I received this question last month from my friend Catbird.
What do you think of the Jeopardy Masters?
At the time I was asked this, I had seen ZERO episodes because I was either preparing to go to France or was there or was recovering from being there.
Honestly, I wasn’t all that excited. Seeing these same six people AGAIN was not that interesting to me. But seeing the relationships that developed among the six, especially between Sam Buttrey and Matt Amodio, was fascinating. When Mattea Roach’s father, Phillip, died at the age of 57 from a brain aneurysm, their tribute to dad was touching.
I do NOT want to see where the DDs are, BTW, and I think this is going away, except maybe on an app.
In general, I like it, but sometimes I start wondering if SONY recognizes J as its one sure thing and is squeezing every last bit of revenue out of it.
I think this may be the case. But JEOPARDY Masters had good ratings for ABC. Moreover, extending the brand made sense with the proliferation of social media with Inside Jeopardy.
I also wonder what the story is with Mayim Bialik: After all that fuss about sexual harassment, did she get the host job, or not?
She and Ken Jennings, to the best of my knowledge, will continue to share the hosting duties.
Why does KJ get all the special (and probably higher-ratings) shows?
MB got the Celebrity JEOPARDY shows that did fine in the ratings.
Does “creepy guy” MR still haunt J culture?
The former executive producer and, briefly, host, Michael Richards, is gone, gone, GONE.
Is she too Jewish? Is it her two X chromosomes?
Maybe, and maybe.
KJ is better
But I contend that Ken Jennings is also better at the job because he’s a student of the show. He prepares like Trebek prepared.
The time for the host to acknowledge the correct answer still takes longer with her. She STILL doesn’t tell the contestant with a low or negative score that they can bet up to the maximum value of the clue on the board, $1000 in the first round, and $2000 in Double JEOPARDY.
And she made an egregious error in the game on May 31. in the category of Presidential Doin’s:
“Had a cold, went out to buy veggies anyway; got pneumonia, died before 31st full day on the job.” She accepted Harrison; it was William Henry Harrison, but it could have been Benjamin Harrison.
But a few minutes later:
“Made Henry Clay Secretary of State; 2 years after the White House, settled into a new House (of Representatives).” To their response of Adams, she correctly requested more information. John Adams was wrong; John Quincy Adams was correct.
One ALWAYS asks which president when it’s Adams, Harrison, Johnson, or Roosevelt. It’s JEOPARDY Hosting 101.
Is KJ being greedy?
IDK what this means.
Sometimes I overthink things.
What’s your take on the current incarnation of J?
They’re bringing back all of the Season 39 winners that didn’t make it to the ToC to have some play-in thing so that someone WILL make it to the ToC. It diminishes the product, IMO.
I will always root against the person who’s been on for more than five days. But I still watch, and ASAP because my newsfeed often tells me info first thing the next morning.
Billy Shakes
Kelly took great umbrage regarding a ruling in the Final JEOPARDY of May 23.
“The names of these two lovers are taken from Latin words meaning ‘blessed.’
“Ben… got the right characters: Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing. But wait! He spelled them Beatrice and Benedict, which was enough for the judges to rule him incorrect. His wager was big enough to drop him into second place, and off the show (until he comes back for the Tournament of Champions, so all isn’t lost for Ben).”
I disagreed with him in the comments. Still, he responded that “Maybe that’s how they’ve always done it, but honestly, as a casual viewer, I still think it’s BS.”
So I asked a list of former JEOPARDY contestants, who are not casual viewers, the question. I mean, I know this like I know that in baseball with two outs the run does not count if the batter is put out at first, EVEN if the runner crosses the plate before the batter makes the out. It just IS.
The responses:
Of course, it was decided correctly.
Absolutely correct. It wasn’t that it was a spelling error…he changed the name.