The Jeopardy! All-Star Games

[peeayebee]

I'm a little bothered by the format, plus too much talking. Still, I liked when Buzzy said, "They hate me 'cause they ain't me."

I'm not really keeping track of who's on what team and when each person plays. I can't say I remember everybody, but I like Julia, Ken, and Alex. Maybe others, but I just want good play. The actual play went so fast I didn't have time to think.

[Abstract]

1 minute ago, Bastet said:

The team splits it.  (That's only fair, but confirmed by Alex telling Brad he doesn't need $333,000 to visit Australia.)

And I predicted Brad’s comeback in the split second before he said it. He is like a sitcom character.

[biakbiak]

Way too much filler. I ffwd through nearly all of it.

[Tabasco Cat]

4 hours ago, BuckeyeLou said:

Sooo...what did everyone think of the format?  There was so much board jumping that I was getting dizzy & I am still not sure how the game works 🙂 It was fun seeing familiar faces & I liked Colby's emotional response to how he helped his Mother with the money he won.  

I don't like it. Not enough clues and answers. Baroque tournament matchups/rounds/ brackets whatever they are. Rooting for Julia.

[Etta Place]

Personally, I didn’t get the way teams advance when Alex ran through it... but I don’t care that much. I’m along for the ride, it doesn’t matter if I understand that or not. 

I love all of them, except maybe Colby and Roger Craig. I guess I’m just easy to please. 

I was frustrated by not seeing much gameplay in this episode but these are jeopardy celebrities so I think it’s okay to let them do more talking, especially in these first games with each group of teams. 

[Enigma X]

Yeah. The way it is set up does not bug me but Buzzy still does.

[shksabelle]

Too much fluff, and WAY too many commercials 

[Toothbrush]

This format is interesting as a one-off, but I can do without all of the extraneous stuff. I just want to see some of the greatest players of the game do their thing.

Alex Jacob seemed a bit off of his game. Colby's story was really sweet. 2 GFY 🍹🍹

Only TS I got was Greek peak week.

When Johnny announced that Colby is the only Teachers' Tournament & ToC champion, I said "until @teebax"

9 hours ago, Trey said:

I am not against anyone so mostly I hope they all do a good job and give us some great games.

I can do without Austin, but agree with this. 

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

Does Colby always swallow the question so it doesn’t sound like he’s doing it right?  Also this is my first real exposure to Brad and I have to say I am not a fan.  Part of it is that I’m salty that Alex was not leading but Brad is too extra.

Yes Colby swallows his words, and yes Brad is extra. But have you met Austin? 

[bybrandy]

I was in for this tournament because even with the few contestants that I don't like I like watching smart people compete against other smart people.  So I was in for this.  But this first two episodes and the first two episodes next week?  Um, I am here to watch people who are good at jeopardy play other people who are good at jeopardy.  I need more than partial rounds.

[Trey]

Too much talk! But I can put up with it for two weeks and probably (I hope) there will be less talking for the rest of it.

My only ts was Greek peak week.

I thought the  team captain should take the FJ spot where the burden would be the greatest, both in getting the answer right and in wagering.  But then again, these are all topnotch players so it probably doesn't matter who takes FJ.

Edited February 21, 2019 by Trey

[Katy M]

How are they going to get through this tournament in two weeks if they only play half a game a day? Or are they going to drag it out into 4? Or, will they just play the second half of the first game tonight, and then cut the talking and play normally the rest of time? Enquiring minds like mind want to know.

7 hours ago, Toothbrush said:

Yes Colby swallows his words, and yes Brad is extra. But have you met Austin? 

I think Austin is only one of two contestants on Jeopardy that I have actively disliked.  Some may have irked me a little, and maybe it wouldn't have been so noticeable if he'd only won a couple of games, but, man, he's just soooo annoying.

[ABay]

None of the contestants really bother me. The only time I actively root against anyone is if they're a shouter or have a particularly grating voice. However, there was entirely too much pre-game chatter, even beyond what was necessary to explain--or not--the rules of the tournament.

[Katy M]

14 minutes ago, ABay said:

None of the contestants really bother me. The only time I actively root against anyone is if they're a shouter or have a particularly grating voice. However, there was entirely too much pre-game chatter, even beyond what was necessary to explain--or not--the rules of the tournament.

That's why I'm hoping the chatter will only be yesterday and today.  It wouldn't have been fair to explain the rules, have that come out of the game time and then there wouldn't have been time to finish the game and the players in this game would have had a disadvantage when it came to wild card positions.  So, hoping, hoping, hoping that they don't do this every day.  But, I still can't see how they would because, while I wasn't really paying attention, it looks like they still want to play 10 games and Alex said "two weeks."  So, two weeks plus one day. Yes? Please?  Not four weeks.

I just realized that normal tournament play would take 15 contestants and they don't have 15 teams.  Now I wish I had paid attention.  How many teams are there?

Edited February 21, 2019 by Katy M

[MrAtoz]

37 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I just realized that normal tournament play would take 15 contestants and they don't have 15 teams.  Now I wish I had paid attention.  How many teams are there?

There are a total of six teams.  The first match-up is Buzzy/Colby/Brad, leaving the second match-up to be Ken/Austin/Julia.

Each match-up plays two games.  So once teams Buzzy/Colby/Brad finish their first game today, they will play a second game on Friday.  According to the schedule, game two will be played all in one day.  The two games are a total point thing, just like the final round of most tournaments, so whichever team has the most money at the end of the two games advances to the finals.

After that, teams Ken/Austin/Julia will play two games.  Same deal, team with the most total money advances to the finals.  Just like the first match-up, the first game will be spread over two days.  Don't ask me how they'll fill the time.  Probably more interviews. 

Then there is the wildcard matchup.  That's the three highest scoring non-winning teams.  So basically, the lowest scoring of all the teams drops out at this point.  The wildcard match-up also plays two games, and the winning team goes to the finals.

And finally, the finals will be the three winning teams.  Again, two games, total points.

So there will be a total of 8 games, spread over 10 days.

Whew.

[Katy M]

4 minutes ago, MrAtoz said:

There are a total of six teams.  The first match-up is Buzzy/Colby/Brad, leaving the second match-up to be Ken/Austin/Julia.

Each match-up plays two games.  So once teams Buzzy/Colby/Brad finish their first game today, they will play a second game on Friday.  According to the schedule, game two will be played all in one day.  The two games are a total point thing, just like the final round of most tournaments, so whichever team has the most money at the end of the two games advances to the finals.

After that, teams Ken/Austin/Julia will play two games.  Same deal, team with the most total money advances to the finals.  Just like the first match-up, the first game will be spread over two days.  Don't ask me how they'll fill the time.  Probably more interviews. 

Then there is the wildcard matchup.  That's the three highest scoring non-winning teams.  So basically, the lowest scoring of all the teams drops out at this point.  The wildcard match-up also plays two games, and the winning team goes to the finals.

And finally, the finals will be the three winning teams.  Again, two games, total points.

So there will be a total of 8 games, spread over 10 days.

Whew.

Thank you for paying attention for me:)  I already feel bad for the lowest scoring team.  That's rough being the only team not to make it to the next round.

[peeayebee]

9 hours ago, Toothbrush said:

When Johnny announced that Colby is the only Teachers' Tournament & ToC champion, I said "until @teebax"

🙏 (whether that's a high-five or praying hands, both apply)

All these months I wasn't paying attention to who was going to be in this tournament, but isn't Arthur Chu in it? I thought he was one of the high scorers.

[chessiegal]

24 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

🙏 (whether that's a high-five or praying hands, both apply)

All these months I wasn't paying attention to who was going to be in this tournament, but isn't Arthur Chu in it? I thought he was one of the high scorers.

Thank goodness Arthur isn't in it. I couldn't watch if he was.

[Katy M]

1 minute ago, chessiegal said:

Thank goodness Arthur isn't in it. I couldn't watch if he was.

He's the only other contestant besides Austin Rogers, in the whole history of Jeopardy, that I can't stand.  actually, he's the only one I can't stand.  Austin Rogers I just find to be very annoying.  Arhtur Chu actively irritated me to no end and I cheered when he finally lost.

[saber5055]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

How are they going to get through this tournament in two weeks if they only play half a game a day?

Go back in this thread and look at the posted picture of how each game will be played. It's a toddler-level graphic, folks, everyone should be able to understand it! Plus the "too much talk" complaint is for the first intro of each team. There are regular people who watch this show for entertainment and have never heard of Brad or Colby or, heaven forbid, Ken Jennings.

I appreciated how fast the players called categories yesterday. Alex was all about getting the clue ASAP. He's one of my favorite players ever.

As for the captains s/b the FJ player, you want the people rated the fastest for buzz ins to play the board, and if that person is the captain, that person needs to play the board. Players are also rated on how many FJs they've gotten correct in previous play. THOSE are the team members chosen to play FJ and not the board. It's called strategy, guys.

BTW, Alex Jacobs has been rated the highest-ranked player not a team captain. All of these stats are online if one cares enough to read them and not complain because they haven't read them.

Edited February 21, 2019 by saber5055
Never us a preposition to end a sentence with.

[PaulaO]

As much as I like Austin, I have replaced him on my Dream Team.  My Dream Team now consists of Alex Jacobs, Buzzy, and Alan.

[saber5055]

Here are answers to what some here have been posting about:

Here's an interview with Buzzy and Austin. No spoilers, it's just about their prep for the tournament. However, Austin qualifies himself for a stint on The Bachelorette with his misuse of pronouns: "Me and Buzzy walked out of ..."

Here is an E!Online interview with Brad. It's a video so I did not get to watch it due to my pokey DSL connection.

[proserpina65]

The format seems really odd and cumbersome, and I hated that the explanations and interview stuff took up so much time at the beginning.  I was hoping that Buzzy and Austin would be in the same match so that I could skip it, but at least it was minimal last night.  Not looking forward to Buzzy tonight, but it's Brad's team and I adore Brad, so I'll be there.

Edited to note that I also said Adonis.  D'oh!

Edited February 21, 2019 by proserpina65

[Kimmmmmm]

Feel bad for Julia's team, but i really want her to lose. Can't stand Brad or his teammates, and i can't root for Austin because of my intense dislike for Roger Craig. I'm ok with anyone else winning,  with a decided preference for Ken or Buzzy.

[proserpina65]

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Thank goodness Arthur isn't in it. I couldn't watch if he was.

Yeah, it's bad enough that I have to watch Buzzy and Austin again.  (Surprisingly Colby isn't bothering me as much as he did before - maybe it's because he got all choked up about helping out his mother.)  If Arthur was in this, even my love for Brad couldn't make me watch.

[saber5055]

This happened on Bachelor Pad, the winner kept it all and did not share with his show partner. Result: The show was cancelled, and Bachelor in Paradise was invented. That was NOT a good exchange.

Here's something for all the posters here who are hating on and throwing shade on some of the All Star players. It's not just your Twitter account they are reading. *Waving "Hi" to all contestants!*

Edited February 21, 2019 by saber5055

[M. Darcy]

Has anyone figured out why Arthur Chu wasn't included?  Maybe Seth just knocked him out of contention. 

[Katy M]

Just now, M. Darcy said:

Has anyone figured out why Arthur Chu wasn't included?  Maybe Seth just knocked him out of contention. 

Maybe he didn't want to participate, or maybe the producers know that he isn't well-liked by the audience.

33 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

This happened on Bachelor Pad, the winner kept it all and did not share with his show partner. Result: The show was cancelled, and Bachelor in Paradise was invented. That was NOT a good exchange.

Jeopardy is a straight up game show. Not some drama producing reality show.  I think the money will be split up equally.  Or maybe the team captain gets half and the other two get a quarter.

[M. Darcy]

Quote

Just now, Katy M said:

Or maybe the producers know that he isn't well-liked by the audience.

Then Buzzy or Austin wouldn't have been included either 🙂  

[Katy M]

1 minute ago, M. Darcy said:

Then Buzzy or Austin wouldn't have been included either 🙂  

I feel like Arthur Chu is almost universally disliked.  While Buzzy and Austin have their fans. 

I also kind of got the vibe that Alex himself wasn't all that crazy about him.

[M. Darcy]

Just now, Katy M said:

I feel like Arthur Chu is almost universally disliked.  While Buzzy and Austin have their fans. 

I also kind of got the vibe that Alex himself wasn't all that crazy about him.

I do actually know people who did like him. Heh, and I'm sure I wouldn't be happy if he was included.   It just seems weird.  But then this entire tournament does.  

[saber5055]

According to what I've seen posted on Reddit by players who got the info directly from Jeopardy PAs while they were taping their episodes, Chu did not respond when contacted by the show about appearing on All Stars. No word from Chu as to why, just speculation on the part of, well, everyone who likes to speculate.

[M. Darcy]

Ha!  People were not happy on Twitter last night.  Us Jeopardy folks do not like change :- USA Today Article

[peeayebee]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

All of these stats are online if one cares enough to read them and not complain because they haven't read them.

Nah, I'm good. 😄

I didn't care for Arthur Chu when he was on, but I changed my mind about him after reading articles and tweets he had written. 

[saber5055]

LOL! Thanks for that link, @M. DARCY. So many people can't roll with the punches. Like we're all suppose to still drive a horse and buggy to work. Get with the program, people!

I agree with this:

@SvanteMyrick advised other fans to look at the big picture: "Jeopardy is holding an All-star tournament. If you're not excited about this, then I don't even want to know ya."

Boldface is mine. I totes agree.

[M. Darcy]

Just now, saber5055 said:

So many people can't roll with the punches. Like we're all suppose to still drive a horse and buggy to work. Get with the program, people!

Oh, I was one of them.  ITS 7:39 - WHY HASN'T THE GAME STARTED YET.  What is this madness???!!!

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, peeayebee said:

I didn't care for Arthur Chu when he was on, but I changed my mind about him after reading articles and tweets he had written. 

I was one of the few people he didn't bug when he was on (I vaguely remember there being one thing I found annoying), and I also enjoyed some articles he wrote, particularly about the racism and sexism in "nerd culture."

[proserpina65]

45 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

LOL! Thanks for that link, @M. DARCY. So many people can't roll with the punches. Like we're all suppose to still drive a horse and buggy to work. Get with the program, people!

I agree with this:

@SvanteMyrick advised other fans to look at the big picture: "Jeopardy is holding an All-star tournament. If you're not excited about this, then I don't even want to know ya."

Boldface is mine. I totes agree.

We're all allowed to like or not like this format if we want.  Personally, I find it irritating that we had barely started the game at quarter after.  I don't watch for the contestants, I watch for the clues, and taking that long to get to the clues pissed me off. 

And no, I'm not excited about All-Star Jeopardy.  Again, I care about the game, not the players.

[proserpina65]

42 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I was one of the few people he didn't bug when he was on (I vaguely remember there being one thing I found annoying), and I also enjoyed some articles he wrote, particularly about the racism and sexism in "nerd culture."

I actually disliked him more after reading his articles.

[saber5055]

[SoMuchTV]

I guess I know whose lawns I need to stay off of for a while. But seriously, I do appreciate everyone who's shared their research, their inside information, and more.

[ClareWalks]

It's very cool that the teams get to consult about the FJ wager and base it not only on strategy but on how much the individual player knows about the category.

[Browncoat]

I do kind of like the strategizing between rounds, but I'm still not sold on this format.

And could that pianist speak any more slowly?  Oprah is a speed talker by comparison!

For FJ today, I came up with one of the countries, and could picture the other in my head (thanks, Amazing Race!), but could not for the life of me remember the name of it. 

It doesn't hurt my feelings that Team Colby ended up with zero.

[SuperCam1]

Wow!!!! Larissa Killed it!!!! Go Girl!!!

[PaulaO]

I wouldn’t have gotten FJ! if my life depended on it.

[saber5055]

I feel like I should get an asterisk for knowing the TS propofol. (How I know that is none of your business.) Brad's team is rocking it, he was wise to pick two players who write quiz questions for a living. I felt sorry for Colby and his team. I hope they do better in the next round. It's not over yet. But yeah, Larissa was ON FIRE with that buzzer and her answers.

FJ = Wow, two out of three super brainiacs didn't get it. Burn.

Edited February 22, 2019 by saber5055

[clubsauce]

Buzzy has somehow evolved into a ventriloquist dummy.

[ClareWalks]

I came up with Somalia for FJ immediately and couldn't for the life of me think of Senegal. I actually took a college course all about Africa 15 years ago and memorized all the countries, but several have changed since then and I haven't bothered to keep up. My brain erased all the info.

46 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

And could that pianist speak any more slowly?

I was dying over here! The only saving grace was that, with this format, there was plenty of time.

[SHD]

I can’t believe it. Geography is one of my worst subjects and I somehow pulled the correct FJ answers out of thin air just in time.

So far I haven’t noticed the all-star questions being noticeably harder than regular Jeopardy.

[Tabasco Cat]

I don't actively dislike any of the contestants (Arthur Chu would be a different story). Nevertheless tonight was painful to watch. I almost changed the channel during the piano guy's 2nd clue. He spoke, he played the piano, he read some more, he played the piano some more... all for an instantaneous "Romeo & Juliet".

I will be recording the rest of this spectacle so I can FF over the non-game fluff. I applaud the producers for trying something different. I really do! But this is awful. Fail.

Let's get some of our best champions to play an All Star tournament! Then she's reduced to "Hi Grandma!" and Pam didn't even read the clue correctly. FWIW I didn't either since I said Somalia and Sierra Leone.

[chessiegal]

I didn't make note of them, but I thought some of the DJ were really easy.