# 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:** 67
**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:** [September 16, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1321 "2020-09-16T14:40:07Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > The Jeopardy twitter account is saying that “Barry” and “Berry” are two different names. I wonder if an otherwise correct answer like “Cathy Bates” or “John Stewart” would be ruled incorrect. Those are different names as well, but pronounced identically. ---
**Author:** ![Yelnick\_McWawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/839c29/32.png) [@Yelnick\_McWawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yelnick_McWawa)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1322 "2020-09-16T15:38:33Z")
My wife believes they are grooming Jennings to take over for Alex when he retires. At 80 with his medical condition, it’s gonna be soon. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1323 "2020-09-16T19:32:44Z")
I noticed that in the Tuesday game, all three contestants were from LA. (I didn’t notice Monday if that were true, but the returning champion didn’t want to travel, so at least one of the three was.) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1324 "2020-09-16T20:05:07Z")
I’ve seen a couple articles about this here and there. The first group of contestants will all be within driving distance of LA, so no one has to fly. I don’t know how long that will last. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1325 "2020-09-16T20:10:03Z")
Alex mentioned in Monday’s game that the champion from the end of last season wasn’t able to travel for the new season, so they started with three new players and the champion will return at some point in the future. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1326 "2020-09-16T20:50:00Z")
> [@Yelnick\_McWawa](#): > > My wife believes they are grooming Jennings to take over for Alex when he retires. I think your wife is probably right. Or that it’s at least a tryout of sorts: if it just doesn’t seem to be working out, they can hire someone else without the awkwardness of ever having said he was hired as a host. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1327 "2020-09-16T21:41:55Z")
(9/16) Kelly is too bubbly, but I love her dinosaur dress. Brian ---
**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:** [September 16, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1328 "2020-09-16T23:42:21Z")
Fetch me my dart guy, boy; I think I can bring her down from here. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1329 "2020-09-17T00:35:44Z")
LOL! She is/was\* a bit hard to take. Very small doses. \*Was. Didn’t even make it to FJ, after it was the other woman next to her who looked like she might not. ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1330 "2020-09-17T02:49:20Z")
What was Kelly’s story? I walked into the room just as she was finishing it. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2020, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1331 "2020-09-17T03:59:41Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I wonder if an otherwise correct answer like “Cathy Bates” or “John Stewart” would be ruled incorrect. Those are different names as well, but pronounced identically. No, because those are variations of spelling of the _same name_ that do not chance the pronunciation. John=Jon and Cathy=Kathy in every accent I’ve heard. Barry and Berry are two _different_ names (and are pronounced differently.) If the answer was “Hank Aaron“, and a contestant wrote “Hank Erin”, they’d be incorrect. If they wrote “Hank Aron”, they would not be penalized. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1332 "2020-09-17T04:07:30Z")
I noticed that today there was another music clue, to which the correct response was “Berry”. This time it was Chuck Berry. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1333 "2020-09-17T04:11:27Z")
Jon & John are not the same name. They’re different names. Jon is the short version of Jonathan and John isn’t. They have different origins. They do sound alike (in my dialect) - but they’re not variants of the same name. They’re just as different as Berry & Barry (which also sound alike in my dialect). Again - it didn’t have any effect on the outcome. But, it was a weird call. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1334 "2020-09-17T04:48:27Z")
Yeah, I don’t think it’s as simple as saying “they are different names”. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1335 "2020-09-17T07:49:40Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > (9/16) Kelly is too bubbly, Word. I felt like someone should have told her “Wheel of Fortune is down the hall, sweetie.” ---
**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:** [September 17, 2020, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1336 "2020-09-17T07:53:40Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Jon & John are not the same name. They’re different names. > Jon is the short version of Jonathan and John isn’t. They have different origins. … And one is an actor and one is a dentist.\* \*Seinfeld reference. Sorry, I couldn’t resist it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1337 "2020-09-17T08:01:04Z")
> [@Nayna](#): > > What was Kelly’s story? I walked into the room just as she was finishing it. Whenever she travels she brings her collection of plastic toy dinosaurs along (apparently those are something both she and Alex are fans of), and once it got her detained by TSA. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1338 "2020-09-17T12:43:10Z")
She also recommended that Alex should travel with his toy dinosaurs as well. I don’t begrudge her her bubbliness. She’s having a once-in-a-lifetime experience, at a time when most of the news is unrelentingly depressing. Let her enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1339 "2020-09-17T20:25:48Z")
You make me feel like a curmudgeon for chafing against it. But it just doesn’t fit the Jeopardy tone, IMO. And Jeopardy is above all a TV show, a piece of entertainment. As **kaylasdad** said upthread, it’s better suited for “Wheel”. (And her intellect, frankly, also seemed better suited for that competition.) ---
**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:** [September 17, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/1340 "2020-09-17T20:39:05Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But it just doesn’t fit the Jeopardy tone, IMO. And Jeopardy is above all a TV show, a piece of entertainment. As **kaylasdad** said upthread, it’s better suited for “Wheel”. (And her intellect, frankly, also seemed better suited for that competition.) She did get off to a fast start, and answered quite a few clues correctly. If she’d just laid off the buzzer when she _didn’t_ know the answer she’d have done fine. Personally, I’d love to see more contestants being excited and bringing a sense of fun to the game, even if Kelly may have been a bit too large a swing of that pendulum. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=68)