“In a maritime fable Captain Falkenberg endlessly traverses the North Sea in this spectral craft”
More than one version of the legend, different oceans:
Flying Dutchman | Captain, Myth & Origin | Britannica
Nope. The episode was ten years ago, and that is relevant.
Andre Agassi?
When I saw the category, I said to myself “who is Mark McGwire?”, and then after a second I thought “or it could be Sammy Sosa.”
The clue was:
In 1998 these 2 baseball rivals shared top honors as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsmen of the Year
Hmm. Did the clue say, “in one version?”
Nope. Here it is again, exactly as it was read on the air: “In a maritime fable Captain Falkenberg endlessly traverses the North Sea in this spectral craft”
If I were on the show, I’m sure I’d indulge in an occasional bit of upspeak. It’s usually worthwhile to guess if you’re 75% sure, but I’d be mortified to be wrong with complete confidence 25% of the time. It’s not like real life where you just keep mum when you don’t know.
Of course, there’s an art to speaking just the right amount of up.
Of course, the “answer in the form of a question” gimmick is going to lead to some of that, anyway.
That is one of the worst “suggestions” I’ve ever read for this show.
I support increasing the payout to the non-winners.
Let Jeopardy! follow the example of Wheel of Fortune (also a Merv Griffin Production). Let the 2nd and 3rd place players keep their winnings with a guaranteed minimum at a new level keeping up with the times.
For normal people (as normal as Dopers get), several tens of thousands of dollars per day sounds like “a lot” of money. However, we’re talking about “show business” here. According to Quora, the production budget for one episode of Jeopardy! is $2 million. Even if the payout for the 2 players reached $40,000, that increases the base amount by only 2%.
You have stated the heart of the matter.
I think this change will encourage more aggressive bets, especially in Final Jeopardy. That, in turn, will attract more viewers.
Really? I disagree. Let’s say that I am in second place with $8k and the leader has $17k. Obviously I cannot catch her. I would think long and hard about betting any money, knowing I might lose it with a wrong answer. Especially if the category is Art History or some other subject in which I’m not particularly strong.
Right now there’s no downside to placing big bets in FJ if you’re not the leader (okay, $2k vs $1k). But when it’s your actual money on the line, your betting strategy might become quite conservative.
Nitpick, but “Merv Griffin Productions” (although it was actually Merv Griffin Enterprises) hasn’t existed for a long time. The show is produced by Sony Pictures Television, as you will see if you sit through all of the credits.
Then 1st and 2nd keep their money. Third gets the box of Rice-a-Roni. It gives more interest to the runaway first place games in final jeopardy when 2nd and 3rd might actually care about being not last.
If all three get to keep their money, what about contestants who wind up in the red? Should they be fined that amount, and possibly jailed until they pay? 
I’d like to see non-lethal electric shocks added to punish exceptionally boneheaded answers. Also, for those who get all three daily doubles and blow them. Finally, and most deservingly, for those who lose in FJ through stupidity rather than ignorance. Perhaps consider instant incineration for failed attempts at “cute” FJ answers as well to discourage the practice?
I realize these changes might drastically reduce the available pool of (willing) players, but I’m inclined to think overall they would improve the game itself.
ETA: I would also like to see illegal defense called more often.
Personally, I want to penalize those who append “What is” to responses that are already in the form of a question. But I don’t expect that to happen.
Please explain
What is an attempt at a joke?
I stand corrected on the current name of the company that produces both shows.
I never watch the credits. I was too lazy to look it up, and somebody else had used that name at some point in this thread. Mea f-ing culpa.
First of all, I seriously question the accuracy of that $2 million number. I can’t imagine how it could cost that much per ep. Per taping day, or per taping week, possibly. Do you have a link? (Not doubting you, just want to look into the reliability of the source.)
Second, accepting your $40,000 figure, that would still represent an increase of 1,333% in their budget for losers’ prizes. They tape 230 episodes a year, times $37,000, is an additional $8.5 million. Not chump change in anybody’s book.
Third, and this is the main reason, they tried it, and for reasons people have explained here numerous times, it made the game worse.