# The Jeopardy thread \[was James Holzhauer\]\[contains spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [April 17, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696 "2019-04-17T21:53:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 102
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2021 "2021-04-15T03:07:07Z")
Agreed, and he doesn’t connect well to the contestants in the interviews. Ken was much better. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2022 "2021-04-15T06:42:35Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > As soon as Rodgers announced tonight’s FJ category was “Shakespeare,” I turned to my wife and said, “Hamlet.” Same here. And I enjoyed sitting on the other side of your wife. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2023 "2021-04-15T19:07:56Z")
I like to do that too. A rerun from 2019 had “Central America” as the FJ category and I said to my wife “Guatemala”. It turned out that the answer was “These are the three countries that share the Yucatán peninsula”. I got the real question although it was a bit of guess: “What is Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize?” ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2024 "2021-04-18T13:27:22Z")
Aaron Rodgers was surprisingly good. I’d never before seen him in any TV appearances, including game interviews which is somewhat surprising. I liked the way he read the clues and how he related to the contestants. He has a relaxed and yet commanding presence on the set. Good humor. But so far he’s not the best. Ken Jennings was best, and I’d put Aaron Rodgers at #2. At 37 years old, Rodgers is nearing the end of his NFL career, and this _Jeopardy!_ stint has shown that he has a future in television if he wants it. But _Jeopardy!_ isn’t quite the right fit for him. So far my own personal rankings of guest hosts, including when they hosted, is this: 1. 04 Jan - 19 Feb — Ken Jennings 2. 05 Apr - 16 Apr — Aaron Rodgers 3. 22 Feb - 05 Mar — Mike Richards 4. 08 Mar - 19 Mar — Katie Couric 5. 22 Mar - 02 Apr — Mehmet Oz [Jeopardy! Guest Host Schedule | J!Buzz | Jeopardy.com](https://is.gd/tiw5eG) \< source, [jeopardy.com](http://jeopardy.com)’s list of guest hosts. I just searched and saw that Joe Buck is hosting later this summer. God help us all. And I just saw that Johnny Gilbert is 92 years old. Wow! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2025 "2021-04-18T15:28:02Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I just searched and saw that Joe Buck is hosting later this summer. God help us all. Come one, Jeopardy people, don’t make make miss Dr Oz! Maybe if they broiught Aikman along, too,… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2026 "2021-04-18T16:13:59Z")
My daughter (26 y.o.) came by Friday evening to watch _ **Jeopardy!** _ with me. When Rogers was interviewing the contestants, she laughed and said (without any prompting from me) “What the fuck?!? Where did they dig this guy up? He sounds like he’s talking to her [Danielle] in a bar!” I thought he sucked too. It was like he was sleepwalking through the whole two weeks. Oz was better. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2027 "2021-04-18T16:49:02Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Oz was better. Better than Rodgers? I wonder who else thinks this? Rodgers is definitely casual. Too casual for _Jeopardy!_ IMHO. Yes I can see how your daughter would react that way. But Oz was not better, well not to me anyway. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2028 "2021-04-18T17:31:01Z")
I’m not a big fan of Oz’s, but I don’t really understand the dislike for him expressed here. Seems very out of proportion to me. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2029 "2021-04-18T17:46:47Z")
You know, some people don’t like football or any sport, and they have a strong reaction to sports figures being host. Others don’t like quack charlatans who promote pseudoscience, especially on a show based on knowledge and accuracy, and have a visceral reaction to them being hosts. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2030 "2021-04-18T18:19:36Z")
I was speaking in terms of his performance, not his credentials or lack of them. If Rogers were a cross between Albert Einstein and an Olympic gold medalist, I’d still say he sucked. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2031 "2021-04-18T18:50:22Z")
Are you still sore about the “sackbut” thing? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2032 "2021-04-18T18:53:39Z")
No, I don’t believe in flogging dead horses. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2033 "2021-04-19T02:24:03Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > You know, some people don’t like football or any sport, and they have a strong reaction to sports figures being host. I’m one of these, and I think Rodgers did just fine. But Oz? Just no. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2034 "2021-04-19T05:57:56Z")
Well yeah, but I think it’s because you find him attractive…? 🙂 Now if we could have Rachel McAdams as guest host, she’d be my clear #1! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2035 "2021-04-19T08:41:45Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Well yeah, but I think it’s because you find him attractive…? 🙂 Undeniably. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2036 "2021-04-19T15:04:25Z")
I think Rodgers did fine job and enjoyed the different skills he brought to the show. His contestant interviews were the best, imo. He kept it conversational, personal and it seemed he and the contestants enjoyed that part of the game. Was he the best game show presenter? No. It took me a while to get into his delivery and patterns but I did get used to it. Oz was a better presenter of clues, but television presenter (now) is his job. He should be better on TV. I’d watch and enjoy Rodgers on Jeopardy! any time. I might stop watching if Oz was the permanent host and I’m sure he’ll never be. My personal ranking based on enjoyment: 1. Jennings 2. Rodgers 3. Couric 4. Richards 5. Richards’ eyebrows 6. dead air 7. Oz ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2037 "2021-04-23T05:39:49Z")
Frigging… I don’t know if NTV screwed up, or if my PVR glitched, but instead of the second half of last night’s Jeopardy!, I got the first ~10 minutes of Clarice. (The Helen of Troy clue was the last one that came up, and it switched to Clarice before the answer was revealed.) Who ended up winning? ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2038 "2021-04-23T13:29:31Z")
The annoying, but smart guy on the right. You watch on NTV, too? Mine was fine, 4:30 PM, Shaw cable. We PVR it every day and watch after it records. No technical problems. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2039 "2021-04-23T14:36:39Z")
Must have been the PVR, then. Blah. Weird that it caught so much of Clarice… And…too bad, I liked Mike. (And, yeah…while quarantining after moving back to NL, NTV was the only station in the cable package that had it, so I got used to watching it early…but PVR it and watch usually after it’s aired on other channels…hah.) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/2040 "2021-04-28T18:45:20Z")
Contestant Kelly Donohue, whose run ended on Tuesday, apparently flashed a white power hand sign that the J! staff didn’t catch. Although he claimed on his FB page that he was just indicating his number of wins, he did not apologize for making an unwitting mistake, or explain why he used those three fingers instead of the more usual ones. He’s also apparently scrubbed or removed his FB page since that article was published, which seems to be a further indication of guilty intent. The private Jeopardy Contestants FB group (which is how I heard about this) has said he won’t be allowed to join. > **[‘Jeopardy’ Contestant’s Controversial Hand Symbol Sparks Racism Accusations](https://decider.com/2021/04/28/jeopardy-fans-split-over-contestant-hand-gesture/)** > > Fans were split if Kelly Donohue’s hand gesture was innocuous or something more devious. > **['Jeopardy!' Contestant's Alleged Hand Symbol Has Viewers Outraged](https://popculture.com/tv-shows/news/jeopardy-contestants-hand-gesture-has-watchers-up-in-arms/)** > > Jeopardy! fans were blasted by shock on Tuesday night after one of the contestants made waves for \[...\] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=101) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=103)