Alex Trebek has passed (Update: new Jeopardy host stuff)) (1 Viewer)

CULVER CITY, Calif. — On television, an episode of “Jeopardy!” moves with a satisfying swiftness, but during a taping, the game can abruptly screech to a halt. One incident in October saw a contestant offer a response that was initially deemed wrong, but it was an unexpected guess.

So just to double-, triple- and quadruple-check that no one missed anything while constructing the clue, a panel of judges — sitting near the stage with laptops, piles of papers, books and Webster’s Dictionary — stopped the proceedings to do more research.

During these moments, host Ken Jennings emerges from the lectern and strolls across the stage like a low-key superhero in a fancy suit, arriving to rescue the audience from 10 minutes of boredom. “Does anyone have any questions?”

Hands shoot up across the rows in the chilly room at Sony Pictures Studios: How many people apply for the show? About 100,000 every year. Around 400 make it.

What is behind the lectern? Jennings has a tablet, and fellow host Mayim Bialik uses a complicated highlighter system for Final Jeopardy.

Is Jennings friends with other “Jeopardy!” champions? He is tight with James Holzhauer, the 2019 phenom who came this close to breaking the earnings record that Jennings held from 2004, but he has had to scale back, because hosts are not supposed to hang out with contestants.

“Which, if you have met James, is not the hugest loss,” Jennings says, as the audience cracks up at the unexpected burn from the mild-mannered trivia king. “Just kidding. He is lovely.”

Eventually, producers give the go-ahead to restart. The contestant’s answer is confirmed incorrect. “You will watch that on TV,” Jennings tells the audience during another such break, “and it will all be like a wonderful dream.”

Jennings, 48, often thinks about life’s funny timing. If he had not gone on a road trip with a friend to try out for “Jeopardy!” right around when the show lifted its limit of five games, he never would have stunned the world by reeling off 74 wins in a row, never would have won about $2.5 million, never would have become a celebrity instead of living the alternate version of his life, in which he envisions himself as “a mildly unhappy Salt Lake City computer programmer.”

And he really never would have predicted that he would one day replace the legendary Alex Trebek.

As proof, we direct you to Jennings’s Reddit username, which is WatsonsBitch. “See, that is the kind of thing you do when you are absolutely convinced you are not going to be host of ‘Jeopardy!,’ ” Jennings said, laughing, during an interview after the taping. (The name is a reference to IBM supercomputer Watson, the machine that crushed Jennings in a competition-slash-ratings stunt in 2011.).............


His suits really aren’t that fancy…
 
It’s been well-established that fans of Jeopardy! take their game pretty seriously, with many feeling there’s a certain amount of respect required of the contestants who take the Alex Trebek Stage. While one might think that Celebrity Jeopardy!’s format lends itself to an easing up of those standards, comedian Hasan Minhaj had a little more panache than what fans are accustomed to, and they were quick to let him know on social media. After Minhaj received scathing criticism over his showing on the quiz show’s primetime spinoff, he issued an apology to fans for “trying to make Jeopardy! fun.”

As Hasan Minhaj explained what went down on the October 30 episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!, he infused his own brand of humor into his apology while speaking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, as he admitted to having a “unique power to piss off dedicated nerds.” He said:

Well, I think it’s safe to say that apology isn’t likely to win over any of the people who were so vocally opposed to his antics on the show. Jimmy Fallon showed a clip of the episode in question — which also featured Wil Wheaton and Troian Bellisario — showing an animated Hasan Minhaj jumping up and down as he answered clues, celebrating correct answers and shouting out his responses to Mayim Bialik..............


 
It’s been well-established that fans of Jeopardy! take their game pretty seriously, with many feeling there’s a certain amount of respect required of the contestants who take the Alex Trebek Stage. While one might think that Celebrity Jeopardy!’s format lends itself to an easing up of those standards, comedian Hasan Minhaj had a little more panache than what fans are accustomed to, and they were quick to let him know on social media. After Minhaj received scathing criticism over his showing on the quiz show’s primetime spinoff, he issued an apology to fans for “trying to make Jeopardy! fun.”

As Hasan Minhaj explained what went down on the October 30 episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!, he infused his own brand of humor into his apology while speaking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, as he admitted to having a “unique power to piss off dedicated nerds.” He said:

Well, I think it’s safe to say that apology isn’t likely to win over any of the people who were so vocally opposed to his antics on the show. Jimmy Fallon showed a clip of the episode in question — which also featured Wil Wheaton and Troian Bellisario — showing an animated Hasan Minhaj jumping up and down as he answered clues, celebrating correct answers and shouting out his responses to Mayim Bialik..............



He just acted like a complete idiot. I thought he was high and not funny at all.
 
It’s been well-established that fans of Jeopardy! take their game pretty seriously, with many feeling there’s a certain amount of respect required of the contestants who take the Alex Trebek Stage. While one might think that Celebrity Jeopardy!’s format lends itself to an easing up of those standards, comedian Hasan Minhaj had a little more panache than what fans are accustomed to, and they were quick to let him know on social media. After Minhaj received scathing criticism over his showing on the quiz show’s primetime spinoff, he issued an apology to fans for “trying to make Jeopardy! fun.”

As Hasan Minhaj explained what went down on the October 30 episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!, he infused his own brand of humor into his apology while speaking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, as he admitted to having a “unique power to piss off dedicated nerds.” He said:

Well, I think it’s safe to say that apology isn’t likely to win over any of the people who were so vocally opposed to his antics on the show. Jimmy Fallon showed a clip of the episode in question — which also featured Wil Wheaton and Troian Bellisario — showing an animated Hasan Minhaj jumping up and down as he answered clues, celebrating correct answers and shouting out his responses to Mayim Bialik..............



There are other celebs who were annoying and hard to watch, but Minhaj took it to another level. I get wanting to have fun but read the room.
 
In the spirit of “Jeopardy!” we offer you this clue: These garments belonged to host Alex Trebek before his son, Matthew Trebek, donated them to formerly incarcerated men.


Correct response: What are 300 neckties, 58 dress shirts, 25 polo shirts, 15 belts, 14 suits and nine sports coats?


Congratulations if you got it right.


There were also some sweaters, shoes and a couple of coats in a shipment of well-tailored menswear that arrived at the Doe Fund program in New York City in mid-January.


Matthew Trebek said he was happy his father’s clothes could be put to good use. Alex Trebek was the famed quizmaster and host of “Jeopardy!” for 37 years, until he died of pancreatic cancer at age 80 in Los Angeles last year.


“I loved the idea of guys getting a second chance to go on interviews and feel presentable in my dad’s clothes,” Matthew Trebek said. “My dad had a large wardrobe for ‘Jeopardy!’ because they taped five shows a day, two days a week. It all just kind of clicked.”

Most of the suits and shirts in Alex Trebek’s wardrobe were distributed to men seeking employment, and the bulk of the neckties will be handed out to program participants when they start new jobs, said Harriet McDonald, president of the Doe Fund.


The nonprofit, which started in 1985, provides housing, job counseling, training and work opportunities for about 800 men with histories of homelessness, substance abuse and incarceration.


McDonald said the clothes have been “a real confidence booster” for the men in the program.

“Our guys are over the moon to wear something that was worn on television by Alex Trebek,” she said……


 
Loving the best of 7 TOC.
 
He handled that quite well. I can't believe, but maybe I should, that even the champion got that wrong.

Yeah - but I don’t think I had ever thought about it until Y2K when it was discussed commonly. As this was in 1984 and a final jeopardy question, and they all missed it, I think it’s fair to wonder how common of knowledge that was 15 years before Y2K.
 
It’s been well-established that fans of Jeopardy! take their game pretty seriously, with many feeling there’s a certain amount of respect required of the contestants who take the Alex Trebek Stage. While one might think that Celebrity Jeopardy!’s format lends itself to an easing up of those standards, comedian Hasan Minhaj had a little more panache than what fans are accustomed to, and they were quick to let him know on social media. After Minhaj received scathing criticism over his showing on the quiz show’s primetime spinoff, he issued an apology to fans for “trying to make Jeopardy! fun.”

As Hasan Minhaj explained what went down on the October 30 episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!, he infused his own brand of humor into his apology while speaking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, as he admitted to having a “unique power to piss off dedicated nerds.” He said:

Well, I think it’s safe to say that apology isn’t likely to win over any of the people who were so vocally opposed to his antics on the show. Jimmy Fallon showed a clip of the episode in question — which also featured Wil Wheaton and Troian Bellisario — showing an animated Hasan Minhaj jumping up and down as he answered clues, celebrating correct answers and shouting out his responses to Mayim Bialik..............



IIRC, he basically made it an SNL skit.
 
It used to be that Jeopardy! was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but that has started to change since new showrunner Michael Davies took over.

And he could be about to make another significant change to the much-loved show ahead of its landmark 40th season.

If the rule change comes into force it will be harder for new contestants to clinch a coveted spot on the show. Fans have already reacted amid concern that it will ruin the ‘mystique’ of Jeopardy! forever.

Since the late Alex Trebek started hosting the Jeopardy! in 1984, it was a rule that players only had one shot at becoming Jeopardy! champion.

Once a player had competed on the syndicated version of the show, they were ineligible to ever compete again (outside of special tournaments or rare production errors).

However, on the latest Inside Jeopardy! podcast, executive producer Davies said that he was considering allowing contestants who had previously competed on the show to come back and compete again.

And he wasn’t just talking special competitions, he meant regular episodes. This would mean that hopefuls who have been trying for years to get on Jeopardy! could find their way blocked by a previous contestant getting a second chance.

Davies explained that he sees Jeopardy! as a sport, and that should mean it includes the best players, regardless of how many times they’ve played before.........

 
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It used to be that Jeopardy! was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but that has started to change since new showrunner Michael Davies took over.

And he could be about to make another significant change to the much-loved show ahead of its landmark 40th season.

If the rule change comes into force it will be harder for new contestants to clinch a coveted spot on the show. Fans have already reacted amid concern that it will ruin the ‘mystique’ of Jeopardy! forever.

Since the late Alex Trebek started hosting the Jeopardy! in 1984, it was a rule that players only had one shot at becoming Jeopardy! champion.

Once a player had competed on the syndicated version of the show, they were ineligible to ever compete again (outside of special tournaments or rare production errors).

However, on the latest Inside Jeopardy! podcast, executive producer Davies said that he was considering allowing contestants who had previously competed on the show to come back and compete again.

And he wasn’t just talking special competitions, he meant regular episodes. This would mean that hopefuls who have been trying for years to get on Jeopardy! could find their way blocked by a previous contestant getting a second chance.

Davies explained that he sees Jeopardy! as a sport, and that should mean it includes the best players, regardless of how many times they’ve played before.........

He views it as a sport…only the best should compete…so let’s invite all the losers back…hmm…
 
It used to be that Jeopardy! was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but that has started to change since new showrunner Michael Davies took over.

And he could be about to make another significant change to the much-loved show ahead of its landmark 40th season.

If the rule change comes into force it will be harder for new contestants to clinch a coveted spot on the show. Fans have already reacted amid concern that it will ruin the ‘mystique’ of Jeopardy! forever.

Since the late Alex Trebek started hosting the Jeopardy! in 1984, it was a rule that players only had one shot at becoming Jeopardy! champion.

Once a player had competed on the syndicated version of the show, they were ineligible to ever compete again (outside of special tournaments or rare production errors).

However, on the latest Inside Jeopardy! podcast, executive producer Davies said that he was considering allowing contestants who had previously competed on the show to come back and compete again.

And he wasn’t just talking special competitions, he meant regular episodes. This would mean that hopefuls who have been trying for years to get on Jeopardy! could find their way blocked by a previous contestant getting a second chance.

Davies explained that he sees Jeopardy! as a sport, and that should mean it includes the best players, regardless of how many times they’ve played before.........

Maybe they are having a hard time finding people smart enough to appear on the show!
 
A Jeopardy! producer has divulged a show secret while apologising for a “horrible error” in a recent episode.

On 9 March, viewers tuning in to watch the game show were frustrated after a shot of the contestants’ final scores was shown during host Mayim Bialik’s opening speech.

The moment spoiled the entirety of the episode, and now executive producer Michael Davies has revealed why the error occurred.

Speaking on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Davies said: “Right off the bat, apologies to our entire audience.”

He continued: “We totally blew it at the top of the show. We made a horrible error where we revealed the final scores at the end in the opening cutaway shot during Mayim’s monologue.”

Davies, offering a rare insight into the production of the series, then said the opening part of the show is often re-shot after the game has been completed, with cutaway shots including the contestants’ final scores replaced by the same shots from the start……

 

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