Monday, April 16, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[heisman65]

They don't exactly push you out the door, but they don't exactly make you feel welcome, either. Me, I had already sat through a whole day of taping, so I was glad to go.

[reddpen]

I don't think the Harold/Hal distinction would have made that much difference in whether you got FJ or not, either you knew that Holbrook was the guy who did the one man shows as Twain or you didn't.

The speed with which one grasps a clue does make a difference. Judy wouldn't have had her mishap if she had interpreted the clue clearly at the outset.

I stared at that clue for a good 15 seconds trying to make a Twain connection and nothing popped up. In desperation I modified Harold to Hal, and that provided the spark to connect those synapses. I love that moment of solution when panic morphs into delight. Felt bad for Judy getting negged as she must have been in similar straits. Maybe she was cursed by Alex's bad Cary Grant impression of a line he never said on film.

[Judy5cents]

Speaking for myself, I didn't want to stick around to watch the person who just beat me play the game I wanted to play. Even though some people decide to stay after they've been eliminated, I expect most of the second and third place finishers are so disappointed they want to go curl up in a ball somewhere and do the crying that's not allowed in Jeopardy! I know that's how I felt.

The staff is not rude or anything but the truth is you've served your purpose, Once you've played your last game, they don't need you any more. And I'm sure they've learned from experience that a quick "This way out" is better for everyone. Offering sympathy is a waste of their time. They will go on to the next game, while we get in the cab and go home. Jeopardy! is a business. Everyone involved in the show is there to create entertainment. Keeping us motivated and excited and upbeat makes for better contestants, better games and better ratings. Consoling the losers has no place in the business model, nor should it. We have friends and family for that.

But I couldn't help thinking that today is Tuesday, with a new crop of Jeopardy! contestants dropped off at the Sony lot, sitting through Maggie's spiel about The Rules. And when she got to the part about how to answer Final Jeopardy, ("If you make a mistake, cross it out with one line. And you have to cross out everything or it won't count) I like to think my name came up, seeing as how everyone probably just watched last night's show. And I hope Maggie remembers me. And maybe I'll be mentioned in the Final Jeopardy! spiel for years to come. Remember Judy and make sure you cross everything out.

[harrumph]

In Jeopardy parlance we already have Slam's rule, maybe this will be Judy's law.

[Budley007]

Registered here at JBoard just to say this: So sorry for your loss, Judy!

I was so hoping to see you in the middle position on Wednesday airing, assuming Sony realized that the "spirit of the law" should prevail in this case, but alas, it wasn't to be. I can understand Sony's position and agree with their decision concerning the rules, but wow! ...what a horrible way to lose. When I saw you turn away for a brief moment before Alex walked up, my heart broke.

Nevertheless, congratulation on your victories! Your noble attitude after the fact makes you more of a champion than any Jeopardy win ever could have. Best wishes.

[thejeopardyfan]

So here's a silly question, but one I've never seen addressed. This is the second time recently that someone has mentioned being called a cab and essentially pushed out the door. (I believe Jeanie mentioned it as well.) I never thought about that person having to carry all their belongings with them, including multiple changes of clothes. So what if losing players wish to stick around in the studio and watch additional game(s), which Doug mentioned doing recently? Do you have to sit in the audience holding your extra clothes? Or will they leave them in the green room for you to pick up later whenever you actually leave?

Whoa, I almost missed this! I didn't know til I read Cathy's blog post that they don't pay for your cab. My sister and I had rented a car. And I didn't feel like I'd been pushed out the door.
I left my extra clothes in the green room til the end of the day.

[jeff6286]

So here's a silly question, but one I've never seen addressed. This is the second time recently that someone has mentioned being called a cab and essentially pushed out the door. (I believe Jeanie mentioned it as well.) I never thought about that person having to carry all their belongings with them, including multiple changes of clothes. So what if losing players wish to stick around in the studio and watch additional game(s), which Doug mentioned doing recently? Do you have to sit in the audience holding your extra clothes? Or will they leave them in the green room for you to pick up later whenever you actually leave?

Whoa, I almost missed this! I didn't know til I read Cathy's blog post that they don't pay for your cab. My sister and I had rented a car. And I didn't feel like I'd been pushed out the door.
I left my extra clothes in the green room til the end of the day.

Oops, sorry Jeanie, didn't mean to put words in your mouth...or your keyboard. I went back and edited that post to remove the mistake. I have now figured out that it was Cathy's blog post where I read about the cab ride, and you had left the comment on her blog mentioning that you didn't realize that you had to pay for that ride yourself, so that was why I had gotten mixed up and attributed her story to you. I just came across another reference to that cab ride, from RobotJepLady, who posted back in November that she was fortunate enough to catch a ride with another contestant after being caught without enough money for cab fare. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=384&p=12922&hilit=cab#p12922

It is good to know that they let you keep your clothes in the green room until the end of the day. I assumed that was the case, but I wonder how many other players ended up like sherder, with their bag sitting in the aisle while watching a later show from the audience?

[Miss Mellie]

I was done after the third game of my day and I definitely didn't feel like they kicked me out. True, I wasn't allowed to go to lunch with the remaining contestants and I took all my things out of the green room (stashed them in the trunk of my folks' rental), but the coordinators were warm and welcoming in the afternoon. At the end of the day, Maggie gave me a big hug and said really sweet, encouraging things.

Frankly, I was surprised that more eliminated contestants didn't hang around. Maybe I'm just a glass half-full kind of woman but regardless of whether you won or not, you were just on Jeopardy! You have access to the set of one of your favorite TV shows. What could be more fun or interesting back at the hotel?!

[Creed Bratton]

What could be more fun or interesting back at the hotel?!

Vodka?

[debramc]

Frankly, I was surprised that more eliminated contestants didn't hang around. Maybe I'm just a glass half-full kind of woman but regardless of whether you won or not, you were just on Jeopardy! You have access to the set of one of your favorite TV shows. What could be more fun or interesting back at the hotel?!

Ditto on this. The only other thing I even considered doing was going to the tar-pits (I've wanted to do that since my childhood playing-with-model-dinosaurs phase) but without a car or a phone (because I took the instructions of "no phones in the building" seriously) didn't think that was feasible. (Gotta go back to LA someday...) For me, sitting in the audience for two more games was a little bit of an emotional wind-down, so by the time I got back to the hotel, I wasn't really that upset anymore. And I wound up tagging along on a cab ride with the champ who defeated me. She paid for the ride. (Thanks Amy!!) She and her husband/whatever were two of the nicest people I've met and it was very pleasant.

[sherder]

Frankly, I was surprised that more eliminated contestants didn't hang around. Maybe I'm just a glass half-full kind of woman but regardless of whether you won or not, you were just on Jeopardy! You have access to the set of one of your favorite TV shows. What could be more fun or interesting back at the hotel?!

Ditto on this. The only other thing I even considered doing was going to the tar-pits (I've wanted to do that since my childhood playing-with-model-dinosaurs phase) but without a car or a phone (because I took the instructions of "no phones in the building" seriously) didn't think that was feasible. (Gotta go back to LA someday...) For me, sitting in the audience for two more games was a little bit of an emotional wind-down, so by the time I got back to the hotel, I wasn't really that upset anymore. And I wound up tagging along on a cab ride with the champ who defeated me. She paid for the ride. (Thanks Amy!!) She and her husband/whatever were two of the nicest people I've met and it was very pleasant.

I stayed for one game after I lost, then it was time for lunch, so the DH and I went back to the hotel, got cleaned up, and headed out to the Santa Monica Pier. We had a lovely dinner with a bottle of wine on the house (I had met the owner/chef Jared Simons the week before), then DH got to live a dream and shop at McCabe's Guitar Shop. Granted, I had sat through four games the previous week before getting on stage, so I didn't feel like I needed to stay on day 2.

[omgwheelhouse]

I was done after the third game of my day and I definitely didn't feel like they kicked me out. True, I wasn't allowed to go to lunch with the remaining contestants and I took all my things out of the green room (stashed them in the trunk of my folks' rental), but the coordinators were warm and welcoming in the afternoon. At the end of the day, Maggie gave me a big hug and said really sweet, encouraging things.

Frankly, I was surprised that more eliminated contestants didn't hang around. Maybe I'm just a glass half-full kind of woman but regardless of whether you won or not, you were just on Jeopardy! You have access to the set of one of your favorite TV shows. What could be more fun or interesting back at the hotel?!

Ooh, I could see watching more games. But I could also see being completely gutted. I'm not surprised that most people don't come back to watch (presumably because they are gutted), but it's obviously a once-in-a-lifetime thing that I'd have to experience to really know how I'd react.

P.S. I'm pretty sure I'd be gutted, but I'll grant the possibility that I'd be half-full about the whole thing.

[Judy5cents]

I would say it depends on the circumstances of how you ended your game. If you screwed up royally the way I did on Monday, probably not. But If you feel you did your best, for example finishing in second place with a correct FJ answer and a respectable score, sticking around to see how the champion does in the next game would probably be a fun thing to do. I know I would have done that if Sean had come up with All's Well That Ends Well on the April 12th game. Much preferable to hanging out at LAX waiting for the 10 pm red-eye to Charlotte, NC.

[alietr]

Yeah, just not that one. He's a bit older, and a bit blacker. A lot, actually. But good sleuth work. And, no, that isn't my Heisman trophy, either. I think it's Reggie Bush's … Go Buffs!

Colorado man? I was just out there this week visiting my daughter (AKA Thing 1).

You don't *have* to take a cab back. You don't *have* to stay at the hotel and take the shuttle. It just relieves some stress to know you'll get there with everyone else. I took the shuttle and Carol Anne drove. After I'd sat through all of the games, we drove back to the hotel together. Then I went back the next day to attend a few more tapings. I wasn't missing the opportunity to watch the show.

As for FJ, I unfortunately got sidetracked by who would have thought themselves to be Twain in a figurative sense, not a more literal one. Plus I never to got to Harold -> Hal. Sorry it was such a heartbreaker, Judy, but I'm glad you're OK with it and a two-time champ to boot.

[TreehugginCowgirl]

I had no chance on Final Jeopardy. I'd never heard the name Hal Holbrook, and I still can't picture him from Into the Wild.

I'm still a little shocked that Mary Queen of Scots was a triple stumper. Am I just that big of a Tudor nerd?

Judy, out of everyone I've seen on the game, you seemed the happiest to be there. We'll miss you!

Erin

[econgator]

I'm still a little shocked that Mary Queen of Scots was a triple stumper. Am I just that big of a Tudor nerd?

Mary, Queen of Scots was a Stuart, not a Tudor. Mary I (Bloody Mary) was a Tudor.

[TreehugginCowgirl]

I'm still a little shocked that Mary Queen of Scots was a triple stumper. Am I just that big of a Tudor nerd?

Mary, Queen of Scots was a Stuart, not a Tudor. Mary I (Bloody Mary) was a Tudor.

So patrilineal! She's the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, one of Henry VII's daughters. I know Mary's technically a Stuart, but I was referring to the larger royal family and time period as a whole. I'm still surprised one of the contestants tossed out the much more obscure Lady Jane Grey, but no one got to Mary.

[Judy5cents]

I realize this game was aired seven months ago, but after a huge Thanksgiving dinner and family around to cushion the blow of watching one of the biggest disappointments in my life, I finally got up the nerve to watch the DVD Sony sent me because Channel 6 preempted Jeopardy! to cover a local brush fire the date it aired.

It's been said before, but it bears repeating. Watching the game in your living room is so different from playing it for real. There were a couple of triple stumpers that I had no trouble with from the couch, but I couldn't remember at the time. I wanted to say "How could you not know that?" And on the flipside, I answered one question that I had no recollection of ever knowing.

Watching myself lose was not as bad as I expected. But I won't be doing it again.