A few nights ago when the FJ answers were being revealed and Ken said "Let’s see if Tyler had [correct answer] he raised one eyebrow. I wish I could do that.
Why would you want to raise Tyler’s eyebrow?
mmm
I can raise my own eyebrows independently of each other. I wouldn’t dare try to raise Tyler’s—unless I made a remark that cause him to raise his own, of course.
He was impressive. Not only with his knowledge, but also his bearing. He did crack a smile at the end of the show, I noticed. Nice to see that.
I’m guessing that the USMC beats that perfect posture into people.
I thought that he looked like a very young Doc Martin too.
And that one mistake led to Yungsheng getting a runaway score since the following clue was the DD.
(Though since he was the only one who knew FJ, he would have still won anyway. I actually pre-guessed the correct FJ from the category name!)
Tyler was a smart dude. A tad serious, but nothing that struck me as abrasive. I just saw the second game but the questions seemed easier than usual (although I missed the last one; I would never bet big on that category).
Weird answering without ringing in but I think Yungsheng knew it anyway. Maybe a timing thing with the buzzer?
I like Jennings as a host but wish Mayim well.
Hm. We’ve been watching a long time, and I’ve seen it happen a handful of times.
Yeah that’s happened many times before. In fact I’m pretty sure the same player did that during one of his earlier games. I remembered him having some kind of trouble ringing in correctly.
My Final Jeopardy guess was the Harlem Theater.
mmm
I couldn’t tell who shouted out the answer without ringing in. I thought it might be the guy who eventually got the credit. I was surprised that two of the three missed FJ. It seemed obvious to me. I do admit after seeing the first two get it wrong I did mutter to myself “ if this guy misses it I’m confiscating his gay card” which is probably politically incorrect and makes me feel like a terrible person.
I 1) am not gay and 2) didn’t know Stonewall was a business. I mostly know the history, but I thought it was one of them funny named neighborhoods in NYC, like SOHO and BOHO and Hell’s Kitchen.
I did think “of course the gay guy gets it!”. I, too, am a bad person.
There is copious research supporting the thesis that virtually all people rate males higher than they rate females, whether on job applications, quality of dissertations, or pretty much anything else.*
That said: whatever Mayim’s intellectual assets, she just doesn’t appear to have the mastery of general knowledge that Ken has. She seems to be more ‘sciences only,’ or at least that’s the impression I got.
He’s more at ease, too. It would be understandable that she’d be tense, given all the unflattering comparisons many viewers have made (about which she almost certainly knows). But Ken is simply more pleasant company for that half hour.
(I, too, which her well–though I’d wish her even more well if she’d lay off the snake-oil ‘brain supplement’ commercials…)
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*one of the innumerable studies of this phenomenon:
I vaguely remember an interview with LeVar Burton, when he hosted during the trial period of searching for a new host. He said something to the effect that he appreciated hosting because it gave him the chance to help the contestants tell their stories. (I got the impression he was being metaphorical, and not just referring to the brief interview segment.) Apologies to Mr. Burton if I’m remembering wrong.
It seemed to me that that’s the wrong attitude for the host of Jeopardy! to take. The host is there to run the game; read the questions, call on contestants, announce the results, and keep things proceeding. You don’t need to help the contestants tell their stories. Play the game and the stories will happen. It should be like the umpire at a baseball game; if you notice them, they’re doing it wrong.
I had a similar impression of Mayim. It seemed like she was trying to be emotive and expressive. Those are great qualities for an actress, but not right for a game show host.
She has. They now feature a celebrity chef. I think it’s Alton Brown. “My most important kitchen tool? My brain. That’s why I use …” I haven’t seen Mayim on one of those for maybe a year or so.
I never minded Mayim as host. She had her own style, just as Ken has his, and neither of them is trying to be Alex. As long as the game is played, and the host keeps things moving at a reasonable pace, I’m happy.
Good to know. (That’s what I get for always flipping away from commercials!)
I never minded Mayim as host, either; I just felt Ken was a better fit for the show.
Interesting point; I tend to agree. Many hard-core fans of the show are there for the competitive aspect, whether onscreen or ‘playing along’ in their own homes. ‘Getting to know the contestants’ is less important to a lot of us.
I rather like the interview segment. At least, the Jeopardy host (whether Ken, Mayim, or Alex) tries to elicit an interesting anecdote, or a funny story, or something other than the usual, “Thanks, Pat, my name is Bob and I’m an accountant in Long Beach, married to my lovely wife Linda, and with two kids, Meghan, age 10, and Bob Junior, age 8; and in my spare time, I like playing tennis and solving crossword puzzles.”
On Jeopardy, I find the interview segment to be interesting. It puts a human spin on the contestants (something that Matt Amodeo desperately needed), and never takes too long; and then it’s back to the game.
I don’t dislike it. I just find the concept (floated back a ways) that the host’s role is to highlight the stories of the contestants, to be one I don’t share.
Meh…not really something I should be arguing about, though. Peace and good will and wonderful stories to all! 
I kinda like the interview bit, too, and I think Ken is good at it. But as I said, I got the impression that helping the contestnats “tell their stories” was meant to apply to the whole show metaphorically, not just the interviews. Actors become actors to study, and to look for drama; the ebbs and flows of the competition, the highs and the lows, the triumphs and defeats. Those things do happen, but shouldn’t be the focus of the host.
And, even if the quote was meant about the interview segment only, that shouldn’t be the host’s first priority.
Alex Trebek was kinda like Johnny Carson; they did their jobs brilliantly by not calling attention to themselves. It was only after decades that we all noticed how good they were.