# 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:** 178
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3547 "2021-12-16T02:58:16Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Did it seem like last night’s episode had an inordinate number of wrong responses and triple stumpers? Heather (on the right) especially was always the first to buzz in with the wrong answer. Her name was Hester, but it seemed like she suffered from an unusually bad case of not reading the question. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3548 "2021-12-16T03:39:10Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Yeah, this sounds like a variation on the old “How could x have won the election? I don’t know _anyone_ who voted for him!” thing. All TV is stupid and nobody watches it … how can they answer these questions??? Must be some voodoo going on. Yeah, that’s not what I said at all. Read the words, not your feeling, ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3549 "2021-12-16T14:06:43Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I was also surprised to learn from Jeopardy that **The Walking Dead** is still on, another show I never hear anyone talk about anymore. Who is watching all these TV shows? My bolding… I still watch the OG Walking Dead. The last half of the last season is still in the wings. I think it will show this spring. I don’t watch all the spin-offs. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3550 "2021-12-16T14:42:18Z")
Contemporary music is as bad as tv shows. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3551 "2021-12-16T15:43:12Z")
When they have a category on that, the answers usually make me go “that’s not a real band! You’re making that up!” At least with music, songs are 3-5 minutes, and you can hear a lot in the car. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3552 "2021-12-16T17:02:14Z")
I have never seen a single episode of Breaking Bad, but I know it stars the dad from Malcolm in the Middle and he is a chemistry teacher who makes potent drugs (meth?) I believe (with no data to back it up) that the more obscure the show, the more likely there will be a hint in the clue or category (like a play on the actor’s name, or also referencing a more well known show.) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3553 "2021-12-16T17:53:30Z")
Yes, usually it’s possible to suss out the answer by just having an ear to current pop culture and picking up on hints within the clue. There was a TV Drama category last week. I had actually watched only one of the shows, yet I knew 4 of the 5 correct responses. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3554 "2021-12-16T17:57:02Z")
It’s not just pop culture clues that are like that. I think most all of the clues have a second way to figure out the answer (or question, really). ---
**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:** [December 16, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3555 "2021-12-16T18:07:56Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > I believe (with no data to back it up) that the more obscure the show, the more likely there will be a hint in the clue or category (like a play on the actor’s name, or also referencing a more well known show.) An island resort is not quite paradise; Jennifer Coolidge deals with the ashes of a relationship. Q: White Lotus There may be a clue in the clue, but I didn’t even know JC ever had her own show, let alone heard of the show. I see it is on HBO (I don’t have) and ran SIX episodes! Seriously? Catherine, dressing to empress; we’re stanning Fanning Q: The Great Sure I can connect Catherine The Great, empress, but it’s on Hulu. 20 episodes. Never heard of it. Without knowing such a show existed, I could only guess the title. What if it was titled “It Really Wasn’t a Horse”? 🙂 Simon & Daphne, streaming steamily; episodes included “The Duke & I” & “Art of the Swoon” Q: Bridgerton OK maybe “steamily” is a hint, but to what? 8 episodes, on netflix. We have Netflix, never seen an ad. Also, there’s like 300 other streaming-only shows on Netflix. Let’s see a question on Never Have I Ever. That’s one of the 300 I watch. 🙂 Remember, I’m not saying “I don’t watch these shows, so no one is”, I’m saying “how can people know so much about a subject that is so vast and yet limited at the same time?” That’s three different pay-to-watch services. Learning the European royalty and third-tier Shakespeare characters is child’s play comparatively. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3556 "2021-12-16T19:21:11Z")
Is it possible that would not have been the category for you to shine? ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3557 "2021-12-16T19:51:45Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@N9IWP](#): > > > > I believe (with no data to back it up) that the more obscure the show, the more likely there will be a hint in the clue or category (like a play on the actor’s name, or also referencing a more well known show.) > > An island resort is not quite paradise; Jennifer Coolidge deals with the ashes of a relationship. > > Q: White Lotus > > There may be a clue in the clue, but I didn’t even know JC ever had her own show, let alone heard of the show. > > I see it is on HBO (I don’t have) and ran SIX episodes! Seriously? > > Catherine, dressing to empress; we’re stanning Fanning > > Q: The Great > > Sure I can connect Catherine The Great, empress, but it’s on Hulu. 20 episodes. Never heard of it. Without knowing such a show existed, I could only guess the title. What if it was titled “It Really Wasn’t a Horse”? 🙂 > > Simon & Daphne, streaming steamily; episodes included “The Duke & I” & “Art of the Swoon” > > Q: Bridgerton > > OK maybe “steamily” is a hint, but to what? 8 episodes, on netflix. We have Netflix, never seen an ad. Also, there’s like 300 other streaming-only shows on Netflix. Let’s see a question on Never Have I Ever. That’s one of the 300 I watch. 🙂 > > Remember, I’m not saying “I don’t watch these shows, so no one is”, I’m saying “how can people know so much about a subject that is so vast and yet limited at the same time?” That’s three different pay-to-watch services. > > Learning the European royalty and third-tier Shakespeare characters is child’s play comparatively. Looking at the three questions you posted, I’ve never watched even one millisecond of any of those three shows, but I knew all three answers. 1. I did watch Only Murders in the Building, Steve Martin’s really well done murder mystery on Hulu, and there was the same thirty-second ad for The Great before every episode. Elle Fanning looks exactly like her sister, and the clip has enough context to easily guess the subject matter. 2. I also still watch Saturday Night Live, and one week an actor named Jean-Rene Page was the host, and the show was filled with jokey references to his sexiness and that of the character he evidently played. Ten seconds of idle Googling on my phone filled in the details. 3. I read an article about White Lotus on The Ringer while waiting for a doctor’s appointment, because the wait was long and I had already read everything that actually interested me. I don’t remember much about the article, but I remember it talking about Jennifer Coolidge. So it’s basically the same as any trivia. If you engage with any aspect of the topic, eventually bits and pieces about other aspects of the topic will leak into your brain enough to pick up on the references. If you avoid all television altogether, then, yeah, it’s going to be hard - I can’t answer really anything about paintings and sculptures, because I don’t engage with the topic at all so I don’t pick anything up. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3558 "2021-12-16T20:20:29Z")
_Bridgerton_ was huge over the summer. I have never seen an episode of it and yet it seemed like it was everywhere. “That Netflix royals show with all the sex.” On magazine covers, on talk shows, just in various pop culture mediums. I have also never seen _The Great_, but they played ads for it before practically everything I’ve seen recently on Hulu. I didn’t know the _White Lotus_ clue, but once they revealed the answer I realized I had heard of that show, because again HBO seemed to play ads for that before everything else I watched for several months. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3559 "2021-12-16T21:54:36Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Is it possible that would not have been the category for you to shine? Is it possible you missed my point? Q: What’s…yes. PS: Of the three examples I gave, two were triple stumpers. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3560 "2021-12-17T02:58:37Z")
Well, I certainly thought that FJ today was a bit obscure. You really need to be a student of the WW2 Pacific theater to know that answer. I’ve seen a fair number of documentaries on the subject and don’t recall ever hearing about that particular battle. And three professors were stumped as well. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3561 "2021-12-17T03:45:07Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I came here tonight to ask my fellow Dopers whether they believe the “Professors Tournament” shouldn’t more properly be styled as the “Professors’ Tournament.” This is a very close call. Nevertheless, I vote against the apostrophe. It is a tournament **consisting of** professors, not **belonging to** professors. This way is consistent with past usages of “Teen Tournament” and “Tournament of Champions.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3562 "2021-12-17T06:33:16Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Well, I certainly thought that FJ today was a bit obscure. You really need to be a student of the WW2 Pacific theater to know that answer. I’ve seen a fair number of documentaries on the subject and don’t recall ever hearing about that particular battle. The hints were there, though. > [@](#): > > Body-of-water battles included the Coral Sea, Philippine Sea & this one that allowed Japan to seize Jakarta I knew there was a Battle of Leyte Gulf, but that was later in the war, and the allies won. And the two examples in the clue were specifically named for "Sea"s, so I figured the correct response would be, too. I guessed “what is the South China Sea”, but when that was ruled wrong, I thought some more. Jakarta is in Indonesia, so is Java, and I’ve heard of the Java Sea. So I got it on my second guess, which doesn’t count, obviously, but I feel like I could have gotten it right. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3563 "2021-12-17T13:52:07Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > And three professors were stumped as well. These guys are not exactly Ivy League professors. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3564 "2021-12-17T18:54:20Z")
Except one instructs naval officers. Doesn’t mean he should know it but the odds should favour him knowing it over the botanist and the chemist. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3565 "2021-12-17T19:15:55Z")
Ooooooohhh…that’s just a tad elitist. They’re all college grads – I don’t think a college grad employed by Harvard is any more or less likely to have a handle on obscure WWII naval battles than a college grad employed by a California junior college. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3566 "2021-12-17T19:27:34Z")
I think the number of people who got this from actually knowing the battle would be dwarfed by people who know which sea Jakarta is on. I have never heard of the Battle of the Java Sea, but I guessed the answer from knowledge of geography acquired by poring over a world map that literally covered a wall of my bedroom as a child. No university education necessary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=177) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=179)