I’m not a giant Jeopardy fan, but my wife and I do enjoy watching it a few times a week. Every year though when teen week comes along we have to find something else to kill time with because it’s just not fun to watch. The questions are WAY too easy to be any fun answering.
I understand that the questions should be a little easier since most of these kids are still in high school but, tonight, there was a question, I think it was an $800 question on Double Jeopardy and the category was “The Body” or something like that. The question was “The adrenal glands sit atop this organ”. I would have had a tough time with that because I’m not very smart, but they showed a PICTURE of the kidneys?!?! HUH? Are teens that dumb that they need that kind of boost to play Jeopardy? The night was littered with mega-easy question after mega-easy question. Basically the kid with the fastest buzzer hand won, and he had like $30k going into final Jeopardy.
Does anyone else think Teen Week sucks on this show? Do you think the show is TOO dumbed down for the ages of these contestants?
I can understand the spirit of it. It’s ok, imho, to have easy questions from time to time. I have a problem with celebrity Jeopardy. When they throw softballs to celebrities, I tend to think eventually a smart celebrity is eventually going to lose it and tell off Trebek: “Seriously? ‘How many fingers on a hand?’ How stupid do you think I am, Trebek?”
On the other hand, I read an article a long time ago where there was a reason Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune showed in the same hour for so many years. We watch Jeopardy to feel stupid, uneducated, and humble. Then, we are healed and revitalized by Wheel of Fortune because it makes us feel smart. The feeling we get from each show is heightened because the opposite show produces opposite feelings. The OP sounds like this is exactly the case: they are dissatisfied with the show because it isn’t making them feel dumb enough.
And don’t even get me started on the ludicrousness of the Clue Crew.
ETA: Do they still have a seniors’ tournament? (They did feature those at one time, no?)
Also (bit of a hijack here, sorry): Am I the only one who lately finds myself actively rooting against certain Jeopardy! players? I can’t be the only one who does this. Um, right?
Dude, that’s almost all I do when I watch Jeopardy! is root against the person whose jib (SP?) I don’t like the cut of. Unless there’s an attractive female contestant, then I decidedly stop caring or noticing much of anything else.
They had a seniors tournament from 1987 until maybe about 1995. They eliminated it because they said seniors (age 50+) could compete on an even playing field with the whippersnappers in regular games.
This past season they had a “Celebrity All-Stars” affair, stretched out with an episode a month until they had a week long tournament. Nearly all the celebs acquitted themselves pretty well and the questions were a few steps above the usual celebrity softballs (but still below normal games for the most part). Michael McKean ended up winning $1 million for his charity over Jane Curtin and Cheech Marin.
teen jeopardy is a sham. as a veteran of the HS quiz bowl circuit, i’ll say that those teens on stage are pathetic. i could tolerate the gimme’s if it were 13-14 year olds but these contestants are HS junior and seniors. i would say that i was probably more qualified for jeopardy my senior year of HS than i am now. the knowledge we gain in college and beyond is too specific to be a jeopardy question anyway and sometimes, just confuse us from the obvious answers.
Interesting; in the Detroit market, WoF is shown first, then Jeopardy. Maybe we’re supposed to be left feeling dumb and humble?
(I think Jeopardy can be easier than Wheel of Fortune. I’m weird like that).
