Celebrity Jeopardy! Sunday, September 25, 2022 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[davey]

I noticed there was some banter at the end about Simu Liu having to cancel dinner plans, and he put his head in his hands at the prospect of "coming back," presumably that evening for his semi-final? I hope Andy Richter didn't tank in favor of his dinner plans...What sort of commitment is required of these celebrities?

[Robert K S]

Here's more about the history of the fedora, which I found fascinating.

[jeopardyfan939]

I watched the premiere last night, and here were the things I was impressed with:

- Unlike most CJ! games from the Trebek era, all clues were uncovered; none were left on the board.
- Adding the Triple Jeopardy! round.
- New opening sequence with an updated globe and a shooting star going around the globe. Makes me wonder why they didn't use that as the S39 intro as well. Oh well, maybe it will carry over to the syndicated series later this season if not next season.
- They used the version of the new theme with the guitar, and perhaps that will carry over to the syndicated series later this season.

Only things I was disappointed with:
- Dollar figures didn't pop in at the start of the Double Jeopardy! and Triple Jeopardy! rounds. If the producers can revive the globe logo, then why can't they also bring back the practice of popping in the dollar figures at the start of DJ?
- They used the 2008 Think! music in FJ! instead of an updated version that matches the new theme.

[kingskip]

In the archive, I noticed this game was listed under both Season 39 and Celebrity primetime. It doesn’t need to be under Season 39.

Thanks, fixed. This was sort of a major change to the Archive that affected (or will affect, once I get around to it) just about every script, even scripts I wasn't expecting it to affect. So there are going to be lots of weird little bugs that I will squash over the next couple of weeks as this whole Triple Jeopardy! thing shakes out.

It could have been a lot worse. If they ever change the game board geometry, I'm crying.

I see the count on Season 39 still shows 12 episodes archived even though there are only 11.

[Bamaman]

I was worried having three rounds in an hour would make things drag if they fluffed it up too much. I could have lived without a second interview segment but at least we saw all 90 clues. The J6 clues read by Johnny were a nice idea.

[Volante]

For the first time, I got more than 60 clues correct.

...you don't count FJ?

The score box below the TJ board is off center. Not a major problem, figured it was one of those weird things that resulted out of the extra round.

I'm still trying to figure that out. According to Chrome developer mode on a desktop, which can emulate a mobile device, it's fixed, but I can clearly see it still has problems on my phone on Chrome. I don't know whether it's just a stylesheet caching issue or something more than that.

I don't know how to do a hard refresh on a mobile device.

Alternate method would be to clear your cache
(Also, It was stylesheet caching, at least for me; I had the same issue and noticed the css didn't have the TJ div. reloading the CSS brought up the new div, then force refresh of the score page fixed the centering)

Also rebuilding my coryat calculator for this...can't integrate it into one page, but building a second ended up being a lot easier. Haven't touched the code in over 12 years yet past self actually left comments!

[MinnesotaMyron]

Alternate method would be to clear your cache
(Also, It was stylesheet caching, at least for me; I had the same issue and noticed the css didn't have the TJ div. reloading the CSS brought up the new div, then force refresh of the score page fixed the centering)

On my home computer here, I just control-F5'd it, and the "Triple Jeopardy! Round" note jumped from left-justified to centered. Kind of fun to see.

[Mathew5000]

Just out of curiosity, does anybody know:

(1) Do the celebs get paid for their appearance, in addition to the donation to their chosen charities?

(2) Does the celeb get any tax advantage from the donation to the charity? Or is it Sony (or a corporate affiliate) who gets the tax advantage?

(3) To what extent are standards & practices relaxed for the celebrity games? Presumably in a non-charity game, there could never be a category per game humorously tailored to each contestant (e.g. THE RICHTER SCALE for Andy Richter). But legally does 47 U.S.C. § 509 still apply? Because surely a charitable donation constitutes a "prize" for purposes of § 509(b)(1).

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

For the first time, I got more than 60 clues correct.

...you don't count FJ?

Pre-FJ.

[Bamaman]

Just out of curiosity, does anybody know:

(1) Do the celebs get paid for their appearance, in addition to the donation to their chosen charities?

I think union rules demand they get compensated for their time.

(2) Does the celeb get any tax advantage from the donation to the charity? Or is it Sony (or a corporate affiliate) who gets the tax advantage?

The host usually says "Jeopardy is donating..." so I would assume it goes on Sony's tax return. I don't know the tax laws but I would imagine the money going to charity is treated the same as the regular prize money, a normal business expense.

(3) To what extent are standards & practices relaxed for the celebrity games? Presumably in a non-charity game, there could never be a category per game humorously tailored to each contestant (e.g. THE RICHTER SCALE for Andy Richter). But legally does 47 U.S.C. § 509 still apply? Because surely a charitable donation constitutes a "prize" for purposes of § 509(b)(1).

I don't see how Andy had an advantage in the RICHTER category as it was about earthquakes and not his life. I think they have had similar categories in past celebrity games.

They probably couldn't do a category that was a joke about a player's name because the boards are chosen at random for each game. I do recall a category called WATSON in one of Ken's BOTD games. Obviously, that was arranged but it wasn't giving him any advantage.

[hanzz]

I noticed there was some banter at the end about Simu Liu having to cancel dinner plans, and he put his head in his hands at the prospect of "coming back," presumably that evening for his semi-final? I hope Andy Richter didn't tank in favor of his dinner plans...What sort of commitment is required of these celebrities?

This was the first of 4 Celeb J! episodes taped on a Sunday, the first three being preliminaries and the winners of each taping the 4th game which was the semifinal. With the new hourlong format and TJ!, the first taping was earlier than usual for a full tape day (9am versus usually starting at 10:30ish) presumably in anticipation of any glitches as well as accounting for this being Mayim’s first time hosting with a studio audience. The last episode (the semifinal) of the day taped around 6pm.

[Mathew5000]

I don't see how Andy had an advantage in the RICHTER category as it was about earthquakes and not his life.

That one's debatable but wouldn't Ego Nwodim be expected to have an advantage in a category on Dionne Warwick, whom she has portrayed?

I think they have had similar categories in past celebrity games. They probably couldn't do a category that was a joke about a player's name because the boards are chosen at random for each game.

Right, that's my point. In non-celeb play, a game will be drawn at random, not predetermined for the players. This is a measure done for greater integrity. But Jeopardy's celeb (and "power player") games have for a long time included a joke category for each player. It's done for humour and even though it generally doesn't give any player an untoward advantage, it makes me wonder whether they take the view that the legislation is inapplicable where prize money is all for charity, and how else are the S&P procedures altered for the celebrity games compared to other tournaments.

[Robert K S]

That one's debatable but wouldn't Ego Nwodim be expected to have an advantage in a category on Dionne Warwick,

And Simu would be "expected" to know Mindy Kaling's books, having been honored alongside Mindy Kaling, but as Andy Richter pointed out during the game, he was not switching over to the Warwick category to be charitable to Ego. He was 3/5 ($900) in the category and she was 2/5 ($600).

It's still the case that none of the players are given the correct responses, and all have a fair shot at the buzzer.

[opusthepenguin]

Just got around to seeing this. We're on vacation and this is perfect laid back vacation Jeopardy!. Double the allotted time for half again as many clues proved just the right amount to allow for some clowning around without losing the plot. I was looking forward to seeing Andy Richter again in the semis, so on that level I'm disappointed. But holy cow! Totally worth it for that upset ending. Good TV as the celebs themselves observed at the end. My thanks to all the boardies who knew the outcome and didn't breathe a word of it on this board outside this thread. This was a treat to watch, to observe that not one but BOTH other contestants were still in the game at the end, to watch Ego's swing-and-miss but with the right wager, to see Simi get it right, wager big (as he should have), and STILL to assume it was all going to fizzle because Andy was obviously going to get it right. Wow.

I never fault celebs for low DD wagers. They're J! amateurs and aren't expected to have spent any time preparing. I only yell at regular players who should have been watching every game and actively analyzing since before they got the call. THEY should know that when you're getting stomped, a DD is your best chance--often your only real chance--of not only catching up but getting far enough ahead that you can survive when the stomping resumes. So, yeah, DD wagers were sub-optimal. But they came through with the right wagers in the end and a very surprised Simi is advancing to the semis. Good work, buddy!