Interesting that you would say that in a post about the interview segments. One of the criticisms of Trebek was that he would sometimes make the contestants’ stories about himself.
I can testify to that personally. When I was on the show, my story about going through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin back in the 80s, became a story about the time Alex went through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin back in the 80s.
That may be true, but the show isn’t about the interviews. Trebek ran the game well. I suspect that it’s tougher than it looks.
Cool. Have you ever shared the details here that you can link to?
I was there once, but after reunification. I could probably get “you are now leaving the American sector…” on a refrigerator magnet. I’m sure it wasn’t the same in the old days.
I don’t think that I have. In brief, our high school German teacher used to take groups of students to Germany in the summers, every three years or so. We went all over Germany, but one of the things we did was spend three days in Berlin. One day we went into East Berlin for a few hours.
It was intimidating going through–uniformed border guards with visible guns on their belts going through your bags–but largely uneventful. We saw a few of the sights, and watched the changing of the guard at the Memorial to the Victims of Fascism and Militarism, which was a fairly impressive sight. We also went shopping in what was supposedly the most palatial department store in all of East Germany, but was about the quality of what you might find at a K-Mart. Lots of cheap junk that seemed pretty poorly made.
It was a memorable experience, and one that you can’t get anymore.
Coincidentally, when I was on Jeopardy, I got phone calls from lots of my old teachers. One of them was that very German teacher who took us on that trip. He’s now retired and living in Arizona. It was a kick hearing from him again.
“I was amused and impressed by the appearance of Marine Captain Tyler Vandenberg, who is in full dress uniform”
(Note: Been Bingeing Jeopardy! over the Holidays)
did they ever introduce Tyler Vandenberg as a “Captain”? All I ever heard was that he was an officer in the Marines. If so, I missed it. I liked his matter of fact demeanor.
I swear I just heard that exact bit on Password Plus, right down to the crossword puzzles.
I know I said I watch J! for the questions, but how many second chance tournaments can one show have?
I Googled to get his name and in doing so got his title.
I don’t think he was ever introduced as Captain, but I recall Ken mentioning his rank in one of the post-game wrapups,
Googling further, when he first appeared in July 2021, he was a first lieutenant.
I may be wrong but I don’t think they’ve had a single new contestant since the 2023-24 season began. Hasn’t it been all ‘former winners’?
No doubt there’s an explanation for this somewhere. I suppose they’re saving a lot of money—no need for auditions, no need for any staff to monitor the online test (which I think is still available). Maybe the ratings are better, too (which would let them charge more for the episodes).
Apologies if this has been discussed already; I’ve been absent for a while.
I read someplace that the new episodes will start after the Tournament of Champions, sometime early in the new year.
Good to know that they plan on having new contestants sometime. I mean, theoretically, they could feature only past contestants…forever.
No, this long series using old contestants was because of the strike and the desire not to use scabs to write questions. I think all of these games have used questions that were already written by the union writing staff.
Interesting. But why couldn’t new-to-the-game contestants have answered the exact same written-awhile-ago questions? How would that have violated the writers’ strike in a way that having former contestants do so, did not?
I still think it’s more about saving money on the production end (no auditions). Though their payouts were larger for most of those games, so I’m unclear on the arithmetic. Maybe the auditions cost hugely.
And of course the stated rationale is ‘to give contestants a chance they didn’t have before due to the buzz saw players (James, Matt, Amy, Mattea et al).’ And no doubt there’s some sincerity to that rationale.
But I’m guessing the ultimate reason is, in some way, money.
I’ve noticed but barely care. Play the game!
I see…second chance tournaments for contestants that lost in the second chance tournament.
But the show has tons of money. Many tons. I suppose everyone always wants more, but they’re not just scraping by, I’m sure.
The other day one contestant’s Final Jeopardy response joked about a third chance tournament.
I just read today that the current tournament(s) will wrap up Jan 15.
Also, hasn’t somebody mentioned all the 2nd chance business is a way of “atoning” to selected contestants for having been on substandard Guest Host games? Or did I dream it.
I had been under the impression that the original Second Chance Tournament was done mainly to benefit those who had run into the buzz-saw of the Matt Amodio-Amy Schneider-Mattea Roach trifecta. There was some sense that having three super-champions in a single season had made it tougher for contestants who, under more normal circumstances, might easily have been five-day champs themselves. I was a little surprised that it’s apparently going to be an annual thing.
They kind of had to delay the next Tournament of Champions, because several of the contestants who would have been included announced publicly that they would not participate as long as the writers strike was going on, as they considered the re-use of old clues to be a strike-breaking activity that they were not willing to be part of.
BTW, I know of several people who are boycotting watching the show as long as old clues are being re-used, for the same reason.
During the contestant interviews, it’s occasionally been mentioned that the second chance and Champions Wildcard group consisted, in large part, of those people who were willing to answer a phone call from an unknown number. What they may not be mentioning is that the group also consists of those former contestants who were willing to play despite the strike.
As a viewer, I don’t really care that much. I’m watching for the trivia and the gameplay; I don’t care very much whether it’s a regular game or part of a tournament.
As a supporter of unions, I sometimes wonder what I would have done if I had been one of the former contestants that they called.