# 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:** 41
**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:** [November 9, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/801 "2019-11-09T16:15:06Z")
Was anyone else offended by the use of Jamal Khashoggi as a clue? Especially to get “Saudi Arabia” as the answer(question)? It seemed in poor taste to use a recent murder victim. It’s not like using Abraham Lincoln or something. It’s barely over a year. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/802 "2019-11-09T16:33:33Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Was anyone else offended by the use of Jamal Khashoggi as a clue? Especially to get “Saudi Arabia” as the answer(question)? It seemed in poor taste to use a recent murder victim. It’s not like using Abraham Lincoln or something. It’s barely over a year. Yes. That was jarring. “He went in and never came out.” Too soon ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/803 "2019-11-12T14:44:35Z")
Did you see the semi-final last night? The contestant in third place wrote, “What is we love you Alex” on the screen for his Final Jeopardy response and it seemed to choke up Alex Trebek for a few moments. (Trebek was off camera, but the emotion in his voice was apparent.) ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/804 "2019-11-12T14:52:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Did you see the semi-final last night? The contestant in third place wrote, “What is we love you Alex” on the screen for his Final Jeopardy response and it seemed to choke up Alex Trebek for a few moments. (Trebek was off camera, but the emotion in his voice was apparent.) We caught that. Don’t know what to think about Trebek’s reaction. Seemed a bit much, if that was what it was. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/805 "2019-11-12T14:55:53Z")
I assumed it was a genuine emotional response and can’t fault him for that. Edited to add, it’s possible the medications make him more emotional than normal, but I am not a doctor. Or it may be that he’s been thinking about his future (certainly having to retire earlier than planned even if he survives the cancer). ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/806 "2019-11-12T15:12:11Z")
I noticed it too. He definitely got choked up, but soldiered on to the next 2 contestants. And how on Earth did 3 champions not know Caddyshack? ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/807 "2019-11-12T15:57:54Z")
I’ve read on another forum that Alex had just shared the fact that he was resuming chemo. That’s what prompted Dhruv to write “We [heart] you, Alex” as his Final Jeopardy response. Assuming that’s true, and this was filmed at the time Alex had to go back into treatment after things had initially seemed so positive, you can imagine that his emotions were already pretty raw anyway. Sometimes when you’re in that situation, it doesn’t take much to get you choked up. If you watched all the way to the end, during the part when Alex goes over to talk to the contestants at the podium, you can see that he clasped Dhruv’s hand pretty tightly rather than the usual perfunctory handshake. They could easily have re-recorded Alex’s audio, and not shown the scenes of him choking up. But I’m glad they didn’t. It was a very genuine and heartfelt moment. Whatever happens, this is likely to be Alex’s last Tournament of Champions. It’s not surprising that everybody is feeling a bit emotional about it. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/808 "2019-11-12T16:02:20Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Any TOC players here? I ask because in normal play, all contestants on a given tape day watch the games played before they go on. I was wondering while watching this week’s games if they do the same thing during the TOC. If so, the later players would have a better idea of how much they would need to get one of the wild card spots. That would seem to give them an unfair advantage. > > So do TOC players get to see the games before theirs, or are they isolated? Anyone? Not a ToC Contestant but they are definitely isolated. Too much of a competitive advantage if the Thu-Fri contestants knew the qualifying scores. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/809 "2019-11-12T17:46:12Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Not a ToC Contestant but they are definitely isolated. Too much of a competitive advantage if the Thu-Fri contestants knew the qualifying scores. That’s what I would have expected. And not that I’m doubting you, but where did you learn that? ---
**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:** [November 14, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/810 "2019-11-14T17:29:06Z")
Did the impeachment hearings preempt Wednesday’s broadcast for anyone else? I’m recording them, and binge-watched the TOC, and yesterday’s was preempted. I’m glad I got to see James, and the Alex moment. I hope when I get home I get to see Jeopardy, and if not, I can find it online. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/811 "2019-11-14T17:36:49Z")
In my area, when Jeopardy is preempted (for a football or baseball game, for instance), the show is aired at night, like around 1am or so. And BTW, if you saw the first two episodes this week, you’ll know that two of the three players in the TOC final games are James and Emma Boettcher, who defeated him in regular season play. I doubt that has ever happened before in a Jeopardy! TOC. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/812 "2019-11-14T17:40:10Z")
Right! I had forgotten that! I liked her, 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:** [November 14, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/813 "2019-11-14T19:18:48Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Did the impeachment hearings preempt Wednesday’s broadcast for anyone else? I’m recording them, and binge-watched the TOC, and yesterday’s was preempted. I’m glad I got to see James, and the Alex moment. I hope when I get home I get to see Jeopardy, and if not, I can find it online. If you have cable (and I assume you do), you might want to check the higher channels that you normally don’t bother with. My provider goes up into the 900s, and I was delighted to find a channel (527) out of Seattle one day that shows \*\*\*Jeopardy! \*\*\*three hours after it’s on here in Toronto. If I happen to miss an episode at 19:30, I can catch it at 22:30. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/814 "2019-11-14T19:54:49Z")
Thanks! I’ll check it out. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/815 "2019-11-14T19:59:29Z")
It’s kind of weird and ridiculous that Jeopardy isn’t on any of the streaming services. Actually, even weirder - it is - but only random old segments. You can find Jeopardy on netflix and there are just like 30 or 40 episodes randomly from 20+ years ago, and I think one tournament of champions from a few years ago. Why is it that netflix has streaming rights to jeopardy… just in a totally useless and random way? ---
**Author:** ![Allecher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@Allecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allecher)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/816 "2019-11-14T22:15:48Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > That’s what I would have expected. And not that I’m doubting you, but where did you learn that? Kyle, who played in the first day of the quarterfinals, mentions the sequestration of players in episode 3 of his podcast “Potent Podables”. He also mentioned that they were watching “Shawn of the Dead” in the greenroom. 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 15, 2019, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/817 "2019-11-15T00:23:35Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Thanks! I’ll check it out. FYI, my channel 527 is KOMO-HD, part of the ABC network. KOMO-TV (same programming schedule, it looks like) is at 151, but for some reason I can’t access it (probably because my cable service is High Definition). They both show \*\*\*Wheel \*\*\*and _ **Jeopardy!** _ back-to-back, too. ---
**Author:** ![Garak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@Garak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garak)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/818 "2019-11-18T20:25:48Z")
James and Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter will compete in the Greatest of all Time Tournament > **[It's here: Three top 'Jeopardy!' champs face off in ABC's Greatest of All...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/11/18/jeopardy-james-holzhauer-ken-jennings-brad-rutter-duel-abc/4201669002/)** > > The top three all-time 'Jeopardy!' winners – James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter – will duel in a January prime-time tournament on ABC. \*But the GOAT tournament will be anything but typical: It consists of a series of two back-to-back games, airing weeknights (8 EST/PST) beginning Jan. 7. The player with the most combined winnings from the two games wins the “match,” and the play continues on successive nights (except Monday) until one of them has won three matches and takes home a $1 million prize. (The other finishers get $250,000 apiece). That means the tournament can last anywhere from three to seven days. \* everyone was clamoring to see James vs Ken I guess they wanted to hurry up and get this done before Alex dies ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/819 "2019-11-20T20:47:03Z")
> [@Garak](#): > > James and Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter will compete in the Greatest of all Time Tournament > > ['Jeopardy!': James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter duel on ABC](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/11/18/jeopardy-james-holzhauer-ken-jennings-brad-rutter-duel-abc/4201669002/) > > \*But the GOAT tournament will be anything but typical: It consists of a series of two back-to-back games, airing weeknights (8 EST/PST) beginning Jan. 7. The player with the most combined winnings from the two games wins the “match,” and the play continues on successive nights (except Monday) until one of them has won three matches and takes home a $1 million prize. (The other finishers get $250,000 apiece). That means the tournament can last anywhere from three to seven days. > \* > everyone was clamoring to see James vs Ken I guess they wanted to hurry up and get this done before Alex dies I bet Watson is pissed. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/820 "2019-11-21T05:29:48Z")
Watson’s going to bust in half-way through the third game and it’ll turn into a Humans vs. Machines tag-team, WWE style. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=42)