What is...In the Media?

[catlover79]

I couldn't find anything regarding his childhood home, but here are some pictures celebrating his Canadian roots:

[catlover79]

Sudbury also showed its love and support to its favorite son via billboard:

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, catlover79 said:

I couldn't find anything regarding his childhood home, but here are some pictures celebrating his Canadian roots:

Fabulous, @catlover79, great photos. Thanks for posting. There should be a Sudbury category on Jeopardy.

Meanwhile:

[shantown]

7 hours ago, crashdown said:

Has anyone speculated that Alex will be announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the January 9 game series, and that he'll also be announcing his successor (who will likely be one of the three contestants)? If not, color me speculating.

The retirement announcement was my guess, especially once I heard it would be airing in primetime

[crashdown]

13 hours ago, shantown said:

The retirement announcement was my guess, especially once I heard it would be airing in primetime

It also seems to me that they announced it kind of quickly--with a tournament this big, you'd think that they would be hyping it for a long time before it aired. I wonder if they taped it awhile ago and just waited to release it when Alex made his final decision. (If that's the case, it would have been awkward if James had lost this year's championship!) But I'm sure that this tournament means a lot to Alex, and that's why they're doing it now rather than a couple of years after James's run, which would seem more natural.

[BuckeyeLou]

On 11/22/2019 at 1:34 AM, catlover79 said:

I found this photo and blurb from a 1979 magazine. Enjoy!!

I was on High Rollers!  I wanted to win the car(my husband needed a car to get to work, he was riding his motorcycle & got hit), I did not win the car, but won lots of other fun things, like a years supply of Famous Amos Cookies 🙂  It was a fun experience & Alex was a nice guy...

[rubaco]

12 minutes ago, crashdown said:

I wonder if they taped it awhile ago and just waited to release it when Alex made his final decision. (If that's the case, it would have been awkward if James had lost this year's championship!) 

No, they are going to be taping the tourney in early December, according to USA Today. 

8 minutes ago, BuckeyeLou said:

I was on High Rollers!  I wanted to win the car(my husband needed a car to get to work, he was riding his motorcycle & got hit), I did not win the car, but won lots of other fun things, like a years supply of Famous Amos Cookies 🙂  It was a fun experience & Alex was a nice guy...

I have to know: did you get sick & tired of Famous Amos Cookies?

[BuckeyeLou]

3 minutes ago, rubaco said:

No, they are going to be taping the tourney in early December, according to USA Today. 

I have to know: did you get sick & tired of Famous Amos Cookies?

I enjoyed my whole year of cookies 🙂  I have a sweet tooth & enjoy eating cookies, esp. chocolate chip

[saber5055]

2 hours ago, BuckeyeLou said:

I was on High Rollers!

@BuckeyeLou, that is the coolest thing ever! I hope your husband eventually got a car and healed from his bike accident. That would be the best interview story when you get on Jeopardy!

ETA: How much is a year's supply of cookies? One cookie per day? Inquiring minds want to know!

Edited November 23, 2019 by saber5055

[catlover79]

On 11/23/2019 at 10:36 AM, BuckeyeLou said:

I enjoyed my whole year of cookies 🙂  I have a sweet tooth & enjoy eating cookies, esp. chocolate chip

That's so awesome. ☺❤

[BuckeyeLou]

On 11/23/2019 at 12:35 PM, saber5055 said:

@BuckeyeLou, that is the coolest thing ever! I hope your husband eventually got a car and healed from his bike accident. That would be the best interview story when you get on Jeopardy!

ETA: How much is a year's supply of cookies? One cookie per day? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks for asking, my hubby had bumps & bruises from the accident, but was fine, we saved up money to buy a car(we had just gotten married).  As for the cookies, we got coupons that we could use to buy the cookies whenever we wanted.  We did not get a giant box full of cookies 🙂

[catlover79]

Here's Alex way back in 1976 on an episode of Celebrity Bowling. The teams were: Dick Gautier and Scatman Crothers vs. Alex Trebek and Jim MacKrell.

[opus]

Jimmy Kimmel showed Tom Hanks the "nobody recognized Tom Hanks" moment. That part begins at the 4:25 mark

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, opus said:

Jimmy Kimmel showed Tom Hanks the "nobody recognized Tom Hanks" moment. That part begins at the 4:25 mark

I always watch Kimmel but I'm the only person in the world who doesn't like Hanks so missed that segment. Thanks for posting, Opus. It clarifies that Mr. Hanks was not "sad" he was a TS, but he was PO'd. Maybe he was kidding; maybe not.

1976 Trebek was sure sporting some Alex Jacob hair. Great pics, catlover79.

Edited November 27, 2019 by saber5055

[catlover79]

4 hours ago, saber5055 said:

1976 Trebek was sure sporting some Alex Jacob hair. Great pics, catlover79.

The resemblance is eerie, isn't it? 😉

[suebee12]

Found this on twitter today...fun interview~

[saber5055]

On 12/10/2019 at 4:01 PM, suebee12 said:

Found this on twitter today...fun interview~

Thanks @suebee12. In the interview, Trebek said whomever wins three games is the winner. Does anyone know if the shows are going to be one-half hour like a regular episode, or will they run two eps, one after the other, for an hour's worth. I'm pretty sure, based on Twitters I've seen, that taping is over. I can't imagine any audience member not leaking the results! I also can't imagine the stress show writers must be under to come up with clues that are not re-occurring show staples.

[suebee12]

@saber5055 I looked back through all the posts I could find and I think this answers your question!

Quote

But the GOAT tournament will be anything but typical: It consists of a series of two back-to-back games, airing weeknights (8 EST/PST) beginning Jan. 7. The player with the most combined winnings from the two games wins the “match,” and the play continues on successive nights (except Monday) until one of them has won three matches and takes home a $1 million prize. (The other finishers get $250,000 apiece). That means the tournament can last anywhere from three to seven days.

[saber5055]

Thank you @suebee12. That did indeed answer my questions!

[illdoc]

Although it's a bit early, could I suggest that these prime-time games not be included in the contest? That is, just have the FJ contest be about the regular (syndicated) games. Thanks (should this question be in the "contest" thread instead?).

[saber5055]

On 12/12/2019 at 5:21 PM, illdoc said:

Although it's a bit early, could I suggest that these prime-time games not be included in the contest?

Thanks for posting this. I agree that the prime-time games will not be part of the contest, they are just for us to watch and enjoy. The contest will continue to be for the daily Jeopardy episodes. Although I wonder if the prime-time show will bump any network regular episodes if some markets get Jeopardy at 7 p.m. on ABC.

I wonder how sites like TheJeopardyFan.com (where I get the FJ clue every day) will handle the prime-time episodes, or if they will be a separate category. I can't imagine people addicted to keeping player stats would miss tracking those stats.

I'm hoping a special thread will be created for the Battle Series so we don't have to read about some "certain" player if we don't have to. You know who I mean!

[Ailianna]

So wait, I'm now confused.  Are there going to be GOAT games AND regular games in the beginning of January?  I get J! at 7:30, so I think I would not see the regular games if that's what they are doing.  Or are they airing the GOAT games at 8 or 9 (I'd think 8 for the early risers/early sleepers among J! fans) after the regular games?

[illdoc]

The GOAT games are prime time network games. So whenever you see regular ABC programming (like...Grey's Anatomy (only ABC show I can name right now)) is when you'll see the GOAT games.

[zoey1996]

14 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I'm hoping a special thread will be created for the Battle Series so we don't have to read about some "certain" player if we don't have to. You know who I mean!

Any of us can create a thread for the Battle Series.  If no one else does, I'll do it the week before the first one airs.

So I wonder what ABC has in mind if only three nights of shows are needed to determine the winner?

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, zoey1996 said:

So I wonder what ABC has in mind if only three nights of shows are needed to determine the winner?

It's my understanding the games were filmed this week, so ABC knows how many nights it needs to open up for the battles. I think three are required, but Trebek said if there were ties, it could take up to seven nights to determine the winner. Anyway, ABC now knows its schedule, but I wonder if it will leave that time slot open for the week just to keep people from anticipating the outcome/winner. Sort of like during the World Series, if more games need to be played.

I still wonder, as @Ailianna posted, how the regular episodes will be handled if that market airs them at 7-8 on an ABC affiliate. Our FJ contest might have to skip some days if all players can't see that day's episode. I guess we wait and see!

[zoey1996]

As far as I know, prime time starts at 8 in eastern & pacific time zones and at 7 in central time zone.  Not sure about mountain time.  When I lived there, I think it started at 7, but programming wasn’t shown in the same order as the other zones.  I don’t know of any stations that show the syndicated game shows in prime time, though I could certainly be wrong about that.

[Driad]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Our FJ contest might have to skip some days if all players can't see that day's episode.

Many of us already miss episodes when our local stations don't air them because of sports, weather, politics, shiny things, etc.

In my market regular Jeopardy airs at 7:30 on a channel that is not ABC, so I'll get to flip channels at 8 (assuming both channels do air the shows).

[blueray]

23 hours ago, Driad said:

Many of us already miss episodes when our local stations don't air them because of sports, weather, politics, shiny things, etc.

In my market regular Jeopardy airs at 7:30 on a channel that is not ABC, so I'll get to flip channels at 8 (assuming both channels do air the shows).

Mine too. It's actually CBS. Does that mean that the 7:30 won't air then but an 8:00 one will on ABC?

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, blueray said:

Mine too. It's actually CBS. Does that mean that the 7:30 won't air then but an 8:00 one will on ABC?

No they are two separate things. They normal Jeopardy is syndicated so production commits to x amount of episodes and each different market buys the show and so the network is whoever wanted to buy the rights. This is a specific ABC special that was bought by the national network so you should get two episodes that day. 

[saber5055]

I saw my first commercial for the Battle Series tonight on ABC. It features the three players walking in slo mo down a hallway. It made me laugh since it reminded me of Ken Jennings' tweet that proceeds from any winnings will be used to buy James a sport coat or blazer, and maybe a nice tie.

[zoey1996]

Is anyone else amused that the Greatest of All Time will be a goat?  GOAT!  Just me?  I'll get me coat...

[lb60]

There is a primetime special on this Thursday, 1/2/20, 8-9pm.

What Is Jeopardy!? Alex Trebek and America's Most Popular Quiz Show

Edited December 29, 2019 by lb60

[illdoc]

13 hours ago, lb60 said:

There is a primetime special on this Thursday, 1/2/20, 8-9pm

Mentioning that that's Eastern Time. 7-8 here in Central time zone.

[saber5055]

Will be a tough watch for me due to Michael Strahan. Of all the hosts on that network and they pick him. *sigh*

[opus]

On 12/28/2019 at 11:41 PM, lb60 said:

There is a primetime special on this Thursday, 1/2/20, 8-9pm.

What Is Jeopardy!? Alex Trebek and America's Most Popular Quiz Show

Reminder, airs tonight.

[zoey1996]

We watched it.  It was interesting.  Liked some of tidbits from the early shows, especially the first winner who was also the first contestant to buzz in with a correct response.

We don't watch Good Morning America, so not familiar with Strahan, but I thought he was fine.

[Bastet]

I don't think the theme song needed an entire segment - and if something my dad pounded out in a minute and half on a piano given to him by Marlon Brando constituted over $80 million to date of the estate I inherited, said piano would be in my house, not a storage unit - but it was fine.  I'd have liked more details on how a taping day goes; it barely scratched the surface from any one perspective, and the only one I was familiar with from previous coverage was Alex's, so I'd have liked more from the writers' room, control booth, and stage.

I had it on in the room with my smallest TV and was in and out a bit, so I didn't get as good a look at the writers' room as I wanted to -- I didn't spot a single person of color, and among all the white folks I saw three (of eight?) women.  For those who got a better look:  Are those number accurate?

I always appreciate the honesty in acknowledging they choose for personality in selecting from among qualified applicants, and wish they'd be similarly explicit in addressing how they select based on how people will look on camera.

And, good gods, get that twit Austin off my screen!  In general, they could have done a better job in selecting former contestants to interview.

All in all, pretty much a network fluff piece promoting the upcoming GOAT tournament.  So, fine for what it was, but certainly nothing to write home about.

[Browncoat]

I mostly enjoyed it, except for the extended Austin part. 

[M. Darcy]

3 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I mostly enjoyed it, except for the extended Austin part. 

I dislike Austin and thought they spent too much time on him but I did find the interview interesting when he toned it done a bit and mentioned how he hasn't spent the $ but is instead saving it.  

[saber5055]

I thought the show was interesting and went quickly, and thank goodness there was minimal Strahan. Austin’s interview was okay and made me like him maybe just a teeny tiny wee little bit more than I did, which was not at all. I wish the show hadn’t added in drawings of what he was miming so watchers would think “WTH” instead of “Oh, isn’t he cute.” But I’m guessing all that cr*p is why TPTB picked him to showcase instead of the many who won and done (!) more than he.

The view into the application process was the most interesting, and I looked for familiar faces. I liked that emphasis was on how many times people try out to get on, so many think it’s a one-time deal, and maybe it is for some, but that’s not typical. It takes work.

With the clues going through so many sets of eyes, I’m surprised so many poorly written ones get on the show.

Interesting side note, Trebek’s adopted daughter from his first marriage is one of the show’s producers. AT has been married twice; the birthday of his first wife is impossible to find, it’s never been listed anywhere.

I’m glad the topic of AT’s retirement and successor was brought up and a cap was put on both. And I swear AT stole his Betty White replacement joke from this site. So, Mr. Trebek: You’re welcome.

Edited January 3, 2020 by saber5055

[MrAtoz]

The parts from the contestants' point of view brought back a lot of memories!  I saw a lot of familiar faces among the staff.  Maggie, who was doing the not-so-brief briefing (seriously, it's like an hour!), Lauri, who called to tell me I was on the show and was my primary contact person, Glenn, who discussed the studio's MGM-related history with me, and Corina, who I don't have any specific anecdotes about but who is super nice.  Nice to see that Maggie does that "Don't ring in by banging the signalling device against your head" gag to every group of contestants! 😀  I can't say enough good things about the staff.  Despite having dealt with literally thousands of contestants, most of whom they will only see for a few hours, they make you feel like you are the most important person in the world.

Most of the interesting quotes from Alex's interview had leaked out beforehand, so there wasn't much that was too surprising.  And Austin never bothered me, so I didn't mind seeing him again.  More interesting was the interview with the very first winner.  You don't see him very often when Jeopardy history is discussed.

[saber5055]

@MrAtoz, I thought about you and others here who have been on the show, and wondered if you recognized a lot of staff, so thanks for your thoughts. It had to be fun to relive a bit of your history, it’s such a badge of honor to be selected to be on the show. I never thought of who was the very first Jeopardy winner, so that segment was especially interesting. I hope he gets more recognition now.

Interesting side note: John McCain was a one-day champion after Burns Cameron in 1965, during Art Fleming days. It would be fun to see his episode.

Meanwhile, I found this pic of AT in 1965 when he worked in Halifax, NS.

[annzeepark914]

Thanks to MrAtoz for his memories of Jeopardy staff.  Nice to know poor ol' Austin didn't bother him. I liked the guy and don't understand the dislike for him (but, to each his own).  It was very interesting to see the behind the scenes activities/people of this show.  

[saber5055]

Special notice to @lb60: James is scheduled to be on Live With Kelly and Ryan Monday morning.

[lb60]

7 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Special notice to @lb60: James is scheduled to be on Live With Kelly and Ryan Monday morning.

Thanks!

I'll be sure to DVR.....

any other show airing at the same time.

hahahahahahahahahaha!

[suebee12]

14 hours ago, lb60 said:

Special notice to @lb60: James is scheduled to be on Live With Kelly and Ryan Monday morning.

As much as I like James, I dislike Kelly so much I'm not sure I can watch. I'll have to think about this!!!!

[Sharpie66]

I don’t know if this was broadcast to coincide with the GOAT show, but I am currently watching Alex Trebek’s Game Changers on REELZ, a history of TV game shows hosted by Alex. Really interesting, with lots of interviews with old-school hosts like Tom Kennedy and Peter Marshall, and more current hosts, producers, and agents.

Some interesting trivia: Peter Marshall was going to do a show on Broadway when he was approached for Hollywood Squares. He turned them down, but they told him that their #2 choice was Dan Rowan, whom he said was one of only two people in the world whom he could not stand, so he took the job just to screw Rowan over.

Another was that Richard Dawson had an agreement with Goodson/Toddman to be given a hosting shot on their next show while he was appearing on Match Game. He found out in the trades that they were going to do their next show with William Shatner, and he had his agent call them and threaten that he would only turn the Match Game cards over and not say anything, funny or otherwise, in retaliation. He got the chance to audition for the show, which of course was Family Feud. Also, he met his wife on the show when she and her family were contestants.

[saber5055]

The TMZ pap got Ken and Brad in NYC and asked them some questions while they continued to walk away into a hotel, so they answered over their shoulders. Harvey did an interview with AT a year or so ago and AT told Harvey he was ready to retire. So Harvey named who he's been hearing might be on the short list to replace him. Meanwhile, the TMZ staff thought Will Ferrell as AT would be excellent. That gets my vote too.

Not sure if the clip would be on TMZ's site, I saw it live on tonight's episode. The show gave Ken some snark, which was pretty funny. "ouch"

[Browncoat]

If Will Ferrell hosts Jeopardy for real, I will not be able to watch.  I can’t stand Will Ferrell.

[Prevailing Wind]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

If Will Ferrell hosts Jeopardy for real, I will not be able to watch.  I can’t stand Will Ferrell.

Me, either.