And in the Spanish version, you have to stand on your head first and then ask the question.
¿Qué?
The gimmick of “Jeopardy!” no longer makes sense to people, but when the show was first aired, the premise was clever because it was inspired by the recent game show scandals.
Remember that “Twenty-One” and “The $64,000 Question” Went off the air after it was revealed that some contestants had been given the answers. Merv Griffin and his wife came up with a gimmick: we’ll give ALL the contestants the answers, and make them provide the questions!
Today, of course, those scandals are forgotten, so the “question/answer” format in “Jeopardy!” doesn’t make sense to most people any more.
I remember a time on the old Art Fleming version when a woman was flustered trying to rack her brain and finally spat out something like “How about Artie Shaw?” Fleming began to say “Question, please”, then realized she had indeed uttered an interrogative sentence, and thus deserved the dollars/points.
This. I had a question and responded “What is Bosnia-Herzogovenia?” Trebek said it was wrong. Seriously?
Well, it’s spelled “Bosnia-Herzogovenia”, but it’s pronounced “Throat-warbler Mangrove.”
When I auditioned they said any question was acceptable, including “Is it…?”, but they asked us to only use “What is…?” or “Who is…?” and the like. I recall someone who used “Is it…?” a lot in single Jeopardy!, but stopped in Double Jeopardy! I imagine he was discouraged from using the less traditional form by the judges in between rounds.
I could have sworn that I’ve seen contestants get credit for a correct response by saying only the “answer” but raising the tone at the end in a questioning manner, a la, “Lemon curry?” Perhaps I’m misremembering or they just barely mumbled a what/who in front in those situations.
I put together a lot of amateur Jeopardy-style games for various gatherings and conferences (don’t tell Sony Pictures Television). I find the answer format makes it much easier to precisely set the level of difficulty. Somehow it seems to allow much more flexibility than composing a question.
It seems they will let you slide once in the first round, allowing for your being nervous. In the Double Jeopardy round, you should have figured out the format.
The “what’s” has to be there, but sometimes it’s barely audible. There have been times when Trebek mentioned that a given contestant is answering in the form of a question, though viewers might not hear it.
Can’t recall whether it was with Fleming or Trebek, but I remember one contestant who answered everything in the form of a question, but inappropriately. For instance, he might have said “When is John Quincy Adams?” or “How is the Taj Mahal?” They didn’t make sense, but they were questions, so he did get credit.
I recall a celebrity Jeopardy game where one of the “celebrities” provided his responses, not in the form of a questions, but followed by, “Who dat?”
i.e. “Thomas Jefferson. Who dat?”
“Muncie, Indiana. Where dat?”
Again, it might have been “overlooked” because it was for charity, after all.
In the Jeopardy round, you aren’t penalized for not saying the “What/Who is..” part, but if it’s in Double Jeopardy and you don’t answer with a question, the answer won’t be accepted.
Maybe you don’t get penalized, but Trebek gives you the stink-eye something fierce. That was an incredibly embarrassing moment, particularly after all the practice in the morning and the repeated drilling by the production staff. In defense, it’s incredibly nerve-wracking and exciting to ring in for the first time in the real deal.
I can’t remember where I saw something like this… maybe on SNL?
ALEX: This President served four terms.
CONTESTANT: Franklin Roosevelt.
ALEX: It needs to be a question.
CONTESTANT: Franklin Roosevelt**?**