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What is...In the Media?


Sharpie66
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There was only one question on the Millionaire show so far I didn't 100% know--but it's so weird seeing Ken Jennings take his time to answer questions and come up with explanations for why he knows things. I'm pretty sure he's just trying not to seem like a know it all on some, like the twitter question. I'm sure he knows the titles in the mash up, not that he spends too much time on twitter.

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I forgot to record KJ's Friday appearance but that was apparently all the easy questions and he faces the hard ones today, so I'll get to see those.  I haven't heard, is he playing for some charity, or does he get to keep the dough?

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http://pagesix.com/2014/12/16/alex-trebek-threatened-to-quit-jeopardy-sony-emails/?_ga=1.141581618.1233377734.1417552488

Alex threatened to quit because of a parent's tantrum during Kids Week.

This was probably the girl who didn't make it to Final the third day of Kids Week. Between this, and the parents who complained last year that their kid lost because of a spelling error which Alex supposedly mocked (even tho the kid who won had more than double everyone else) - they shouldn't bother with this Kids Week stuff. Too many Special Snowflakes ( parents and kids.)

Edited by Mumbles
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I wonder if the poor girl was mostly upset because she knew her mother was going to freak. I don't even understand what a retaping would have accomplished. What did the producers want Alex to do differently, not follow the established rules of the game?

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The article mentions retaping the opening, which may have been the one for the next game, because here's what he said then:

 

I'm sure you've noticed that one of the main differences between our kids week shows and our regular fare, aside from the age factor, of course, is the element of emotion. As talented as they are, these very bright young people, haven't yet had too many experiences in life where they were not the winners. And that can be pretty tough on some of them. Nevertheless, we hope that their visit to Jeopardy! winds up being viewed by them as a positive one.

So Mom in the audience didn't like that, I guess.

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http://pagesix.com/2014/12/16/alex-trebek-threatened-to-quit-jeopardy-sony-emails/?_ga=1.141581618.1233377734.1417552488

Alex threatened to quit because of a parent's tantrum during Kids Week.

This was probably the girl who didn't make it to Final the third day of Kids Week. Between this, and the parents who complained last year that their kid lost because of a spelling error which Alex supposedly mocked (even tho the kid who won had more than double everyone else) - they shouldn't bother with this Kids Week stuff. Too many Special Snowflakes ( parents and kids.)

I do like the comment on the page 6 piece to bring back Art Fleming. That would be kinda gross at this point.

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I mistakenly posted about the e-mail business in the episode thread, and Bastet was kind enough to direct me here. 

 

I had a suspicion we'd be hearing more about the incident in the kids' tournament sooner or later.  I wish I'd saved that episode, because I had an odd feeling about that child at the start of the show.  Her answer to Alex in the interview segment was strange and completely unrelated to what he'd asked her.  I thought for a fleeting instant that maybe she was over-the-top nervous (I've been on a couple of game shows and seen it happen to full-grown adults once the cameras come on) or maybe she had some sort of general social disconnectedness.  If the latter, then subjecting her to that kind of pressure is all on her parents--the producers can't be expected to screen out every child who might implode when things go badly.  I think Trebek handled the situation and himself very well, both during the tapings and in the e-mail.  Addressing it the following day was a way of acknowledging what we all saw--that something off had happened at the end of the previous game, but without going into embarrassing detail.  He doesn't owe anyone an apology.

 

I do like the comment on the page 6 piece to bring back Art Fleming.

I had the opportunity to meet Art Fleming during a pilot taping.  He was a nice man, not a bit different in real life from the guy I watched on TV as a kid.  I think he was born to be a game-show host.

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I didn't watch Kids Week, but unless the original opening producers wanted Alex to reshoot in response to the mother's protests was something along the lines of him saying, "Yesterday, one of our special snowflake competitors got her Underoos in a bunch because, like everyone in the red at the end of Double Jeopardy, she was unable to compete in Final Jeopardy, and stomped off stage like the little snot she is; good riddance!" then I am going to side with Alex that capitulating to this woman was ridiculous.  And some of you know how much that pains me.

 

To the audience, it would be 24 hours between seeing that she didn't come back out after the game and the opening of the next episode, so I'm not sure there was any need to address her absence at all.  But enough people commented on it at the end of her episode that perhaps they were right on in thinking it prudent to mention something in the opener.  I think either is fine (although, if I'd been that girl, I imagine I'd have rather it not be brought up again).

 

But I'd really like to know what, specifically, the mother had an issue with Alex doing or not doing.  Because I see nothing offensive in the transcript of the opening that made it on the air.  Did he originally say something different and she wanted that changed?  Did he say nothing and she wanted some on-air explanation for her daughter's post-show absence?

 

All I've seen her complain about has nothing to do with the opening, but the fact Alex didn't run backstage to console her daughter.   What?  That's your job; tell her you're very sorry things didn't work out like she'd hoped, but these things happen and what matters is she tried her best and making it on the show in the first place is something of which she can always be proud.  Some guy she doesn't know is supposed to take time he's supposed to be spending getting ready for the next episode's shooting to go console the kid?  Here's a thought -- had she come back out to join the others after the game was over like she was supposed to, she'd have probably received some words of encouragement from Alex then.

Edited by Bastet
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My thoughts on this situation are evolving. I think maybe I misunderstood what happened, at first. Also, the source being shady leaked stuff makes it harder to piece together what all the involved parties were referring to.

 

Maybe this is what happened:

 

The mother did not want them to re-tape Final Jeopardy. She wanted them to re-tape Alex's comments on the next day's show, where he said sometimes the kids aren't used to losing and therefore get emotional. I didn't take it as a negative comment on the child's character, and I thought his tone was actually sympathetic. But to the kid, and the mom, it probably stung, because no one wants to be thought of as being immature and kind of stuck up spoiled, having a meltdown over losing.

 

I think she was trying to say that her kid wasn't upset about losing, but was upset that she flamed out so badly that she couldn't even participate in FJ, and that it wasn't a spoiled tantrum, it was just that she was very sad. Honestly, I'm 49 years old and I can imagine the pressure is huge and it would be hard to maintain composure after having done so badly. I think I would have managed, but these kids are not only young, but they know their peers are watching and they are probably anticipating being teased and so on. It's just a lot. 

 

And in the mother's over-protective mind, it seems like she thought Alex was telling the world that her kid was a sore loser, not just heartbroken over ending her game in the red.

 

Now, I'm not saying she should have asked for a re-tape. But it's not as over the top for her to have wished for a re-tape of Alex's comment as it would have been if she had wanted a re-tape of FJ. And Alex could maybe have been a little more gracious about it, and not thrown a tantrum about how unsupported he was, etc, either. Threatening to quit is a pretty dramatic action if it was not over the integrity of the game and was just over some awkwardly phrased off the cuff remark of his own making.

 

We also don't know how big of a deal the mother made of her request to have him edit his remarks. Maybe she went to them and pointed out how it sounded, and calmly said it would make her daughter feel so much better if they could fix it. Or maybe she went in there screaming like a maniac. I mean, we just don't know.

 

I thought the kid seemed charming and polite during the game. She didn't give off the entitled brat vibe and she wasn't rude to her competitors or anything like that. She gave a post-taping interview where she seemed anything but bitter. And I felt bad for her when she ended in the red, and I'm not even her mom! So maybe her mom is a nightmare and maybe she's just a little bit more protective than necessary. When the kid who blew his FJ last year complained over being held accountable for spelling, the show corrected his misstatements in the media. With this leak, it says the producers actually tried to accommodate the girl's mom's request. So they do make choices about who to push back against and who to accommodate, and they do defend themselves against rule violations and misrepresentations when needed. I think we're just not getting the whole picture.

 

Probably the whole thing has been blown out of proportion by the media microscope.

Edited by possibilities
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  Hey, Possibilities, you took the words out of my mouth!

  I imagine Gabby was just very sad and embarrassed by her poor performance and finish.  There was probably an expectation by her friends that she would do well because she's a smart girl and normally does well in school.

  And then, to do so poorly, and have it televised so the whole country saw it, well, that had to be rough. 

  I don't think this makes her a brat, just a sad little girl.  To beat her up about it now seems a little cruel to me. Complain about her mother if you want because maybe she isn't handling it very sensibly, but we really can't blame Gabby for her mother's actions.

I'm guessing she just wants to have everybody forget about it.

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The kid is not at fault for this kerfuffle, and neither is Alex. His response was well within the range of acceptable behavior, and his bosses were wrong to call him out after 30+ years of hosting this show because of the reaction of one Mama Rose.

Its not as if he came out and said, "did you get a load of that loser yesterday? Man I hope these three are smarter than that one." His tone was sympathetic and made no specific reference. The majority of Jeopardy watchers don't remember the game one day from the next and probably made no connection to the day before - we on this board made the connection because we are big fans. But we are atypical.

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In her email, she complains about Alex not consoling her daughter after she ran off in tears, declaring she'll "never forgive him" for that.  Which I find just plain stupid.  (As I said, that's not his role, and if the kid had come back out for the kids and parents segment at the end of the show, she would likely have received some consoling/encouraging words then.)

 

But then in the emails from Alex, he's objecting to being asked to redo the opening as a capitulation to this mother's complaining.  And that separate issue is the part that is unclear to me -- is what aired what she wanted changed and it didn't happen, or did Alex originally say something different in the opening and it got changed to what aired?  If the latter, what did he say?  Because, as I said above, unless he said something that insulted the girl, I agree with his stance that it's ridiculous to ask him to change it.

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Stephen Colbert on the roof of his studio, after his show is over. Santa and Abe Lincoln pull up in Santa's sleigh, with Honest Abe vaping an e-cigarette.

 

Colbert: But Santa, it's not even Xmas, why are you here ?
Santa: Don't ask me, ask the one with all the answers (as Santa points to the rear seat of his sleigh)
Colbert: The one with all the answers.  Is it ? It is you.
Trebek: Hello Stephen
Colbert: Jeopardy's Alex Trebek
Trebek: (gestures to the empty seat) Won't you join us.
Colbert: Oh but Mr. Trebek, where will we go ? What will we do ?
Trebek: You got that exactly right, all of life's important answers must be in the form of a question.
Colbert: So, I guess I will be gone forever.
Trebek: Oh, no, no, no Stephen. We'll always be there for the American people whenever they need us the most.
Colbert: Right. But aren't you Canadian ?
Trebek: I've had dual citizenship since 1998.
Colbert: Yeah that's not the same.

Edited by ottoDbusdriver
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A question earlier this week about the Oso mudslide tragedy stirred up some criticism: http://www.khq.com/story/28214723/jeopardy-clue-about-oso-mudslide-triggers-reaction

 

I didn't have any particular emotional reaction to the question, but then I didn't lose friends or family to the disaster. It got me wondering how soon is too soon to use tragic events as trivia questions. 

Edited by GreekGeek
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making sure there aren’t, three clues about Cypress in the same five-game pool

Quote is from the i'view with the head writer.  I betcha he really said Cyprus.

I don't know...

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Edited by dcalley
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