Jeopardy All-Star Games

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boson
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by boson »

Yeah, it does sound fun. We'll have to try to get some of these contestants back here to do some trash talking and build a team of fans!

So: Who would you draft first given first pick?

Unlike, say, quiz bowl, you don't need to balance strengths, so you go on straight J prowess.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by CasketRomance »

RJRouge wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 9:19 am
LucarioSnooperVixey wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 10:11 pm Apparently no Arthur Chu.
It does say "favorite contestants," so...
then how is jazz hands matt jackson included?
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by CasketRomance »

Woof wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:26 am So now we know what the “big announcement” is and I think it sounds like a hoot. I think this beats the $&)); out of fantasy football and its ilk and can foresee a thread here with our own fantasy league picks.
way better than fantasy football for sure...but not close to fantasy basketball or fantasy tennis
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by leszekp »

In my completely neutral and unbiased opinion, they should do one for the pre-2000 players, then pit the two winners against each other.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by Golf »

I'll watch, but I think TPTB are trying way to hard with this. And in the end, it just means that there are now 20 less spots for contestants up for grabs this year.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by Don't Think Twice »

I wonder if Arthur Chu turned it down? I would feel bad if they didn't offer it to him. I know he wasn't popular and I certainly wasn't a fan at the time of his run, but since I've watched the documentary about him I've become more sympathetic. :cry:
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

Don't Think Twice wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:28 pm I wonder if Arthur Chu turned it down? I would feel bad if they didn't offer it to him. I know he wasn't popular and I certainly wasn't a fan at the time of his run, but since I've watched the documentary about him I've become more sympathetic. :cry:
The fact that they have Leonard Cooper and Jennifer Giles in the tournament kind of indicates that Arthur Chu DID turn it down in my opinion.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by AndyTheQuizzer »

Golf wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:05 pm I'll watch, but I think TPTB are trying way to hard with this. And in the end, it just means that there are now 20 less spots for contestants up for grabs this year.
I feel as though the few hundred people who look at JBoard aren't really the target audience here.

That being said, I'm legit excited about this (more than I have been any other tournament) because the discussions surrounding these games will be unlike anything we've seen before.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by seaborgium »

LucarioSnooperVixey wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 11:17 pm
Don't Think Twice wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:28 pm I wonder if Arthur Chu turned it down? I would feel bad if they didn't offer it to him. I know he wasn't popular and I certainly wasn't a fan at the time of his run, but since I've watched the documentary about him I've become more sympathetic. :cry:
The fact that they have Leonard Cooper and Jennifer Giles in the tournament kind of indicates that Arthur Chu DID turn it down in my opinion.
How would his turning it down open up two spaces?
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

seaborgium wrote: Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:02 am
LucarioSnooperVixey wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 11:17 pm
Don't Think Twice wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:28 pm I wonder if Arthur Chu turned it down? I would feel bad if they didn't offer it to him. I know he wasn't popular and I certainly wasn't a fan at the time of his run, but since I've watched the documentary about him I've become more sympathetic. :cry:
The fact that they have Leonard Cooper and Jennifer Giles in the tournament kind of indicates that Arthur Chu DID turn it down in my opinion.
How would his turning it down open up two spaces?
There was possibly another turn down. :idea:
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by JayK33 »

I know my opinion won't matter on this, but I'm not a fan of a team format at all. I'm not sure how much I'm looking forward to this. If it was individual I'd be all for it. This, just, I don't know.

Good luck to all involved either way.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by twelvefootboy »

OntarioQuizzer wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 11:20 pm
Golf wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:05 pm I'll watch, but I think TPTB are trying way to hard with this. And in the end, it just means that there are now 20 less spots for contestants up for grabs this year.
I feel as though the few hundred people who look at JBoard aren't really the target audience here.

That being said, I'm legit excited about this (more than I have been any other tournament) because the discussions surrounding these games will be unlike anything we've seen before.
Ditto on OQ's comment about the target audience.

I will be amazed if this gets any buzz from the general viewing public. The shut-ins that watch the show will probably be lucky to remember anybody but Ken Jennings and of course will have no interest in extra-curricular activity. I am overlooking the social media angle, but American Idol, this isn't. And it isn't March Madness either. I'm sure I'm wrong (again). But fanboy that I am, I'm not interested in picking teams. I have been wrong about windshield washers (really, I thought they were a gimmick) and bottled water, so why not this :lol: . I will be interested in seeing the older studs and studettes since I only caught sporadic episodes before Cindy Stowell stole my heart and led me to this site.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by MarkBarrett »

seaborgium wrote: Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:02 am
LucarioSnooperVixey wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 11:17 pm
Don't Think Twice wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:28 pm I wonder if Arthur Chu turned it down? I would feel bad if they didn't offer it to him. I know he wasn't popular and I certainly wasn't a fan at the time of his run, but since I've watched the documentary about him I've become more sympathetic. :cry:
The fact that they have Leonard Cooper and Jennifer Giles in the tournament kind of indicates that Arthur Chu DID turn it down in my opinion.
How would his turning it down open up two spaces?
The powers have invited a representative from the Teachers, Teen, and College tournaments and that was probably one of the goals with it having nothing to do with Mr. Chu. I took as quick a spin as I could take on Arthur's Twitter feed and other than a retweet of a KJ tweet did not see anything in the J! area.

As for Who is Arthur Chu? It's worth seeing for the insight even though it's far from a perfect piece of art and certainly not a mood lifter.

My instinct would be Arthur was not invited (the powers would be troubled by a certain 3-word tweet) and since he is a board member perhaps he will confirm or deny if he was contacted prior to the announcement.

If the All Stars have an alternate(s) my list would have:

Dan Pawson (nothing against Larissa [glad she is included], but he did win the TOC against her as well as he did win his BotD game.)
Joon Pahk
Andrew Pau

The BotD may have ended the J! careers of Vijay Balse, Tom Nissley, and Keith Whitener.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by seaborgium »

Jeopardy loved Leonard Cooper, and I think there's no way he was invited as a backup.

Here's what I think:

Jennings, Collins, Madden, Jackson, Rogers, and Wilson were invited as the top five regular game winners (there's a tie for #5, hence Wilson's inclusion despite his early exit from the ToC). Whether they actively snubbed Chu, or just decided that cutting it off at six players was acceptable even at his expense, or they invited him and he declined, I won't assume.

None of these contestants won a ToC. They invited the five most recent ToC winners (Cohen, Jacob, Ingram, Burnett, Craig) to fill that in, and give an opportunity to participate in a special tournament to the three post-BotD champs.

The other seven:
Brad Rutter is an obvious choice as the perennial winner of special tournaments this millennium.
Pam Mueller had strong showings in the UToC and BotD, getting to the semifinals in each and being one correct FJ away from making the finals both times. Plus, she's a representative of the College Championship.
Larissa Kelly is the first woman to win six regular games and was always willing to make large Daily Double wagers. She led in her ToC final and was felled by the first FJ she ever got wrong. Her BotD appearance was cut short by a Final Jeopardy that everyone missed, which Russ Schumacher was able to take advantage of thanks to a late DD. (I think Stephanie Jass might have been in this tournament instead of Larissa were it not for her recent legal troubles.)
Leonard Cooper is the first Teen Tournament champion since the UToC to get a chance at a special tournament (I'm referring to TTs held since then, so Andrew Westney's BotD appearance doesn't count). He won in rather unusual fashion, first by being the only wildcard finalist in any J! tournament, and then by coming back in the finals from a distant third with late $18,000 DD wager and then a $0 FJ wager accompanying a response saying, "I just won". If they were going to give a space to only one TT winner after 2005, I'm not surprised it was him (although Meryl Federman with her last-day comeback, Elyse Mancuso with her unnecessarily huge wager at the end, and Jeff Xie with the tiebreaker win would have been fine candidates).
Alan Lin probably was advantaged by being in the most recent ToC, and particularly by coming up against Buzzy and Austin, who made it a show, and rising to the occasion with them.
Monica Thieu is the second representative of the College Championship. She was eliminated in the QF of her ToC, but a bigger FJ wager would have snagged her a wild card. Among women who won fairly recent CCs, I'd rank Erin McLean (wildcard semifinalist) and Terry O'Shea (QF winner) above her, but perhaps Monica was given the edge because she is the only person besides Brad to beat Ken in a game show competition (500 Questions).
Jennifer Giles is the only woman so far to win a Teachers Tournament. That's all I've got to justify her.

[edit: wrong spelling of Rogers]
Last edited by seaborgium on Sun Apr 25, 2021 10:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by seaborgium »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sun Sep 09, 2018 12:35 am The BotD may have ended the J! careers of Vijay Balse, Tom Nissley, and Keith Whitener.
It seems particularly unfortunate to me in the case of Vijay, whose BotD loss to Roger hinged (in my view) on a single clue selection: he got first go at DJ! from his third-place position of $2,400, chose HISTORIC OBJECTS for $1,200, Roger got it, moved down to $1,600, bet all $6,400 on the DD, and got it right. Vijay trailed Roger $8,800 to $17,200 entering FJ, but if his first choice had been one spot lower and he doubled up (it was an easy clue and I don't doubt he would have), presuming the rest of the round went the same he would have had $11,200 and Roger would have had $10,800.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by alietr »

All I can say is that rooting will be very difficult with that many friends on there.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by threearruda »

Golf wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:05 pm I'll watch, but I think TPTB are trying way to hard with this. And in the end, it just means that there are now 20 less spots for contestants up for grabs this year.
I agree in all honesty. Of course I'll watch and it's always exciting to see the game's legends play again. I'm over the moon to see Matt play again, in particular. Still, I'd prefer a traditional 35th anniversary tournament over what seems to just be a gimmick given the format and contestant selection. One of the reasons I love J! is that it (usually) strays away from this type of pandering to the average viewer stuff.

In my perfect world, the show runs a regular ToC in June/July the year Alex retires and then immediately jump into a greatest of all time/retirement tournament to end his final season. That way, we'd bring back all of the notable players without excluding any recent favorites.

RE: Contestant selection - I've been wondering who would be brought back for this type of tournament in terms of new contestants post-BoTD and it's nice to have an answer. Four makes sense from the '17 ToC with Buzzy, Austin, Alan considering his play and newfound popularity, as well as Seth for his 12 wins, regardless of his finish. Alex J. and MJ from '15, and the three finalists in the '14 ToC would be must-haves here. Excluding Arthur's absence, no gripes from me.

I agree on Leonard's inclusion that he was a first pick given how viral his win was. One other thing to keep in mind with him is that the show posted his J! effect story a while back, so they were likely ready to call him immediately.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by boson »

It strikes me as odd that the jeopardy powers that be keep bringing in the same quality of contestants they always have: a couple of really good quizzers per week (or so), and 8 or so people with more average skills. But with the TOC and this tournament they hype the top players.

If viewership goes up with better players, why not increase minimum scores on the tests, or increase the test difficulty to find better players on average? The audition/testing seems designed to mostly bring in 'subarus' (in the parlance of Austin Powers), but everyone loves watching Maseratis. It seems like 500 questions and even Millionaire have had success looking for better players.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by Robert K S »

boson wrote: Sun Sep 09, 2018 9:37 amIf viewership goes up with better players ... everyone loves watching Maseratis.
These are likely bad assumptions, and we've had this conversation on this board and its predecessors too many times to count, but the summary goes something like this: Jeopardy! is a quiz show, implying not just quiz but also show, therefore, given the choice of picking players who don't just look good on paper but who also deliver on screen, producers are going to look to a variety of factors other than raw trivia memory or buzzing ability when casting. They're after those who are telegenic, good-natured, quick-witted, and sporting. Beyond that, casting a producers'-picks tournament means casting an ensemble, which means striking a variety of demographic balances, including, most evidently here, gender and age diversity.

It's also worth pointing out that there are plenty of examples of the looks-good-on-paper choices not being the triumphant players in tournaments. David Madden isn't a ToC winner and the inimitable Michael Falk is. Mehrun Etebari isn't a ToC winner and the indomitable Celeste DiNucci is.
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Re: Jeopardy All-Star Games

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

seaborgium wrote: Sun Sep 09, 2018 1:01 am Monica Thieu is the second representative of the College Championship. She was eliminated in the QF of her ToC, but a bigger FJ wager would have snagged her a wild card. Among women who won fairly recent CCs, I'd rank Erin McLean (wildcard semifinalist) and Terry O'Shea (QF winner) above her, but perhaps Monica was given the edge because she is the only person besides Brad to beat Ken in a game show competition (500 Questions).
Larry Zerner beat Ken in the 1 vs. 100 "Last Man Standing" competition in 2006.

Ogi Ogas also defeated Ken in the general knowledge portion of the Grand Slam Tournament in 2007.

However, when dealing with Jeopardy! players, then yea, Monica Thieu was the only one other than Brad.
(And also Watson, but he's not a person. :lol: )
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