I’ve never rooted so hard against anyone as I did against JP on Friday. Before the game had even started he had a silly smile and he kept it up for the entire game. It’s funny because sometimes I wish contestants, and hosts, would not take the game so seriously, but damn he was annoying.
I’m with you! Sometimes contestants just rub me the wrong way, and I don’t want them to win.
I thought it was cool that all three contestants on Friday’s show made it to the next round. They looked quite surprised and happy for each other, kind of like they’ve become friends. Has that sort of thing happened before?
Same here. He struck me as one of those people who thinks they’re the most interesting person in the room and that everybody else in the room agrees.
I liked JP. He added a little excitement to an otherwise mundane game. But he was up against a better player.
That’s how he struck me, too. I did not cry when he didn’t advance.
If I remember my long-ago Russian language classes correctly, the adjective bolshe indeed means big, while menshe means small. And if I remember my history correctly, you’re right; the Bolsheviks as a group, weren’t very big; certainly not the biggest. But they wanted to sound like they were, so they called themselves Bolsheviks, “the big group.” And if they were the big group, then the other group must necessarily be small, no matter its size–hence it became known as Mensheviks.
There’s always things one person knows better than another. But…
How do people know so much about modern TV shows? With so many different streaming services, and so many shows, how can anyone keep up? There’s no way anyone is watching even a quarter of everything available. These contestants are answering correctly about shows that (AFAIK) aren’t on broadcast or basic cable, so you can’t even accidentally channel surf and become aware of them.
Even more, how does ANYONE know what to watch these days? I could be missing great shows that I don’t even theoretically know exist.
I hear you! So many shows, and not near enough time to watch everything I already know about!
And they just can’t let the crowned heads of Europe rest in peace.
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.
I think ALL of the “tournament” shows except of course Tournament of Champions have easier questions, and the contestants miss more easy questions than on the regular shows. I did not expect this to be true of the professors shows, but I think it is.
I guess being a professor presupposes a certain level of intelligence - but not necessarily that one knows a great deal of minutiae beyond one’s field of study.
Have you ever met a professor???
ducks and runs
This is something that’s often struck me, too. I know that to bone up on what are some of my weak categories–monarchs, artists, Shakespeare plays, operas–if you’re going to actually be on the show, you study for it by reading these “dictionary of cultural literacy/condensed history of Western Civ” type books. But how do these contestants know so much about contemporary TV? I hate pretty much all contemporary TV shows at this point and don’t watch any, but I know that there are so many, spread across so many networks and streaming services, there’s no way any one person could be familiar with even a fraction of them. I mean, any time there’s a modern TV category, several of the clues wind up being about shows I’ve never even heard of, and yet between the 3 of them, the contestants usually get all the answers. How is this possible?
Another thing that always surprises me is that these categories always reveal some show I’m shocked is still being made. Grey’s Anatomy made a splash in its first few seasons, being one of those shows everyone was talking about. I would have thought it was ancient history by now, but it turns out it’s still on! 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?
I admit I don’t have that big a circle of friends, but no one I know is. You’d think just by statistical sample I’d know someone that does. But they do seem to all watch Game of Thrones. 
On the categories for older TV shows, I usually get them all, or at least have heard of the shows. When there were only three networks, and they all did summer reruns, it was a lot easier to see, sample, or at least hear of every show.* Combine that with syndicated reruns and I am familiar with most shows that ran in prime time between say 1959 and 1990, These days I am daily reminded via commercials for streaming services that there are dozens more shows available that I’d never heard of. How are they making money? They must have audiences in the hundreds.
And yet, that abomination remake if Hawaii 5-0 is pushing ten years on!
*eta: and reading TV Guide cover to cover. I can recognize episodes of shows I’ve never seen because I read the episode descriptions in the issues.
Nobody; they’re too popular.
You basically just answered your own question there. They are known by the people who like contemporary TV and watch them or have simply picked up titles by cultural osmosis.
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.
I think the point that with numerous cable channels and streaming services, there are so many more TV shows being made than in the days when there were only three networks, that it’s surprising that people with full-time jobs and an interest in some of the more intellectual subjects that often appear on Jeopardy can keep up with them, is a valid one.