Jeopardy! - Part 18

Last Monday I was staying with my mom. We turned on the TV, and when she realized it was going to be that newfangled, souped-up Tournament of Champions that they thought was so clever, she snapped off the set announcing, "Fuck that shit!"

Watching this "tournament" again is a real chore. It was a terrible idea. I am sure there will be another mega tournament one day since you know the show will find a way to bring back James to play against Brad and/or Ken.

But scratch the teams.

Can't wait.

Watching the All Star tournament against my better judgment. It was painful to see Alex lose it for Team Buzzy by betting everything on DD and losing.

I guessed Jericho for final. Jason seems not to have a wife or kids.

I loved that British lady tonight. Such a lovely accent.

She was, indeed, a class act. Surprised she didn't come up with Ferry Across the Mersey?

Loved that she mainitained her accent for marketing purposes!

Thought FJ was hard! So did the contestants.

He's like me only won't last as long

R8 I thought Final was obvious, as did the two contestants who did well.

I laughed at the horrified look on Jason's face when Alex compared him to James.

How does a pancreatic cancer patient look and act so well? I would want to check out and enjoy what’s left of life. But I guess they have made some amazing improvements in chemo and treatments.

Alex's petit four shade at Jason was hilarious.

FJ was beyond simple.

Well, the poet sure didn't think so!

Frank seemed a lil bit gay to me.

What happened to the last Jeopardy thread--the one we were in the middle of when the show went away for the summer vacation? I did a search, and it seems to have disappeared off the planet.

It's right here, R14.

Here I thought Jeff had a sort of Tom-the-bartender vibe. Interesting about Jason's gf.

I'm totally in love with Jason. You look into his eyes and you KNOW he throws a mean fuck. Too bad he's straight. I would so do him.

Jack was a yummy drink of water.

I think Jack should get a second chance.

Would Jason's wins be attracting more attention if James' reign had not been so recent?

Jack looked like a lesbian to me. I bet more on Jason's getting pegged than throwing fucks.

I notice Alex is sitting down now. How long has he been doing that?

R22, he's been sitting on a stool for several years now.

Alex has been sitting since he had a knee replacement 3 or 4 years ago. When he first returned after surgery, for a few episodes he didn’t even walk out at the beginning of the show, but was already seated behind the podium.

Good FJ today. I got it! But they misspelled Nobel.

This show is no fun when one person dominates.

Also, the math teacher is boring as hell.

I was hoping that Rodrigo or the lady would win, but neither of them could keep up.

BOO.

Had no idea of final myself. Wasn't too impressed by the dorky Canadian I'm afraid. Playing Trivial Pursuit by himself as a seven-year-old, eh? Kinda sad

I was going to post about the misspelling of Nobel in FJ, but r25 beat me to it.

And say what you will, but I still think that champ Jason is the hottest Jeopardy contestant since Tom the Bartender.

Jason has no discernible personality. He’s following a watered-down version of Holzhauer’s strategy.

Tonight, not even 2nd and 3rd places were at stake. Why bother with FJ?

R28, Not getting it. Jason doesn't register on my hotness meter.

There now seems to be one pathetic loser each show, the latest being Rodrigo.

Alex Trebek announced Tuesday he’s undergoing chemotherapy again after a setback.

The “Jeopardy!” host said in an interview with ‘Good Morning America’ that he lost a large amount of weight, and his numbers sky rocketed after finishing his first round of treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Bad news...

Noble Prize was a classic.......

So sad at R31/R32.

Not to be crass, but the show might need to start looking for a replacement host, sooner rather than later.

Oh no, he’s going back to doing chemo. And he seems so healthy now (at least when taped these episodes) . Yeah they should be realistically looking now. I have a feeling Alex might be advised by his doctors to temporarily stop working this time.

Agreed that they need to get someone lined up as a short-notice (interim) host now.

As for Jason, he looked pretty hot in that gigolo-esque shirt I thought. I don't think he's a boring player, and unlike James, he misses once in a while, as well as not ringing in until after the others have either passed on the clue, or flubbed it.

I hope the current champ gets his ass beat today.

Time for him to GO.

I agree with the above poster, if James hadn't had such a strong run so recently, the press would be making a huge deal out of Jason winning 10+ episodes.

I'm ready for Jason to go. Can't someone knock him out?

He should've gone today. The other 2 contestants bet stupidly. Esp the the distant 3rd placer. Uggh.

I suspect the producers have someone in mind to step in on short notice - the only question is who. I still think Ken Jennings would be a good choice - if not permanently, at least as an interim host until the inevitable happens to Alex.

[quote]Tonight, not even 2nd and 3rd places were at stake. Why bother with FJ?

FJ is primarily for Jason - to see how much he wants to risk in order to get even more money.

Jon Stewart would be a great Jeopardy host.

I hated the bow tie guy.

I'm sure Jeopardy has a interim host ready to step in with only a few hour's notice. They've likely had one in place since Alex made his announcement in March.

But it would be tacky and disrespectful to publicly announce that person while Alex is able to still function as host. When the time is right and an interim host is needed, they'll go public and announce they're had such a plan in place since March.

Did anybody think it was weird that Alex was trying to get Jason to say he makes less than $35,000 a year?

I'm surprised you guys can't see how Jason rocks those shirts? I would have been okay had the big lady won, but I was put off by the dork wearing a vest and a bow tie, which to me is a bit like a belt and suspenders.

Completely pathetic that they did not realize that the Marseillaise dates from the French Revolution in 1789, as well as not realizing that Saint Jean Baptiste day is from Quebec.

Looks like he's wearing a hairpiece from the chemo.

R48, He now wears a full wig, and he has revealed that he lost his eyebrows and eyelashes.

Helen was a very pretty lady.

I was kind of hoping that she would win.

Can't imagine living a long life to only be hit with this battle.

Im tired of seeing Jason wins. He’s just meh. I can’t really pull for him.

For some reason I quite like Jason, although he's pretty ordinary. He has very nice eyes and has a sweet personality. Can't believe they didn't get "O Canada" last night. La Marseillaise is just too obvious, plus Alex being from Canada and questions about Canada is a known Jeopardy trope. James would have had that one for sure.

La Marseillaise was written during the revolution, as noted above. I certainly like Jason better than Holshauer. Last night shows that Jason is at least vulnerable.

Sorry for all of you wishing Jason would just go away. Hope the cute gay guy was some consolation at least! Didn't get final myself, but figured most people would.

Mister Cocoa, even you would have to admit that tonight's shirt made your beloved Jason look 20 pounds heavier.

FJ was another snap.

I wasn't paying attention but I did like the shiny ones he was wearing earlier. I think he's to the point where he wouldn't actually throw the game himself deliberately, but would be relieved if someone else won instead.

I don't mind Jason either. He's not the most exciting personality in the world, but he doesn't come across like an arrogant robot like the other guy so I can tolerate him. I do wish his challengers would make the games more competitive though.

Nobody on Jeopardy would be relieved to lose. What a stupid comment.

Unlike cool-as-a-cucumber James, Jason seems incredibly rattled and gives off the impression of feeling an awful lot of pressure.

I was so hoping gay Jon would beat boring Jason. Jon had a nice start, while Jason fumbled in the first round. Alas Jason rebounded. So, we're stuck with him for another episode.

Back in the spring, I couldn't understand why people were rooting so hard for James Holzhauer to lose. Now I have a much better understanding of what the feeling was about. Am so ready for Jason to be off my screen!

Exactly, r58.

My summer gig at last comes to an end this weekend and I can start watching again. I did see Monday's show.......

Come on, Monday!!!!

Jason wins again!

This is the first time that I was actually rooting for Jason.

That indian chick was a complete moron, and I would have been pissed if the other guy was in range of Jason, and they had to bet against each other, leaving her to somehow win.

Thankfully, Jason got the right answer. So did i!

Adam struck me as a guy who throws a mean fuck, probably has a mouth like a sewer in bed. Miss Nilla was, as they say, a 'moran' (sic). Final seemed obvious to me. At least this time, one of the contestants had heard of Hull House before.

I thought the answer was Tinker Toys. 😊

The date (1984) was the key to FJ.

Um, R68 . . .

Invented in 1974 as a model to teach 3-D problems, it became one of the bestselling toys of all time.

I considered the Rubik's Cube for FJ, but didn't realize it was invented so early, so ruled it out.

Rubik's Cube didn't get on the mainstream radar (or my radar) until 1980 when they started mass marketing it. Then, suddenly it was EVERYWHERE.

What is “Whatever.”

I was rooting for the cute cop who saved baby ducklings.

I thought FJ is easy. 3D is a giveaway clue.

WHat is with John's stupid fucking tie? He deserves to lose just for that.

Jason is soooo good. He's a brilliant wager. I thought he would lose tonight since it wasn't a runaway , but as usual, he pulled through.

I was more struck that it didn't go with a black shirt, R74. Kinda tired of Jason's "lucky" tie myself.

I want to fuck Jason SO badly...

Five minutes of his ass...that's all I'm asking. Just five minutes. Please, God...

Ew.

R77, You won't have much competition.

Trey was an embarrassment. How the hell does someone that inept get on the air?

FJ was easy for me, but I'm a theatre geek.

R80, ditto to everything you wrote.

Jason is tough as nails. So smooth and genuine. Not full of airs like Holshauer.

Does anyone else notice that Alex seems to be having more fun, and cutting loose a bit?

Jason: your tie is supposed to go to your belt buckle, not your belly button. Lady was insufferable dropping all those Paris landmarks!

Adding this tune in honor of tonight's final...

Did I ever tell you about my magical night wandering all over Paris? I speak French, you know.

Trey got all dressed up for nothing... FJ was easy for anyone who sort of knows theatre.

Alex is trying, but I don't know how much longer he can last.

Jason - will he make half a million.....French speaking girl was insufferable......

You had to sort of know theater and sort of know art.

I’ve read that Jason passed the online test but failed to get on the show - 5 times! Is it like that GG Jeopardy episode where Dorothy got rejected because she’s not likable? I could see that happening with him.

R87, There were three major Broadway shows that opened in 1964, Hello, Dolly!, Funny Girl and Fiddler on the Roof.

Only one of those three even made sense for FJ.

What, other than the reference to Chagall, distinguishes the correct answer?

R90, The year 1964.

I hate Alex being ill. I wish we could live forever. I cannot even imagine who could fill his Jeopardy shoes.

iAN (sic) was almost as obnoxious with his shucking-and-jiving as yesterday's lady with her French.

Got Final right away.

Happy that Jason won again.

I didn't want those two losers to knock him out yet.

The online English teacher gave some inane responses.

But, none as inane as the contestant last week who responded "Boss Hogg" instead of "Boss Tweed".

iAN lost bIG tIME.

I wanted Ian to lose the second he appeared doing that loser dance move thing. Love that Alex threw some shade his way.

When I saw him danced, for a while I thought it’s the teen or college tournament already. I forgave him when he somewhat made it almost a competitive match.

Ted was cute. I would have been happy if he won.

But it was a good game overall, even if the other two seemed to lose steam against Jason in the second round.

Jason has made more than $500,000. Only two other Jeopardy contestants have ever earned that much in regular play -- Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer.

Yet, here on DL, we seem unimpressed by Jason's winning streak. Some of us are even rooting for Jason to hurry up and lose.

Why isn't DL behind Jason and cheering his victories? Is this because it's happening too close to James' winning streak? Or because Jason comes across as bland and boring?

That dude in the middle today was hot as hell!! 😍😍

Very tough final. I thought Vesuvius as well. It was significant because I was there in 2018. I was too old to climb it.

[quote] it was a good game overall, even if the other two seemed to lose steam against Jason in the second round

I don't think they lost steam. It was because Jason found both Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy round.

If one of the other guys had found even one of them, I don't think that the game would have been a runaway.

Jason bet 4000 and 5000, which won him 18,000 in just the Double Jeopardy round. That's why he reached 30,000.

[quote] Why isn't DL behind Jason and cheering his victories? Is this because it's happening too close to James' winning streak?

Yes. it's too soon after James' historic run.

However, James was also a more exciting player. He bet large, and won big. Jason is much more "safe" in his betting.

My local station runs an hour of Jeopardy, with re-runs in the first half hour, and the current show in the second half hour. It just so happens that James' shows are running right before Jason's shows, and you can really see the difference in the wins.

After 19 days, Jason is at $532,000. James had reached nearly $700,000 by his eighth day on the show. In this particular episode, he won $131,000, setting a new one day record.

It has everything to do with style, and James is more flashy, whereas Jason is slow and steady. People prefer flashy.

[quote] That dude in the middle today was hot as hell!!

Oh hell yes. I want Ted to make sweet love to me.

Gairen was kind of cute too, in a bearish sort of way. I like how he was just relaxing and leaning on his podium.

Ted Berg....

R101 - I was fairly certain the center guy would be considered a "dreamboat" by many Dataloungers.

Regarding Final, I knew that Twain had traveled to Hawaii, and that Pele was a Hawaiian god; however, I guessed Mauna Loa.

I like Jason! He is really coming across as a dork, which I find a plus, along with those silky shirts. Hubba Hubba!

Jason is unstoppable!

Gairen was relaxed, except when he was frantically clicking his signal thing.

I got Kilauea. But I have walked upon it and see the wrath of Pele with my own eyes.

It was a good game with an interesting FJ.

Jason's breadth of knowledge is pretty amazing - he knows a LOT and about a LOT of things. Has Alex asked him about his education yet? He's certainly not conventionally handsome, but he isn't obnoxious like Austin was.

He's just THERE. James certainly had more of a persona......

James was kind of arrogant and off-putting to me. I didn't find his personality remotely appealing and I stopped watching during his (long) winning streak. This is not a a popular opinion, but I thought Austin was funny and entertaining. I enjoyed his run and thought he was a great sport (i.e. how he always cheers for and congratulates the people who beat him). Jason is just THERE, but his personality isn't repugnant and he's endearing enough for me to root for him. I don't mind Jason's winning streak.

James was a character while Jason seems like a wallflower.

An unstoppable wallflower.

While Jason isn't conventionally handsome, he has a sexiness that makes me crazy. I don't want to merely fuck him, I want to make love to him.

Recall that the much-derided Austin dedicated one of his nights to a friend who died from HIV.

Yeah, yeah, Jason has mentioned his girlfriend, but still I'm just not buying him as Kinsey One.

R114 don’t say that or you might jinxed him

R106 He looks a little too much like Don Jr. in that pic.

[quote][R106] He looks a little too much like Don Jr. in that pic.

I was thinking that exact thing. It's the tiny little mouth.

Ted seems pissed that only 30 people checked out his LinkedIn page after his Jeopardy! appearance.

R106, An unshaven Ted Berg.

Jason was profiled tonight on the ABC Evening News.

Jason's reign is OVAH!

The new guy may be nerdy & dorky as hell, but he does have a pleasant unasuming quality about him.

R124, I like him. Jason was a gracious loser.

r116 I didn't like Austin until he admitted that (although I didn't realize his friend had HIV or I missed it being mentioned).

I guess Austin is one of those people whose humour you get or don't get.

I don't mind James, Jason or Austin. James was never one of my favourites.

All of them are more bearable than Arthur.

Yay, Gabe!!

I think he's adorable. He reminds me of a younger Chris Hayes.

I hope he stays on for a while.

I don't think that Jason was very gracious.

Well, maybe at the end he was, but during the competition, he didn't get any of the Daily Doubles, and when each of the other players got the DD, he would start clapping very aggressively. It was strange.

I think that he was pissed that he wasn't getting any of the Daily Doubles, and he could feel the pressure.

I think that Jason could see the writing on the wall.

New champ is a decent chap, just hope the hyphenated name isn't one he paired with a wife. I kind of liked the gal's sassy personality, hoping she would win. As we all know I really liked Jason, but his time was clearly drawing to a close. Guess it's his turn to sample Albuquerque's finest petit fours now? I said before that I think he has been ready to lose for a few days now, the exaggerated clapping on the others' behalf was a passive aggressive, if you will, type of relief symptom.

Arthur and Matt are ones I never, ever want to see again!

I guessed World Trade Center for final.

Damn, the one night I miss Jeopardy! is the night Jason loses. I enjoyed his run and will miss him, but at least he'll be in TOC.

I got Sydney Opera House with seconds to spare.

Hallelujah! Our long Jeopardy nightmare has ended.

Gabe, we bow to you for dethroning Jason. Finally!

I also guessed World Trade Center for FJ

I just checked and it opened in April 1973.

^^ Except: the question specified building if I remember correctly, and the Twin Towers were two buildings. The WTC was their location. ^^

Me, I guess the Sears Tower for FJ.

I guessed the tall building in Dubai but didn’t know its name.

Gabe Brison-Trezise

How do you even say that name??

Here he is with Alex. Oh, dear.

That's the Burj Khalifa R135, and it opened in 2010!

Gabe is originally from New Hampshire, and his father is a professor at Dartmouth.

Alex seems to have genuinely liked Jason.

Gabe should never try to grow facial hair.

I like the new champ. About time we have a new one. I also guessed WTC.

Gabe! He played a strategic game and knew a fact when it was needed.

What a terrific game. I like both challengers. Go Gabe! Please don't be a one-day wonder and be defeated by a Ginny from Billing.

Gabe is the nerdy top I’ve been waiting for.

I started with WTC (timing works), but If there had been a piece of music composed for the WTC, we’d all know it by heart after 2001, so I thought what other late 20th century building is famous enough to be called the Eight Wonder? The word “composer” nailed it.

^ also, “librettist” is used for operas. Other music has lyricists.

WTC ran through my head as the correct answer, but I knew it couldn't be since there are two buildings.

So I guessed Sears Tower instead. Both wrong.

Actually, the World Trade Center was 7 buildings.

The Sears Tower also opened in 1973.

The new champion is…unfortunate…looking.

Another cute lesbian won!

Goddamn you, Gabe!!!

Goddamn you, Laurel!!!

Steve was a weirdo.

Welp, this appears to be a tradition. Every giant killer turns out to be a one-day wonder. Bye Gabe. The new champ is poised and knowledgeable. I predict she'll stick around for another day or two.

The new champ is hawt - lucky lezzes! Yeah, Steve was a wierdo.

Final seemed really obvious to me.

SOOOO glad that Gabe lost. Funny--all his facial features were in the dead center of his face. I like the new lady winner.

I guessed Oscar Wilde for Final based purely on the year of death. Turns out I was right.

The first round was deadly and embarrassing.....glad things picked up in Double Jeopardy.

Oh well.....goodbye, Gabe. One day wonder.....

New champion is at least perky and NOT too irritating. We shall see how long she lasts....my prediction....2 more days.....

FJ seemed obvious to me by the Irish born clue and the year of the poem.

Tournament of Champs starts November 4. Holzhauer is going to take this in a walk - there doesn't appear to be any serious contender.

The key to FJ was knowing Wilde was Irish. Many assume he was English.

Thanks, R158. Had forgotten how much I disliked Josh Hill, and although he's OK with me, I suspect many folks here will be cheering against Ryan Fenster. Interesting that they "carry over" otherwise qualified champs another year. I barely recognize some of these folks.

Steven Grade . . . Yes!

Too bad that Jason and Holzhauer can't compete against one another in the ToC, but they're champs from different seasons.

Jason is probably quite relieved that he won't have to go up against James.

R161 - I feel that way about Kyle Jones.

"Meet Co-Head Writer Michele Loud" . . .

I remember An American Family, indeed!

Is Lance Loud deceased?

^^ Lance died in 2001 ^^

Anyway, one of tonight's contestants is Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation

I hope there's a cute guy on today's show.

^sign of a full life.

Final Jeopardy was so easy!

Happy for Laurel. That was a really good game.

However, I was hoping that the guy would win.

I thought it was really nice that the audience and his competitors clapped for him, when they found out what he does for work.

Loathed the other woman off the bat, was terrified she would be the winner.

Final took me a minute, but I got it.

Laurel looks like Rachel's sister.

What was FJ again? I forgot.

Something about this "regular event" being ferried across the English Channel in 1948, and then flown to Finland in 1952.

It was pretty damned obvious.

R174, okay, now I remember.

What a great game after all of the runaways we've had recently.

Good wagering on the DD and FJ.

Yes, the years gave it away as something Olympics related! Congrats to our two day champ. Kinda wanted the guy to win....though....

Laurel has no annoying traits. Makes a nice change. I'll keep rooting for her.

Well, aside from resting cane face.

Did the woman in the middle have only one arm? It seemed so to me.

That guy has a wife??? As in A WOMAN?

R180, I got no gay vibe from Kevin at all.

Laughed out loud when Abby responded Robert Redford instead of John Ford.

Thoroughly stumped by FJ

[quote]Did the woman in the middle have only one arm? It seemed so to me.

I've noticed that about several other contestants on occasion. I think it has to do with their posture and their standing position.

So happy Kevin won! He's a total DILF.

And yeah, I got no gay vibe from him, at all.

I got "Cascades" for Final Jeopardy in one second. Mt. St. Helens popped into my head immediately. It's the only major volcanic disaster in the Continental US, in over a century.

I'm with R180 - the wife thing threw me, too! Laughed out loud at Annie Oakley.

Got Final, but I'm from the northwest.

I loved seeing Kevin's face after the answer to donald trump's codename "Mogul" was revealed.

Kevin had this extreme look of disgust on his face, which made me laugh.

I knew FJ as well.

What were the Obama girls’ codenames? It went by too fast for me.

Blanked on Cascades. And I’ve been there.

Goodbye, Laurel!

Hello, Kevin!

[quote]What were the Obama girls’ codenames? It went by too fast for me.

I don't remember and what I'm going to say is off topic, but when Obama was president, Jimmy Kimmel or someone was doing a man-on-the-street segment and was asking people the names of the Obama daughters. One guy said, in all seriousness, "Vanessa and Ikea," and I howled!

Sasha Obama was "Rosebud"; Malia she was "Radiance."

Rosebud seems a tad . . . graphic.

Tried looking at things objectively, but champ still pinged to me. Guessed beluga for Final.

Surprised they couldn't get Sherlock Holmes from Mary Russell, but more so that they couldn't associate Delaware with Dupont. Came up with mugwump, though one of those deep recess guesses.

R192, Kevin's masculinity was even more obvious to me on Wednesday's show.

Second competitive game this week.

Another good game. I got FJ but wasn't certain of my answer until Alex's comment after time was up.

Kevin and the other two played well and wagered well again.

Hopefully we will have another good game tonight. Alex really has to pull some of the information AND answers out of some of the contestants. He's like a dentist.

[quote]Sasha Obama was "Rosebud"; Malia she was "Radiance."

[quote]Rosebud seems a tad . . . graphic.

The names originally were Rosebud and Coinslot, because apparently when the cameras weren't on them they were total assholes.

Kevin does seem to have a gay voice.

Wow! I've never seen Alex so seemingly disgusted with the poor playing of all three players.

When the middle guy with the impossible name responded Stetson was a boot maker, I howled.

Kevin should have known Herman Wouk on that DD.

Such an embarrassing game all around. How do people who don’t know the Yankees and James Baldwin make it on the show?

This really was the worst game of the year.

Horrible.

That Indian guy was particularly dumb.

I'm just happy that sexy Kevin won again. He was shaking his head after writing his FJ answer down, so I thought that he couldn't come up with the right answer, but thankfully, he did.

I want him to have a long streak!

I think Kevin is ok but not smart enough to have a long streak.

An exercise in ignorance.....it was pretty funny that Alex couldn't contain his disdain for the performances of the players.

He promised different categories today......LOL.....all three contestants should hang their heads in shame.

Yeah that Indian guy was real idiot, but for me at least I found him attractive enough to put up with it to some extent.

I thought it was funny when they got to the final category of Double Jeopardy and couldn't even get the easiest question, and Alex asked if this were going to be a repeat of last year when all 3 contestant couldn't even guess the answers to the sports questions category. Last night they fortunately they ran out of time - saved by the bell you could say.

Didn't the sports fiasco involve two gay guys and a straight girl? I recall it as the last category left that no one wanted, where none of them buzzed in all the way through?

Wasn't a huge fan of the Indian guy myself.

Yeah, they were all pretty pathetic.

The categories seemed strange to me for some reason. Maybe that’s why they had such trouble in today’s game.

Alex may have been perturbed by the players' lackluster showing, but he attributed that to the writers as well. He made a quip during the closing moments of the show that the categories will be better tomorrow. I'll admit the categories were a bit unusual, but I like when the writers mix it up a little.

We have a new winner tonight folks. I totally flubbed FJ. I guessed The Quran - I've never even heard of One Thousand and One Nights, lol.

I guessed Koran too, R206.

I'm bummed for Kevin. He was just out of it today.

Not a huge fan of Kara. She's annoying, and she makes these stupid faces when she gives the right answer.

I hope she doesn't stick around long, because I don't think I can handle her stupid mannerisms.

I found the new champ's pierced septum distracting, ditto for Kevin's too-cool ear piercing. I liked the big lady in the middle: Donner Party, dinner party - ha ha!

Final was tough - all I could think of was Carmina Burana.

Had no idea for FJ.

Beth was a lost cause.....

Kara's gums are weird.

Goodbye, Kevin.

FJ was difficult. I had no idea. Alex seems like he was looking forward to the weekend.

The answer to FJ was "1001 Nights." How in the hell would anyone know what that is?

[quote] One Thousand and One Nights (Arabic: ألف ليلة و ليلة‎, romanized: Alf layla wa-layla, Persian: هزار و يك شبʾ‎) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights, from the first English-language edition (c. 1706 – c. 1721), which rendered the title as The Arabian Nights' Entertainment.

The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, and South Asia and North Africa. Some tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Greek, Jewish and Turkish folklore and literature. In particular, many tales were originally folk stories from the Abbasid and Mamluk eras, while others, especially the frame story, are most probably drawn from the Pahlavi Persian work Hezār Afsān (Persian: هزار افسان‎, lit. A Thousand Tales), which in turn relied partly on Indian elements.

What is common throughout all the editions of the Nights is the initial frame story of the ruler Shahryār and his wife Scheherazade and the framing device incorporated throughout the tales themselves. The stories proceed from this original tale; some are framed within other tales, while others are self-contained. Some editions contain only a few hundred nights, while others include 1,001 or more. The bulk of the text is in prose, although verse is occasionally used for songs and riddles and to express heightened emotion. Most of the poems are single couplets or quatrains, although some are longer.

Some of the stories commonly associated with The Nights, in particular "Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp", "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor", were not part of The Nights in its original Arabic versions but were added to the collection by Antoine Galland and other European translators.

While I didn't think of that as the answer, I knew what they were. I don't get that some of you have never heard of them.

Idk but Alex seems too giddy for the new champ?

Farting makes me giddy.

[quote]Kara's gums are weird.

What's weird about it is she has enough gums for two people - which also makes her teeth look even bigger.

So my memory of her ends up being this . . .

R216 you got that right.

I hope she goes away soon. After so long with easygoing Jason, I am not looking forward to someone really irritating. I give her another day or two max--she's too skittish to keep going.

Bad news.

The crazy thing is if Alex had never revealed his diagnosis to the world, I would never have guessed he was sick. I watch the show almost every day and he really doesn't seem different to me.

Direct link to Alex’s CTV interview.

Okay, how many wanted Ben deep inside them?

NOT.AT.ALL R221

NOT me! Another lackluster night, resulting in a new lackluster champ.

Alex mentioned his trouble speaking on last night’s show. Coincidence?

Glad the obnoxious woman who tilted her head back when answering is gone.

Out of the three contestants, I was happy that the winner was the winner.

The other two contestants really sucked.

[quote]Okay, how many wanted Ben deep inside them?

I want that feral-looking thing [bold]outside[/bold], period!

Ben's from Montana.

Probably a trumpster dumpster.

Can the new champ put two words together? Has she ever been out in public before?

She seems challenged by conversation.......

Alex! A sad day for television it will be. I am worried about who will take over the job.....although I am available.

Alex seems to be at peace now about his illness. So that comforting to know. But it really would be the end of an era and maybe Jeopardy won’t be the same once he’s gone. I just think he’s irreplaceable.

At least he got to 8,000 episodes. That's a milestone that likely will never be broken.

Pat and Vanna may have done Wheel a year longer, but they do fewer shows per year. Jeopardy does 6-8 weeks more shows per year than Wheel does (Wheel ends its new episodes in mid June, while Jeopard finishes up new episodes in late July).

Will they cancel Jeopardy after Alex leaves or is a replacement ready?

I suspect they have a replacement host waiting in the wings, ready to step in when the inevitable happens ☹️

They're hardly going to cancel such a wildly popular show. My guess is that they can discreetly start looking now for willing prospects, officially for next season, but possibly earlier - unless they have an interim possibility such as one of the clue crew, perhaps?

I think they will have a celebrity because otherwise people won't watch. They can't just have some fairly unknown TV announcer. Of course it will change the show but how else will they get the eyeballs. Plus Alex has always been a little stuffy, which doesn't really work anymore. Maybe Anderson Cooper. He's intelligent and likable and can be serious when necessary. Plus he's got gray hair so it won't be a difficult visual transition for people. He's not as authoritative as Alex but not sure that's so necessary.

They already have an experienced host who is looking for a change of pace:

Yet another low key, underwhelming game.

I always thought the Beatles song was I Wanna Hold Your Hand, but Scottie responded correctly with I Want To Hold Your Hand.

I'm actually rooting for Jessica. I like any contestant who is very unassuming, because I can't stand the GRANDSTANDERS.

Jessica is knowledgeable, but also cautious.

Scottie was annoying me, because he was trying to be aggressive, but his knowledge couldn't back it up. He tried to be James in his wagering, but he didn't have the smarts to back the wager.

This is the second Indian guy who was a complete DUD. He was so stupid, he didn't even make it to FJ.

Anyway, good for Jessica. I hope she has a long runn.

I did the face-palm thing for Million Dollar Baby instead of Boys Don't Cry. That photo didn't look much like Andy Rooney either.

Yeah, Jessica's cool - good for her! She has no personality though which is why her victories have been boring. I know I'm in the minority here, but I like the big personality players like Austin and Buzzy.

R240, How much personality would you expect a librarian from Maine to have?

Good point R241

Uh.....did they tell those players last night that they were involved in a game of Jeopardy?

God damn it, Jeopardy: "300" was released in 2007, not 2006.

(Yes, I know what IMDB says. It's wrong.)

I can’t believe Emily got FJ wrong. That was quite obvious.

Yayyyyy!!! I finally got FJ and guessed Paul Simon immediately. The boring librarian won again. She's sneaky good!

I had no idea of Final. Steven was adorable.

I love that the Maine librarian’s fantasy spend is to go to Canada. Easy there, champ.

R248 -- She's from Maine, isn't that just a leisurely walk?

[quote] I love that the Maine librarian’s fantasy spend is to go to Canada

I especially love her answer to Alex's question about why she wants to do the Canadian cross-country train trip.

Well, I love Canada and I love trains, so why not? ROFL!

She's actually becoming one of my favorite players. Her demeanor really cracks me up.

See now I find her demeanor little too odd for me.

In some ways she's so deadpan, I wonder if they should be taking her pulse to make sure she's not a zombie.

Alex has not been holding back lately. Once again, he was belittling to all three players for not knowing the "A frame" response. Can't say I blame him.

Its the chemo r252.

The librarian lady is not a Maine native though. She said she had to learn to drive when she moved there, and she has a midwestern accent. She’s mysterious.

[quote] She’s mysterious

YES, R254!

I couldn't put my finger on why I like her so much, but that's it! Plus, as someone else mentioned, I love her deadpan delivery.

What's her mystery? Did she kill someone and move to remote Maine?

Is she on the run from the law?

Is she a sex freak in bed?

Does she meet strangers on a train, and have threesomes in the restroom?

I need to know!

I think she's an extraterrestrial and when she is finally defeated she will remove her mask and reveal her real face.

She could be a before in a makeover. She has beautiful features which you almost don't notice. If someone gave her better hair and she wore contacts, and she developed an actual personality, she could be extremely pretty.

[quote]If someone gave her better hair and she wore contacts, and she developed an actual personality

You forgot to mention her clothes.

But, yeah, other than that she's a real catch.

Was very surprised she choked on In the Heat of the Night. If I knew it, and I'm not a huge film buff, she should've. Final almost seemed too obvious.

Champ seems like a nice guy.

Lindsey was so full of herself and it led to her demise.

Knew FJ right away, 1963 was the year of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

Jeopardy Lindsey, indeed.

You go, Granny! Jeopardy Lindsey did seem to be rather hubristic. I forget the question for the Daily Double that she choked on, which I knew immediately. Got Final as well, though not completely certain.

Sad to see outgoing champ throwing stuff at the wall just to see what would stick. Mr. Zion?

Glad Lindsey lost. What an egotistical bitch.

Edward Albee was rather obvious if you paid attention to the 1963 date.

Anthony was a cutie, but "Nancy" for FJ???

FJ was so easy, even Granny got it.

Best response of the game was "underwater welder" by annoying Erin.

Anthony would have been majorly hot, but for his HORRIBLE voice. Every time he opened his mouth I wanted to back smack him.

Agree that Anthony's voice was a deal-breaker.

Pearl Buck? PEARL BUCK?? Jeebus H. Christ!

That should have been a $200 question.

Love the new champ.

New champ has such a breadth of knowledge, he'll be around for a while.

My favorite response of the game was "conjunctivitis"

Drew a blank on FJ.

No comment on the ex-champ's blouse adorned with dog portraits? Yikes.

^^ The one she had on Monday had birds on it. ^^

Glad I missed that one.

How could someone the age of opera singer John think that Khrushchev was still in power in 1976?

When you're desperate, you guess.

Missed the show yesterday. From the look of him, I thought Ed would come off as being very dorky, but I have to say he has a rather butch voice.

Daryn is quite the hottie . . . Yowza!

FJ was obvious.

Ed is married to a woman!

Good competitive game, Daryn ekes out a second win.

I guessed Liberia for FJ.

WOF(for Mr. C): Winner Matt was quite the hottie and his partner wasn't too shabby either.

Agreed on WOF - was rooting for Matt to win so we'd get to see them both.

I picked The Gambia for final, as I recalled they were out of the Commonwealth for a few years as well.

Other bald guy was pretty hot, was distracted wanting to know what his pin represented. Agree it was a great game.

Duke Ellington mistaken for John Philip Sousa?

Seriously?

R279 I made a point of writing that down as soon as she said it so I wouldn't forget to mention it here. Glad you caught it also! Felt like ordering some Geritol at the next commercial break when none of them got Glen Campbell. Guessed final correctly.

I guessed Silverado for FJ.

FJ was so obvious . . . Cher was not known in 1963 . . . How could the two guys blow it, especially the obviously gay champ?

I said Diana Ross.

I thought Diana Ross, too.

I'm embarrassed to say I never thought of Barbra Streisand.

And the gay guy was a "pop culture" major! I knew FJ right away from the 1963 date.

I thought of Diana Ross, Cher and Barbra for FJ.

However, the 1963 date helped me narrow it down to Barbra.

I also thought Diana Ross initially but then I thought some more and remembered Barbra.

Can’t believe the champ didn’t get Barbra!

I never thought about Cher, at all.

OMG, how hysterical were those categories about the commas and the chameleon???

I’m sitting here listening to the song. Funny!!

You go, Granny!

I'm a fan of "The Thin Man" films, not the book(s). Had no idea Nora Charles inherited a lumber mill.

Is there a name for Granny's hairstyle?

FJ had me stumped, just like it did all the contestants.

Nick Charles, while not unknown, isn't exactly a character who has remained prominently in the consciousness of people some 85 years later.

I thought “The Thin Man.” Do we think that would have been accepted?

No, they wanted the actual character name I think.

Nick Charles is not the Thin Man, but rather someone he is hired to find. So no, that would not have been accepted.

Using the NYTimes ad where they publish that night's Jeopardy clue, I guessed Nick Charles. But it took me an hour to figure it out, so I would've been screwed in the actual game.

r292 FJ asked for the name of the character, not the name of the book.

Goodness there are doofuses on Jeopardy nowadays. Who doesn’t know about Vichy France?

New champ is a bit on the earnest side. Her responses are overwrought with emotion. She only won because the guy who should have won bet incorrectly.

The winner was the contestant that I did not want to win. I admired Granny's tortoise-like determination, and I felt the guy was kind of cute and definitely gay. Final seemed obvious to me, surprised Granny didn't know it.

Made a note that they flubbed both Eiffel Tower and Breugel when the clues were pretty much spoon-fed!

I blanked on the name Vichy for FJ, but knew it was the Nazi regime thanks to the word Fatherland in the clue.

I knew the answer, but blanked on the word Vichy for some reason.

Anyway, this was the 3rd day in a row where a relatively attractive guy lost: Andre on Tuesday, Nick on Wednesday & the Indian guy with a lisp yesterday.

I can't STAND the new champion. Her ugly little mouth looks exactly like Sandra Bernhart's. Although that's not why I dislike her.

I was thinking today that whenever she smiled, she looked like a cross between Lily and Grandpa Munster.

She literally looks like a witch--I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone who looks this witchy without makeup. She's so actressy, she probably pretends to like it. She is hard to take to say the least.

Vichy was easy if you know that Fatherland was used by the Nazis (Germans in general I guess) and it was a 4-year period (1941-1945). But you have to know something about WW II history of course.

So happy the champ lost. She was beyond annoying.

R304, Every response from her was like a one act play.

Yeah, huge relief she lost. The winner dresses like a priest. Maybe that's a thing in Toronto.

New champ pinged to me despite the wife. Final was easy I thought.

Competitive game with three good players, would have been pleased if any one of them had won.

Agree that FJ was another easy one.

Brooklyn Bridge, Easiest FJ in ages.

Since they've begin hyping the upcoming T o C, reminded me that I'm not a fan of Josh Hill.

Excellent, competitive game tonight.

Kudos to the plumber for giving the champ a run for his money.

FJ was easy for me.

Was rooting for the plumber, had no idea of Final, was impressed with Alex's risqué joke.

I knew Final had to be an Alfred Hitchcock movie but couldn't figure out which one.

If I'd been playing, I'd likely have guessed Vertigo or North by Northwest.

[quote]impressed with Alex's risqué joke.

That must have gone right by me. What was the risqué joke?

Who would've guessed - a smart plumber.

Anyway, I knew the answer to FJ was Rear Window the second I saw the reference to the digging dog (which later turns up dead).

He riffed off something the champ said during the interview segment to imply that once you have a kid, your sex life plummets.

YOLO

No one knew what verklempt means?

Phooey! The nerd was adorbs and I'm tired of the champ. Knew final before he finished saying the question.

I know what verklempt means, but didn't get it in terms of the category. Surprised they missed dugong and Dennis Lehane.

A show of hands . . . How many want Andrew deep inside them?

He's not bad looking guy

Nah. Andrew’s stiff, and not in the good way.

Reference to a daughter, but so far not a wife. But was bedhead the best anecdote he could come up with?

Tournament of Champions starts Monday.

Is Pentacostal a denomination? I guessed SDA like they did. Surprised they didn't know Malamud wrote The Fixer?

Andrew is rigid as hell. Was pretty adept at handling Alex's "I know everything Canadian" interview question.

Andrew needs to shave or grow a beard. He's not the guy for a two-day growth; makes him look dirty.

I guessed LDS for FJ. I was wrong.

Also guest 7th Day Adventist. Pentacostal never crossed my mind.

Both of the women bet it all and lost, but the one in the middle went home with $2,000 while the one on the end went home with $1,000. Why was that? They both had $0 and therefore were both tied for 2nd place. Shouldn't both have left with $2,000?

Good question, r328. I never thought of that.

Andrew can bring his stiffness and his two day growth to my bed any day of the week.

Well I like Andrew's two-day growth.

BTW, was it me or did it seem like when Alix went to shake Andrew's hand at the end, Andrew didn't hold out his hand to shake it (the way he did with his two competitors).

Andrew with a fuller beard growth.

Kyle Jones!

Poor Pam Dawber.

R334, Pam Dawber only surfaces now to comment on the deaths of Robin Williams or Rebecca Schaefer.

Daddy Kyle lost!

Who is Barb, and what was her injustice?

Kyle may have lost, but he won enough money to be a solid contender for one of the four additional spots that will be needed to fill for the games for next Monday-Wednesday.

I don't think we've seen the last of him.

Barb was a minor character in the first season of Stranger Things who was attacked by the monster and never mentioned again.

These so-called champs didn't seem like champs last night.

Agreed, I'm expecting Dhruv to be a lot sharper this evening?

I had no recollection of the guy who won on Monday, and I never miss Jeopardy!.

He wasn't familiar to me either.

Lots of champs goin' down. Embarrassing.

Rob is an idiot. Virginia is in New England?

I'd forgotten how attractive I found Rob being into huskier guys, but yeah, he really did embarrass himself tonight. Did we learn whether he was married or not back when he was originally running?

Does Dhruv have gayvoice?

Final was a giveaway. Overall, another lackluster show.

Bad categories tonight — these mashups, anagrams, and before and afters are awful.

In addition, the 3 missed way too many questions or didn’t attempt an answer at all.

Really bad show.

FJ was dumb.

Rob seemed to nearly lose his composure when his final response allowed him to play FJ.

Has it ever happened that a TOC player was ineligible to play FJ?

James Holzhauer is on tonight..

Easiest Final in weeks and weeks.

And Rob thought Virginia was in New England!?!?!

We're six contestants into the Tournament of Champions and so far, I don't remember any of them! And these are people who would have won at least five games to make it to the Tournament.

But I did remember Larry Martin the school teacher who died of pancreatic cancer. Super weird that Alex mentioned the purple ribbons for pancreatic cancer in relation to Larry, but didn't say a word about his own diagnosis.

I remember all three from last night, although the woman less so. Dhruv was a college champ, not regular games; Rob I knew when he was introduced, but didn't actively recall him. Kyle Jones similar, but I always found him kinda cute.

I recall Alan from tonight, but the gal not so much. So far, Dhruv seems like the only one who might be any kind of a match for James.

Jason Zuffranieri is the only possible match for James, and I don't think he had the super fast reaction time of James. James is a lock IMO.

I suppose it went about as we should have expected. I thought final was a trick question, so finally settled on Paul Robeson instead.

You mean, James was spoken to about including shout outs with his FJ wagers?

FJ was so obvious. Poor Alan knew it, but couldn't recall her name.

Great to see James back again. Feels very comfortable seeing him there. Love the idea of Japanese tourists taking his photo simply because he was being honored at the Las Vegas sign, even though they had no idea who he was.

Had no idea about final.

FJ not so easy if you had no knowledge of opera. Or civil rights history.

R355, Eleanor Roosevelt inviting Marian Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial was an historic moment. One need not have knowledge of opera or civil rights history to be aware of it.

If you're older (like moi) Marian Anderson was a national treasure and on TV a fair amount. Plus my mother was from New York and an opera lover. Or you need to be a James with every possible fact in your brain. It was weird to see James (underbite is his middle name) with that annoying doctor--Lindsay?-- who also has an underbite (lower jaw protrudes over upper teeth). I remember finding her extremely hard to watch when she had her run on the show. It was really good to see James--I was a big fan.

Yay - at last a decent Final question (though I missed it)! Really glad to see Emma advance, if only to be sliced-and-dices by James.

I was surprised to find myself rooting for Emma. I disliked her so much during her episodes in June.

But I now realize my dislike was mainly because she defeated James. Now, with that behind us, I found myself liking her more.

As for Final, I drew a blank.

r356, if it is such common knowledge, why did it stump two of the champs?

Between his "manly" posture and that weird smile, Eric came across like a cartoon character.

As for Emma, for some reason she reminded me of Kim Darby from the John Wayne movie True Grit.

R360, They're not omniscient.

A "champ" this week thought Virginia was in New England.

I feel like a true dunce as I had never heard of Shere Kahn until tonight! Those who disliked Ryan originally must be happy; I have a dork fetish myself, so he's OK by me, though he didn't do himself any favors on this episode. Could Francois give James a run for his money?

I never heard of Shere Kahn either.

Francois was great. Look forward to seeing him go against James.

I got Shere Khan right away—The Jungle Book!

I adore Steven. Glad he’s moving forward.

Steven Grade definitely earns a high grade from me, but I cringed when he responded Kennedy instead of Oswald. Glad he shaved off the beard he mentioned.

I hope James Holzhauer goes all the way and doesn't rein it in to let another win the $250K.

Kennedy was indeed cringeworthy.

1. Good FJ question.

2. I adore Dhruv. Cute, sweet, smart—the perfect package.

3. Alex shows emotion! We’re going to see that moment again when the time comes to remember him. Hope that will be a while longer.

That was so poignant when Alex choked up.

Kyle was practically jumping out of his skin tonight. I can only imagine that pent up aggressive energy between the sheets . . . Yowza!

I had read that book earlier this year as a "classic" I'd been meaning to get around to tackling. I knew Arkansas has diamonds, is that common knowledge?

Felt bad for Dhruv, but he handled things well. Is Kyle metrosexual, or something? I'm liking Emma less the more I see of her.

If I didn’t love Alex before, I do now.

There is something about Emma that is unlikable. Hard to express it. Maybe she's just socially awkward. She's a smart person though--at least James didn't lose to a dummy.

Emma should be the new love interest for Shaun on The Good Doctor.

^Back off, bitch.

[quote]She's a smart person though--at least James didn't lose to a dummy.

So true. She is proving herself quite smart. I'm still liking Emma. But she does have that hard lesbian edge to her that may be making her unlikable to some.

For final, the only three word phrase I could think of that went with "How the . . ." was "West Was Won." But I knew that was wrong.

And Arkansas has diamonds! Who knew! Besides Mister Cocoa.

For me the guess was "How the rich get richer"

Tonight will be James Holzhauer vs. Steven Grade.

So who bets that James will win by more this time than last time--I say he gets over $40,000 this time.

They didn't know the phrase posse comitatus? Oh well...

Good news is we'll be spared James' steamrolling for good soon. Jason will likely do some a year from now, but I can deal with that.

Amazing they all blew the giveaway Final!

I wonder if they would have accepted Bible Belt for Sun Belt?

r380 James' answer to Final was Bible Belt and Rust Belt. Alex said the Bible Belt was wrong and it was Sun Belt and Rust Belt.

Like James, I said Bible and Rust.

Had no idea of final, but did know Kingsolver wrote The Bean Trees. Hope Francois can withstand James' onslaught!

No idea on final.

So, Francois earned more in his semi-final round than James did. Wonder if that means the show will put Francois in the first position, James in the middle and Emma on the end.

That's how they're pictured on tonight's lineup on the site. Here's hoping those two can keep James from running away with it all as usual.

James is faster on the buzzer so I think he will win but it might be close. I'm rooting for him too. Also just wanted to say how glad I am that Lindsay (Lindsee?) lost--that woman has these jaw movements at the end of each sentence that just drive me nuts. I guess she's very high strung. Anyway--gone, she's gone, the wicked witch is gone! Go James!

Come Monday, hunky Andrew will be back.

No one could identify a photo of Mickey Spillane or remember the name Michael Avenatti?

I didn't recognize Spillane, but did know Avenatti. Poor Francois is truly out of it, it was painful watching him miss all of the physics questions like that. Emma has given it her best shot, but she's going to need some sort of a real miracle to pull it off tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, I'm looking forward to never seeing James again in 24 hours. I realized that what bothers me the most is that he seems bored during the show, sort of as though he'd like to get this pesky stuff over with. My impression anyway ...

R388, They seem to be grooming James to be the new "face" of Jeopardy!, replacing Ken Jennings.

Like it or not, he's not going away.

How quickly Michael Avenatti has been forgotten!

Yes, James just seemed to plow right over Francois. That's a shame because Francois was so good in his semi-final game. Perhaps he was intimidated by James.

That's an advantage Emma has -- she's gone up against James before, so she is clearly more comfortable.

I had no idea about Final. Have never heard of the word "Jeremiad" before.

[quote] I realized that what bothers me the most is that he seems bored during the show, sort of as though he'd like to get this pesky stuff over with. My impression anyway ...

After winning 32 games and $2.5 million and setting records galore the first go round, this Tournament of Champions may not feel like much of a challenge to James. I mean, he only get to appear in 4 episodes and, if he wins, will only win $250,000.

Wonder if the contestants are contractually bound to appear in the Tournament? Can they bow out of the Tournament even if they won big?

The FJ answers have been (appropriately) quite had, at least to me.

I'm all for James. Talent is talent.

I'm rooting for James, too.

Plus I haven't forgiven Emma for beating Kyle in the semi final round on Monday.

Team James all the way here!

Even if he loses the Tournament, James will be back in future Tournaments because of all the records be broke during his 32 day run. I mean, you know the show is already planning to have James go up against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter at some point.

As for Emma and Francois, neither will be back if they lose this Tournament.

Even though I watched his whole original run, I continue to be amazed at the obscure information James knows (although he apparently wasn't watching much TV last year and didn't know Avenatti--I think it's great that none of them knew him). Not only is his fact base astounding, but he has amazingly fast reflexes. He's nearly one of a kind I would imagine. I'd like to see him go against Brad Rutter especially. I think James would win.

Yay James!!

Happy he won.

YEAH for James.

And congratulations to Emma for proving she is a force to be reckoned with. I tried to dismiss her during the regular run as a fluke, still mad that she had beaten James. But this time, she really proved she was smart, capable and not a flash in the pan.

Well, Emma gave herself a second chance last night, giving James a run for his money; I appreciated seeing how rattled he was. I'm just glad to be finished with him in regular play. If he comes back for some sort of celebrity, hot-shot playoff, I can avoid that. Poor Francois, he must have been rattled by James himself to truly flame out like that.

Looking forward to Jason next year, but if Alex isn't hosting I think it will take on a bit of a somber tone.

I suspect James knew Avennati, but just couldn't recall his name. That was my problem.

[bold]ATTENTION LA VIEWERS: [/BOLD] There's a stupid football game on Monday night(11/18), so there will be no Jeopardy! on KABC, Channel 7. I looked ahead in my Dish Network directory and found that accordingly, Jeopardy! episodes will be delayed all week by one day in the LA area (and presumably the other West Coast ABC stations that show Jeopardy! in the early evening. I'm guessing that Friday's episode will be aired some time on Saturday (12/23).

Yeah, I know—First World problem.

Jeopardy is aired on ABC in Seattle, but the listings show it at 7:30 tomorrow as usual. ABC is nasty for us in June with basketball games, but then they show it a couple of hours late instead.

[quote]Jeopardy is aired on ABC in Seattle, but the listings show it at 7:30 tomorrow as usual. ABC is nasty for us in June with basketball games, but then they show it a couple of hours late instead.

Do they delay the football games or Jeopardy? In LA, KABC usually show's that day's episode at 2:05 the following morning, which actually makes sense and is convenient, since if we have a heads-up we can record it. Then other times, like this week, they'll inexplicably run the Monday episode at the regular time on Tuesday, and so on throughout the week. Then the Friday episode will air at either 2:05 Saturday morning, or 7 pm Saturday, which is the time an old Jeopardy! rerun is shown.

Life is so complicated for those of us who think.

Our Jeopardy pre-empts usually run after the basketball coverage ends, around 9PM or so. The Boston station will run bumped shows off by a day with Friday's on Saturday instead; they otherwise show a random rerun from earlier in the season that night.

The airing of Friday's TOC finale would have aired around 2:00 AM Saturday morning in Boston, but Channel 4 must have known the relevance of the broadcast and aired it at 7:30 PM Friday on their "sister" station, Channel 38.

I just wish they'd fucking knock it off. Why can't they put the stupid sports programs on ESPN, where they belong?

Thanks r401 for alerting us to Los Angeles being a day behind on Jeopardy this week.

KABC-Channel 7 in Los Angeles also has a Chargers football game scheduled for Monday, Nov. 25 which preempts Jeopardy and Wheel that day. Apparently, the station will air the Monday episode on Tuesday, thereby putting the show a day behind in LA next week as well as this week.

And from what I can ascertain, the Friday episode will air on Saturday night both weeks. As mentioned above, KABC normally airs a repeat episode (from last season) on Saturday nights, so it's easy enough to sub in the Friday episode.

Holzhauer and the long-running quiz show’s two other biggest winners, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, will face off in a prime-time Greatest of All Time tournament on ABC in January, marking the first network airing of the original “Jeopardy!” in 30 years. (“Jeopardy” is syndicated to local stations, but airs on ABC outlets in many top markets.)

I like Brad and am indifferent to Ken, so would watch it to see James have to actually make an effort.

How could they not identify Tom Hanks?

New champ is BORING.

Buh-bye, Andrew.

How could Andrew not know that Gilbert Stuart painted the famous portrait of George Washington?

Because he's Canadian, perhaps?

R412, You mean, we're only supposed to study the history of countries we live in?

Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington is iconic, as is the story of Dolly Madison rescuing it from destruction by the British.

[quote]Holzhauer and the long-running quiz show’s two other biggest winners, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, will face off in a prime-time Greatest of All Time tournament on ABC in January, marking the first network airing of the original “Jeopardy!” in 30 years. (“Jeopardy” is syndicated to local stations, but airs on ABC outlets in many top markets.)

I just watched Alex doing a promo for this event and got a chilling thought. Could it be that Alex might be using this epic matchup as a springboard to a graceful segue out of the program? It would make perfect sense.

I do hope I'm wrong.

I’m afraid you’re right, r414. We know it has to happen soon.

They couldn't come up with shabu shabu, iron curtain nor voice vote? Okay ... I guessed final, but without much confidence.

I liked Sathvik's story about Jimmy Carter.

Dolley, R413

Thank you, Mr. C.

Dave was a hottie, but dumb as a rock.

Please let the annoying woman be another one day wonder.

Could FJ have been any easier?

I know I'm shallow, but when someone is as good looking as Dave - and has such pretty eyes - I tend to overlook their intellectual shortcomings.

Sorry to see Sathvik go - he seems rather sweet - but Elise was on point throughout the whole game and deserved to win.

Having said that, she reminds me of a family member, which consequently irritated me from the moment she was introduced.

Pretty guys rarely become champs.

R419, That tuft of chest hair peeking out from his shirt collar was hot.

WIFE?????

I know, right?

I am liking Elise's colorful wardrobe.

Kudos to Beth for dethroning Elise so dramatically.

FJ seemed so obvious. How could Elise think "Uber" was correct?

The naval architect was definitely doable.

I was surprised Elise, who seemed to know a lot about books, blew The Alienist. I got it, and never read it. Gurkhas obvious as well.

Final seemed obvious, but I could see where she either thought that was "too easy" or that IPO implied something very recent.

Stephen was, indeed, adorbs.

The IPO was specified as 2019 by the category. What made it tricky was that a very old company just went public.

I knew The Alienist, too, but it wasn't top of mind. Sometimes the answer takes a bit of time to surface, I would think especially under the pressure of competition.

I’m tired of contestants missing easy FJ questions.

New Deal was freaking obvious!!!

Snorted at Pocohontas and the Pilgrims; I understand different viewers bring different skill sets, but knew Imaginary Invalid off the bat. There's lots I don't know, trust me!

He did the Miami Vice look back then, and don't like it now. Was strongly rooting for Julie to win.

Here's a little piece of trivia Alex didn't bring up about the guy with the Miami Vice look

R431, Couldn't agreeing to pay a $300,000 settlement be considered admission of guilt?

I got FJ immediately.

Plastics???

R434, It's a famous line from the opening party scene in "The Graduate". Dustin Hoffman's character is advised that there's a future in plastics.

That F J was very tough. I didn’t get either one.

Overall, a rather lame night. I thought final was fairly obvious. Like the new champ.

Anyone else think 6'3" Jamin was sexy as hell?

I thought that many of the clues were especially difficult, with numerous non responses.

Blanked on FJ.

Yes, he was very good looking - immediate Sad Face at mention of wife.

Jamin Speer - God it sounds like a porn name - certainly was pretty sexy, but he looks completely different (and comparatively plain-looking) in this older pic where his head isn't shaved.

R440, I still wouldn't say no.

R440, Who knew he was a ginger?

Kind of lame in the sense that there was a lot they didn't know. Had no idea of a final, but incorrectly guessed Ivanhoe.

I guessed Dracula because that book is one of the most often included in the game, along with Steinbeck novels, Catcher in the Rye, and Jane Eyre. (And this one fit the spooky description.)

No one knew Joan Collins portrayed Alexis Carrington on "Dynasty"?

I laughed out loud when a photo of Ethel Kennedy was identified as Caroline Kennedy.

I snorted on that one, too, R445.

Catching up on several episodes in one sitting.

Knew that "Rosebud" and "Plastic" was the FJ due to the years 1941 and 1967 in clue. Wouldn't have gotten it without the years given.

Had no idea about Dracula for the Friday FJ.

Thought final was fairly obvious, but too bad the doctor from Bear couldn't manage to get it right.

Don't think I've ever seen so much score correction in one game before?

Is it me, or did Alex's voice sound off a bit yesterday?

[quote]Is it me, or did Alex's voice sound off a bit yesterday?

I was thinking that same thing. I noticed that he slurred the ends of one or two words. I'm still going with my original prediction that the Holzhauer/Jennings/Rutter match will be Alex's finale, and that a new host will be named. I hope I'm wrong.

I loved Alex asking hottie Theodore why the fuck his train trip would be of interest to anyone. (I paraphrase.)

Also, the contestants have been particularly dumb lately.

There was something a little creepy about Theodore.

R452, No way he's gay, or he would have known the Margo Channing/"All About Eve" response.

Ummm.... I knew what they were getting at, but couldn't come up with Margot Channing. Theo seemed a tad "on the spectrum" with limited social skills.

I missed Final, and though I didn't get the question above, I knew it was Carol Channing NOT Phyllis Diller!

If I were terminal I’d spend my last days on a nice beach relaxing or traveling and spending my money. Why would he choose to host his game show while he still has some quality of life?

Margot and Carol Channing both dissed on a single show. Stunning.

Margo, not Margot.

Dumb layers. My God.

Players, not layers. lol

Unlike all three contestants, I knew final was the Algonquin Hotel and Dorothy Parker's Round Table.

While I think it is entirely true that Alex will announce his retirement shortly after the Big Three matchup in January, it's not like Alex will disappear from our screens right after that.

If they are following the taping schedule they've used for years, they are currently taping episodes that will air in February. And as far as we know, Alex is still taping those shows.

And no, I don't think they can have brought in a new guy to host the shows currently taping without word somehow leaking out. Alex being replaced would be too big to keep that under wraps. The tabloids probably have spies all over the Sony lot to cover this.

I think Jeopardy allow Alex Trebek to concentrate on his work rather than his impending demise. In his position I might be doing the same thing. He may be hoping to make it to his 80th birthday (07/22/2020) but that seems like a long shot now since his cancer test result numbers have gone sky high and he's back on chemo.

I got the Algonquin Round Table. The quote was funny though--sounded like it was about standup comedians. But the topic name "Literary New York" convinced me about the Algonquin.

Not great contestants, but a better game in terms of actually answering questions correctly. I came close with Don Juan as final.

They should give credit for Don Juan. Operas are often referred to with an English translation of the title. See, for example, the wrong answer “The Barber of Seville. “

Missed FJ, but the answer caused me to smite my forehead, since I should have guessed right.

Don Giovanni, the Mozart opera, is always called by that name in English, never Don Juan. I used to be an opera fan (but lost my interest quite a while ago), so I knew this.

Could Friday's FJ have been any easier, yet two contestants blew it?

Hopefully, Jennifer will use some of her winnings to get those scary looking choppers fixed.

Are her teeth solid metal? I can't really tell on my TV, which is not huge. Or are those just bad fillings? Hope she does fix her teeth. And hope James gets jaw surgery--although that's a much bigger deal. Maybe James doesn't care? But I think he does because he smiles with his mouth closed as much as he can.

Patton. Could Final have been any easier!

If you know your Oscar winners that is.

I dislike James, but she's harder to take these days.

Newlywed Shane was quite attractive.

FJ was, indeed, very easy.

Looking forward to sharing a tent with Doug, though he and the other gal blowing Final was pretty bad.

^^ Thought the same about Shane (yesterday) and Doug (today). ^^

Anyway, I've been trying to figure out who the champ has been reminding me of and then it hit me tonight. . .

Margaret Hamilton

The champ (Jennifer?) reminds me of Janeane Garofalo. I actually like her. She seems very nice and modest. She seems astonished and how much she has won, genuinely so. Maybe she had an accident and that's why her teeth are so weird--and she didn't have the money to get fancy veneers. Now she does.

R473, Doug did not move my needle at all.

Can't believe someone that smart doesn't have a better job. And that Lucas mania is . . . well, weird.

I think drinking wine for a living is pretty clever.

She doesn't drink it. She advises guests which five of the twenty options available they should sample.

Wait . . . Brad . . . wife???

[quote]She doesn't drink it. She advises guests which five of the twenty options available they should sample.

Certainly she drinks it. She has to know the wines. But you are correct that’s not the whole job. She also has to talk about the wine with others who are drinking it. Beats selling bibles.

What a dreary evening, ending with a giveaway.

Okay . . . How cute was Patrick?

Great game tonight.

I like the new champ and her Brenda Starr hair.

FJ took some thinking, but I got it in time.

He was, indeed, cute.

Did not get final, but spent the time cursing myself that I should have known it.

Not sure I would have got it had I not recently attended a Twilight Zone marathon screening.

I guessed Peter Gunn theme. Twilight Zone did not cross my mind.

Patrick sure was cute. Looked like family too me. Sorry we won't be seeing more of him.

I got it because I'm old and there weren't that many drama shows at that time with a really memorable theme. Can't even think of another one. And whenever the theme has been played over the years, most people who ever watched the show will immediately know it's Twilight Zone. DAdaDAda DAdaDAda DAdaDAda

Sorry about Dagmar as she was a class act. Not a real fan of the new champ as although he is good-looking in a suit he just doesn't do it for me. I started writing down the answers that I knew that they didn't feeling that this might be one of those nights, eventually there were five of them: Santa Ana, House at Pooh Corner, Sylvia Plath, Huey Long and Cynthia Nixon.

They missed a ton of basic stuff.

What happened to the champ? Did Putin threaten her family during the break?

I was certain Dagmar would win. FJ seemed so obvious, surprised she blew it and just as surprised she didn't know Cynthia Nixon ran for Governor of NY.

How could none of them know Huey Long?

Voting was such an obvious answer for Final that I figured it had to be something else. The moral -- trust your gut, don't second guess yourself.

I liked Dagmar. Sorry she lost on Final.

[quote]How could none of them know Huey Long?

I think Huey Long is one of those figures who has just faded into obscurity for pretty much everyone under the age of 40. I'm on a trivia team, and it surprised me that my younger teammates recently had no idea who Sacco and Vanzetti were, the decade (!) that Lindbergh flew the Atlantic, or who Boss Tweed was. I guess there are a lot of things not covered in school any more.

Wednesday's Jeopardy! didn't make it past the opening theme due to CBS impeachment coverage.

Anyone see it?

Yes, Rodolfo lost, unfortunately.

Yesterday's episode was pretty much one of those cases where the Two Front Runners each bet big allowing the third-place guy to get in as champ. Rodolfo struck me as a bit creepy.

Yet another giveaway FJ.

The woman was a moron.

New champ annoys me.

Jesus, Eric looks like a totally demented Peewee Herman!

I'll be he's a popular bartender though.

At first I was thrown by the three piece suit, but later realized the issue was that the shirt collar was too wide.

As an eldergay I hissed when they all missed Rhoda, but groaned when they couldn't get Rach(maninov).

"Alex Trebek Has No Plans to Retire From [italic]Jeopardy![/italic] Anytime Soon, Says a Coworker"

In other news, I have it on good authority that Dame Maggie is bringing her one-woman show to BAM next year. Or did I miss the announcement?

OOPs, wrong thread!

Why are misspellings allowed in FJ, but if a response is mispronounced by just a letter during the game the contestant is ruled wrong?

Cuz.

Sadly, another episode where there were too many questions were none of them could get the answer (Case Western, for example). Final was fairly easy, although I guess the champ's being so young worked against her.

I was instantly struck that just about all of us would probably pay to watch the show with Bill's mother!

Bill had a promising first round, but soiled himself in the second.

FJ was easy for me, but I'm 67.

Butterball? Seriously?

Karen plows through categories dealing with authors/books, yet she couldn’t spell Hemingway correctly the other day.

Bill was a dead ringer for Rick Harrison, owner of the pawnshop in [italic]Pawn Stars.[/italic]

Snagglepuss as Tennessee Williams? Pure Genius!

I was rooting for the woman in the middle.

Yet another way too easy FJ.

I was rooting for the woman in the middle also, but had no idea of final.

ABC is airing a one-hour special about Alex Trebek and Jeopardy. New interview with Alex and his wife is included, along with some history on the game show. It airs tonight (Jan. 2) at 8 p.m. on ABC stations.

How annoying was that Kevin?

Alex sounded especially raspy.

Didn't have a clue for FJ.

Alex's voice has sounded off for a while now.

I first noticed that way back in R449. A month is a long time to not sound right.

Watching the Friday show, and he seems to be working hard to enunciate when he's reading the clues.

He also seems to have changed his hair a bit. Is that a toupee he's wearing at this point?

[quote]He also seems to have changed his hair a bit. Is that a toupee he's wearing at this point?

No, Rose, it's a dead raccoon.

Between the stereotypical Italian-American from Staten Island's tie and the big gal's nose ring, lots 'o' distractions!

Property tax, indeed

R514, Alex has admitted that he now wears a full wig.

After watching the ABC special and seeing the rigors that prospective contestants endure, I'm even more amazed that certain contestants actually make the broadcast, the ones who totally bomb on the air.

I found the Staten Island guy's accent sexy (but what's up with his spelling his name "Mat"?)

I've seen a rare alternative spelling of Mathew before.

Karen is obviously knowledgeable, but boring as hell.

Staten Island Mat was a nice distraction. Nose ring girl was in dire need of a shampooing and a support bra.

FJ was so easy.

Karen has no info at all on the internet. I kept thinking she must be a Repub ('cause she's so boring), before even noticing she's a "political consultant." But I finally found something that suggested she ran the campaign of a black woman Democrat for a northern VA county supervisor. She really doesn't want you to know anything about her though, which is the most interesting thing about her ironically. Like nothing about her educational background, nada.

Alex was heartbroken that no one recognized Natty Bumpo.

Kids his age all read the James Fenimore Cooper books, especially of course Last of the Mohicans.

Special thread to discuss the Greatest of All Time Tournament.

Note: This tournament is NOT part of the regular show. It will air separately on ABC. starting Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Amazing that the outgoing champ knew neither lobbyist nor nonpartisan, when she's in the political consulting business?

Hope new champ sticks around?

Had no idea of final.

I know we'll see incredibly boring Karen again, but thank you God for eliminating her for now.

Mister C . . . I'm still annoyed that she couldn't spell Hemingway correctly.

What's tonight's show truly lame?

Why, yes! Yes, it was!

R528, You didn't find Shaun sexy as hell, albeit a bit annoying?

Beautiful eyes . . . bet he's a pistol in the sack.

A bit annoying?? Like Trump is a bit evil.

I found Shaun creepy

Shaun was creepy, obnoxious AND sexy.

Why would they leave two high scoring clues on the board during Double Jeopardy? Bad strategy.

Alek is cute.

I like Katie, hope she hangs around for a while.

Alek Van Houghton is a romance novel name.

At least Jack came in second, matching his sister.

FJ was too easy.

Agreed r533. The guy picks the $400 clue over the $2000 clue when there is less than a minute to go?!?

Meanwhile, Final Jeopardy was super easy. The moment Alex read the 1979 in the clue, I knew it was Iran.

Velma, is that YOU?

Katie was cute (though strangely twitchy). Veronica, the new winner, is smart and calm, but she is so completely typecast as a librarian that I guessed it even though I turned the show on late. But she's a sweet lady so I hope she hangs in there for a few days.

Another day where Alex announces less than a minute and the contestants still pick $800 clues left on the board over $2000 clues? WTF?

None of them knew Adam Schiff??

r539: Which is scary because it means none of them watch MSNBC or read NYT, etc. They were probably not all Fox News watchers, so it means they're political know nothings (or even worse Fox News watchers/Rethugs). Adam Schiff is ubiquitous on the news for the last couple of years, esp MSNBC. You can't avoid him even if you want to.

If anyone watches Fox, they have to know Schiff; he's that network's favorite punching bag.

Tonight's game was an embarrassment.

Priscilla . . . sad, just sad.

This was one of the worst games I've ever seen, and coming after the recent tournament, it was even more of an embarrassment.

Priscilla and Shamu were shouting out so many wrong answers, it was as if they had Tourette Syndrome & couldn't control themselves.

Has anyone ever scored so low as Priscilla?

I think at one point she was around -7,000 or something.

Yeah, poor players. Really, really out of their league.

Traveling tonight, so really sorry I missed it as it sounds like one for the books!

Here ya go, Mr. C.

Thanks!

I didn't catch Shanu blurting out that many wrong answers to be noteworthy. Priscilla was indeed a real basket case.

I don't think I've ever felt as bad about a Jeopardy contestant as I did about Priscilla. I expected her to start crying at some point.

I suspect this was Priscilla after the show . . .

R549, Or possibly this . . .

Kudos to Dennis for a remarkable comeback in Double Jeopardy after a poor first round and then winning.

FJ was obvious. Who else could it be?

I guessed Queen Elizabeth as well, didn't get at all where she got Prince Albert from though?

Figured my homies here would really get a chuckle out of mixing up Hairspray and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof!

I knew Prince P. was also a descendent of Queen Victoria (Elizabeth's second or third cousin) and his mother, Princess Alice, looked a bit like the Russians so I guessed him. I thought the librarian was smarter than guessing Albert! I don't remember the year in the clue that the DNA was done but I did know it was fairly recent and that Prince Albert died in about 1880 or something so ... Anyway, she was starting to annoy the hell out of me so I'm glad she lost. I don't think Dennis will last that long either. I wish there was someone as smart as James again, but that's not happening in the near future that's for sure.

CUTIE ALERT: Matthew Neff, on tonight.

Cute Matthew seems not to have done as well as expected. Too bad none of them had heard of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, nor apparently of the folies-bergere.

I understood final after they show the answers, but didn't have a grasp of the question as asked.

I knew the Secretary of State part of Final but blanked on Attorney General.

I really liked Traci Mack. Was rooting for her to win.

Be sure to tune in Thursday when Justin Weatherby of NYC plays.

Oh, come on!

Justin looks like a Datalounger.. looking forward to the inside dirt.

Re the guy at R557, why do I get the impression that he should be introduced coming on stage like this as opposed to simply being there when his name is announced. . .

Gone With the Wind!

Lackluster game again

^well, the year is correct.

I guessed Mr Smith Goes to Washington, but wasn't sure it was from 1939.

What a night for the LGBT community . . . a gay/partnered winner on WOF and a lesbian/honeymooning contestant on Jeopardy!.

So the best celebrity customer the bartender could come up with was Gary Merrill??

r565: You could see Alex's disdain for "Gary Merrell" answer--he immediately walked away. I would have too. Gary Merrell has probably been dead since the '60s.

About what I'd expect from a USM grad with a major in "Sanskrit" (roll eyes here).

Justin sure came up with some dumb ass responses.

A six-year-old could have gotten tonight's FJ.

Sad, just sad

Was rooting for the lady lawyer who struck me as a class act

Glad the guy keeps winning.

I want to marry Ashwin. He’s so cute.

Agreed. Ashwin is delicious.

Sad that none of them knew Saul Bellow.

R573, Or Neil Sedaka.

I was hoping John would stick around a little bit longer.

He kind of reminded me of an ex BF of mine.

Glad Heather won, John was a little too smug for me.

Nora Ephron's death was widely reported, a stupid FJ response from John.

John was hot to death, but agree that he was just too smug. Ashwin pinged to me, was sorry he couldn't do better; seems he had a bad run of categories. I had absolutely no idea of final, nor would I have really had any way of figuring it out as I know very little about Danielle Steel, especially regarding where she is from.

Alex doesn't seem as much as usual self with the interviews, more a question of going through the motions with them now.

I used to live in San Francisco and Danielle Steele was very well known there, always written about in the Chronicle society page. She was married to a (male) socialite, or still is, can't remember the name. She's very high society there (or was--haven't lived there in a long time). Anyway, I did know Danielle Steele was the answer right away, although I've never felt the need to read one of her books.

I said Jackie Collins even though I think she’s dead.

I thought of Barbara Cartland too. 😳

Y’all’s smugness looked like nervousness and uncomfortableness to me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I guessed Steele because of the SF allusion. Also, the answer didn't say "great novelists," just "best-selling."

I knew it was Danielle Steel because I'm on the literature subreddit and when the article came out about her referencing how many hours a day she writes, everybody was dragging on her because she writes the novel equivalent of mad libs, writing the same story over and over again just changing names (and sometimes not even those.)

Danielle Steele was married 5 or 6 times, has 5 or 6 kids (adults), and writes on an old fashioned typewriter (she has 2 of them). She is the best-selling living writer in the world and the 4th bestselling of all time. She owns a house in San Francisco with (I think) 50 rooms but these days spends most of her time in Paris. She's probably heard how terrible SF is these days from reading about it on DL. I wonder if she sublets her house in Pacific Heights when she's gone and for how much. Anybody have a guess (I don't)?

That's the first time I ever heard the names of the seven Hills of Rome. I didn't even know that they had names, but I guess it's logical that they do…

I knew about the names of the Seven Hills as I have read some books that were set in ancient Rome.

R585, Don't two of them belong to Sophia Loren?

I only recognized one hill--Capitoline, but that was enough for a guess.

Was rooting for the boozy black Cake Lady.

Not sure what it means when yet again I knew most of the answers that all three of them of flubbed on? Not trying to brag how wonderful I am, because there are quite a number of questions where I have drawn a complete blank.

I can tell already that folks are not going to be too impressed by this, but as a desperate guess for final I went with Ted Hughes?

A bit of a blast from the past with one of the questions as I did have feni in Goa a generation ago. My teetotaling father-in-law had Nescafe while my partner and I tried it.

r588: Ted Hughes was English and was born in the late 30s I think. Dartmouth is in New Hampshire on the border of Vermont. (Drove by once many years ago.) So thinking of a New England 20th century poet, I also guessed Frost. Both guesses of the other contestants were very uninformed--Whitman and Thoreau both lived and died in the 19th century. (I was an English major so that was an easier one for me).

Anyone else think the cancer thing was a lie, to get viewers tuning-in?

Damn, I was rooting for Cheyenne, the boozy cake lady. It was a good game.

Damn white girl won. 😟

You were a way better English major than I, R589! I was an English major and guessed Wallace Stevens. Looked him up afterwards; he went to Harvard and died in 1955, so I guess it was sort of in the ballpark?

My desperate guess turned out to be correct.

Wasn't Frost the national poet laureate under JFK?

Was also rooting for boozy cake maker Cheyenne too.

I guessed Robert Frost. Obviously I was right.

I thought FJ was easy tonight, but I’m a confirmed homosexual.

I’m glad Sarah and her mugging are gone.

It took me a second but I got Ali, and I too am a confirmed homosexual.

And coincidentally, a main character in both movies was a gay man...

Good riddance to Sarah and her annoying twitching.

New champ Joshua is most entertaining.

FJ was pretty easy.

I found it difficult to believe that Joshua is into playing a lot of sports. Agreed that Sarah was rather annoying.

Nearly wept when none of them could realize that ShopRite is a supermarket!

R599, Perhaps Joshua was including water sports.