Yeah, he’d fit right in, wouldn’t he? Especially since the snark is coupled with actually knowing only 60% of the answers. Kid’s a natural.
I’ve always assumed he gets the clues a few days in advance to and might even have a coach to work with some of the harder ones on. I’d be pretty surprised if he was reading those for the first time when they flash up on the board.
It is a bit annoying when someone gives their answer and he says something like “oh no, you must have been thinking of [obscure historical figure] but you about 1000 years off.”
Maybe he’s just smart, but I assume that after ‘playing’ Jeopardy for all these years he’s picked up an awful lot of trivia. I know there’s quite a bit of answers I get simply because they’re essentially just recycled clues.
The biggest tip I can give to anyone playing at home (other than pausing it so you have a few extra seconds) is to know that each clue actually contains two clues. If you can’t figure it out, don’t get hung up on it and look for the other clue.
It’s Entertainment, folks. The program is touted and billed as intellectual, and all participants are obliged to maintain that pretense. Trebec himself might not do very well as a contestant on the show,which is a pretty high bar overall, but he pulls it off, successfully. And is paid handsomely to do so.
I would hazard, though, that Trebec is probably smarter than most of the stiffs watching the show, who are therefore in no position to cast aspersions on how smart he is.
I honestly think that he’s disliked by some people because he’s a smart, smarmy, Canadian.
If he was a smart, smarmy American he would be cut a lot more slack.
Is that wrong? That’s the correct pronunciation of “verde” in spanish, FWIW.
Trebek.
Pronunciation is what gets me. He acts like there’s an omnipotent pronunciation council on high and if you say it wrong you might as well have said “bullshit”. No, people pronounce things differently, Alex, and just because they said “tomahto” and you say “tomayto” doesn’t mean they got it wrong.
Also, can we get rid of the “must be in the form of a question” baloney? It’s really a pointless and irritating gimmick.
And I’m sure both of those things are out of his control, so I don’t usually blame Trebek. It’s the producers.
Trebek has always been gracious when Pat Sajak is a contestant.
The second clue is just the category that the clue is in, isn’t it?
Not as many as you’d think. When I was on they would re-record him reading the answers he got wrong at the end of the taping of a show so they could splice in the correct pronunciation. Faster and more efficient than doing a retake - which of course would screw up the show.
Actors stumble over lines they’ve read minutes before. Five shows a day and of course you make mistakes.
Yes, it is incorrect. Cape Verde is pronounced Cape Vurd by people from there. If you want the Portuguese root from which it comes, it is spelled Cabo Verde. But anytime you see “Cape” it is the Anglicized version, and is followed by Vurd.
I saw that one. I thought of “vole”, but then when Alex said “mole” was correct I wondered if they’d have accepted “vole” as a valid alternate response (as they sometimes do).
Other than the category, is this true? It might be true for some, even many clues, but certainly not for all clues. That’s a guess on my part.
Alex Trebek vanished over 15 years ago. He was replaced by a guy that looks a little bit like him without a mustache.
Nah.
As someone who speaks for every American, I can tell you that we really don’t think of “Canadian” as a thing – that is, as an identity, as “other.” In some cases we’re aware that a celebrity is Canadian, and there may even be a gentle ribbing about it from time to time, but, emotionally, you guys pretty much feel like Americans. Ironically, other Americans get a lot more prejudice than Canadians in this regard. A Yankee might feel like those damn Southerners are so such-and-such, and vice versa – and certainly people from other foreign countries would be in for the skepticism you describe – but I’ve never known anyone to speak ill of, or look askance at, our Northern neighbors.
(Wait, actually, that’s not quite true. I went to college in upstate New York, and knew several people who came from within 100 miles or so of the border. Those people, from time to time, would actually kvetch about the “Canucks” and seemed to kind of mean it. That was super-bizarre to me, but I’m sure it was just a slightly different version of “My city is better than that crap-shack city two towns over” nonsense.)
Oh, and I think Trebek is awesome. I don’t find him smug in general at all, and for any specific instances where it seems like he might be, well, you try going on TV every night for 30 years to tell strangers that they’re wrong, and see if some people watching don’t get ideas about you.
Actually, I believe he has all the questions. 
Every time he refers to a female contestant as “young lady” I want to break his face. I’ve never heard him call one of the guys “young man” - so he’s an ass. I have spoken!!
Me too! Me and Alex are just a coupla tards.
I would always pronounce verde as vair-day. That is the Spanish pronunciation. As regards the pronunciation by locals, well, in Oklahoma, they have a town spelled Miami that the locals pronounce Miam-uh. Just being from somewhere doesn’t give you free rein to mangle the pronunciation. 
I’ve seen Cesária Évora perform, and IIRC she pronounced her country vair-day. She was awesome. 