Celebrity Jeopardy!

[teebax]

I thought it was a good episode, by CJ standards. As long as no one tries to ham it up, I'm good. I was rooting for Neil or Vince to win since I love The Middle, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul. His DD wager was exciting, but I was surprised he missed FJ.

Some of you have mentioned your favorite CJ contestants. Who are your least favorite?

[peeayebee]

I haven't watched any of Vince Gilligan's shows since he was a writer on The X-Files, and haven't paid attention to any press about him since then, so to me he's frozen in time from XF-era interviews and I did a double take at him looking different.  

I'm just the opposite. I've been watching and reading all his interviews since BB started, then I was shocked when I saw a video of him from way back. I prefer his look now.

 

I agree with others about the easiness of the clues. I was watching with my sister, and every time I gave a correct answer, she said, "You're so smart." I tried not to roll my eyes.

[possibilities]

The "flea market" answer made me laugh. All I could think of was "leech field" (and I know it's leach, not leech, but I was totally hung up by the blood-sucking element of the clue).

[HelenBaby]

Does anyone remember when they did a "Power Players" tournament from Washington, DC? It was very disappointing. I think Anderson Cooper was on that one but it consisted mainly of news people or politically connected types. Cooper couldn't help but be the smartest guy in the room.

[Totale]

I'm with teebax on last night's lack of ham, although it looks like there will be plenty of that tonight, on top of which I don't recognize anybody.  We were trying to remember if CJ was like a regular tournament with semifinals and wild cards and such, but couldn't.  Is it?

[M. Darcy]

Tonight we have Aaron Rodgers, Kevin O'Leary and Capt. Mark Kelly.  My prediction for tonight is that Mark Kelly will win.  He's such a part of two worlds - politics and science - so he should have knowledge of a wide range of subjects. 

 

What would be really interesting if they had Mark play against his twin brother.  I wonder how identical twins would do against each other. 

[teebax]

Tonight we have Aaron Rodgers, Kevin O'Leary and Capt. Mark Kelly.  My prediction for tonight is that Mark Kelly will win.  He's such a part of two worlds - politics and science - so he should have knowledge of a wide range of subjects. 

 

What would be really interesting if they had Mark play against his twin brother.  I wonder how identical twins would do against each other. 

Gabby Giffords was my congresswoman before she had to step down, so I'm a huge Mark Kelly fan. I love that his twin brother is also an astronaut. They were on CBS Sunday Morning not long ago, and they're both very impressive.

 

I'd put Martin Short on my list of worst celebs on CJ. He was such a ham and, if I remember, ended up in the red. He was also annoying on Hollywood Game Night.

 

Andy Richter and Jerry Orbach are high on my favorites list. Michael McKean, who is now on Better Call Saul, was excellent on CJ.

Edited May 12, 2015 by teebax

[HelenBaby]

I mentioned this before but Andy Richter is my favorite celebrity on CJ, then Cheech Marin. Both were very good.

[saber5055]

I just wish it hadn't been such an easy set of clues.

 

 

Although, on the plus side, it made me feel pretty darned smart, being able to run the board and answer every question correctly. That does not and never will happen on a "regular" show.

 

I, too, was disappointed in Vince at the end. I love his shows so was rooting for him. But the game seemed pretty even and all were having a good time, so there's that.

[mindymessina]

Mike Heck FTW!! Color me surprised that Neil Flynn is apparently such an established improviser. He sure seemed surprised to see Alex standing in front of him during the contestant Q&A. Not sure what sort of question he was expecting. 

[Jesse]

I'm disappointed that in the first two days of the tournament, five of the six contestants are white men. Casting couldn't have done better than that? 

 

Thanks to Extra Hot Great, when my mother asked me the name of Debra Messing's current show, I could only answer "Copmom Momcop"!

[suedehead]

 

 

As long as no one tries to ham it up.....

Some of you have mentioned your favorite CJ contestants. Who are your least favorite?

 

Was Martin Short ever on CJ? That's my pick, no matter the answer. Still loathe him from his HGN appearances.

 

eta: just read teebax's post. Glad to see I'm not alone.

 

I thought it's common knowldge CJ! is an easier game. Can't purposely make a celeb look bad when it's for charity.

 

It always seems when a male pro athlete is on J! people speculate whether or not he will be smart enough to compete, but don't necessarily do the same for tv personalities. I assume anyone asked to participate is already a J! fan and know what's expected. Additonally, why would J! ask a "dumb jock" to participate? I'm thinking that's why we're seeing Aaron and not Jameis. (Sorry, cheap shot, but I hate the Criminoles)

Edited May 12, 2015 by suedehead

[barbedwire]

Michael McKean was my all time favorite CJ contestant.

 

Neil was good last night but too many soft-ball questions. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

Michael McKean was my all time favorite CJ contestant.

 

My favorite is Andy Richter -- plus he has the record for highest dollar amount earned in a single CJ game ($68,000), but unfortunately he had to drop out of later rounds of the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational due to prior commitments.  I would have liked to see him go up against Michael McKean in that Million dollar final.

[Scott]

I enjoyed the show.  The clues seemed reasonable for a Celebrity episode, and they all seemed to enjoy themselves without being obnoxious.

 

Did I hear Flynn say "That was in your category!" to Messing when he found the DD in "Smash Broadway Musicals"?

 

I usually stop and delete the recording immediately after the last answer/bet is announced in FJ, but something made me want to see if the celebs would come out and talk to Alex like regular contestants.  When they did, I noticed as the credits were running, they had mini-advertisements for each of the celebs' current projects.  ("Watch The Middle, Wednesdays at 8pm" type of things)

[HelenBaby]

 

It always seems when a male pro athlete is on J! people speculate whether or not he will be smart enough to compete, but don't necessarily do the same for tv personalities. I assume anyone asked to participate is already a J! fan and know what's expected. Additonally, why would J! ask a "dumb jock" to participate? I'm thinking that's why we're seeing Aaron and not Jameis. (Sorry, cheap shot, but I hate the Criminoles)

I'm with you on loathing Jameis Winston. Every time we watched him, I would call him a effing cheater.

If I remember correctly, Kareem Abdul Jabbar did fairly well when he was a contestant.

[opus]

 

 

 

I thought it's common knowldge CJ! is an easier game. Can't purposely make a celeb look bad when it's for charity.

 

 

Which, of course, makes it worse (or better, for celeb haters) when they look bad.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Did I hear Flynn say "That was in your category!" to Messing when he found the DD in "Smash Broadway Musicals"?

 

Because Debra Messing was in the TV show 'Smash' that was about a Broadway musical of Marilyn Monroe.

[saber5055]

I'm disappointed that in the first two days of the tournament, five of the six contestants are white men. Casting couldn't have done better than that?

 

 

While I've never seen stats on this subject, it seems to me that for regular Jeopardy! the majority of players are white men. Who is on the lineup for the last three days? All white guys again?

 

Do the celebs have to pass a test? I'm assuming so, plus have buzzer training and practice play. They do have an advantage in being used to being on camera so don't have that obstacle to conquer. I've just never seen an interview with a celeb after his/her spin on the show so don't know how they even get chosen to appear.

 

At least the "stars" appearing on J! are recognizable as being celebs, unlike so many on DWTS!

Edited May 12, 2015 by saber5055

[ottoDbusdriver]

At least the "stars" appearing on J! are recognizable as being celebs, unlike so many on DWTS!

 

So much this.

[teebax]

Do the celebs have to pass a test? I'm assuming so, plus have buzzer training and practice play. 

I have no idea how it works, but I'd be surprised if they have to pass a test. That's not a slam at celebs; I just don't see it going down that way. They probably do a few practice games, but I can't see them taking a test.

[Jesse]

While I've never seen stats on this subject, it seems to me that for regular Jeopardy! the majority of players are white men. Who is on the lineup for the last three days? All white guys again?

 

Do the celebs have to pass a test? I'm assuming so, plus have buzzer training and practice play. They do have an advantage in being used to being on camera so don't have that obstacle to conquer. I've just never seen an interview with a celeb after his/her spin on the show so don't know how they even get chosen to appear.

 

At least the "stars" appearing on J! are recognizable as being celebs, unlike so many on DWTS!

 

I think the gender balance on regular J! is at least closer to 50/50, but the applicant pool is so self-selected! For the celebrity version, I feel like they could do some outreach if the only people whose agents approached them about being on it are in one demographic group.  Of the 15, 10 are men, and all are white. http://www.jeopardy.com/minisites/celebrity/#bio 

[Athena]

While I've never seen stats on this subject, it seems to me that for regular Jeopardy! the majority of players are white men. Who is on the lineup for the last three days? All white guys again?

 

The gender balance of the regular Jeopardy contestants was actually mentioned on a recent fivethirtyeight article on Jenning's streak:

 

 

One possible consequence of the online test: Almost half of returning champions this season have been women. In the year before Jennings’s streak, fewer than 1 in 3 winners were female. Assuming the test stays the same and the same type of male contestants (which is to say, those who think they should be on a game show) are still competing, it seems likely that the reason more women are winning is because the quantity and quality of the women on the show are better.

[saber5055]

Gosh, that is surprising all the celebrity contestants are white. I still wonder how they are chosen, if agents contact the show during a cattle call put out, say, in Variety, or if people the show wants are contacted individually from a "wish list" and they just move down the list until they get enough yeses. It would have been fun to have Terry Crews be a contestant. I'd (almost) pay to see that.

 

Really disappointed the Wisconsin football guy didn't know Harley Davidson, headquartered in Milwaukee. Actually, I'm disappointed NO ONE knew FJ.

 

Mr. Wonderful ... I have no words.

[opus]

If I wasn't a sports person, the only person on stage I would have recognized was Alex. [side celeb note- Aaron Rodgers is dating Olivia Munn].

[HelenBaby]

I was really surprised how slow these guys were except Aaron, but then he didn't know Harley & Davidson. Such a letdown. Who's on tomorrow?

[Bastet]

Although, on the plus side, it made me feel pretty darned smart, being able to run the board and answer every question correctly. That does not and never will happen on a "regular" show.

 

Yeah, that would be fun.  I didn't know Game of Thrones, Jon Voight, or George Clooney's ex-girlfriend.

[ottoDbusdriver]

So many uncovered clues in the Jeopardy round (if I remember correctly an entire category went untouched). 

 

I thought Mark Kelly would do better.  Kevin O'Leary can leave the stage anytime and never come back.

[Fex]

Missed last night, but enjoyed tonight's! Aaron was very impressive, although I was surprised by a few of the things he didn't know.

 

At first I couldn't believe twelve drummer's drumming was a TS, but then I realized that I've heard a few variations of that song - people get loosey goosey with 10, 11 and 12! - so maybe the contestants have too?

[lurk3000]

Nobody knew Gregory Peck?!!

[mojoween]

WTF is with Mr. Wonderful? Is that what they call him on Shark Tank? I can't believe Mark Cuban puts up with that shit.

I seriously seriously seriously cannot believe no one got FJ. But I do adore Aaron so I'm happy he won. But it was nice to see Gabby was there.

That was not very nice to torture Aaron with two categories about Bears.

Edited May 13, 2015 by mojoween

[CarpeDiem54]

One good thing about CJ - it makes me feel like a genius.

Who annointed that jackass in the middle Mr. Wonderful? More like Mr. Dumbass.

And no one knew (besides the other million TS) Lazarus? And WTF on Harley and Davidson?! Ernst and Young? Judas H. Priest.

I, too, was surprised Mark Kelly didn't do better.

[MortysCleaningLady]

Gosh do I miss the days of smart celebrities.  Jerry Orbach was truly worth watching.

 

Color me surprised by tonight.  I thought the shallow Cleaning Lady was just going to admire the pretty QB in the man cardigan, but he kind of surprised me.  (Not that the categories were that hard.) And I concur with everyone else about Harley Davidson.  (I give the Shark credit for his Wright Brothers answer though -- that was probably the best of the wrong answers.  Ernst and Young?)

[Ailianna]

It would have been fun to have Terry Crews be a contestant. I'd (almost) pay to see that.

 

I would love that too, but wouldn't it be a conflict since he hosts a game show himself?  One of those rules about not doubling up for players might cover hosts too?  I'm actually asking because I have no idea, but he would be awesome.

[opus]

I would love that too, but wouldn't it be a conflict since he hosts a game show himself?  One of those rules about not doubling up for players might cover hosts too?  I'm actually asking because I have no idea, but he would be awesome.

Pat Sajak has been on CJ. Don't think it would be a problem.

[HelenBaby]

I think Pat Sajak was on Celebrity Jeopardy sometime in the 90's.

[Jesse]

Kevin O'Leary calls himself Mr Wonderful, but it's a joke, because he's such an asshole to the people pitching. 

[saber5055]

Terry Crews' time hosting Millionaire might be over, I'm not sure if the show that's on now is new or in rerun. Chris Harrison (The Bachelor host!) is taking over WWTBAM in the new season. I'd like to see Crews on CJ just to see if some Millionaire questions/answers stuck with him. Plus he's cute and pretty funny.

 

I strongly dislike Kevin O'Leary, but to see the self-proclaimed Mr. Wonderful fail so blatantly, I almost felt sorry for him. 

 

Almost.

[pandora spocks]

Mr. Wonderful? Not so much.

For a while, I thought he was trying to break Wolf Blitzer's record for biggest Celebrity Jeopardy poop for brains.

[Bastet]

I couldn’t remember what came on day 12 in the 12 Days of Christmas song, either.

 

I don’t know who “Mr. Wonderful” is, and after seeing that written below his name, I don’t want to know.  I hate the Packers and Aaron Rodgers began bugging me two or three years ago, so I was rooting for Mark – whom I respect for being an astronaut, and for being married to Gabby Giffords.

 

I kind of lost track of TS and bad answers, but Harley and Davidson blew my mind.  And Gregory Peck kind of broke my heart.

[peeayebee]

I'm sure Aaron Rodgers was joking with the Ernst & Young answer. I'm embarrassed that I didn't get Harley Davidson. I was thinking Ford and... maybe Rockefeller.

 

I really liked Aaron. He did a small but funny bit on Key & Peele last year, so I shouldn't be surprised that I enjoyed him.

 

Gregory Peck being a TS was another one of those shocking occurrences that make me feel old. Was that in the 5 Bears category? If so, I don't get it.

 

Oh, did Aaron mouth "Fuck" when he missed one of the DDs?

[Moose135]

Gregory Peck being a TS was another one of those shocking occurrences that make me feel old. Was that in the 5 Bears category? If so, I don't get it.

 

The category referred to UC Berkeley - they are called the Golden Bears.  Peck attended Berkeley before becoming an actor.  And I too was surprised it was a TS.

 

For FJ, I guess the Dodge Brothers, assuming it had something to do with transportation, and knowing it wasn't the Wrights.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Moose135

[alias1]

I'm from Milwaukee and I didn't get Harley /Davidson.  I was thinking along the lines of Henry Ford.  I was proud of my boy Aaron (and he plays in Green  Bay not Milwaukee).  He did pretty well and I think his charity is very worthwhile.  I was happy they got the money.

 

Nobody got Gregory Peck?

[biakbiak]

That was not very nice to torture Aaron with two categories about Bears.

Not really since the DJ Bears category was about Cal alumnae where he went to college.

Edited May 13, 2015 by biakbiak

[Pallida]

I got a bit teary during the Mark Kelly interview. What a wonderful gesture to the hospital.

[dcalley]

At first I couldn't believe twelve drummer's drumming was a TS, but then I realized that I've heard a few variations of that song - people get loosey goosey with 10, 11 and 12! - so maybe the contestants have too?

Aren't people so sick of that song by the time it gets to five that they'll do anything to get away from it? I'm amazed anyone makes it to twelve.

[mojoween]

Not really since the DJ Bears category was about Cal alumnae where he went to college.

Oh woops. I know Aaron went to Cal but it totally escaped me that their mascot is the Bear. I still cannot believe he said IBM for the Wozniak DD and that that was a DD in the first place.

[Totale]

Kevin O'Leary calls himself Mr Wonderful, but it's a joke, because he's such an asshole to the people pitching. 

 

Maybe I can get a job as an asshole.  I'm not sure I could take the pace, though - I'd want weekends off, and whoever this dude is looks like he's at it 24/7.

 

Which makes me even more sheepish that I guessed Wright Brothers, too.

[M. Darcy]

Tonight's contestants are Mo Rooca, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and John Berman.  I'm only 50/50 in my predictions But I'm guessing Mo will win.

 

I wonder if the contestants are not answering so many questions because they are worried about looking stupid.  They just want to be careful and not look like Wolf.

[ABay]

I'm rooting for Wendi. I don't mind Mo and I have no idea who John Berman is, I just really like Wendi.

 

Those were motorcycles? I thought they were cars! So I got hung up on Ford and...some other carmaker not named Ford.