“Will I dream?”
Andy Kaufman was so excited about re-appeaing on Jeopardy after his death that he had a heart attack and died on the way to the show.
Maybe a new round of “Celebrity” Jeopardy is coming up.
“My God, it’s full of grade-Z stars!”
Well, it looks like we finally know what Merv was talking about. The current champion, who started on June 2, is up to seven days and $231,000!!!
I haven’t seen every single one of his shows, but I think that on every one I’ve seen he’s had an unbeatable lead going into Final Jeopardy. Pretty impressive.
I think that maybe Merv was a little mixed up about the date, or maybe didn’t consider the syndication delay or whatever, but right now, there’s this guy named Ken who purt near racked up the whole board, and going into final Jeopardy with $40,600. No one else is close. He’s done the same thing for the past four or five days. He knows every damned thing.
[…waiting for final…]
Cateogry: Entertainment
This title character who debuted in 1999 was created by former marine biology educator, Steve Hillenburg.
He got it right: Spongebob Squarepants.
Finished with $50,000. Both of his opponents finished with $0. (One did not qualify for FJ)
7 day total $231,000 — a new record. He’ll be back again tomorrow.
Amazing simulpost, Commasense! 
I was looking for this thread earlier. Maybe this is what Merv was taling about. This guy is GOOD.
He really is amazing. He answers everything instantly and confidently. Very rarely misses.
He’s also mastered the signaling button, which (take it from me) is key to doing well, even if you know the answers.
Were you on the show, Commasense?
Yeah, way back in 1991 (before they doubled the values of the questions). I won one show ($7,201) and came in second on the second show (four-day Bahamas cruise and three days in DisneyWorld).
The second day I was up against a woman who was really good with the button. I should have modified my button technique a little when I realized I wasn’t getting through as much.
But I had a great time. Just like the guy said tonight, I went in hoping I wouldn’t make a complete idiot of myself. So I succeeded at that, and it was a lot of fun. All the people I met were nice: the other contestants were all friendly and wishing each other well. And the contestant coordinators treated each of us as if we were the first one they had ever worked with.
This brings up a (probably dumb) question I’ve wanted to ask…can contestants buzz in as soon as they think they know the answer, or do they have to wait until Trebek finishes reading the question? The buzz-in lights never seem to turn on until the camera cuts from the question to the contestants. Maybe the lights are just on a delay?
Another former Jeopardy! contestant here. Once upon a time, you could buzz in as soon as you wanted. But for at least 15 years now, you must wait until Alex finishes reading the clue. The hand signals don’t work until he does finish, and you are locked out for a second or two if you try to buzz in prematurely.
Ah! Many thanks.
Offhand, how did you do when you were a contestant? (If you don’t mind sharing.)
I was a one-day champ, coming in second place on the second day, back when they still gave prizes to all three players. $4,100 in cash, a week’s vacation for two at a resort in Barbados, and assorted parting gifts.
I think they still give prizes to all three. The lady last night that didn’t qualify for Final Jeopardy got $1,000.
I think they give small cash awards (if I remember today correctly, the woman who did make final Jeopardy lost all her money and was still given $2,000), but the prizes may have been discontinued. My Jr. High School Social Studies teacher was a contestant years ago and was leading going into final Jeopardy, but lost. His prize included a trip to some Asian country that he didn’t use because of civil unrest there, and some pantyhose. 
Just to expand on Walloon’s answer to Nightwatch Trailer’s question, on the old set there was a ring of neon lights around the video wall that illuminated when you were free to answer. (Home viewers never see this light.) Presumably there is something similar, if not identical, on the new set. It was switched on manually by a stagehand when Alex finished reading the question. Really good players got to where they could anticipate the light. But if you were early, you were locked out for about two tenths of a second. (It only felt like a couple of seconds, Walloon.)
Back in my day, in addition to the prizes for second or third place, you got products that were promoed in the show. I seem to recall getting some shampoo, and Centrum Silver vitamins, and other crap that I gave away to friends. And a handheld calculator-like thingy that you could use to play along with while watching the show on TV.
So what happened tonight? The local affiliate pre-empted the show for RWR’s g.d. funeral.
He won, again, despite getting the Final Jeopardy question wrong. Ended with 34k+ for the day.
Here on the west coast, Jeopardy was preempted last week for the Stanley Cup finals, this week for the NBA finals and tonight for Reagan’s funeral. It’s really annoying, as I’m missing Ken Jenning’s winning streak.