All Episodes Discussion: The Daily Double

[ChicagoCita]

I was only paying half attention to the show.  Can someone explain what was snarky about the bulimia question/answer?

[YoureSoUrban]

I totally forgot about Help! and guessed Michelle, although I don't know whether it was a #1 hit.

[Gilmel]

I was so irritated at Alex doing those (terrible) voices for the Hamlet category. They were distracting, and they gave away the gender of the character.

[Tigershark]

I'm glad Molly went for a true daily double in the Hamlet category.  I would have done the same thing.  I love Hamlet, and I've seen Jeopardy enough times to know that they aren't going to get too obscure with clues in a category like that.  I'm surprised that "Goodnight sweet prince" was a TS.  

[CarpeDiem54]

I'm glad Molly won.  She seems to have a lot of knowledge.  I think poor Sarah just has one of those faces that look "smirky" or something, but she was starting to bug me.

 

FJ was a gimme.  It was a $200 clue at best.  Alex's voices he used on the Hamlet category made him sound like a demented fool.  The bulimia question was in really poor taste.

[GreekGeek]

Can someone explain what was snarky about the bulimia question/answer?

 

It was something like, "This disease consists of bingeing and...well, never mind." Sorry, I can't find the exact words. I thought it was a bit flip, but not horrible. (But then, I've never had the disease.) The thinking might have been that people didn't want to hear about vomiting during what may be dinner hour.

 

I was so irritated at Alex doing those (terrible) voices for the Hamlet category. They were distracting, and they gave away the gender of the character.

 

I agree; I don't see why they were necessary. I can't imagine the show doing anything bad enough to make me quit watching (short of making the questions kindergarten-level easy), but gimmicks like this really irk me.

[The Wild Sow]

 

 

I was so irritated at Alex doing those (terrible) voices for the Hamlet category. They were distracting, and they gave away the gender of the character.

 

I agree; I don't see why they were necessary.

 

I think he was supposed to be "Hamming It Up" in keeping with the category!

He succeeded, BTW.

[Gilmel]

Yeah, I thought maybe that's what he was trying to do. But he failed miserably, in my opinion. That wasn't hammy; it was just bad.

 

And since there are only two women in the play, once you do a woman's voice that's Gertrude, the next woman's voice has to be Ophelia.

[sugarbaker design]

Mary Had a Little Lamb a triple stumper!

 

Did anyone else think the wording of the bulimia question was a tad insensitive?

 

 

Nope.

 

And since there are only two women in the play, once you do a woman's voice that's Gertrude, the next woman's voice has to be Ophelia.

 

 

Right, I wasn't even familiar with the line but it had to be Ophelia.

Edited June 6, 2014 by sugarbaker design

[Good Queen Jane]

I thought Alex confused Hamlet with A Streetcar Named Desire since the women's voices sounded Southern and the men's voices sounded like thugs. The accent certainly wasn't Danish or even British. And how could Molly, who was confident enough about the category to bet a true Daily Double, not know Horatio?

Edited June 6, 2014 by Good Queen Jane

[BitterApple]

I think if they had worded the bulimia question in a clinical manner "a disorder characterized by bingeing and purging" it wouldn't have been offensive. But the snarky phrasing followed by Alex's cheeky delivery left a bad taste in my mouth. Chronic illness is so much fun y'all!

[peeayebee]

I think he was supposed to be "Hamming It Up" in keeping with the category!

 

Ohhh. I didn't even think of that. I thought Alex was just messing with us because people complain about his awful impressions and accents.

 

I didn't know Coca-Cola bottle was modeled on the cacoa pod. I learned something.

 

I was surprised that no one knew the second S in The ISS is station, esp after Sarah guessed 'space.'

I guess Edison reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb was before everyone's time, but hey, I knew it. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.

 

Other TSs I got were bulrushes, EST, Mississippi Burning, and Missouri Breaks. FJ was ridiculous.

[Gilmel]

And how could Molly, who was confident enough about the category to bet a true Daily Double, not know Horatio?

Alex's voice was just that distracting.

[sugarbaker design]

And how could Molly, who was confident enough about the category to bet a true Daily Double, not know Horatio?

 

 

She could be like me, waffling between Laertes and Horatio.

[proserpina65]

The bulimia clue didn't strike me as particularly insensitive, but then again, I don't know anyone with an eating disorder; if I did (or had one myself), I'd probably feel differently.  And I found Alex's Hamlet clue voices a bit amusing.  Never occurred to me that the voice he used gave away the gender of the character; guess I was just more focused on reading the clue myself to notice.

 

I can't even remember what the FJ was, so we'll just say "Of course I got it.  It was so easy." and leave it at that.

[mookster]

I'm not sorry to see Sarah go. Someone upthread said she reminded them of an actress: For me, she looked like a brunette Reese Witherspoon, only with a raft of weird expressions. I miss Julia too. Sarah seemed a little too smug when she would go on a roll in what I thought were fairly easy categories. Of course, if I were ever to make it on the show, I'm sure I'd either pull a Cindy Brady or develop some very annoying facial or vocal tics. Still.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I was surprised that no one knew the second S in The ISS is station, esp after Sarah guessed 'space.'

I think what happened is that Sarah confused the second letter in ISS with the second 'S' in ISS.

Edited June 6, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[teebax]

I think what happened is that Sarah confused the second letter in ISS with the second 'S' in ISS.

I'm sure that's what she did because I did the same thing. The answer made no sense, but I misread the clue.

[mjc570]

That was so painful - so many TS that I can't even remember.  I did think that the FJ was hard (perhaps to make up for the Statue of Liberty!), my guess was the first driver's license.

[Trey]

I knew Curtiss had something to do with aviation but my mind was going more towards something like a patent, which I knew had been around for a long time so patent wasn't it.  First pilot's license should have occurred to me.  Lots of TS's but at least the scores were pretty even going into FJ.

 

How hilarious would it have been if Molly had also ended up with $2400? 

 

I misheard Alex's pronunciation of Molly's last name of LaLonde as Malone.  I wondered why he wasn't singing "She wheels her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow..."

[Gimmick Genius]

I thought of #1 Pilot's License, but I wasn't completely confident. But just about 3 weeks ago I drove past the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, NY, so I was pretty sure.

[peeayebee]

I'd never heard of Glenn Curtiss -- Is he known for anything other than having the first pilot's license? Anyway, I guessed driver's license.

[gwlisa]

I'd never heard of Glenn Curtiss either. Then again I grew up in Wright Brothers country and didn't know others would beat them to pilots' licenses!

I LOL'd at the romantic clue when two people guessed wrong about what was obviously love at first sight. Someone guessed magic!

[Rick Kitchen]

I'd never heard of Glenn Curtiss either. Then again I grew up in Wright Brothers country and didn't know others would beat them to pilots' licenses!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Curtiss

[CarpeDiem54]

Alex said at the top of the show that school was out so they had clues for all ages.  Huh?  They should be adult clues for the adult players.  However, it seems they did include some for kids and all of them were TS.  I was screaming at my TV throughout the game.

 

I was clueless on FJ.

[opus]

I thought he just meant the basic "easier clues up top, harder at the bottom" thing.

[possibilities]

That "love at first sight" clue was a direct quote from the Beatles song (I get by with a little help from my friends....) or else I wouldn't have known it, either. The thing about magic is that I'm not sure how many people would say they're sure that it happens all the time. It would have worked for the first half of the clue, but not the second.

 

I am absolutely certain that I have never heard of Glenn Curtiss before.

 

I was under the impression the "I can't talk about how much the book is worth" dodge was because of security reasons, and was disappointed when Alex kept pressing the issue.

[Snow Apple]

If the two ended with the same amount, why do they still have 2nd and 3rd place? Do they go by the money before the bet? Doesn't seem fair.

[peeayebee]

I thought he just meant the basic "easier clues up top, harder at the bottom" thing.

 

Hasn't Alex said in interviews that the value of the clue is not related to the difficulty? I'm not sure I agree, but I'm pretty sure he has said that.

[possibilities]

I guess I thought she did try to get out of it tactfully, but Alex insisted on putting her on the spot about it even after she did so, and she wasn't ready for his rude persistence and didn't really know what else to do to deflect it. I thought wanting to know the market value was a very tacky response to hearing about the oldest book, or any other item of historical or artistic significance. A better reaction would be to remark on how wonderful it must be, or what a privilege, or something like that, not "what would it get on the open market?" Being a contestant on this show shouldn't require you to field etiquette breaches from the host, or if it does, I think you get a pass on not knowing how to overcome them with perfect grace.

[DXD526]

Wow, so many TS. Kind of weird that none of them picked up on that "love at first sight" clue being lifted from the Beatles song. 

 

I thought FJ was crazy difficult. I used the entire 30 seconds, came up with a few possibilities, and couldn't decide which was best. But in any case, I would have gotten it wrong.

 

I've seen ties on the show before, but never a three-way. Would have been interesting to see. 

[opus]

Has happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72zn2KODSsY

[irisheyes]

Julia was on "Up with Steve Kornacki" today as a contestant in their "Up Against the Clock" game show.  (Kornacki grew up on 80's game shows.)  She seemed very intimidated, and you didn't really see her personality come out.  Current events is also not her strong suit.  (Though I think she's mentioned in interviews she went to Europe for awhile.)

[chessiegal]

Julia joked about her Up Against the Clock appearance on Twitter. I think the questions were out of her wheelhouse. She said she had a great time and it was fun, and put up some pictures including one of all 3 contestants that she labeled "before the slaughter". She appears to have a great sense of humor.

Edited June 8, 2014 by chessiegal

[YoureSoUrban]

 

I was under the impression the "I can't talk about how much the book is worth" dodge was because of security reasons, and was disappointed when Alex kept pressing the issue.

 

That interview made me not like the contestant -- she came across kind of snotty, to me and my family. If she really wasn't allowed to discuss the value of the holdings in her place of work (which is a good policy), a polite "I'm not allowed to discuss it" would have put the kibosh on the questions.

 

I felt similarly and I also think that she, not Alex, backed her into that corner. Alex (or she, i can't recall) mentioned that her library had a rare copy of the book, then Alex asked how much the book would be worth. All she had to say was "I'm not sure, but probably quite a lot." but I think she wanted to show off by mentioning the Sotheby's auction. Adding "you can look it up" was snippy, IMO so I'm not surprised Alex went after her for that.

 

Couldn't believe no one got "love at first sight". I read it and immediately heard The Beatles in my head.

[Totale]

I figured she simply didn't remember what the copy Sotheby sold went for, and didn't want to sound stupid by guessing.  (I didn't remember either, but it was a $12 million hammer price + 20% buyer's premium commission for a total of $14.2 million.)  It's an unanswerable question, anyway - only 11 copies are known to exist, and the last one sold on the open market before this one was in the 1940s.  You can't frame a market appraisal, even an off-the-cuff one, for something that gets sold once a century. A more interesting anecdote might be how the namesake and founder of her museum (A.S.W. Rosenbach) swindled their copy out of an English gentleman in the 1930s by insisting the seller name his own price for the book without giving him any indication that Rosenbach knew the real value of what was being offered.  He paid what would be in today's money about $15,000.

[Abstract]

I just now saw Thursday's episode, and between the obnoxious bulimia question, Alex's bizarre voices on the Hamlet questions, and some silly categories, that was a really strange Jeopardy!

[possibilities]

We can of course come to different conclusions about the book price chat (i.e. who if anyone came off badly), but to parse it, I think it helps to be clear on the order of events. I don't have a tape available, but my memory is that it went like this (if anyone has a way to verify, please do):

--We have the oldest book at my workplace

--How much does something like that go for at auction?

--um, let's not talk about that

--No, really, I'd like to know how much it would sell for

--I don't know exactly but you could look it up at Sotheby's

 

Totale, that additional info makes it even more awkward!

 

I think it's hard to come up with interesting things to say for the "Chat with Alex" segment, so I'm always trying to give leeway to the contestants if they come off awkward. I think of Alex as the host, whose job it is to make it go well, so I'm a little harder on him when it doesn't.

[opus]

Well, if this is the one they were talking about, the correct answer is "What is 14.2 million?"

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/oldest-book-u-s-sells-record-14-2m-auction-article-1.1530464

[ottoDbusdriver]

While Molly did really well in DJ to pull out of 3rd place and get the win, I was surprised again by the noticeable numbers of TS and a really easy FJ (though non of the contestants go it right).  All you had to think of was what former British possessions in the Mediterranean are now an independent nation.  Morocco was a bad guess by Molly, Cyprus was at least an island, but Vatican City made no sense at all based on its history.

Edited June 10, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[Fex]

I was surprised that none of them got FJ. I didn't know it, but I guessed right!

 

Stupid Answers is my all time least favourite category. It irritates me every time, but at least Alex didn't pronounce it "stooopid" which he does sometimes.

[peeayebee]

I guessed Egypt for FJ. 

 

I was surprised at all the TSs during the beginning of the game. Everyone looked kind of stoooopid. (Sorry Fex. I just had to do that.)

[Tabasco Cat]

I went with Gibralter in FJ even though I was pretty sure it's not a country in its own right but said out loud during the music, "If I had a second guess it would be Malta". Close but no cigar.

[teebax]

Molly impressed me in that glands category (although I got them all right, too). Other than that, it was a rather unimpressive game with a lot of triple stumpers that were pretty easy.

 

I didn't get FJ. I really need to brush up on my UN countries.

[Sharpie66]

I went with Cyprus, even though I figured I was wrong, but since my first guess was Gibraltrar and I knew that wasn't a country, I couldn't figure out the answer at all.

[Biosynth]

I guessed Malta right away as I was doing a little research about Malta last year.  I was planning my trip to Sicily and debating if we should pop over to Malta and I read that English is one of their official languages.

 

Now if only I can get questions like that on the Jeopardy quiz rather than mostly baseball questions.

[proserpina65]

All you had to think of was what former British possessions in the Mediterranean are now an independent nation.

 

I had no idea that Malta was a former British possession.  I just guessed it at random.  Pure fluke that I got it right.

[Abstract]

Molly was quite impressive on that switch-the-letters category.

[Tigershark]

I got my picture with Alex today.  :-) I've been waiting all damn day for that email, and I finally got it at 5 PDT.

[mojoween]

*Yawn*. Molly just does nothing for me. I know it's been a week and half since Julia but I can't help but compare the contestants to her and they just don't have her charm.

Woohoo I got Sagan. I'm still in awe of the picture of the Siamese cat. Why not just put up the pic? There was no need for a worded clue at all.

Also surprised Molly missed Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Jason came off aggressive to me. He made me nervous.

Is it easy to remember to phrase your answer in the form of a question? I never do that at home and would be so afraid that I would constantly forget if I ever made the show.