Jeopardy! Season 36 (2019-2020)

[Bastet]

Add me to the list of those saddened by the Rhoda TS.  (To be fair, I didn't know Chuck [which I've never even heard of] or Felicity, while they did, but come on -- Rhoda is a classic character!)

Rachmaninoff surprised me a bit, since "Rach" was in the clue.  And light heavyweight, given the category specified oxymoron.  Medfly and liquid propane gas are two others I'd have thought at least one would know.  But no big flops tonight, again.  Good games lately.

FJ was an instaget, even though I've never read it, so it was a good FJ week for me - I knew all of them, and quickly.

 

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I remember the Mediterranean Fruit Fly from the 50s.  There was a massive spraying program going on and it had gotten to a certain point southward in Florida. Our family was on a road trip, coming up from Miami with a giant basket of peaches. They stopped us and made us either eat or throw out the peaches, since they couldn't be assured they weren't carrying larva.  We ate as many as we could before letting them destroy the rest. Nobody wanted dinner that evening.

I remember them from the early 80s in the SF Bay area. I'll never forget the helicopters flying low, over our houses, in formation, and spraying our neighborhood. My brother, a Vietnam vet, had some PTSD reactions to it. Not a pleasant time.

FJ was an instaget, for once. 

[GreekGeek]

This was my first look at Eric. He certainly reminds others of a lot of people. My first thought was Pete Campbell from Mad Men. I didn't see anything to dislike, though.

[peeayebee]

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I remember the Mediterranean Fruit Fly from the 50s.  There was a massive spraying program going on and it had gotten to a certain point southward in Florida. Our family was on a road trip, coming up from Miami with a giant basket of peaches. They stopped us and made us either eat or throw out the peaches, since they couldn't be assured they weren't carrying larva.  We ate as many as we could before letting them destroy the rest. Nobody wanted dinner that evening.

I think it was the 70's in Southern California, but I may be wrong. In any case, I remember the helicopters doing their spraying.

I got Rhoda, liquid propane gas, medfly, Rachmaninoff, and Dvorak. I don't know how I got Dvorak. One of those bits that stick in your brain without being aware of it.

The Heart of Darkness was too easy.

Besides Jon Cryer and Colin Hanks, Eric also reminds me of Frank Whaley.

 

[chessiegal]

43 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

The Heart of Darkness was too easy.

Never heard of the book or the author. But then, I was a chemistry major. My husband, the English major, got it right away.

[Sharpie66]

My godfather has a collection of first editions of his two favorite authors—Tolkien and Conrad. If I missed FJ today, I think he would felt a chill up his spine. (Getting his permission to flip through his British 1st edition of The Hobbit just before they moved to TX had me drooling!! I went right to the Riddles in the Dark chapter to read the original version.)

I watched the last two eps in a row, so I can’t remember which one had the American Indian museum, but if you are in DC, go see it! It’s a great museum and even has one of the best Smithsonian restaurants with a big selection of different tribes’ cuisines. 

[ABay]

I got liquid propane gas because Hank Hill on King of the Hill sold propane and propane accessories.

I was in the chorus of "light heavyweight, you idiots!".

Chuck was good fun for the first couple of seasons but had one of the worst series finales ever.

[Prevailing Wind]

6 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

I watched the last two eps in a row, so I can’t remember which one had the American Indian museum, but if you are in DC, go see it! It’s a great museum and even has one of the best Smithsonian restaurants with a big selection of different tribes’ cuisines. 

I thought it was a very interesting layout for a museum, too. It's not linear. The rooms go off in different directions at odd angles and you're never really sure you've seen everything because of all the tangents. Fascinating.

[Mindthinkr]

I couldn’t come up with Rhoda, but was saying Valerie Harper which I knew was wrong. I got the fruit fly, as I also remember it being inthe news years ago. I don’t remember any spraying for them, just mosquitoes. Wasn’t too good of a night because that’s all I got. 

[saber5055]

I remember when, if you were driving out of California, you would be stopped and searched for fruit that was not allowed to go any further with you on your trip.

Liquid propane was a no brainer since that's what I use to heat my house. I was surprised a few weeks ago when the dogs were raising all kind of heck in the back yard. I went out to see where the squirrel was or what the horses were doing to make the dogs go crazy, and was surprised by the LP man, who said "Hi" from maybe 15 feet away from me ... and me only partly dressed. Disclaimer: I live where I can go outside sans clothes and never be seen. Unless the gas delivery guy is there.

It was not one of my finer moments.

My brain was stuck on African Queen for FJ, which irritated me no end since I did an in-depth report on Heart of Darkness in college, I loved that book. But the brain does what it wants to do. Mine does anyway.

[Ailianna]

On 12/20/2019 at 2:29 AM, solarfire said:

 That Native category was beyond sad. Hard to watch.

It was one of those times when J! reflects my life.  I was dealing with a guy from Butan all week (the stamp), and reading this article about the lack of investigation of crimes against Native Alaskan women.  It's definitely worth a read.

[Tabasco Cat]

Eric reminds me of quircky Steve Buscemi. Love the guy and hope he sticks around for a while. Unfortunately I think he's extremely beatable so we'll see how many games he can win. All it takes is the right opponent. I'm putting a statue of Kirby on my lawn next year in tribute to her finally getting Jenny Pigeon off my TV screen every night. Watching her win again and again was like watching Jeopardy in a Wax Museum. Not since Coma Kerry was a contestant so blah and uninteresting.

[Clanstarling]

4 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Liquid propane was a no brainer since that's what I use to heat my house. I was surprised a few weeks ago when the dogs were raising all kind of heck in the back yard. I went out to see where the squirrel was or what the horses were doing to make the dogs go crazy, and was surprised by the LP man, who said "Hi" from maybe 15 feet away from me ... and me only partly dressed. Disclaimer: I live where I can go outside sans clothes and never be seen. Unless the gas delivery guy is there.

It was not one of my finer moments.

Ah, but you gave the guy a fine story to tell. 😉

[Gimmick Genius]

Frank Whaley and Steve Buscemi? Yeah, I can see that. My first impression of Eric was a classic ventriloquist's dummy! Medfly was an insta-get -- especially if you watch 1980s Johnny Carson reruns like I do...

[saber5055]

Does anyone know what this means? Trebek mimicked it when he came on stage. I have a guess, but it's not very nice.

Has anyone noticed a marked absence of GFYs? Maybe Alex Jacobs' GFY YouTube video had an impact.

Edited December 22, 2019 by saber5055

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Does anyone know what this means? Trebek mimicked it when he came on stage. I have a guess, but it's not very nice.

Has anyone noticed a marked absence of GFYs? Maybe Alex Jacobs' GFY YouTube video had an impact.

It's a sign for the Wildcats - his college team (?) At least that's what the Mister says. It is very close, but not quite, the not very nice signal you're thinking of.

[saber5055]

43 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

It's a sign for the Wildcats - his college team (?) At least that's what the Mister says. It is very close, but not quite, the not very nice signal you're thinking of.

Oh, thanks. I looked it up and he didn't do it correctly, it's suppose to resemble a W and C.

Eric's looks more like a ... *ahem* ... "measurement."

[saber5055]

Did Peggah's occupation get explained on Thursday? Penguinologist! @Browncoat? @opus?

[opus]

44 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Did Peggah's occupation get explained on Thursday? Penguinologist! @Browncoat? @opus?

Don’t think so.

But maybe someone else here was paying closer attention? 

[Pallida]

Even though it sounds fake, penguinologists study penguins!

[Browncoat]

8 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Did Peggah's occupation get explained on Thursday? Penguinologist! @Browncoat? @opus?

That was what Alex asked her about, I think.  I remember her naming off several varieties, and IIRC, she said her favorite is the fairy penguin.

[saber5055]

6 hours ago, Browncoat said:

That was what Alex asked her about, I think.  I remember her naming off several varieties, and IIRC, she said her favorite is the fairy penguin.

Thank you! I couldn't imagine Trebek letting that opportunity get away from him. It's not easy to find penguins to study in Chicago, so Good For Her.

[illdoc]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

It's not easy to find penguins to study in Chicago, so Good For Her.

Assuming she's actually working in Chicago (and not just "from Chicago"), she might work at/with either of the two zoos or the aquarium (all of whom have penguins).

[saber5055]

56 minutes ago, illdoc said:

she might work at/with either of the two zoos or the aquarium (all of whom have penguins).

Pretty much all zoos have penguins. However, a zoo enclosure is not a "real" environment so penguins wouldn't be responding the same as they would IRL, just like a tiger in a zoo would not respond the same as one in the wild. Just sayin'. Of course, YMMV. I would have thought she might have mentioned she travels to far-off regions to do her penguinology thing.

Or perhaps "penguinologist" is like the "chicken enthusiast" and "free spirit" occupations seen on The Bachelor/-ette: Another word for "unemployed."

[Katy M]

I feel like I haven't watched in forever.  It doesn't come on Fridays during football season.  I went out Thursday and it was preempted Wednesday.  A whole week.

OK, I got FJ wrong.  I said Lewis Carroll.

The TSs I got were volleyball, nobody (trick question indeed), Adonis, Thebes and Colossus of Rhodes.

 

[annzeepark914]

Oh nooooo... another nice champ bit the dust.  Takes the fun out of my getting FJ. Eric made the same mistake as I in that DD (we both said St Lawrence). 😞

[lb60]

I'd like to thank Robin for just standing there like a normal human being during the introductions. Also, for getting rid of that annoying little gnat, Eric. No offense to actual gnats.

I got Colossus of Rhodes tonight.

FJ was an instaget because I adore Roald Dahl.

[Driad]

Good for you, lb60. I got several TSs etc. I interpreted the  FJ clue as meaning the author lived to be 100. Oops. Also I have not read any of Dahl's children's books, and "scrumdiddlyumptious" sounded like Flanders on the Simpsons to me.

[GreekGeek]

Good match, but a lot of TS's. I got My Brilliant Friend, J.D. Salinger, Adonis, Thebes (thought that was a tough question for $200), 1000 points of light, Colossus of Rhodes, behemoth, geese, and FJ. I never read any of Dahl's kids' books, but I did think of the movie (with Gene Wilder, not Johnny Depp).

[Browncoat]

I didn’t get to watch tonight, but I checked the archive, and FJ was an instaget.  I’ve never read the book, but the movie’s one of my all-time faves.

[Katy M]

54 minutes ago, GreekGeek said:

Good match, but a lot of TS's. I got My Brilliant Friend, J.D. Salinger, Adonis, Thebes (thought that was a tough question for $200), 1000 points of light, Colossus of Rhodes, behemoth, geese, and FJ. I never read any of Dahl's kids' books, but I did think of the movie (with Gene Wilder, not Johnny Depp).

Things are clearly (pun possibly intended) darker in my world because I said 50 points of light.  LOL.

[lb60]

16 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Things are clearly (pun possibly intended) darker in my world because I said 50 points of light.  LOL.

I said a million!!!

Now, that's a lot of light.

[peeayebee]

Scrumdiddilyumptuous (or whatever) erroneously took me to Mary Poppins, but I knew the author was female, so that was out. Then I thought of Walt Disney, but a) he wasn't known as a writer, and b) he wasn't British. Randomly, I went with Tolkien. Willy Wonka and Dahl didn't occur to me.

I got Salinger, Adonis, a thousand points of light, and Colossus of Rhodes. For the question about who hosted the 2019 Oscars, I thought, "I don't think anyone hosted," but figured I was misremembering. I would never have buzzed in with "Who is nobody."

I'm not sad to see Eric depart.

[Brookside]

On 12/20/2019 at 6:00 PM, Prevailing Wind said:

I remember the Mediterranean Fruit Fly from the 50s.  There was a massive spraying program going on and it had gotten to a certain point southward in Florida. Our family was on a road trip, coming up from Miami with a giant basket of peaches. They stopped us and made us either eat or throw out the peaches, since they couldn't be assured they weren't carrying larva.  We ate as many as we could before letting them destroy the rest. Nobody wanted dinner that evening.

Our family has a similar story involving Canada and the US.  In our case the border agents took pity on us after a while and let us sneak the rest of the fruit in!

Two out of three missing Roald Dahl made me sad.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Brookside
"Took" pity not "had" pity. And yes, English is my first language.

[Prevailing Wind]

Well, I thought of Dairy Queen for FJ, knew that wasn't right - they're scrumpdillyicious.  Got to Dahl half a second later.  I thought I'd have problems tonight - I've had a flood in my unit and now have 12 ServPro fans & 2 dehumidifiers blasting. (It was 15 fans; they took away 3 today). It's like living in a wind tunnel. So I'm having to "enjoy" all my TV via closed captioning.

I do like the Wilder Wonka, but the Depp version is way closer to the book (until the end when they do that reconciliation with Dad thing.)  Good Morning, Starshine. The earth says, "Hello!"

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah!! (Mmmmm...latkes! Almost as good as Xmas cookies!)

[annzeepark914]

35 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah!! (Mmmmm...latkes! Almost as good as Xmas cookies!)

I bought a box of latkes at Trader Joe's the other day. They are so good when they're golden & crispy.

[Brookside]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah!! (Mmmmm...latkes! Almost as good as Xmas cookies!)

 

Give me fresh homemade latkes any day over cookies!  Serve with sour cream and decent (ie, not jarred) salsa, and they're to die for!

Happy holidays to everyone too, however or "if-ever" you celebrate.

[Bastet]

I was watching football tonight, so read the archive, and won't be home at J! time the rest of the week, so I'll probably fall further behind than I want to read to catch up on, but for tonight:

I don't watch the Oscars, but I got the "nobody" TS because the lack of a host got so much media attention before and after.  (But in that same category, I could have sat here until I died and not come up with the head of Marvel, so the contestants were ahead of me there.)  I can't decide if it going unanswered surprised me, though, because it's an atypical clue, so the recent attention is somewhat outweighed.

Volleyball as a TS did surprise mea bit, given the category.  Same with intellectually in that category.  Behemoth was a bit surprising, too.  It has been a while since there was a "Really?  No one?" TS, though, which is nice.

I had no clue on FJ, but the show loves Dahl, so maybe I should have put together nonsense word = children's lit author (+male, since woman was not specified) = Roald Dahl.

[Grundoon59]

I knew it was the Niagara river since it is one of my favorite rivers and I have done way too many border crossings over it but I did feel sorry for the champ because he was clearly having such a good time and his wrong answer really seemed to throw him off track.  Also he got the William and Mary answer. (BTW if you had asked me to list 100 possible answers for Jeopardy for which "what is W & M" was the question, none of them would have involved basketball.)

Always like it when the only one to get FJ wins - besides she's a Michigander.

Happy Holidays to all!

[opus]

A video Valerie Bertinelli clue made a pretty lousy day somewhat better.

[Sharpie66]

I didn’t have a good tv-watching angle today (with Dad at the hospital—he had a small stroke on Sunday), so I thought Valerie was Rachel Ray. Oops! 

I got FJ, but it took a few seconds of me concentrating on the birth year instead of the word and blanking on a guess, then finally looking at the word and remembering the movie with Gene Wilder.

[Browncoat]

I probably should specify the Gene Wilder movie, but I dislike the Johnny Depp one so much that I actually forgot about it!

[Prevailing Wind]

6 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

I didn’t have a good tv-watching angle today (with Dad at the hospital—he had a small stroke on Sunday),

Oh, dear. Best of luck & speedy healing to Dad.

[Clanstarling]

21 hours ago, lb60 said:

I'd like to thank Robin for just standing there like a normal human being during the introductions. Also, for getting rid of that annoying little gnat, Eric. No offense to actual gnats.

For once, we're on the same page. 😉 Though my distaste was only mild, and he probably just reminded me of someone in past who've I've forgotten everything about except the dislike.

18 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Scrumdiddilyumptuous (or whatever) erroneously took me to Mary Poppins, but I knew the author was female, so that was out. Then I thought of Walt Disney, but a) he wasn't known as a writer, and b) he wasn't British. Randomly, I went with Tolkien. Willy Wonka and Dahl didn't occur to me.

Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious, and Scrumdiddlyumptous seem to be in the same category, and since I "heard" music, I went first to Mary Poppins, and then dropped it because the clue said "his". I ended up with Milne, who I knew was wrong. I never remember Dahl. Not even because of the movie. Now if they'd said "umpalumpalas," I might have gotten there.

18 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I thought I'd have problems tonight - I've had a flood in my unit and now have 12 ServPro fans & 2 dehumidifiers blasting. (It was 15 fans; they took away 3 today). It's like living in a wind tunnel. So I'm having to "enjoy" all my TV via closed captioning.

Ugh. We only had a few with our flood, and I couldn't stand the noise then. Good luck with the drying!

16 hours ago, Bastet said:

I don't watch the Oscars, but I got the "nobody" TS because the lack of a host got so much media attention before and after.  (But in that same category, I could have sat here until I died and not come up with the head of Marvel, so the contestants were ahead of me there.)  I can't decide if it going unanswered surprised me, though, because it's an atypical clue, so the recent attention is somewhat outweighed.

Volleyball as a TS did surprise mea bit, given the category.  Same with intellectually in that category. 

I do watch the Oscars, and only remembered it because I thought that it went very well without a host and thought they should probably keep that up, even though I've enjoyed several of the previous hosts.

I got volleyball, but not intellectually. I was somewhat challenged last night. LOL.

16 hours ago, Grundoon59 said:

I knew it was the Niagara river since it is one of my favorite rivers and I have done way too many border crossings over it but I did feel sorry for the champ because he was clearly having such a good time and his wrong answer really seemed to throw him off track.  Also he got the William and Mary answer. (BTW if you had asked me to list 100 possible answers for Jeopardy for which "what is W & M" was the question, none of them would have involved basketball.)

I got Niagara because of the falls (never been there) whereas my mister didn't (and he has). I actually ran the river category, and I'm crap at geography. (wasn't even sure there was an actual river called Niagara...)

Wishing all of you comfort and joy during this season of celebration. We're having our Christmas today, due to scheduling problems.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Clanstarling

[ABay]

I got Niagara. Surprise! Is one of the writers from Western New York/Southern Ontario? There are a lot of questions that relate to the area.

Fun fact: The Sir Adam Beck hydro plant on the Canadian side caused the great eastern seaboard blackout of 1965.

[Trey]

For FJ I said Lewis Carroll.  I didn't really think it was right but Roald Dahl never occurred to me.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to everyone!

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

14 hours ago, lb60 said:

I'd like to thank Robin for just standing there like a normal human being during the introductions. Also, for getting rid of that annoying little gnat, Eric. No offense to actual gnats.

For once, we're on the same page. 😉 Though my distaste was only mild, and he probably just reminded me of someone in past who've I've forgotten everything about except the dislike.

Could it be, I don't know ... something about BARTENDERS?

Since the category was British Authors, I knew the answer had to be a man. Still, I'm glad to have company on my trek through Mary Poppins, then Milne. Dahl is popular on this show, he just doesn't exist in my world.

10 hours ago, opus said:

A video Valerie Bertinelli clue made a pretty lousy day somewhat better.

[Clanstarling]

8 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Could it be, I don't know ... something about BARTENDERS?

Nope. I like the previous bartending champion. 😄

[peeayebee]

11 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

I didn’t have a good tv-watching angle today (with Dad at the hospital—he had a small stroke on Sunday)...

I hope he recovers soon. Our next-door neighbor had a small stroke a couple of days ago. (I can't remember which day.) Wouldn't it be weird if your dad is my neighbor?

Edited December 24, 2019 by peeayebee

[The Wild Sow]

On 12/21/2019 at 10:31 PM, Gimmick Genius said:

Frank Whaley and Steve Buscemi? Yeah, I can see that. My first impression of Eric was a classic ventriloquist's dummy! Medfly was an insta-get -- especially if you watch 1980s Johnny Carson reruns like I do...

Oh, he reminded me of a sort of twitchy Martin Freeman!