Monday, January 30, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Sage on the Hudson]

Absolutely lost on FJ!, knowing the word "caliph" but not what it meant. Even when he said "middle east", I thought "whaaaaaa?!?" Of course I've heard of Jeannie, but I never would've made that connection in a zillion years.

I wonder if they would've accepted the response, "Who's Nelson?" since Jeannie and Tony Nelson finally get married in Season 5.

How did the guy in uniform not get I Dream of Jeannie?!???? C'mon, Brendan!

Because he probably always sympathized with Doctor Bellows.

[John Boy]

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! Kate's late run was amazing and when 60s TV Characters was revealed as the FJ category I thought it was a fat pitch right over the plate. Kate was obviously watching TV (at least Jeopardy) during the 60s and it looked good for her with Brendan being quite a bit younger and maybe not being up on all the 60s era characters. Sure enough, Brendan whiffed and Kate got it right...but NOT WAGERING TO COVER THIRD PLACE????

It was particularly painful to see Kate blow it as her story was mine. I was a kid watching the Fleming Jeopardy and I, too, applied to be a contestant as soon as I turned 18. And also didn't make it. I thought I had a long wait till I finally made it (at 40) but Kate waited at least a decade longer. And then.....

Sigh.

A question for you others who watched this: I was unclear as to whether Kate said she simply tried out, or that she actually made it to the show in the Fleming era. When she said she did well up until the last question, that sounded as if she lost a game on a missed FJ. Did I misunderstand? Was she a contestant or simply a wannabe?


As to this game itself, well, it's all been said. I can't imagine watching the game since 40 years ago and not having a little more wagering sense. And I say that knowing full well that I also watched back in the Fleming era and didn't really start thinking about wagering strategy until much later, even after I had passed a couple of contestant quizzes. I think it was the advent of the original board, where things such as wagering were much more carefully analyzed/discussed/criticized/expounded, that I began thinking seriously about these matters.

Still, I have to wonder whether the dear lady has concussed herself with all the self-administered dope-slapping, once she figured out what a mistake she had made and how much it cost her. Her comeback was truly impressive, and I give her all credit for that. I figured the FJ category was soooo right up her alley, and that her much younger opponents might even be disadvantaged by the "that-was-way-before-my-time" bug.

Needless to say, in the couple of minutes after the reveal, my wife had to sedate me, I was so apoplectic at that wager. Jeesh.

[Austin Powers]

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! Kate's late run was amazing and when 60s TV Characters was revealed as the FJ category I thought it was a fat pitch right over the plate. Kate was obviously watching TV (at least Jeopardy) during the 60s and it looked good for her with Brendan being quite a bit younger and maybe not being up on all the 60s era characters. Sure enough, Brendan whiffed and Kate got it right...but NOT WAGERING TO COVER THIRD PLACE????

It was particularly painful to see Kate blow it as her story was mine. I was a kid watching the Fleming Jeopardy and I, too, applied to be a contestant as soon as I turned 18. And also didn't make it. I thought I had a long wait till I finally made it (at 40) but Kate waited at least a decade longer. And then.....

Sigh.

In Kate's defense, it's nerve-wracking when you're up there.

I suppose, but she just went on a very impressive tear where she didn't look nervous at all. As common a problem is the contestant who hasn't had to add or subtract in years; that rustiness gets exposed at the wrong time. I've said before, there's a correlation between wagering nice round numbers and making the wrong wager. It suggests a skittishness about math, as nice round numbers are a way to find refuge in a calculation YOU KNOW you got right.

This game, overall, was great, with few misses and some funny lines. The contestants kept things moving once Kate found her legs. It's bad luck for the champ that he did not get any of the DDs, or else he'd be back tomorrow, I suspect.

[CyrusChan]

This reminded me of that game where the Saints scored a touchdown on the final play with a pass completion and several laterals, then missed the PAT to lose by a point.

Yup vs the Jaguars. lost 20-19 on a botched PAT by Carney to end the season! ouch

[Paucle]

Yup vs the Jaguars. lost 20-19 on a botched PAT by Carney to end the season! ouch

for the ultimate irony, Carney's favorite movie of all time is North Dallas Forty.

[Volante]

A question for you others who watched this: I was unclear as to whether Kate said she simply tried out, or that she actually made it to the show in the Fleming era. When she said she did well up until the last question, that sounded as if she lost a game on a missed FJ. Did I misunderstand? Was she a contestant or simply a wannabe?

The impression I got was she tried out, but the last audition question she bombed on.

[bpmod]

A question for you others who watched this: I was unclear as to whether Kate said she simply tried out, or that she actually made it to the show in the Fleming era. When she said she did well up until the last question, that sounded as if she lost a game on a missed FJ. Did I misunderstand? Was she a contestant or simply a wannabe?

The impression I got was she tried out, but the last audition question she bombed on.

That's the impression I got too. But would bombing one question eliminate you from getting on?

Brian

[Spaceman Spiff]

Went with Catwoman on FJ, and got stuck in that rut for the whole 30 seconds. Immediately after Alex mentioned the Middle East, the Jeannie connection clicked. A local station used to show reruns of that and "Bewitched" and I really enjoyed watching them...I guess it's been too long. Bother.

Even those of us old enough to remember the show in the first run wouldn't necessarily remember (or even heard) the quote itself, although it definitely pointed me in the right direction. Since the first season of I Dream of Jeannie was in black and white, it wasn't put in most syndication packages. (This was pretty much a standard practice if they had enough episodes to air -- Bewitched, Wild Wild West, and My Three Sons come immediately to mind).

[messyjesse]

I don't recall the champ negging on any $2,000 clues, but I do agree that him missing out on all of the DDs really hurt. He could've damn near put the game away if he'd hit the one at the end of the J! round and gotten it right (he needed it much worse than Kate did if you ask me), and I seriously doubt he would have missed the $800 DD layup that Danny nailed (though for the life of me I can't remember what the clue actually was, even if I remember thinking it was extraordinarily easy).

And I shouldn't have to pile on Kate, but that was just... awful. Would have been one of the greatest comebacks in the show's history.

FJ! was pretty instaget. I can thank many lazy college afternoons watching Walker: Texas Ranger on WGN for that (it leads right into IDoJ). I haven't seen the episode in question, but "caliph" by itself should have put you in the right place of the world to make the connection.

[harrumph]

It's my impression that female players, on average, gravitate towards risk avoidance and caution on bets. Perhaps it was too much of a psychological hurdle to make the nearly all in shut out bet, even though the logic of the situation dictated it. Perhaps she assumed that third place would be similarly cautious and bet to pass the leader by $1. Fairly often we see contestants leave money on the table by making a minimum bet when the betting scenario is that they have to get FJ right to have any chance of winning, the psychological need to avoid aggression overrides the logic.

[TenPoundHammer]

Why am I always so completely unable to connect the dots? I never would've made the connection of Middle East->IDoJ in a million years.

[barandall800]

Went with Catwoman on FJ, and got stuck in that rut for the whole 30 seconds. Immediately after Alex mentioned the Middle East, the Jeannie connection clicked. A local station used to show reruns of that and "Bewitched" and I really enjoyed watching them...I guess it's been too long. Bother.

Even those of us old enough to remember the show in the first run wouldn't necessarily remember (or even heard) the quote itself, although it definitely pointed me in the right direction. Since the first season of I Dream of Jeannie was in black and white, it wasn't put in most syndication packages. (This was pretty much a standard practice if they had enough episodes to air -- Bewitched, Wild Wild West, and My Three Sons come immediately to mind).

True...and even if I had watched those episodes I did years ago more recently, I seriously doubt that was one of the episodes I saw anyhow. But the show would have been fresher in my mind, at least. (I don't think I ever watched it as much as "Bewitched.")

[seaborgium]

It's bad luck for the champ that he did not get any of the DDs, or else he'd be back tomorrow, I suspect.

If we're talking any one DD here, probably the first could have made the difference, and very likely the second, but hitting the third would have prevented Danny's losing $6,000, and I doubt Brendan would have wagered the $13,000+ that would have been necessary to achieve a lock.

[TenPoundHammer]

Oh yeah, I giggled at the mention of "Who told you you could eat my cookies?", because the cookie scene in Jingle All the Way has been somewhat memetic.

PUT DAT COOKIE DOWN! NOW!

[opusthepenguin]

Went with Catwoman on FJ, and got stuck in that rut for the whole 30 seconds. Immediately after Alex mentioned the Middle East, the Jeannie connection clicked. A local station used to show reruns of that and "Bewitched" and I really enjoyed watching them...I guess it's been too long. Bother.

Even those of us old enough to remember the show in the first run wouldn't necessarily remember (or even heard) the quote itself, although it definitely pointed me in the right direction. Since the first season of I Dream of Jeannie was in black and white, it wasn't put in most syndication packages. (This was pretty much a standard practice if they had enough episodes to air -- Bewitched, Wild Wild West, and My Three Sons come immediately to mind).

I grew up watching those shows in the 70s. I remember seeing syndicated episodes of Bewitched, and My Three Sons--and The Brady Bunch, for that matter--in black and white. I think I remember seeing the first episode of I Dream of Jeannie, but few specifics come to mind. I just vaguely remember seeing the show where Larry Hagman finds Jeannie and the show's premise is established.

I don't recall seeing Wild Wild West in black and white, but I think I only got to watch that one in summer. I may have missed the moment where they aired the final episode and looped back around to the first.

I got to see that happen with Bewitched and The Brady Bunch (and I Dream of Jeannie if this vague memory is correct). It was a surreal moment in both cases. Not because of the black and white. That didn't matter much to me, and it certainly wasn't a huge surprise. But in both cases, I'd plunged in media res, thus imprinting on the later versions of each show. That meant I spent a lot of time during both premiere episodes staring at one of the characters and trying to decide if that was the same actor or just what was going on. Darren, as we all know, wasn't the same guy. But Greg was. His transition from square to groovy had been so complete that I saw almost no similarity between the Greg of season 1 and the Greg of season 5.

[opusthepenguin]

It's my impression that female players, on average, gravitate towards risk avoidance and caution on bets. Perhaps it was too much of a psychological hurdle to make the nearly all in shut out bet, even though the logic of the situation dictated it. Perhaps she assumed that third place would be similarly cautious and bet to pass the leader by $1. Fairly often we see contestants leave money on the table by making a minimum bet when the betting scenario is that they have to get FJ right to have any chance of winning, the psychological need to avoid aggression overrides the logic.

Yes, Kate basically had to get it right to win, so the standard shutout bet was indicated... unless Brendan again eschewed mathematics and made the same bet he made on the previous two shows--second place plus $1. Had she bet $1,799 to exploit that possibility, I'd have respected the gambit.

[Bamaman]

I remember seeing Bewitched in black and white a few times, but not Jeannie. I don't think I've ever seen a black and white My Three Sons. I guess it was syndicated as much because those episodes featured the oldest child who got married and vanished as well as William Frawley, who was replaced by William Demerest after he got too old and sick to play the part.

In addition to Samantha not telling her big secret until the wedding night, some other things bothered me. He had never met any of her family before the wedding. And since she was immortal, just how old was she? Did she have a birth certificate? Since she could conjure up whatever she needed, did she have a job before she got married?

I suspect the color clip of Jeannie we saw was colorized by Ted Turner.

[dhkendall]

Why am I always so completely unable to connect the dots? I never would've made the connection of Middle East->IDoJ in a million years.

You enjoy asking rhetorical questions?

[CGeditor]

What a great game to watch! I really liked Brendan, but I like the new champ, too.
My favorite moment was Brendan's "What is the pen?" answer for Lil' Wayne
Brendan and I are about the same age, but I got Jeannie instantly ... having never seen the show. Go figure!

[Rex Kramer]

Interesting that this episode featured both a Fleming-era fan and an FJ on 1960s TV. Had she actually managed to play during the Fleming era, an analogously fair FJ category would have been something like "1920s Radio Characters". I wonder if she would have gotten a clue in that category correct.

Rex