Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
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- lbligh
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Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
Does anyone know why the Seniors Tournament was discontinued? I read somewhere that that tournament was Alex's idea, because he had noticed that older contestants tended to be slower on the buzzer. Now that I am 56, I am beginning to worry that if I ever do get The Call, I will be at a neurological disadvantage against those young whippersnappers.
Maybe the producers figure that they don't need to attract older people because we are the base viewers of Jeopardy! already?
Maybe the producers figure that they don't need to attract older people because we are the base viewers of Jeopardy! already?
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- georgespelvin
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
"Old people" are never an attractive demographic to get advertisers on board in commercial television. Television shows, including Jeopardy, are always trying to get a younger audience to attract advertisers. Visual bells and whistles, more pop culture categories and the Clue Crew are likely attempts to get a younger audience. I suspect that contestant selection is also made with that in mind so that you don't get a preponderance of older contestants in a single game or week. The Seniors Tournament doesn't fit in with that.
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- lbligh
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
But the commercials during Jeopardy! are definitely not skewed toward millennials!
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
Conversely, a young whippersnapper could say they are at a knowledge disadvantage because you've had 30 additional years to learn facts and information. The age of your opponents should be the 184th thing you should be thinking about when competing.lbligh wrote:I will be at a neurological disadvantage against those young whippersnappers.
- georgespelvin
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
Very true. There was a clue in last night's game (which, of course, I can't repeat in this thread), which I only knew because of knowledge I knew from a news event in my lifetime.
With regard to the ads currently on Jeopardy, it doesn't matter--the quest for the younger viewer is the Holy Grail of commercial programmers whether they obtain it or not.
With regard to the ads currently on Jeopardy, it doesn't matter--the quest for the younger viewer is the Holy Grail of commercial programmers whether they obtain it or not.
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
That would explain why a preponderance of clues in music/TV/cinema are post-2000. It's frustrating when the answer to a pop-culture clue is a show or celeb I've never heard of.georgespelvin wrote:"Old people" are never an attractive demographic to get advertisers on board in commercial television. Television shows, including Jeopardy, are always trying to get a younger audience to attract advertisers. Visual bells and whistles, more pop culture categories and the Clue Crew are likely attempts to get a younger audience.
- Magna
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
This might be part of a plan to sell more Aleve to prospective contestants.lbligh wrote:Does anyone know why the Seniors Tournament was discontinued? I read somewhere that that tournament was Alex's idea, because he had noticed that older contestants tended to be slower on the buzzer. Now that I am 56, I am beginning to worry that if I ever do get The Call, I will be at a neurological disadvantage against those young whippersnappers.
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
I seem to recall this question coming up (either on set or in the green room) when I was on the show, and either Alex or somebody else saying TPTB concluded that seniors did *not* after all need their own tournament, because seniors are just as capable of succeeding at regular games of J! as anybody else. I haven't done any analysis, so I have no idea if that claim is true, but I myself had a couple of close games against older contestants (most notably Margaret Miles, who had impeccable buzzer timing).
- dhkendall
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
The Teachers Tournament would tend to disprove that.pauerpoint wrote:I seem to recall this question coming up (either on set or in the green room) when I was on the show, and either Alex or somebody else saying TPTB concluded that seniors did *not* after all need their own tournament, because seniors are just as capable of succeeding at regular games of J! as anybody else. I haven't done any analysis, so I have no idea if that claim is true, but I myself had a couple of close games against older contestants (most notably Margaret Miles, who had impeccable buzzer timing).
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- Blue Lion
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
In Detroit, you can count on seeing at least two ads for prescription drugs on every episode of Jeopardy.georgespelvin wrote:With regard to the ads currently on Jeopardy, it doesn't matter--the quest for the younger viewer is the Holy Grail of commercial programmers whether they obtain it or not.
- lbligh
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
My teenaged daughter makes fun of the geezer ads but she also jeers at the teen tournament for pandering and trying too hard. She was particularly scornful of the opening design for the teen tournament. I think it's hard to win over the young people so coveted by TV producers and advertisers.
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- BobF
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
And how many for the non-prescription variety?Blue Lion wrote:In Detroit, you can count on seeing at least two ads for prescription drugs on every episode of Jeopardy.georgespelvin wrote:With regard to the ads currently on Jeopardy, it doesn't matter--the quest for the younger viewer is the Holy Grail of commercial programmers whether they obtain it or not.
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- triviawayne
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
Did you look behind the couch?OrangeSAM wrote:I know I left it around here somewhere.
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
Personal injury lawyers make up a lot of ads on my station.
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
I've seen some of those commercials. Those are... interesting advertisements.Bamaman wrote:Personal injury lawyers make up a lot of ads on my station.
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
LAW HAWK!OntarioQuizzer wrote:I've seen some of those commercials. Those are... interesting advertisements.Bamaman wrote:Personal injury lawyers make up a lot of ads on my station.
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- BobF
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
Most of the commercials I see involve people named Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Raj, Howard, Bernadette and Amy.
Who watches commercials any more? I simply flip to the next channel down and look at the Big Bang Theory repeat.
Who watches commercials any more? I simply flip to the next channel down and look at the Big Bang Theory repeat.
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
That's where I keep the remote.triviawayne wrote:Did you look behind the couch?OrangeSAM wrote:I know I left it around here somewhere.
- Blue Lion
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Re: Whatever happened to the Seniors Tournament?
Three Detroit-area personal-injury firms in particular carpet-bomb the local stations with ads. One of the three, the Sam Bernstein Law Firm, even bought the naming rights to the Tigers' pre- and post-game shows during baseball season (I think the firm does the same thing with Red Wings games). Those ads must bring in business; and even if they don't, they gave the Bernsteins enough name recognition to get one of Sam's sons elected to the state supreme court and another elected to the University of Michigan Board of Regents.Bamaman wrote:Personal injury lawyers make up a lot of ads on my station.