The Jeopardy! All-Star Games

[Browncoat]

I love watching Ken destroy Austin.

[lb60]

Nice to see that some things never change. Austin is still a colossal ass. That's all I got from tonight.

#TeamJulia

[DEL901]

I hated Alex interrupt Ken when he was on a roll.  That can easily cause a loss of momentum 

[M. Darcy]

That was wonderful to watch Austin do horribly. A little weird to see Ken again.  It was great seeing him write his name just like the old days. 

Yep. 15 years. My taping day was a few weeks later - March 10. 

And small world - I’m reading Waverly right now. 

[Kimmmmmm]

I'm fine with Austin and LOVE his parents. Can't stand Roger Craig, though..so can't quite root for his team...unless they were to destroy Julia. I'd be fine with that.

[Driad]

Glad they explained how the fantasy team tournament works.  If they did that earlier, I missed it.  There is one player I might have chosen except that the person has the same first name as the worst boss I ever had.

[secnarf]

I found there was so much talking that I tuned out that I missed most of the game as well 😞

[j5cochran]

So....how's everyone doing in the All-Stars Fantasy League?

I picked Julia, Larissa and David, for no particular reason other than I liked Julia and the other two seemed competent and inoffensive (I'm looking at you, Austin!).

And I'll be darned - after the first match, Larissa is tied for first with Alex Jacob and David is right behind her in third place.  Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than to be good!

[ClareWalks]

I remember starting to dislike Austin by the end of his run, but I'm largely immune to his ass-ery, thank god. I also liked Matt Jackson though, so my taste is questionable. I wasn't a regular Jeopardy viewer during Ken's epic original run so it was quite fun watching him do his thang up there.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, DEL901 said:

I hated Alex interrupt Ken when he was on a roll.  That can easily cause a loss of momentum 

And it did. Ken lost the buzz in on the very next clue after winning the buzz in on every clue before that. I think Trebek did it on purpose, but I suspect Trebek of being a jackass anyway.

32 minutes ago, j5cochran said:

So....how's everyone doing in the All-Stars Fantasy League?

I have Ken, Alex and Matt. I wish I had realized Larissa is such a machine. I missed that, even though I studied the stats. You have a good team, @j5cochran. I'll wave at you from the dock when you go on your dream Lindblad cruise.

[Grundoon59]

I am starting to view Ken as the Richard Blais of Jeopardy.  I liked Blais in his initial run of Top Chef but grew to dislike him more and more in subsequent appearances.  I was rather an admirer of Ken back in the day but his recent tweets have irked me greatly.  For the record Ken - if Jeopardy fans weren't loyal to the core ideas of the show, it would have gone of the air by now.  Change for the sake of change isn't always good.

Conversely Austin irked me to my core during his original run but is growing on me now.  He shows enthusiasm for others doing well and clearly gets some of his eccentricities from his parents.

Overall though the All Star Tournament is leaving me cold so far.  I am not participating in the Fantasy League but wish all who are good fortune and hope someone here wins.

[eimSD]

My station is not playing the team tournament, I’m seeing some regular game!  Bummed...   this is in San Diego CA.  

[Guest]

Just came on to say the same thing. They even had a promo for the all-stars a few minutes ago. Anyone know what’s going on?

[ByaNose]

Still.cant.stand.Austin. So glad he bombed. He went all Cindy Brady and got televisionitis. Too funny! It was nice to see Julia Collings but she looks so different with her weight loss. Although, it’s not like she 100’s of pounds. I still don’t like the format of the tournament with the long introductions and interviews. Just get on with the fricking tournament. Everyone already knows theses contestants. WTF?

[Bastet]

The Animal Talk clues were Teen Tournament level (well, maybe not rabbit ears -- before their time).

No TS in this round.  I did well, too, but, like the contestants, I sometimes needed someone to ring in with the wrong century so I could get it right.

[Enigma X]

My fantasy league is Ken, Alex, and David. 

[Mrs Shibbles]

 Boo hiss.

I wish we could have gotten a full game instead of all of the talking.  I understand the format, just don’t like it.

[Brookside]

54 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

My fantasy league is Ken, Alex, and David. 

You nailed two-thirds of my nightmare league!

[Toothbrush]

I remember Ben, but didn't remember him as winning the ToC. For some reason I thought Julia won. I did like his black & gold tie and in my mind it was a shoutout to the Saints. 

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

The Animal Talk clues were Teen Tournament level (well, maybe not rabbit ears -- before their time).

See also , this president was known as the Great Emancipator. 

[GreekGeek]

10 hours ago, Tabasco Cat said:

I decided to pass on the rest of this "tournament". I love Julia and hope she wins but I'm out until late next week. After his tweet storm last week I now think Ken Jennings is a bit of a dick. All the pre-game chattering I find phenomenally boring. So yeah... not watching. Enjoy the rest of it to those watching, and go Julia!

I don't follow Ken Jennings...what did he say?

I agree about the chatter but I guess they had to fill up the time somehow. As much as they annoy me during regular games, I'd prefer slow readers of long clues.

[Good Queen Jane]

Well, Austin just upped my hate level; he called all those who don't like the All Stars format losers. And I was starting to warm up to him after seeing his "old hippies" parents. No more.

[Katy M]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

The Animal Talk clues were Teen Tournament level (well, maybe not rabbit ears -- before their time).

No TS in this round.  I did well, too, but, like the contestants, I sometimes needed someone to ring in with the wrong century so I could get it right.

I needed an easy round.  I did terrible last night.

[Enigma X]

9 hours ago, Brookside said:

You nailed two-thirds of my nightmare league!

If I used personality or whom I liked most to choose my Fantasy League team, I may as well have not chosen one. Still, I thought I picked Ben and not David. 

[proserpina65]

2 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

Well, Austin just upped my hate level; he called all those who don't like the All Stars format losers. And I was starting to warm up to him after seeing his "old hippies" parents. No more.

I didn't know that was possible, but yep, I hate him more now.  The format of this tournament has basically meant far fewer clues per day, and for those of us who are about the game and not the personalities, that sucks.

I wasn't going to watch if Austin was playing, but I did.  I did have to mute all the non-competition parts.  Glad I watched, just to see Ken and Ben kick his ass.  And I'm not even a fan of Ken.

I never got around to picking a fantasy league team, but if I had, it would've been Brad (because he's just about my all-time favorite player), Alex (because he's always been so fast on the buzzer) and Larissa (because I remember what a machine she was during her run).  So I'd have had 3 of the top 4.  Not bad.

Edited February 26, 2019 by proserpina65

[Enigma X]

Austin tries too hard to be a unicorn while also trying to be the coolest kid in the rooom. He fails at both. 

[peeayebee]

10 hours ago, Bastet said:

The Animal Talk clues were Teen Tournament level (well, maybe not rabbit ears -- before their time).

And yet Ken said goose instead of duck.

2 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

Well, Austin just upped my hate level; he called all those who don't like the All Stars format losers. And I was starting to warm up to him after seeing his "old hippies" parents. No more.

I kinda understand the players getting irritated by people who say the format sucks because I'm sure the whole experience was exciting and fun for the contestants, so it's hard for them to hear that some people aren't enjoying it. However, there's no need to tell those viewers their opinion is stupid and they should just stop watching.

And as far as seeing the contestants discuss their strategy? It isn't interesting at all to me. It's not really enlightening, or maybe I'm just dense.

[mookster]

This tournament is too tedious for me - the boring chitchat, the strategizing, the annoying former contestants who are still annoying. I like Julia and wish her well, but I just can't.

[Ailianna]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

And yet Ken said goose instead of duck.

Actually, he said fish, as in a fish out of water, which is what I think he was thinking of, rather than a duck to water.  His answer wasn't as crazy as it may have seemed, although it was wrong.

I'm actually really enjoying this, beacuse I like to see a little of the conversation and interaction with such good players.  I usually fast forward through all the interviews, so this is a limited time fondness for chit chat.  I also remember a lot of these players from past games, and even the ones I don't warm to are really good players.  I think the complaints about the difficulty of the clues overlook two things.  One is that it still has to be fun for the people at home, without whom the show fails, and many of whom are not able to keep up with really hard clues.  Two, part of the game is buzzer speed, as we are seeing, and we are definitely seeing who is quick with the buzzer in this tournamnet.

I also agree that Alex interupted Ken and threw off his rhythm and that it affected the outcome of the round.  I get the producers want it to be competative, but when you have a powerhouse, sometimes you have to just let them be a powerhouse.

[MrAtoz]

2 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I kinda understand the players getting irritated by people who say the format sucks because I'm sure the whole experience was exciting and fun for the contestants, so it's hard for them to hear that some people aren't enjoying it.

Not to mention that this tournament is sort of a celebration of them as beloved "all-star" players.  I'm sure that's how it was pitched to them.  It's a chance for them to share a bit more about themselves, talk about how winning big on Jeopardy! has affected them, update the audience on what they're doing now, and basically celebrate the fact that they did extremely well at a challenging game show that they love.  I suspect, from their point of view, this particular tournament is less about the game and a little more about them, the players themselves.

So I imagine that it does hurt their feelings a bit that there's been criticism, and that so much of that criticism takes the form of complaints that there's too much time being spent on the contestants and not enough on the game playing.  I suspect that it's easy for the contestants to hear that as "Nobody gives a crap about you and your life."

I admit that I've been a little surprised by the vehemence of some of the criticism--not so much here, but on other social media platforms like Twitter and such.  It's not like this is a permanent change to the format.  It's only two weeks, and only a couple of the games are being split over multiple days.  For the most part, it's the same game as always.  But if you don't like it, it's easily skipped.  Just like I skip the Teen Tournament whenever it comes around. 🙂

To actually comment on the most recent episode, I liked Ken's crack about Buzzy when the clue showed a picture of Harold Lloyd.  One of the most frequent Twitter comments about Buzzy is that he looks like Harold Lloyd, so that was kind of a fun in-joke.

[2727]

18 hours ago, rubaco said:

I love watching Ken play. That is all.

I'm an unabashed fan, but his joke about Alex being the only person allowed to be funny sure landed with a thud.

Quote

I don't follow Ken Jennings...what did he say?

Here are Ken's tweets on the 21st in response to a wave of online complaints, getting progressively more peevish. (They made me laugh.)

• Nobody ever went broke overestimating the Jeopardy audience’s terror about minor change.
• “We’re in Minute 7 and the single Jeopardy round hasn’t even started, WHAT IS HAPPENING” your aunt texts you, hyperventilating
• good news, there will be 200+ more regular format Jeopardy shows this year
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez launch your socialist coup at 7:30 ET while all the Boomers and up are confused by a Jeopardy tournament
• it's just for the first game to fit in 3x the “meet the contestants.” TREBEK WENT OVER THIS PEOPLE

[ClareWalks]

6 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

Well, Austin just upped my hate level; he called all those who don't like the All Stars format losers. And I was starting to warm up to him after seeing his "old hippies" parents. No more.

I don't understand why these contestants feel the need to "clap back" (ugh, that term) at people who express displeasure with the format. If some folks hate it, who cares? Why go straight to calling them "losers" and telling them to "suck it up?" Obviously these folks complaining will either "suck it up" and watch, or not. I just don't get it. I see the same thing a lot as a fan of RuPaul's Drag Race, though, where there'll be some people who hate something and it's all the queens will respond to. Ignore the "haters," folks. God. I just don't get it. Austin and Ken could set a better example by just saying "it's a game show, it's not that serious," but instead they act like they are personally offended that viewers want more clues and less chat during the tournament.

[peeayebee]

2 hours ago, Ailianna said:

Actually, he said fish, as in a fish out of water, which is what I think he was thinking of, rather than a duck to water.  His answer wasn't as crazy as it may have seemed, although it was wrong.

Ah, I thought maybe his brain had hiccuped and substituted goose for duck (as in duck duck goose). Actually, when I first saw canvasback in the clue I was thinking of a sea turtle, though I guess that's leatherback.

1 hour ago, MrAtoz said:

I admit that I've been a little surprised by the vehemence of some of the criticism--not so much here, but on other social media platforms like Twitter and such. 

To actually comment on the most recent episode, I liked Ken's crack about Buzzy when the clue showed a picture of Harold Lloyd.  One of the most frequent Twitter comments about Buzzy is that he looks like Harold Lloyd, so that was kind of a fun in-joke.

I think the vehemence comes from the echo chamber of Twitter. 

I also liked the Harold Lloyd/Buzzy joke. Good one, Ken.

[proserpina65]

41 minutes ago, 2727 said:

I'm an unabashed fan, but his joke about Alex being the only person allowed to be funny sure landed with a thud.

Here are Ken's tweets on the 21st in response to a wave of online complaints, getting progressively more peevish. (They made me laugh.)

• Nobody ever went broke overestimating the Jeopardy audience’s terror about minor change.
• “We’re in Minute 7 and the single Jeopardy round hasn’t even started, WHAT IS HAPPENING” your aunt texts you, hyperventilating
• good news, there will be 200+ more regular format Jeopardy shows this year
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez launch your socialist coup at 7:30 ET while all the Boomers and up are confused by a Jeopardy tournament
• it's just for the first game to fit in 3x the “meet the contestants.” TREBEK WENT OVER THIS PEOPLE

And now I remember why I'm not so fond of Ken Jennings.  I'm sorry, Ken, but if it's minute 7 and the Jeopardy round hasn't even started, I get pissed.  Because I don't care about you and your life; I care about playing the damned game.

Edited to say: I'm sorry if that's too vehement, but all this chit chat and strategy sessions are wasting my time.  Good thing I've got a book I'm reading until the game actually starts.

Edited February 26, 2019 by proserpina65

[Katy M]

14 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Edited to say: I'm sorry if that's too vehement, but all this chit chat and strategy sessions are wasting my time.  Good thing I've got a book I'm reading until the game actually starts.

That's why it's not bothering me that much.  I always have a book and read during the commercials and contestant interviews.  I'm just getting more reading done during this tournament.  So, it's all good.

A couple of his tweets weren't so bad, like the good news 200+ reg games.  And, if it had been the only one the first tweet would have been funny.  But, it's probably not boomers tweeting. Or maybe it is, I don't know.  And, it's never a good idea to insult a show's fan base even if you're only temporarily part of the show. 

But, yes, Ken, most of us tune in to watch a game.  I mean can you imagine if before the Superbowl kickoff this year, they decided to interview each player individually?  I don't mean for the pre-game show. I mean regular time.  Nobody would have been happy with that, I don't think.

[saber5055]

A little Page Six side note: Brad Rutter and Pam Mueller attended the Oscars.

[ClareWalks]

33 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

And now I remember why I'm not so fond of Ken Jennings.  I'm sorry, Ken, but if it's minute 7 and the Jeopardy round hasn't even started, I get pissed.  Because I don't care about you and your life; I care about playing the damned game.

Edited to say: I'm sorry if that's too vehement, but all this chit chat and strategy sessions are wasting my time.  Good thing I've got a book I'm reading until the game actually starts.

I think a lot of online criticism comes across as being more vehement because it's easy to be a bit hyperbolic (especially on Twitter, where there simply aren't enough characters available for nuance). Especially in the name of humor. I know I sure as hell do it 🙂 So I don't think the people who are dissing the format are taking it quite as seriously as it's stated. It just seems that way because that's the nature of Twitter, and online commenting in general.

[saber5055]

17 hours ago, eimSD said:

My station is not playing the team tournament, I’m seeing some regular game!  Bummed

You can find the All Stars tournament on YouTube. I missed part of one day and found it posted before it was even broadcast on the east coast. (It airs here at 4:30 p.m.) Just search Jeopardy, day, month, year.

3 hours ago, Ailianna said:

Actually, he said fish, as in a fish out of water, which is what I think he was thinking of, rather than a duck to water. 

As soon as whoever it was gave the right answer of "duck," Ken's face showed he obviously goofed the thinking on the clue. I got a laugh at his answer though since it reminded me of my favorite "fish without a bicycle" line.

2 hours ago, MrAtoz said:

I admit that I've been a little surprised by the vehemence of some of the criticism

While I'm highly disappointed in it and wonder what makes people so nasty about, basically, nothing important, I just have to remember that old standby: "Haters gonna hate." Nothing we can do to change those people. I wish that energy could be directed at something important like saving the environment instead complaining about one-half hour of television that CAN'T be changed.

My observation in this thread is that this tournament has brought multiple posters here who never comment on regular games. I find that interesting, and attribute it to much interest in the All Stars, regardless of how bitchy some are about the format.

2 hours ago, MrAtoz said:

I liked Ken's crack about Buzzy when the clue showed a picture of Harold Lloyd. 

As did I. I was just glad Ken had enough time (I'm sure he knows answering time down to the split second) to answer correctly.

1 hour ago, 2727 said:

Here are Ken's tweets on the 21st in response to a wave of online complaints

I don't call seven tweets a "tweet storm." YMMV, obviously. I've followed Ken for years, and Alex Jacob. Both have posted very funny tweets during the tournament, including ones from Buzzy after the Harold Lloyd comment. Through Twitter I'm able to enjoy their enjoyment of this tourney, and their camaraderie.

[proserpina65]

20 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

My observation in this thread is that this tournament has brought multiple posters here who never comment on regular games. I find that interesting, and attribute it to much interest in the All Stars, regardless of how bitchy some are about the format.

Why are our legitimate complaints about the format 'bitchy'?

[Ailianna]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

But, yes, Ken, most of us tune in to watch a game.  I mean can you imagine if before the Superbowl kickoff this year, they decided to interview each player individually?  I don't mean for the pre-game show. I mean regular time.  Nobody would have been happy with that, I don't think.

but if the time for the interview was planned and scheduled for, then in my opinion, it's not a big deal.  No one is actually missing anything, since they will air everything.

21 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

My observation in this thread is that this tournament has brought multiple posters here who never comment on regular games. I find that interesting, and attribute it to much interest in the All Stars, regardless of how bitchy some are about the format.

I noticed that too.  And I'm not one who comments a lot (if whatever I have to say has already been said, I usually don't feel any need to repeat it), but I'm in this thread basically every day reading, so I hope no one  who might be in the same boat is too insulted, but it also makes me remember the old caution "consider the source."  I rarely worry about the opinions of strangers, including internet or forum strangers.  And in another week and a half, the tournament and this thread will be done, and all those will most likely disappear into the ether again.

[Driad]

40 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

it reminded me of my favorite "fish without a bicycle" line.

Mine too.  BTW, Ken Jennings has been on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" (NPR news quiz) twice and was quite entertaining.

[proserpina65]

28 minutes ago, Ailianna said:

but if the time for the interview was planned and scheduled for, then in my opinion, it's not a big deal.  No one is actually missing anything, since they will air everything.

My problem with it is that those segments are boring and use up time better spent on the actual games.  There could be more actual games in the time allotted for the tournament: maybe something like a round robin where different teams could play each other, then quarterfinals, semis and the final.  It's something for the producers to consider if they decide to do another tournament like this.  I realize this is only two weeks out of my life, and not that important in the grand scheme of things, but we're all allowed to have opinions about it.

[Moose135]

9 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

Well, Austin just upped my hate level; he called all those who don't like the All Stars format losers.

He was wearing a NY Yankees hat in the video, which was strike 1 for me, and it went down hill from there. I have all the episodes on the DVR, haven't had time to watch yet, but I've been reading along here to see what it's like, and I guess I'll just have to FF through his parts.

[2727]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

My observation in this thread is that this tournament has brought multiple posters here who never comment on regular games. I find that interesting, and attribute it to much interest in the All Stars,

Your supposition is correct for me, at least. I don't normally watch but tuned in because of the tournament aspect and wanting to see how Ken did.

He made a twitter joke about how bad he looks now compared to his first appearance, but I think he's aged very little and it's annoying. That perpetual baby face.

[saber5055]

6 minutes ago, 2727 said:

Your supposition is correct for me, at least. I don't normally watch but tuned in because of the tournament aspect and wanting to see how Ken did. 

I hope some of you guys stick around for the regular season. It's nice hearing from some new faces. Or rather, new avatars.

7 minutes ago, 2727 said:

He made a twitter joke about how bad he looks now compared to his first appearance, but I think he's aged very little and it's annoying.

That tweet made me laugh, mainly because I couldn't tell the difference between the two photos. The comments on that tweet are just as funny, which is why I enjoy following Mr. Jennings.

[saber5055]

19 hours ago, eimSD said:

My station is not playing the team tournament, I’m seeing some regular game!  Bummed...   this is in San Diego CA.  

19 hours ago, CVC said:

Just came on to say the same thing. They even had a promo for the all-stars a few minutes ago. Anyone know what’s going on? 

For @eimSD and @CVC and anyone else in the San Diego market:

[Mystery Author]

Quote

All the pre-game chattering I find phenomenally boring. So yeah... not watching. Enjoy the rest of it to those watching, and go Julia!

Yes, boring. Extremely, very boring. But unless MSNBC has some REAL breaking news, I'll continue watching (along with a good book -- right now I'm reading Lisa Gardner).

I truly hate the all-star format.

And I truly love Austin, who is still bartending because he enjoys it. My kind of guy.

[ClareWalks]

Unpopular opinion: I love Matt Jackson. I'm not sorry about it. The guy doesn't fuck around, he doesn't ring in when he doesn't know the answer. He's smart as hell with a very broad knowledge base. He doesn't try to crack wise or humor Trebek's lame jokes. He's fast and knows his shit. Also, and this is just a personal thing, he seems to show signs of ASD and I like that he's a role model for others who might be atypical (including loved ones I am very close with).

Edited to add: Trebek pronounced forte like "fort" and it really bothered me.

Edited February 27, 2019 by ClareWalks

[Mrs Shibbles]

2 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

Edited to add: Trebek pronounced forte like "fort" and it really bothered me.

Me too, and then I learned  he was right! Apparently forte is only correctly  pronounced for-tay when using it as a musical term.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/1545/is-forte-pronounced-fort-or-for-tay

[SoMuchTV]

Speaking as someone who was very skeptical about Alex Trebek taking over for Art Fleming (he's just not serious enough!) I've now come around enough that I'm okay with them switching things up for a couple of weeks for this newfangled tournament thing.

Still not a fan of Austin though. Give me another 30 or 40 years.

Edited February 27, 2019 by SoMuchTV
Seriously. Give me another 30 or 40 years.

[ClareWalks]

2 minutes ago, Mrs Shibbles said:

Me too, and then I learned  he was right! Apparently forte is only correctly  pronounced for-tay when using it as a musical term.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/1545/is-forte-pronounced-fort-or-for-tay

;-O Today I learned! I always just thought it was an Italian loan word that was always pronounced the Italian way. And we all know how much Alex Trebek likes to (over)pronounce foreign words, heh heh.