Hometown howdies format change

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dhkendall
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by dhkendall »

KazooJ!fan wrote:I guess I'm gonna have to come up with a new howdy if I ever get on the show. The one I came up with (old format) goes something like: "Hey Kalamazoo-remember the 1980 tornado? Watch me blow away the competition on Jeopardy!"
That would be unique. Not too many people reference disasters that killed people in their Howdy. But then, I didn't scan the Archive for any in the format of "Hi [town], I'm [name]! My grandparents survived the Ukrainian genocide! Watch me survive on Jeopardy!", so I could be wrong.
KazooJ!fan wrote:The new format is boring. At least with the old format, you had to be creative.
I will agree there (see my Howdy that I can't use now earlier in the thread), but I will also agree that it's hard for people to come up and be creative (in a way that doesn't involve referencing disasters) on the spot.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by seaborgium »

dhkendall wrote:Not too many people reference disasters that killed people in their Howdy. But then, I didn't scan the Archive for any in the format of "Hi [town], I'm [name]! My grandparents survived the Ukrainian genocide! Watch me survive on Jeopardy!", so I could be wrong.
There was a New Orleans contestant whose games taped before and aired after Hurricane Katrina, and whatever her Howdy was, TPTB decided it shouldn't be put up: http://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=1070
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by JayK33 »

I strongly dislike the new format. Hearing "That's me!" every 5 seconds is annoying. Go back to the original, please.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by dhkendall »

JayK33 wrote:I strongly dislike the new format. Hearing "That's me!" every 5 seconds is annoying. Go back to the original, please.
To be fair, they aren't meant to be heard in a row like that, they are meant to be aired on the player's home station so you only see the one (although it seems most stations don't air them).

But I do agree, with this way being most common way to see them it is difficult to watch.
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Robert K S
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by Robert K S »

It seems like it would be costlier to produce the new Howdies, too--they involve more production time, what with typesetting the "clues" and having a Clue Crew member read them, and then editing them together. In the old days, there was only one edit step required; now there are a few.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by BobF »

seaborgium wrote:
dhkendall wrote:Not too many people reference disasters that killed people in their Howdy. But then, I didn't scan the Archive for any in the format of "Hi [town], I'm [name]! My grandparents survived the Ukrainian genocide! Watch me survive on Jeopardy!", so I could be wrong.
There was a New Orleans contestant whose games taped before and aired after Hurricane Katrina, and whatever her Howdy was, TPTB decided it shouldn't be put up: http://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=1070
Probably "I hope to loot Sony Pictures Entertainment by answering a lot of questions correct"
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by ihavejeoprosy »

seaborgium wrote:
dhkendall wrote:Not too many people reference disasters that killed people in their Howdy. But then, I didn't scan the Archive for any in the format of "Hi [town], I'm [name]! My grandparents survived the Ukrainian genocide! Watch me survive on Jeopardy!", so I could be wrong.
There was a New Orleans contestant whose games taped before and aired after Hurricane Katrina, and whatever her Howdy was, TPTB decided it shouldn't be put up: http://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=1070
Im guessing she said something like "laissez les bon tomps roulez", which would have been inappropriate after Katrina.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by TomC4253 »

When it came time to tape my "Howdy" I drew a complete blank. I hadn't thought to prepare one for whatever reason. They would skip me and come back later until finally they sent Glen over to work with me. He suggested "Hello New York, I'm Tom Carroll from White Plains. I never made it on the Great White Way, but watch me make it on Jeopardy!"
I remember thinking to myself "Why would I say something like that?"
After some discussion about things that NY might be noted for I came up with "Hi New York, I'm Tom Carroll from White Plains. Hey, put down that pizza and watch me on Jeopardy!"

That aired a couple of times a day in NY along with "This week on Jeopardy!" which started something like "an appearance nearly four decades in the making" and a cut to me saying "Thirty-seven years ago I took the test for the first time" during my face-to-face with Alex.

Having said that, I noticed that someone was able to link to a prior Hometown Howdy re: Katrina.
Is there a way to link to old "Howdys" or "This week on Jeopardy!"?
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by Linear Gnome »

I'm such a geek (or the appropriate flavor of geek) that I wrote and practiced my HH ahead of time. I ended up needing only one take. I recall that one contestant needed about a dozen takes.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by MarkBarrett »

Linear Gnome wrote:I'm such a geek (or the appropriate flavor of geek) that I wrote and practiced my HH ahead of time. I ended up needing only one take. I recall that one contestant needed about a dozen takes.
I had mine down cold before heading south and was done in one take as well. In the green room I enjoyed watching others work on the unplanned for assignment. What I had not expected was the audience to be present for the taping of the howdies. My mindset had been that even if I messed up it would just be a retape and no one would know in the mostly empty studio.

Instead the seats were filled with people ready to laugh when other contestants botched their line and needed take two. No one from my group needed more than a couple of tries though. My howdy got a chuckle from the crowd because, hey, I'm a funny guy.

The new format? I'm glad to have been old school.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by Winchell Factor »

Winchell Factor wrote:I don't hate the new format.
I'm rethinking my earlier position. I get that J! doesn't intend for people to watch 11 of them in a row, but let's be real. How many people ever see one isolated Hometown Howdy?
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by dhkendall »

Question for those who have been on and done a "new style" howdy: For the first part of the Howdy (i.e. the "This USC alum is going to be on Jeopardy!" or "This library volunteer is going to be on Jeopardy!"), do the CCs write that part based on your personal info in your file (and your submitted stories) and you don't know what they have until you see it on their website (or, if you're lucky, your local broadcaster) or do you get to suggest what goes in that part?
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by patkav »

They ask you to submit a few suggestions (I think they asked for at least three), but I didn't know what would be there until I saw it on the website.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by Zyzzyva »

dhkendall wrote:Question for those who have been on and done a "new style" howdy: For the first part of the Howdy (i.e. the "This USC alum is going to be on Jeopardy!" or "This library volunteer is going to be on Jeopardy!"), do the CCs write that part based on your personal info in your file (and your submitted stories) and you don't know what they have until you see it on their website (or, if you're lucky, your local broadcaster) or do you get to suggest what goes in that part?
Along with the questionnaire, they asked for clue suggestions for the hometown howdies that were about things we are involved in locally. They didn't say which one they'd use ahead of time, but I knew which one it was going to be based on how lame my other options were.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by Winchell Factor »

Zyzzyva wrote:
dhkendall wrote:Question for those who have been on and done a "new style" howdy: For the first part of the Howdy (i.e. the "This USC alum is going to be on Jeopardy!" or "This library volunteer is going to be on Jeopardy!"), do the CCs write that part based on your personal info in your file (and your submitted stories) and you don't know what they have until you see it on their website (or, if you're lucky, your local broadcaster) or do you get to suggest what goes in that part?
Along with the questionnaire, they asked for clue suggestions for the hometown howdies that were about things we are involved in locally. They didn't say which one they'd use ahead of time, but I knew which one it was going to be based on how lame my other options were.
I certainly dodged a bullet! I don't really care for the sound of "This Columbia, MD, resident sits in his house and never does a damn thing for anybody." (But, apparently, not so much that I'd ever leave my house or do anything for people.)
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by kristinsausville »

It's one of the sheets that's part of The Paperwork now -- listing a variety of ways you could be introduced in those. My options were limited because I don't live where I went to high school, college, etc. I think I only put down three, and two of them basically overlapped anyway. Then you line up, film the "Who's FirstName LastName? That's me!" one contestant after another. It's the first thing done on stage, before rehearsals.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by lbligh »

In our area they never seem to show the Hometown Howdies, so I have only just learned about their existence.

The new format is much lower-stress than the old, but I am rather surprised nobody has remarked on the grammar. If I were on television saying "It's me," I would never hear the end of it from my friends.

Does anyone happen to know, is "It's me" mandatory? I wouldn't really say "It is I," even though in real life I might. Someone earlier in this thread suggested "Yours truly," which I also would not say.

Hmm, such a problem. I guess I should wait until I get The Call, if ever, to figure this out.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by dhkendall »

lbligh wrote:In our area they never seem to show the Hometown Howdies, so I have only just learned about their existence.

The new format is much lower-stress than the old, but I am rather surprised nobody has remarked on the grammar. If I were on television saying "It's me," I would never hear the end of it from my friends.

Does anyone happen to know, is "It's me" mandatory? I wouldn't really say "It is I," even though in real life I might. Someone earlier in this thread suggested "Yours truly," which I also would not say.

Hmm, such a problem. I guess I should wait until I get The Call, if ever, to figure this out.
I thought they said "That's me!"?
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by lbligh »

Oops, you're right, it's "That's me," but the grammatical difficulty remains.
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Re: Hometown howdies format change

Post by Bamaman »

Winchell Factor wrote:
Winchell Factor wrote:I don't hate the new format.
I'm rethinking my earlier position. I get that J! doesn't intend for people to watch 11 of them in a row, but let's be real. How many people ever see one isolated Hometown Howdy?

When exactly are they supposed to air? Are they used as a lead-in for the show if someone in your market is on that day? Or just some general random plug sometime during the day? I've never seen one and wouldn't even know the Howdies existed if not for this board.
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