Tuesday, October 29, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[John Boy]

How?

The plot is well-known.

True that. I have seen the movie and remember the plot and all that, but don't remember that line and even after the reveal couldn't make any connection between that line and that movie. Oh well.

[John Boy]

Instaget FJ! A classic.

I thought they boards were pretty easy today.

So did I until I came to a screeching halt at FJ. Had over $40K Coryat, poss. best of the new season.

[John Boy]

I'm annoyed, but not surprised, that Alex ruled in favor of "shot put". The object is called a "shot".

Glad to see I'm not the only curmudgeon on this particular clue. They asked for the sphere, which IS as you say a SHOT. It always bugs me when someone reports in the newspaper that at the local track and field meet some kid "threw the shotput...." It's like saying he "threw the javelin throw...." I was disappointed for the writers that they didn't neg that. They should have anticipated that and been prepared to neg it, the same way they always seem to be standing by to pounce on anyone who mistakenly refers to the "Book of Revelations" or any of a long list of common mistakes.

[earendel]

Did really well on the boards but failed at FJ!, never having seen the movie.

The Daily Double comes with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato, while the McDouble has the standard mustard, ketchup, reconstituted onions and a pickle. It has only one slice of cheese, to distinguish it from the double cheeseburger. They still serve them in these parts.

[Sherm]

I really think had they given me that FJ! 100 times I would have gotten it 99 times, but I could not pull it up and I've only seen groundhog day, maybe 6 or 7 times, I also live within 25 mile of Punxsutawney.

I not the greatest jeopardy player in the world, but I've now missed 9 of the last 10 FJ! question, and one about half the misses I've been just killing myself for missing what are pretty easy questions, but this one tops the list. I wrote down Austen Powers knowing full well it was wrong.

[Perv Griffin]

That segment with Marge going on in what was ultimately the last clue may be the weirdest thing I've ever seen with Jeopardy. Has there ever been anything remotely like that before?

Alex had a lot of chutzpah admonishing Marge for 'taking like fifteen seconds' when his blithering babble has become increasingly intrusive to the point where it's a noteworthy cause for celebration when we actually get through all 60 questions and answers.

I was surprised at the 'Chicago transport known by a single letter' clue, thinking all my life that Chicago's train system was the El due to its partially elevated nature, but I learned that L is the preferred spelling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_'L ... 7_or_El.3F

[opusthepenguin]

It's a movie where the main character apparently dies over and over again. Almost like he's living the same day over and over!

I haven't seen it, but I know the premise is that the Bill Murray character lives the same day over and over again. What I didn't realize is he also died over and over.

Only for part of the movie. He doesn't die at the end of every repeated day. Sometimes he just goes to sleep and wakes up at 6:00 a.m. on the previous morning. The movie never quite shows him staying up all night and transitioning back to the previous day at 6:00 a.m.

I keep hoping Groundhog Day will show up in a META category along with (pick four from the following):

• White Men Can't Jump/Rosie Perez
• The X-Files/David Duchovny
• Saturday Night Live/Will Ferrell/Darrell Hammond/Norm Macdonald
• Weird Al/(The) Greg Kihn (Band)
• Cheers/Cliff Clavin/John Ratzenberger
• The Simpsons/Marge Simpson
• David Foster Wallace
• Ellen DeGeneres

Having the relevant celebrity read the clue would be an added bonus, though that kind of nixes a David Foster Wallace clue. Marge Simpson reading a clue would be fun. With Duchovny and The X-Files, the obvious choice would be to reference Alex Trebek's appearance on the show. But my preference would be for a clue about the 1996 episode set at Grover Cleveland Alexander High School. The writer(s) chose that name for the school to tease Duchovny about a goof he made in a 1995 Celebrity Jeopardy appearance.

Alternatively, they could write five clues with video of a Jeopardy-related moments and have contestants name the movie/TV show.

Or maybe still shots from each show and a clue written to go along. E.g. an image of Bill Murray in GD watching Jeopardy with the following text read as a clue: "The 1991 Jeopardy episode shown here actually did NOT air on this date, referenced in the movie's title." The footage actually comes from the November 11, 1991 TOC game. Coincidentally or not, that game includes contestant Leslie Frates whose first regular season game was on February ... 3rd in 1991. Ooooh. So close.

[Magna]

It's a movie where the main character apparently dies over and over again. Almost like he's living the same day over and over!

I haven't seen it, but I know the premise is that the Bill Murray character lives the same day over and over again. What I didn't realize is he also died over and over.

Only for part of the movie. He doesn't die at the end of every repeated day. Sometimes he just goes to sleep and wakes up at 6:00 a.m. on the previous morning. The movie never quite shows him staying up all night and transitioning back to the previous day at 6:00 a.m.

After reliving the day for a while, he starts trying various ways of doing himself in. But it never works (he always wakes up as usual and relives the day again), so he gives up.

[opusthepenguin]

And then there's the Muni Metro, which I didn't even realize existed until my last day in SF. That one will get you around SF to an extent.

Oh, yeah. And they're much more fun than a bus. When the missus and I go to San Francisco, we buy a Muni pass and ride the rides. It's half the fun of being there.

[Vermonter]

I know Alex isn't the hippest dude in the world, but not knowing what a barrista is?

For the purposes of the patter Alex at the very least *feigned* to not know what someone who makes and serves coffee is called; FWIW, some people aren't even familiar enough with the word to spell it properly

I learned what a barista was in my second game, when a clue asked for the English term for a lawyer; it had something at the end like: "and they don't serve you coffee".

[TenPoundHammer]

With Duchovny and The X-Files, the obvious choice would be to reference Alex Trebek's appearance on the show. But my preference would be for a clue about the 1996 episode set at Grover Cleveland Alexander High School. The writer(s) chose that name for the school to tease Duchovny about a goof he made in a 1995 Celebrity Jeopardy appearance.

The last time I saw Duchovny read a clue, he was so monotone and mumbly that even Steven Wright would've told him to perk up.

I think I learned the word "Barista" in a Starbucks ad on the radio, then saw it a couple months later in Zits.

[Bamaman]

Funny ... I can tell you 1, 3, & 4 (well, 4 didn't quite make it to space, but that wasn't her fault), but not sure I've ever heard #2's name before. I guess it is like they say: 2nd place is first loser.

Actually, #4 did go into space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-41-D

It would have been great if someone had said the cactus flag was "Me-hi-co".

[opusthepenguin]

The last time I saw Duchovny read a clue, he was so monotone and mumbly that even Steven Wright would've told him to perk up.

Ouch!

I think I remember that. Ok, scratch that idea.

[Vanya]

I'm shocked and dismayed so many of you haven't heard of bikini baristas.

[Onairb]

That segment with Marge going on in what was ultimately the last clue may be the weirdest thing I've ever seen with Jeopardy. Has there ever been anything remotely like that before?

Alex had a lot of chutzpah admonishing Marge for 'taking like fifteen seconds' when his blithering babble has become increasingly intrusive to the point where it's a noteworthy cause for celebration when we actually get through all 60 questions and answers.

I was surprised at the 'Chicago transport known by a single letter' clue, thinking all my life that Chicago's train system was the El due to its partially elevated nature, but I learned that L is the preferred spelling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_'L ... 7_or_El.3F

It seems as if the 'preferred spelling' magically changed somewhere around the turn of the millennium. It was always 'el' when I was going to school in the '80s and '90s.

[seank]

hey everyone, this is sean, finally posting after months and months of lurking.

the final question was especially apt, as i'm pretty sure those are all things the american public wants to do to me after seeing last night's show. to those of you put off by the cheesy voice, bizarre physicality and other terrible affectations, you have every right to be. i would have reacted with venom to any contestant behaving like that were i watching at home, but in the process of trying to be a little more confident and loose on stage than i instinctively would, i wound up going completely off the deep end. so, to you boardies and the world, i am sorry.

on a side note, those are my real teeth, and i've had friends, strangers and employers ask me if i was wearing fangs or got them filed down on purpose. so that's nothing new

as far as the game goes, it did seem like an easier board than most, but i tried to obey the bob harris method of never ringing in without 100% certainty on clues. i was a huge flag nut growing up, but i had honestly never noticed the cactus in the middle of mexico's flag. it made a lot of sense as an educated guess, but there was a feeling gnawing at me that i was blanking on another central american country with an eagle, so i decided to let it pass.

i was pretty surprised that 'mercury seven' was accepted (a flub on my part), and was leery to say 'shot put' at first, but i've seen it used as a noun so many times that i'd forgotten it was wrong to do so.

finally, it was fate that i spent more time talking to molly and marge than almost anyone in my group, the morning of the tape day. they are both incredibly sweet and poised people who came in with the potential to win multiple games, and i'm certain it would have never gone to their heads. molly had been an alternate back in march and so she knew she was on the brink of playing early, and as she put on her great monday performance, marge and i sat together in the audience and shared buzzer strategies and words of encouragement. even amid the thrill of winning, i was very sad that she wasn't able to enjoy the same.

and one last note: i NEVER expected to win. i'm a decent player at best, and i was flabbergasted that the coordinators chose me after what was my first audition this past february -- i still feel that i only passed both tests by the skin of my teeth. i shored up some areas of knowledge this summer that are second-nature to the veteran J! watcher, but would have flown over my head a few months ago. in the final weeks before my taping, i scavenged all the accounts of losing contestants that i could, and tried to make peace with the fact that far more intelligent people than i routinely fell short of victory, and that whatever happened on that stage, either good or bad, the one thing i could control was to let all of that go and simply enjoy my one moment to fulfill a dream. unfortunately, that enthusiasm came across in quite an insufferable way, but i only hope that my genuine happiness to be up there came across too.

thanks for watching.

[alietr]

Most gracious of you, indeed, Sean. And welcome!

[alietr]

I'm shocked and dismayed so many of you haven't heard of bikini baristas.

I'm neither shocked nor dismayed that you had heard of them.

[LeFlaneur]

That segment with Marge going on in what was ultimately the last clue may be the weirdest thing I've ever seen with Jeopardy. Has there ever been anything remotely like that before?

Alex had a lot of chutzpah admonishing Marge for 'taking like fifteen seconds' when his blithering babble has become increasingly intrusive to the point where it's a noteworthy cause for celebration when we actually get through all 60 questions and answers.


Ditto !

Congratulations Sean on a well played game. You started off slowly but then really rolled. The fisrt time you spoke I thought,"This guy want's to be an announcer. Watchout Johnny Gilbert." Best of retro luck to a very gracious winner.

[Vermonter]

I'm shocked and dismayed so many of you haven't heard of bikini baristas.

I've been ... um ... by a few of those.

How about cougar baristas?