Jeopardy! Season 36 (2019-2020)

[UYI]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

Oh, Alex, don’t ever change. “There must be some mixup on our introductions “ when there was a male RN and a female carpenter. 

Oh Lord, the casual sexism there made me cringe.

I did love Lynne's answer about why she became a carpenter, though:

"Well...money." XD

[Babalooie]

58 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

l think the “cocktail” threw me off - I was thinking of something alcoholic. 

Yes!  All I could think of was Bloody Mary, and I knew that didn't fit the car part of the clue.

[Babalooie]

11 hours ago, catlover79 said:

In September 1984, I had just started kindergarten!! My baby brother was less than a month old. Time flies!!

My son was six months old when this show premiered, and I used to sit him where he could watch the show (frowned upon now).  His name is Jeffrey and when Johnny announced THIS IS JEOPARDY, it always got his attention, because he thought that they were saying his name.  Today he is 36 and very knowledgeable on trivia. 

Edited July 22, 2020 by Babalooie
Changed wording.

[secnarf]

23 hours ago, Hpmec said:

Did anyone else notice that Alex forgot the name of the contestant who came in 3rd. As he was signing off,he mentioned the woman in the middle by name and then mumbled something about the other man. I was embarrassed for the poor guy.

I noticed that too - he wasn't very smooth about covering it up!

2 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Oh, Alex, don’t ever change. “There must be some mixup on our introductions “ when there was a male RN and a female carpenter. 

I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe. It didn't surprise me at all, though.

Maybe I'm just slow, but can someone explain to me why the answer was 1901 instead of 1900? I clearly remember the whole Y2K thing and Jan 1 2000 was the first day of the new millennium, and although it got much less attention it was also considered the start of a new century as well, so why does that logic not apply to 1900?

[SoMuchTV]

3 minutes ago, secnarf said:

I noticed that too - he wasn't very smooth about covering it up!

I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe. It didn't surprise me at all, though.

Maybe I'm just slow, but can someone explain to me why the answer was 1901 instead of 1900? I clearly remember the whole Y2K thing and Jan 1 2000 was the first day of the new millennium, and although it got much less attention it was also considered the start of a new century as well, so why does that logic not apply to 1900?

There’s no year zero. I’ll leave it to the nerds to elaborate 🙂 Many agreed that 1/1/2000 was not the first day of the 21st century  

 

[Bastet]

12 minutes ago, secnarf said:

I clearly remember the whole Y2K thing and Jan 1 2000 was the first day of the new millennium,

No, it wasn't.  It got celebrated that way, but all those people were a year early; the new millennium actually started the same day as the new century: January 1, 2001.

[suebee1212]

4 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

And the fashion was so awful. 

Bad, yes, but not like watching Match Game! Some of the things that Gene Rayburn wore puts these fashions all to shame!

[kav]

3 hours ago, ams1001 said:

It would be neat if they could get those first three players back for a rematch... (they all looked young enough that they could still be alive, I think...)

I was wondering what any of the 5 players we have seen are up to these days and if any younger relatives of them watched the last two days.  I did say, "What about Patch?" when the question about the dalmatians and dwarfs came up. (102 dalmatian reference)

[opus]

I think the first champ was on a special recently. It may have been that Michael Strahan hosted Jeopardy special.

[catlover79]

20 minutes ago, opus said:

I think the first champ was on a special recently. It may have been that Michael Strahan hosted Jeopardy special.

Right on both counts!! ☺

[catlover79]

10 hours ago, Browncoat said:

We'd watch Love Connection, followed appropriately by Divorce Court, then the news, Wheel, and Jeopardy.  And if it was a Thursday, we'd stick around for Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court. 

Those were the days, indeed!!!!

[lmulsman]

17 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I was tickled to see the stage was originally covered in carpet, so now I know it was in the late '80s when I was in the Jeopardy audience. I googled it, and the carpeting was changed to the shiny black linoleum in 1990. As I've posted here before, Trebek would talk to the audience during commercials and when players were being switched, and I was aghast and highly offended when he told us that the carpet "sucked" and needed to go.

I'd never heard such blasphemy in my life, even with me having been out of college a few years. It really colored my opinion of Mr. Trebek, and still does today, although I've cut him some slack lately. No one (except the stereotypical sailor) spoke words like that in public back then.

My biggest thing about the very first episode is Trebek's voice. It was like a staged announcer voice, very nasally and fake, like people do when they are pretending to be a radio announcer at a party or when joking among friends. I'm glad he got over that.

All those categories still left on the board! Not that anyone on this board would mention that these days. *cough*

I was stunned one player jumped down to choose the highest-value clue. Shades of James! (Sorry for that mention, some of you posters.)

Some of the answers (one?) got a BMS while others that should have gotten a BMS just got a big 'ole WRONG.

It gave me a bit of vertigo when clues were revealed and the camera did a fast pan slide to show the clue up close. Glad that's been fixed.

Trebek's tendency toward rudeness showed early with the Eve Arden was/is snark.

HATED the balloon animal demo. WTH. What a jerk.

Does anyone know that the "wonderful prizes" were for second and third place? Those big ceramic Dalmatian dogs Wheel used to have as prizes came to mind. Or, a year's supply of Rice A Roni, the San Francisco treat?

When my mom was on in 91, we got a Nintendo and a bunch of t shirts.  There may have been other prizes but those are what I remember because I got the most use out of them.

[Driad]

If they did not give prize money to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers (and if they did not reimburse expenses) probably many of the contestants were local.  These days, a contestant will get at least $1000, which could cover flights and hotel if you're frugal. 

[Clanstarling]

12 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

That was a shocking ending! I did get FJ right but it was easier since now we’ve lived through a century change. 

I'm not sure I would have gotten the date right back then.

12 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Another onstage FJ for me today!  I would have gotten it back in the day, too.  Returning champ made a bad wager, though.  He only needed to bet enough to cover if the carpenter doubled her score.  Good to know, too, that Alex's sexist attitude goes way back.

I was surprised he bet it all after the day before.

12 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Was V8 juice so new in the '80s that it was a TS?

It was the word "cocktail" that threw us (and not being big car folk). Smack my head - "Wow, I coulda said V-8!"

As for the introduction, I thought it was a scripted comment. Sexist, sure, and sounds really bad these days (not that it wasn't bad then). It may well have been Alex's contribution, but not an unusual attitude back then.. I had my share of sexist attitudes in the workplace, but oddly very little in the way of sexual harassment. Not sure why, I was tiny and young - a seemingly solid target - but I am told that I can be intimidating despite my size. 😉

Edited July 22, 2020 by Clanstarling

[WI GIRL56]

Thanks to Seinfeld I knew the answer was 1901.  The episode when both Newman and Kramer were booking venues for the new century. One booked Dec 31, 1999 and the other Dec 31, 2000.  Then 1st one realized the new century would start on Jan 1, 2001 so he booked a year to soon. So I knew it was Jan 1, 1901.  I like to watch Alex on Classic Concentration.  He was hosting CC during the day and Jeopardy at night.

[marny]

The ability to ring in before the question has been entirely read was a HUGE mistake by the show that I'm glad was ultimately corrected. It led to the show being about who can be first on the buzzer instead of who can actually answer the question. These dummies lost so much money by ringing in fast and not knowing the answers, and it made the game so much more boring and killed the rhythm of the game. Also, I'm glad we can no longer hear when a contestant rings in-- that constant ding during the clues was really irritating. 

There was also an incident on last night's show where the returning champion answered a question without ringing in. His podium wasn't lit up and he wasn't called on. He just said the answer when Alex finished reading and he got the credit for it.

[saber5055]

15 hours ago, secnarf said:

Maybe I'm just slow, but can someone explain to me why the answer was 1901 instead of 1900? I clearly remember the whole Y2K thing and Jan 1 2000 was the first day of the new millennium, and although it got much less attention it was also considered the start of a new century as well, so why does that logic not apply to 1900?

There were so many arguments about this in 2000 that I looked it up. If the players had written CE after their answers, they would have been correct.

"If you use the Gregorian Calendar and start the first millennium with the year 1 AD then the third millennium began with the year 2001 AD. But if you use the Common Era Calendar, in which years are numbered -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ..., and you begin the first millennium with the year 0 CE then the third millennium began with the year 2000 CE. You have a choice. And if you opt for the Common Era Calendar you no longer have to put up with the smug assertion that "there was no year zero (so the new millennium began in 2001)". There was no year zero when Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian Calendar in the 16th Century but there certainly is one now (and in the future), and the new millennium in the Common Era Calendar began in 2000 CE."

LOL at the comments about horrible '80s wardrobe. If any of you were alive then, you were either wearing the same thing or dating someone who was, plus you had one of those '80s hairdos. In another 40-50 years, people are going to look back at today and laugh at what you are wearing and what you look like right now, reading this.

A personal "thank you" from me to @SoMuchTV.

ETA: I remember the first champ being interviewed during that Strahan special. I didn't give him much thought then, but now that I think he's sort of jerky, I'd like to see that present-day interview again.

Edited July 22, 2020 by saber5055

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

LOL at the comments about horrible '80s wardrobe. If any of you were alive then, you were either wearing the same thing or dating someone who was, plus you had one of those '80s hairdos. In another 40-50 years, people are going to look back at today and laugh at what you are wearing and what you look like right now, reading this.

I know, right? I recognized both blouses from Monday and Tuesday. I didn't own one like them, but I'm sure I'll see something I wore back then.

[saber5055]

13 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I know, right? I recognized both blouses from Monday and Tuesday. I didn't own one like them, but I'm sure I'll see something I wore back then.

I've never been a trend or style setter so in the '80s I was still wearing my '70s clothes. I remember a guy at work being a hottie (in his mind) with his blue velvet hip hugger bell bottom pants. Meanwhile, I was sewing edging (in paisley colors!) to the hems of my own bell bottoms, to make them longer because they were suppose to drag the ground, especially if you were wearing (Pee Wee Herman) platform shoes.

Yes, I would have had to go shopping to upgrade to a 1980s wardrobe if I had to walk across that Jeopardy stage to the podium!

[basiltherat]

I had to laugh -- on the first episode, motor mouth Alex sounded like Art Fern! (old folks reference)

[Browncoat]

Linda looked so happy to be there (not) -- beginning with just walking out on stage.  I didn't notice if her outfit was a dress or a blouse and skirt/pants, but it looked like a GunneSax top with the ruffled collar.

I don't think I ever would have come up with Delaware for FJ.

[ams1001]

24 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Linda looked so happy to be there (not) -- beginning with just walking out on stage.  I didn't notice if her outfit was a dress or a blouse and skirt/pants, but it looked like a GunneSax top with the ruffled collar.

I don't think I ever would have come up with Delaware for FJ.

I think it was a dress. They camera angle moved slightly to the side at the end and it looked like the bottom was the same pattern. The one in the middle looked like she was wearing a private school uniform. (She seemed to be wearing a skirt suit.)

I did know FJ! (Here's an article that explains why Delaware.)

[saber5055]

3 hours ago, basiltherat said:

I had to laugh -- on the first episode, motor mouth Alex sounded like Art Fern! (old folks reference)

Exactly! It was so noticeable, which made it even funnier.

At least the show got some money to upgrade the set a little for season 2.

So what was the Amazing Forest Bounce that we were all suppose to be so gobsmacked by? Even Trebek warned us we would be stunned and shocked by such bold play. Was it that when it was his turn he went to category A when other players were choosing category B? More shocking was in yesterday's first game ever, the player jumping down to the bottom of the board for the $1000 clue when there were clues worth less not chosen yet. But no one noticed that?

Shout out to @lb60!

I swear I heard Trebek call Chuck by the wrong name.

At least more of the board got cleared this time, no thanks to Trebek's constant chattering after every answer. He went into a full discourse after one of the "12-Letter Words" answers.

I figured Chuck would know FJ since he went to Yale. Not that that makes him smarter, it just puts him closer to the location than the two players from California.

(Waves to @ams1001)

[ams1001]

4 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

At least more of the board got cleared this time, no thanks to Trebek's constant chattering after every answer. He went into a full discourse after one of the "12-Letter Words" answers.

It always drives me crazy when he says "less than a minute" and then proceeds to make extraneous comments between clues. He might not talk quite as much but he still does that.

4 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

(Waves to @ams1001)

[Driad]

The Forrest Bounce

 

[Snow Apple]

The second season seems calmer and the contestants are given more time to answer. The audience stopped gasping for the wrong answers (at least the didn't notice any). 

[Quickbeam]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

Linda looked so happy to be there (not) -- beginning with just walking out on stage.  I didn't notice if her outfit was a dress or a blouse and skirt/pants, but it looked like a GunneSax top with the ruffled collar.

I don't think I ever would have come up with Delaware for FJ.

I went to the University of Delaware. They drummed this into us! Go Blue Hens! 

[ams1001]

4 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

I went to the University of Delaware. They drummed this into us! Go Blue Hens! 

My cousin's son just graduated from UD, with an accounting degree. I bet he would have gotten that one!

[Maverick]

44 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

I figured Chuck would know FJ since he went to Yale. Not that that makes him smarter, it just puts him closer to the location than the two players from California.

 I attributed this to his being a law student.  He likely took corporate law classes, where it would have been mentioned that Delaware has set itself up as a corporate friendly state to generate revenue.  

 Glad to see the gasping and clapping and other input from the peanut gallery is gone.   It's Jeopardy not Hee Haw.  Kudos to the set upgrades in season 2.  Now the show doesn't look like something cobbled together with set leftovers from The Brady Bunch and Automan in the local VFW hall.

 The 50s was a topic again, 'what are cells' was a question again and there was at least one other thing that was a repeat from the shows we saw on Monday and Tuesday.   

[opus]

Did I miss something here? Why didn’t middle woman play for the tie and instead save a $1? Yeah, she got it wrong, but if she got it right Chuck was allowing her to return as (co) champ with him leaving after 5 wins if she bet it all.

[saber5055]

11 minutes ago, opus said:

Did I miss something here? Why didn’t middle woman play for the tie and instead save a $1? Yeah, she got it wrong, but if she got it right Chuck was allowing her to return as (co) champ with him leaving after 5 wins if she bet it all.

If I were Chuck I would have bet $1 just to keep it from not being a tie. Neither he nor the middle woman bet wisely.

Thanks @Driad for the Forrest Bounce link. That's what I thought it was, but that he would bounce around the board a la James, jumping all over with no pattern. As it was, he just went to the top of a category that suited him better. Like if you are playing the Bible category and I ring in first and answer correctly, I'm NOT staying there, I'm going to category Westminster Best In Show Dogs. It's stupid to stay in a category that isn't your wheelhouse, regardless of how Trebek feels about it.

I found "The Forrest Bounce" to be very underwhelming. And disappointing.

[M. Darcy]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

I swear I heard Trebek call Chuck by the wrong name.

I heard it too - he called him Clark.

I knew FJ thanks to VP Biden being in the public eye for so long. . It’s one of those things people talk about when talking about Delaware. 

[Cotypubby]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

If I were Chuck I would have bet $1 just to keep it from not being a tie. Neither he nor the middle woman bet wisely.

This was still when both players who tied won. If he bet $0 he was guaranteed to win no matter what happened. If he bet $1, he could have lost. He bet exactly correctly. 
 

The woman should have bet everything. By leaving $1 on the table she guaranteed that she could not win. 

I thought it was pretty funny that Alex forgot to actual give the correct FJ answer until the audience member shouted out!

I found it amusing how many answers were repeated in yesterday’s and today’s show. “Doubting Thomas,” “Grand Ole Opry,” “cells.”

Edited July 23, 2020 by Cotypubby

[Trey]

10 hours ago, Maverick said:

The 50s was a topic again, 'what are cells' was a question again and there was at least one other thing that was a repeat from the shows we saw on Monday and Tuesday. 

I noticed the Grand Ole Opry and Doubting Thomas repeats too.

I said New Jersey for FJ - at least I was close geographically🙂 Now I'll go read the Why Delaware article.

[Clanstarling]

16 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I've never been a trend or style setter so in the '80s I was still wearing my '70s clothes. I remember a guy at work being a hottie (in his mind) with his blue velvet hip hugger bell bottom pants. Meanwhile, I was sewing edging (in paisley colors!) to the hems of my own bell bottoms, to make them longer because they were suppose to drag the ground, especially if you were wearing (Pee Wee Herman) platform shoes.

I'm so short that I would have had to sew hems onto capri pants. The bells of my bell bottoms were just a slight flare at the hem, once they were cut to fit me. I never wore platforms because I thought it would look silly on someone as short as me. Plus, I treasure the health of my ankles. LOL.

I got Delaware after, for some reason, thinking Illinois. 

 

[One Imaginary Girl]

14 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Linda looked so happy to be there (not) -- beginning with just walking out on stage.  I didn't notice if her outfit was a dress or a blouse and skirt/pants, but it looked like a GunneSax top with the ruffled collar.

I think that, between the hairstyle and the dress, she was going for a Princess Diana look.

[Snow Apple]

12 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

This was still when both players who tied won. If he bet $0 he was guaranteed to win no matter what happened. If he bet $1, he could have lost. He bet exactly correctly. 

What happens when there's a tie nowadays? 

[Katy M]

19 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

What happens when there's a tie nowadays? 

There's a tiebreaker question.  It's usually pretty easy, so it's just a matter of who can buzz in first.

[PaulaO]

Wednesday was Chuck F.'s 5th game, but I did not notice any Forrest Bounce.  Was that in subsequent tournaments?  I had to laugh at the female contestant who stumped Johnny Carson with "Big Blue Frog."  I sing that all the time to my cat. "He's got glasses and he's six foot three."

Edited July 23, 2020 by PaulaO

[PaulaO]

2 minutes ago, PaulaO said:

  I had to laugh at the female contestant who stumped Johnny Carson with "Big Blue Frog."  I sing that all the time to my cat. "He's got glasses and he's six foot three."  The questions seemed so easy all those years ago.  Are we smarter, or is there just more stuff to know?

 

[Trey]

1 hour ago, PaulaO said:

The questions seemed so easy all those years ago.  Are we smarter, or is there just more stuff to know?

We are smarter but there is more stuff to know now too. I don't keep up with pop culture so I miss out on questions about newer music and movies et cetera, and there is so much more happening in the world today that Jeopardy! expects us to know. So I don't do as well now, in general, as I used to do.

[illdoc]

What I noticed is that as a 5-day champ, Chuck left with his winnings. Later, didn't "5-time must leave" champs also leave with a car?

[Katy M]

1 minute ago, illdoc said:

What I noticed is that as a 5-day champ, Chuck left with his winnings. Later, didn't "5-time must leave" champs also leave with a car?

I have no recollection of that.  I think on Family Feud 5 time winners got a car.

[proserpina65]

It's ironic that, after Alex's voiceover talked about the Forrest Bounce, we saw an episode where Chuck didn't use it.  (Edited to note that he did use it, but not as much as in some of his other games.)  Still very entertaining to watch, and Chuck was (and still is) such a cutie.

Edited July 23, 2020 by proserpina65

[proserpina65]

22 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Linda looked so happy to be there (not) -- beginning with just walking out on stage.  I didn't notice if her outfit was a dress or a blouse and skirt/pants, but it looked like a GunneSax top with the ruffled collar.

I don't think I ever would have come up with Delaware for FJ.

I live in Maryland, right in the corner between Pennsylvania and Delaware, and worked in Delaware for years.  I could've given you that answer in my sleep.  Delaware has very lenient banking and corporate tax laws, so corporations and banks love it.

22 hours ago, saber5055 said:

o what was the Amazing Forest Bounce that we were all suppose to be so gobsmacked by? Even Trebek warned us we would be stunned and shocked by such bold play. Was it that when it was his turn he went to category A when other players were choosing category B? More shocking was in yesterday's first game ever, the player jumping down to the bottom of the board for the $1000 clue when there were clues worth less not chosen yet. But no one noticed that?

Shout out to @lb60!

I swear I heard Trebek call Chuck by the wrong name.

It was a huge change from what other players were doing at the time, and rather annoying to the clue writers behind the scenes.

 

[ams1001]

Seeason 5 - Alex has calmed down a lot...

[dgpolo]

1 minute ago, ams1001 said:

Seeason 5 - Alex has calmed down a lot...

Yes, slower delivery and voice a bit less...frenetic? He looked like he had a bit of a limp walking out. I don't remember them only being able to win $75,000, when did that go away?

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, illdoc said:

What I noticed is that as a 5-day champ, Chuck left with his winnings. Later, didn't "5-time must leave" champs also leave with a car?

I think they gave away cars to the tournament winners.

[PaulaO]

Frank S. will always be my favorite Jeptestent.

[Snow Apple]

Needing to give away any winnings over $75k was weird. Nice for charities but weird. Does anybody know the reason?

Frank's mustache was awesome.