah with some leftover brisket. 

[Driad]

There are at least two kinds of dumplings: dough wrapped around a filling (e.g. wontons) and plain fluffy dough (often found in chicken & dumplings).

[proserpina65]

I had no clue on FJ.  Never read To Kill A Mockingbird, had no idea where Harper Lee was from.

I'm out for the time being.  I'll check the archive but won't be watching.

[Trey]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I'll check the archive but won't be watching.

Ken?

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Trey said:

Ken?

Nope.  I'm not a fan of Ken, but I don't mind him.

[853fisher]

I loved the mention of "Lust for Life," although it was too bad no one knew it.  It was assigned reading for an art history course and ended up being one of those books that resonated so deeply with me that I remember where I was when I read it.  I think it is so poignant and beautiful.  The film with Kirk Douglas is also very good.

RE Amy, I saw a comment elsewhere, the gist of which was that it is refreshing to see a player so dominant while using, for the most part, the traditional "start at the top of the board and work your way through a category" method.  I agree with that!  I really enjoy following games played this way.  I wonder how she'll do in the ToC (probably).

[Bastet]

Another great game by Amy; 37 correct (including 2 DDs) and only one wrong.  She's going to be tough to beat!

It was an archive game for me, so I couldn't see the photo clues and have to assume on a few.

The red tape TS surprised me, but perhaps they all forgot the category.

I'm not a Beatles fan, so that was a bad category for me; the only one I knew was Rick Rubin (I didn't know it just from the clue, but I know what he looks like, so unless it was a terrible picture I'd have identified him).  I was also terrible with the monarchs, because often even I know the name I don't know the number, so I missed three in that category.  I only missed one other (one of the detectives) in the rest of the first round.

I did better in DJ (it's usually the opposite); I had no bad categories, and only missed six clues!

FJ didn't come to me, though.

[ams1001]

57% / 63% / 59%

Ugh. Off to a great start for the week 🙄. Only ran Historical Fiction. Missed one each in Mix Tape, Chew on This, Get the H Out, Destinations, and Venus. My TSes were red tape, carrots, grace, and I got both DDs in the second round. No FJ.
 

24 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

RE Amy, I saw a comment elsewhere, the gist of which was that it is refreshing to see a player so dominant while using, for the most part, the traditional "start at the top of the board and work your way through a category" method.  I agree with that!  I really enjoy following games played this way.  I wonder how she'll do in the ToC (probably).

I prefer it when they do that, too. Makes it so much easier to keep score when they're not jumping all over the board. Sometimes I get so lost I just give up and check the archive between rounds.

[dgpolo]

28 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

RE Amy, I saw a comment elsewhere, the gist of which was that it is refreshing to see a player so dominant while using, for the most part, the traditional "start at the top of the board and work your way through a category" method. 

Sorry to keep bringing up her tweets but I find them interesting in a back stage/background sort of way. She said they were told if they weren't sure what the category was about to start at the top so you don't lose much while you figure it out. She also said that if Matt was still around when she competed she would have started at the top of categories just to try to throw him off his game.

[Paula O.]

How on God's green earth did the middle contestant even make it through auditions?  Not only was she rabbity in a mousey sort of way, she had to do the May I have full category name for $400 PLEASE?  I know nothing about presidents so I bet negative money and surprised myself when I knew FJ! after having guessed the obvious but changing at the last minute.

[Browncoat]

I did not get FJ tonight.  Presidents, like History, are not my strong suit, so I wasn't surprised that I couldn't come up with, well, anyone.

But I did get the TS of red tape, magnetic tape, cloth/clot, carrots, and Grace.

[HyeChaps]

IMO Ken ought to have given a few words of explanation when revealing the categories.

[shapeshifter]

Just the TSs of Red Tape and Cloth Clot.
I know Lust For Life, but couldn't get to it in time.
Wrong guess for FJ.

I appreciate the way Ken encourages the underdog.

[secnarf]

I generally enjoy players that consistently do well - big fan of long running champs - and Amy is no exception. I do like watching her quietly dominate without the aggressive play we have seen from others, and her $10000 FJ bets that she makes when she is in the lead by more than that. It has been a long time, but the unassuming way of winning kind of reminds me of Ken's play, though I don't think he was known for having runaway games.

Certainly early with Amy but I would like to see her continue to do well.

Also, did anyone else look at the date today and pre-call FJ (incorrectly)? Once that didn't work out, I ended up attempting to run through Republican presidents in reverse order and surprised myself by being able to rule many of them out based on either where they were from, or their occupations. I made it as far as Eisenhower before I ran out of time (and I also lack more than a passing knowledge of US Presidents in the first half of the 20th century).

[Ailianna]

On the one clue I said AbFab instead of Absolutely Fabulous. Would they count it, do you think?

I'm really liking Amy and I hope she continues to do so well. Her calm, thorough, collected demeanor is delightful.

[ams1001]

Little throwback but I just saw it so I had to share.

[853fisher]

1 hour ago, Ailianna said:

On the one clue I said AbFab instead of Absolutely Fabulous. Would they count it, do you think?

Hmmmm, I think at the very least that would be a "more, please" rather than wrong.  I'd be willing to bet that no shortage of officially sanctioned stuff bears that name.  I'd probably be happy to accept it outright.

3 hours ago, dgpolo said:

Sorry to keep bringing up her tweets but I find them interesting in a back stage/background sort of way. She said they were told if they weren't sure what the category was about to start at the top so you don't lose much while you figure it out. She also said that if Matt was still around when she competed she would have started at the top of categories just to try to throw him off his game.

That's good advice!  I don't see Twitter often.  It's not for me.  I'm too long-winded. ;) 

Edited November 23, 2021 by 853fisher

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Ailianna said:

On the one clue I said AbFab instead of Absolutely Fabulous. Would they count it, do you think?

I suspect it's a common enough way of referring to the series they'd either accept it (which I'm not sure if I'd do if I were in charge, but I certainly wouldn't make a stink about it as a powerless viewer if it happened) or, at least, give a variation on the BMS prompt, e.g. "We need the full title". 

[Mystery Author]

My throat is sore from screaming GRACE!

Holy cannoli, there was even a photo!

Hi, kids. Long time. Long story.

Another story: When I was a little kid, I visited my dad at his NYC studio. He was in advertising. I saw a blonde lady from the back. In a voice that could probably be heard in New Jersey, I whispered, "Daddy, she's so skinny and her feet are so big!"

The blonde lady turned around.

Grace Kelly.

[Mindthinkr]

I came up with clot, carrots, A Lust for Life, and Grace Kelly. I had no clue for FJ. Presidents is not my strong suit. (I was tickled that some of my favorites were on the board last night: Absolutely Fabulous and A Tale of Two Cities). 

[Clanstarling]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I appreciate the way Ken encourages the underdog.

I do too. If I recall correctly, Alex was not so kind about it.

11 hours ago, secnarf said:

I generally enjoy players that consistently do well - big fan of long running champs - and Amy is no exception. I do like watching her quietly dominate without the aggressive play we have seen from others, and her $10000 FJ bets that she makes when she is in the lead by more than that. It has been a long time, but the unassuming way of winning kind of reminds me of Ken's play, though I don't think he was known for having runaway games.

I was shocked to see how far ahead she was, she was so unassuming.

It was a pretty good board. I ran the IRV category, even after an initial reaction of "ugh."

Almost ran the Beatles. We missed Rick Rubin, even though we've been watching the documentary. We focus on that massive beard instead of his name, I guess.

Almost ran Monarchs as well - missed Henry VIII (the one I know best) because I mixed up the Reformation with the Restoration. And is it wrong that I got King John because of Disney's Robin Hood?

Had no clue for FJ. Threw out Taft, but it was a Hail Mary at best.

[GreekGeek]

15 hours ago, Paula O. said:

How on God's green earth did the middle contestant even make it through auditions?  Not only was she rabbity in a mousey sort of way, she had to do the May I have full category name for $400 PLEASE? 

The long-winded way of picking annoys me too, but I always attribute bad performances and/or dud personalities to nerves. 

[possibilities]

Anyone who gets to play is a great player, because the selection process screens out anyone who isn't. We often see big losses when a highly dominant player is on a streak, and Amy is one of those killer players. I definitely think nerves is also a factor, even when someone isn't up against extra tough competition.

--

I also like how Ken compassionately handles all the competitors, win or lose.

Edited November 24, 2021 by possibilities

[853fisher]

I forgot to ask, when a contestant is eliminated before FJ, do they usually come back for the credits chat?  I often don't stay to watch so maybe I just haven't noticed, but I thought it looked awkward the way they had Heidi come back in with the camera on that part of the stage.  Actually I thought a crew member was in the shot at first.

[chessiegal]

7 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

I forgot to ask, when a contestant is eliminated before FJ, do they usually come back for the credits chat?  I often don't stay to watch so maybe I just haven't noticed, but I thought it looked awkward the way they had Heidi come back in with the camera on that part of the stage.  Actually I thought a crew member was in the shot at first.

Yes, the eliminated contestant comes back on stage.

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, 853fisher said:

I forgot to ask, when a contestant is eliminated before FJ, do they usually come back for the credits chat?

I don't usually watch, but I'm assuming the answer is yes, that's the norm since there was that hullabaloo about that kid who was eliminated before FJ and ran backstage crying, then was too upset to return (so, presumably, returning is what was supposed to happen). 

(The mother got pissy that Alex didn't go console the little darling and complained to producers about it, they asked Alex to re-tape the segment where he said something about the girl being so upset, and Alex hit the roof, threatening to quit.  It was revealed when all those Sony emails were leaked about five years ago.)

[PBnJay]

9 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

20 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I appreciate the way Ken encourages the underdog.

I do too. If I recall correctly, Alex was not so kind about it.

I really like how Ken doesn't call attention to poor scores, which Alex seemed to relish doing. Ken is gracious to everyone and so upbeat during the interviews that Alex loved to turn to about himself or to make fun of. Ken is very much a gracious host and I am enjoying him immensely. The show has never been so smooth IMO.

I'm also loving Amy. These are the Jeopardy halcyon days for me!

[853fisher]

Thanks to @chessiegal and @Bastet for refreshing my memory.  I still think the walk back on looked fort of clunky.  Of course I'm sure if there was a cut and all three were back others wouldn't like that either.  It's a tiny thing.

I was rooting least for Matt out of the three, but still felt a little bad watching him go down in flames.  I guess, at a certain point, what did he have to lose?  Between all players there were 15 wrong answers.  No wonder there wasn't time for all the clues.

Ken continues to do brilliantly, in my opinion.  I'm sure not all of them came to him in the moment, but he seems to have the right number of bons mots, executed well, focused on the game and not himself.  "You remembered [Pepperidge Farm]" was very funny.

[Bastet]

I'm not going to be home tonight, so just checked the archive.

This football category went much better than the last one!

That was a fun theme for the first round category titles.

The Thespis TS surprised me, and I wasn't expecting them to do so poorly in the human body category.

I only ran football and '38 in the first round, but at least I wasn't terrible at any of the rest, missing two in each.

In DJ, however, I was terrible in Book Title Math; for all five clues, I only knew one of the books, so I blew the whole category.  I only ran Broadway and body, but only missed six among the remaining categories (it would have been five if "Who are Bill Gates and the other guy?" counted for the business history DD).

For the second day in a row, I didn't even have a guess for FJ.

[ams1001]

Even worse than yesterday...

57% / 62% / 58%

Only category I ran was '38, got one Football Play which is frankly better than I expected (it was even the $1000 clue, Statue of Liberty, only because of "Huddled Masses" in the clue). I liked the Book Title Math category but I missed one, also missed one in Broadway.

My TSes were beehive, Father Flanagan, mitral valve, Thespis, lung fish, pituitary, and the missed DD of 96 (Dalmations minus People You Meet in Heaven). 

No FJ again.

I don't usually notice the contestants' physical quirks too much, but Matt's swaying was making me seasick.

Three clues not gotten to. Been a while since that happened, hasn't it?

Edited November 24, 2021 by ams1001

[blueray]

I got FJ :). I was thinking which countries are known for skating, Canada obviously. Then I realized the word sounded French so I went with Ottawa.

I felt bad for the guy who went down -6000, I don't think I've ever seen that before. He didn't give up though. And I agree it was nice to see Ken say something nice to him. 

I am kind of tired of runaways, especially when there is really no point on a FJ, as she couldn't catch her, so she already had second place (as the contestant was out). So her bet and answer doesn't matter at all.

[bankerchick]

Well, all of the players got at least one football clue, so I guess that curse from a few years ago is gone.

 

[kathyk24]

I also thought final Jeopardy was Amsterdam. I'm so glad Amy will be in the Tournament of Champions.

[M. Darcy]

I was a little surprised that no one knew Gerald Ford. 

I thought Amsterdam also for FJ. 

[Ailianna]

I loved the Broadway category. I was lucky enough to get to go do a week in NYC with shows every day, and I literally just saw every one of those shows other than Wicked. (I've seen Wicked, just not since the reopening.) The whole category was a little mini flash of the joy of being back in theatres.

[Mindthinkr]

I did ok. Right in the middle. I got beehive, Missouri River, Father Flanagan (thank you Spencer Tracey) pituitary, axis, and mitral. I was in The Hague for FJ. 
 

[secnarf]

6 minutes ago, M. Darcy said:

I was a little surprised that no one knew Gerald Ford.

One of two facts I know about him is that Gerald Ford wasn't his birth name, but that he took the name of his stepfather at a young age. If you actually asked me what his birth name was, I wouldn't be able to tell you, but was able to figure out who they wanted for the clue this evening.

See, CBC? J! contestants miss US-related questions too! I guarantee that FJ is going to show up in Canadian media over the next couple of days. Not quite as bad as when the contestants failed an entire category on Canada, but still. It is the Rideau Canal, after all 🙄 I had hoped the mix of English and French might point contestants towards Canada, but unfortunately not.

I am glad Ken explained why Amy might have guessed Amsterdam. Hopefully this doesn't deter her from her large FJ bets.

[shapeshifter]

No FJ, but I did run '38.
Was the '38 category unusually easy, or is it just one of those Either You Know It Or You Don't things?

I got the TSs of Missouri River, lung fish, and mitral valve.

[GreekGeek]

9 hours ago, blueray said:

I got FJ :). I was thinking which countries are known for skating, Canada obviously. Then I realized the word sounded French so I went with Ottawa.

I felt bad for the guy who went down -6000, I don't think I've ever seen that before. He didn't give up though. And I agree it was nice to see Ken say something nice to him. 

I am kind of tired of runaways, especially when there is really no point on a FJ, as she couldn't catch her, so she already had second place (as the contestant was out). So her bet and answer doesn't matter at all.

I was curious what the lowest score ever was, and this article notes it was -$7400, just this past summer during Matt Amodio's run. The previous record was -$6800 back in 2015. So last night's Matt wasn't the worst ever.

I'm not tired of Amy's runaways quite yet. It's been a while since a woman did so well.

I knew beehive, Father Flanagan, mitral valve, Thespis, lung fish, Gerald Ford, and made a guess on pituitary. I said Amsterdam for FJ, forgetting it should be a place with a lot of French influence but not actually France.

[ABay]

Ottawa's really pretty...as far as I remember from a visit 30 years ago. So Rideau was an instaget. Has there been a Canada question in every game recently? I remember Banff came up a few days ago.

[ams1001]

11 hours ago, secnarf said:

One of two facts I know about him is that Gerald Ford wasn't his birth name, but that he took the name of his stepfather at a young age. If you actually asked me what his birth name was, I wouldn't be able to tell you, but was able to figure out who they wanted for the clue this evening

The only thing I know for sure about Ford is that he was president when I was born.

[MrAtoz]

8 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

The only thing I know for sure about Ford is that he was president when I was born.

One of the facts I like about Ford is that when he became Vice President (replacing the resigning Spiro Agnew), he told his wife that the vice presidency would make a nice conclusion to his career.

Little did he know...