# Would you rather go on JEOPARDY or WHEEL OF FORTUNE? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274 "2016-02-05T22:12:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/21 "2016-02-07T05:26:36Z")
I’m not fast enough on the buzzer for Jeopardy, and I do cryptogram puzzles a lot, so I’d have a lot better chance to win on Wheel of Fortune. I’m not really the bouncy sort of person though, so I probably wouldn’t get picked. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/22 "2016-02-07T06:57:21Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I was on _Jeopardy!_. Unfortunately, at the time, you didn’t get the money you had accumulated. I got a trip to Puerto Vallarta for coming in second. I got a week at a resort in Carmel Valley - 60 miles from home. When I was preparing to go on I read the Jeopardy book, which said that the reason they gave for the standard second and third place prizes is that people on the old show would stop playing when they got as much money as they wanted - which meant a bad show. As for the answer, I was happy to go on Jeopardy first, but I’d choose Wheel now, since the Jeopardy fantasy dies once you’ve done it. And when I was on Alex said that Arthur C. Clarke wrote sci-fi, so hit him for me too. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2016, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/23 "2016-02-07T08:56:22Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > I was on Jeopardy in 1989 (though it was 1990 by the time my show aired). I tied for 2nd place, but I did not get to keep my “earnings,” but instead received some lovely parting gifts. I still have the wet-dry vac that was one of my prizes. > > When I Lost Ben Steins Money, I received a telescope as my lovely parting gift. > > Apparently lovely parting gifts are a thing of the past. Welcome to [the club](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19081819&postcount=330)! BTW **terenti** , as others have said, parting gifts instead of cash for the 2nd and 3rd place finishers were standard well before 1991. I was on that year and got a one-week Bahamas cruise and Disney World Vacation for coming in second on my second show. I believe that it was only on the original Art Fleming version (1964-79) that all players kept their winnings. But the prizes back then were peanuts. IIRC, the first clue level was $5, and the top in DJ was $100. When the new version premiered in 1984, and the clues started at $100, they instituted the parting gifts policy. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2016, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/24 "2016-02-07T11:10:24Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > BTW **terenti** , as others have said, parting gifts instead of cash for the 2nd and 3rd place finishers were standard well before 1991. Yes, I remember them from the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/25 "2016-02-07T12:25:28Z")
I haven’t seen Wheel in years. Is Vanna still hot? If yes, then there. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/26 "2016-02-07T12:45:58Z")
Jeopardy, because success there makes you appear to be a genius; Wheel because success there is more likely. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/27 "2016-02-07T14:04:32Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Jeopardy. Whenever I walk past a TV with WoF on it, they all look like a bunch of freakin’ idiots. > > Granted, the people who lose at Jeopardy (which would be me) don’t look that good, either, but at least they tend not to hop up and down and squeal while they lose. This was my first thought. Plus are they required to yell out their answers? And during the start-of-show chats are they required to have adorable children, or can people with ordinary kids play, too? 😃 On the other hand, the crap on Jeopardy about pronunciation and spelling when the person obviously knows the answer - that makes me stabby! Except for spelling questions, of course. And then there’s Trebek. Can I vote “Neither”? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/28 "2016-02-07T14:47:43Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Can I vote “Neither”? Is someone standing behind you with a knife? ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/29 "2016-02-07T16:04:58Z")
I like Jeopardy better as a show to watch, but I’d be really good in some categories and horrible than others. I’d say I have a better chance to win the big bucks on Wheel of Fortune. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/30 "2016-02-08T03:52:35Z")
I forgot to mention a favorite story from my try-out for Jeopardy. Back in 1990 the test wasn’t online: you called a phone number and if you got through you were given an appointment to take a test. In my case it was at Merv Griffin’s casino in Atlantic City. There were about 100 of us in a large room. They gave us sheets of paper with 50 numbered lines, and played a video tape with 50 clues (the text only) on a large screen and read by Alex. The clues were not standard Jeopardy clues: they were harder than average, and there were no “helper” clues. For instance, an ordinary show clue might go something like, “The U.S. Naval Academy is in this Maryland capital.” You might know that the academy is in Annapolis, or you might know that it is the capital: two chances to figure it out. The test clues weren’t like that: “This is the capital of Burundi.” Tough questions. It took about 10 minutes. (We didn’t have to phrase the responses as questions, just write down the “answers.”) Afterwards, while we waited for the staff to score them and tell us who would move on to the next phase of the try-out, we talked about the test, trying to figure which ones we got right and wrong. Everyone was commenting on how hard it had been. One person said, “If that’s how hard the Jeopardy test is, what do you suppose the Wheel of Fortune test is like?” To which someone else said, “It’s the same test. If you lose, you get to be on Wheel of Fortune.” ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/31 "2016-02-08T04:01:49Z")
Jeopardy. I’d probably lose either one, but I won’t feel so bad about losing Jeopardy. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/32 "2016-02-08T04:47:24Z")
Wheel. More fun, less pretentiousness. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/33 "2016-02-08T16:48:36Z")
Probably Jeopardy! because I watch it a lot more, so there is some familiarity. When I do watch Wheel, I don’t do very well. Also, I would really suck at faking excitement like your typical Wheel contestant. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/34 "2016-02-08T16:53:15Z")
I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy being on _Jeopardy_ more, because so much of being a _Wheel_ contestant is standing around waiting for one of the other contestants to do something dumb, and so much of the rest of it is the luck of where the wheel lands. There’s a good chance I’d lose _Jeopardy_, but I’d feel better about losing, because it’d mean the other contestants were just smarter or quicker than I. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/35 "2016-02-08T18:52:46Z")
_Jeopardy!_ of course. Because the only thing cooler than being on _Jeopardy!_ is being in the Olympics, which is the coolest thing in the world. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/36 "2016-02-08T19:02:19Z")
If I were on _Wheel_, Twitter would break with the number of people getting on to express their outrage at how dull I am. I just don’t have that large a personality. :o My nerdly ways would play better on _Jeopardy_. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/37 "2016-02-08T19:09:58Z")
Wheel of Fortune. I’m just not that great at trivia, and frankly, find the acquisition of it kind of boring. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/38 "2016-02-08T20:51:05Z")
_Jeopardy!_, no doubt. I actually qualified years ago, but they never called me (too many lawyers and doctors already in their files, I was warned). ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274/39 "2016-02-08T20:58:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I think you didn’t read the OP. Guilty as charged! Didn’t notice it was a **Skald** topic, otherwise I would’ve known there was a hypothetical afoot. Anyways, even with the way things are now, I’d still lean towards Jeopardy - I’m better at trivia than figuring out Wheel’s weird phrases (it annoys me to no end when the clue is something like “phrase” and it’s something no one ever says), but the fact that Wheel is more lenient with the winnings would have me on the fence. However, with these changes, Jeopardy is an easy pick. It’s uncommon on Jeopardy to see someone with less than $2000 going into Final, and even if I was getting my butt kicked by the other contestants I’m pretty sure I would be able to out-do $2000 (unless I gambled and lost on a daily double or something). Wheel, on the other hand, makes it quite easy to get unlucky and lose everything. Because of that, I don’t think being able to return as a champion is that meaningful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-go-on-jeopardy-or-wheel-of-fortune/745274.md?page=1)