# 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:** 44
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/861 "2019-12-13T22:44:58Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Jennifer is a great player, but you’ve gotta admit she’s had some pretty weak competition so far. Yeah, seems to me that she’s had strong competition in only one of her games. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/862 "2019-12-14T13:15:59Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Yeah, seems to me that she’s had strong competition in only one of her games. How all three could have missed the “Catherine Willows/CSI” question the other day is just beyond me. How quickly some forget! :smack: ☹ ---
**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 14, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/863 "2019-12-14T17:41:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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. My DVR automatically finds those late night “make good” episodes. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/864 "2019-12-14T17:53:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > How all three could have missed the “Catherine Willows/CSI” question the other day is just beyond me. How quickly some forget! :smack: ☹ That whole category was a dark hole for me. Even when I heard the answers there was not even a spark of recognition. (And I’m not one of those pretentious anti TV snobs. I just don’t know the names of the actors.) ---
**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 14, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/865 "2019-12-14T19:38:00Z")
> [@fjs1fs](#): > > I think you hilariously, insanely overestimate the “skill set” required for a game show host position. If you think it easy to be a game show host, you didn’t see Vanna White filling in for Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune this past week. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/866 "2019-12-14T19:47:02Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > That whole category was a dark hole for me. Even when I heard the answers there was not even a spark of recognition. (And I’m not one of those pretentious anti TV snobs. I just don’t know the names of the actors.) Catherine Willows was the name of the character; the actress’s was Marg Helgenberger. They gave them both. Anyway, a “stripper turned crimefighter” should have sparked at least one contestant’s memory, I would think. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/867 "2019-12-14T20:30:46Z")
They even referred to her as “a forensic investigator.” The original \*\*\*CSI \*\*\*was the number-one show for \*how \*long? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/868 "2019-12-14T22:22:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The original \*\*\*CSI \*\*\*was the number-one show for \*how \*long? And on top of that long run of popularity, there’s also the fact that CSI has entered popular culture as the name of an effect on juries of television crime-solving conventions (mainly that the crimes are solved quickly and with lots of very clear forensic evidence available).\* So it is surprising that this was apparently obscure knowledge to those contestants. \*[CSI effect - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI_effect) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/869 "2019-12-15T03:11:38Z")
since he’s 79 and battling cancer seems like this big tourney could be his swan song. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/870 "2019-12-15T21:12:11Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Jennifer Quayle, who is currently on a six-game win streak (before Thursday’s show at least, which I am watching now) and appears dominant enough to keep it going awhile, works as a “wine tasting consultant” in Michigan. Pretty fancy pantsy job–and in Michigan? Huh. She’s devoid of personality, and don’t they have stylists for the contestants??? She needs a gay. ---
**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 15, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/871 "2019-12-15T22:38:06Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > even the producers recognize that there are times when it’s a legitimate strategy to go out of order. Here is a way the producers can subtly (subliminally?) encourage the players to follow the traditional strategy of going down a complete category without making it a rule. At the beginning of the show, before they reveal the categories for the first round, they fill in the money values of each square. It appears to be random, but it’s always the same sequence (shades of Press Your Luck). Instead, I suggest that they fill in the grid going down each column from left to right. In my mind’s eye that would also be more aesthetically pleasing. Or is this another one if those petty, picayune, superfluous details that some fans are attached to strictly because “that’s how it’s always been?” ---
**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 16, 2019, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/872 "2019-12-16T06:17:37Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > stop requiring them to phrase their response in the form of a question (ie, “What is…?”). > [@commasense](#): > > It will \*never \*happen. You are probably right. I should gave characterized my quest as “quixotic.” Nevertheless, I say the producers don’t take this rule very seriously. They don’t even enforce it in the first round. In the second round, on the rare occasion a contestant doesn’t start their response with “What is…” Trebek gives them a polite reminder. Has anybody ever seen a contestant penalized for neglecting to preface a correct response with that phrase? ---
**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:** [December 16, 2019, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/873 "2019-12-16T06:33:58Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > Has anybody ever seen a contestant penalized for neglecting to preface a correct response with that phrase? Yes, and in Final Jeopardy too. This was back in the '80s; the contestant wrote the correct response (“Asia”) but didn’t phrase it on the form of a question. As I recall, he lost all his money and the champion spot. There have been other examples over the years, but this is the one which really sticks in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/874 "2019-12-16T11:35:50Z")
I would think the local station that is the highest bidder or has the highest ratings gets to run Jeopardy. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/875 "2019-12-16T12:25:47Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > Nevertheless, I say the producers don’t take this rule very seriously. They don’t even enforce it in the first round. In the second round, on the rare occasion a contestant doesn’t start their response with “What is…” Trebek gives them a polite reminder. > > Has anybody ever seen a contestant penalized for neglecting to preface a correct response with that phrase? I think that you’re incorrect about how this is handled. In the first round Alex will remind you. In the second round he won’t. What often happens in the second round is that the contestant says the answer and Alex doesn’t respond at all, which prompts the contestant to realize that they said it wrong. From [5 JEOPARDY! RULES EVERY CONTESTANT SHOULD KNOW](https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/behind-scenes/5-jeopardy-rules-every-contestant-should-know) (note that this is on [jeopardy.com](http://jeopardy.com)): > [@](#): > > If a contestant gives a response to a non-Daily Double clue in the Jeopardy! round that is not in the form of a question, Alex will give them a reminder. However, if a contestant forgets their phrasing in the Double Jeopardy! round, during Final Jeopardy! or for any Daily Double clue, they will be ruled incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/876 "2019-12-16T13:32:19Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > Has anybody ever seen a contestant penalized for neglecting to preface a correct response with that phrase? I know that it happened at least as recently as June 30, 2018. I know that because it was a game that I was taking part in. I wasn’t the one who made that mistake, fortunately, but one of my competitors did. He said “The Mersey,” Alex said no, and the other contestant (also not me) rang in to say “What is The Mersey?” She got money, he lost money. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s happened again since then, but that one I know for a fact! 🙂 In Double Jeopardy, Alex will not prompt you if you get your phrasing wrong. He’ll just call you incorrect. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/877 "2019-12-16T14:06:23Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Yes, and in Final Jeopardy too. > > This was back in the '80s; the contestant wrote the correct response (“Asia”) but didn’t phrase it on the form of a question. As I recall, he lost all his money and the champion spot. It may have been in response to that incident, or others like it, that they began telling contestants during the break before FJ, to write on their screen, “What is,” or “Who is,” etc., before the round started. They were doing it in 1991 when I played. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/878 "2019-12-16T14:07:04Z")
I don’t recall it specifically, but there was at least one other foul-up around the time of the “Asia” response. So much so that Alex told the contestants to make sure their response was in the form of a question because “we have had some tragedies lately on the show.” One incident I do remember from this period was also in Final Jeopardy: The response (about Washington, DC) was phrased in the form of a question, but it should have read “What is the Capitol?” Instead, it was “What is the Capital?” Which, of course, means something else entirely. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/879 "2019-12-16T14:11:59Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > It may have been in response to that incident, or others like it, that they began telling contestants during the break before FJ, to write on their screen, “What is,” or “Who is,” etc., before the round started. They were doing it in 1991 when I played. Yes, the “Asia” incident could have been in 1990 or '91; I was out of the country from September '89 through June '90 (and then at language school until August '90). ---
**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 16, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/880 "2019-12-16T18:16:10Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > Has anybody ever seen a contestant penalized for neglecting to preface a correct response with that phrase? Thanks to tetentii, commasense, & MrAtoz for the examples. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=45)