The Final Wager’s Celebrity Jeopardy! preview
| Celebrity Jeopardy! | 
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For the first time in five years, The Powers That Be have seen fit to bless us with a week of recognizable people playing our favorite quiz show for charity.
How should Keith handle this week's shows?
- Skip the entire week! (12%, 15 Votes)
- Be ruthless! They could lose money for their charity! (61%, 75 Votes)
- Be nice! They're playing for charity! (26%, 32 Votes)
Total Voters: 122
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
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click here to see this as an image
Now, I’ll admit: for the most part, I don’t like Celebrity Jeopardy!. Even with dumbed-down material, the contestants often struggle, reminding us (and also, unfortunately, the next generation) that basic knowledge is not a prerequisite for success in life.
The pace is lethargic, too, because the players are often busy joking around. With the number of funny, intriguing, and downright mysterious players we’ve had this season, I see no need to sacrifice content for professional yuks.
I do recognize, however, that Celebrity Jeopardy! is a necessary evil; it probably boosts ratings, which is why the producers are making it the sole event during May sweeps. As a result, both the College Championship and Teen Tournament appear unlikely to take place this season.
Yet every once in a while, there’s a bright spot. Chief among them was Andy Richter, who balanced out the black hole of intelligence named Wolf Blitzer to amass $39,000 heading into Final; he then nearly doubled his score to win $68,000, the third-highest total in the show’s history.
In that spirit, here’s a quick look at the competitors – and how I’d score them on the [Andy] Richter scale. (Whether the measurement is linear or logarithmic I’m going to keep secret.)
[jetpack_subscription_form]
Since the celebrity edition often gives shout-outs to the competitors, I’ve included some possible “vanity” categories.
Monday, May 11Vince Gilligan
NOTABLE RECREATIONAL VEHICLES Debra Messing
WHERE THERE’S A WILL… Neil Flynn
YOU AND WHOSE SQUIRREL ARMY? |
Tuesday, May 12Aaron Rodgers
VISCOUNT DOUBLE CHECK Kevin O’Leary
JAWS Mark Kelly
MARS ATTACKS! |
Wednesday, May 13Mo Rocca
MO MONEY Wendi McLendon-Covey
THE GOLDBERGS John Berman
THINGS WOLF BLITZER KNOWS |
Thursday, May 14Bellamy Young
PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS Josh Gad
HELLO! Ginger Zee
“COLD” FRONT |
Friday, May 15Zachary Quinto
THINGS THAT START WITH “Q” Cynthia Rowley
AMERICA’S PREVIOUS TOP MODEL Penn Jillette
SILENT PARTNERS |
* not Dr. Spock – this is what I get for writing a post at 4 a.m.
Image source: triviahappy.com
Great moments in Celebrity Jeopardy: When Andrew Shue–after bragging that he was a history major at Dartmouth–could not name a war that lasted a century.
I’m a little concerned by the fact that no woman on your list, including a Yale alum, received higher than a 5.0.
At the same time Aaron Rodgers gets a 7.0 for detailing the process a QB goes through between the huddle and snap? While it’s undoubtedly an impressive feat, it’s not too far removed from the detailed analytical process for anyone whose job involves specific tasks that are slightly repetitive with different factors.
I’m sure that there are underlying analytics I’m not seeing in your raw numbers here, and I certainly don’t follow Jeopardy as closely as you. But still, the average “Richter scale” rating for men is 5.25 and women is 4.1. That seems a little troublesome without more detail.
Interesting that it ended up that way – it was unintentional. There were actually no underlying analytics – just a gut instinct for each.
Oh, brother!!!
You may have thought it was discriminatory for Keith to judge the specific women on the show as poor Jeopardy players, but may I point out that it was you who was discriminating against athletes’ intelligence. Aaron showed his stripes tonight and , as a lifelong Jeopardy! fan and intelligent guy on AND off the field, he fared very well. Assuming his intelligence was limited to his job as quarterback, despite his eloquence and proof to the contrary, is not fair to him, just as it would have been unfair to assume all the women would do poorly if that were Keith’s intent.
Ooo, thanks for reminding me of probably the worst wager ever on J! (Aldrin’s). You just *don’t* give up a lock. Ever.
I’d give John Berman a little more latitude due to his performance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLYyN3aqXB0) on the CNN Quiz Show where he did very well.
MISTER Spock! MISTER Spock! Doctor Spock was the seminal paediatrician!!!!!!! As a Trekkie, I demand this be changed NOW! 🙂
Fashion designers on J! Well, I had no idea who she was before, and I wish I hadn’t found out now. Probably my least favourite Celebrity J! player was Isaac Mizrahi. He did not take the game seriously, and fluked into the quarterfinals of the MDCI. But those I could have forgiven those quite easily if it wasn’t for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQKgpm1SJmQ&spfreload=10 . No one who has appeared on Jeopardy!, even if it was an edition of Jeopardy! for people who have had total lobotomies, should not be saying that. Gah! Cynthia: Isaac ruined fashion designers on J! for me, although you’re up against serious opposition, both of which I am fans of and am rooting for, please restore your profession for me.
Ha oops… fixed that one.
It’s Mr. Spock, not Dr. Spock.
Yikes… Fixed it, thanks!
No wonder why Ginger Zee’s doing this; at least half the meteorology classes at Valpo end up with some form of Jeopardy! during the semester. Anyway, time to tell the entire department about Thursday, because I’m sure everyone wants to see that.
Another fun Valpo Jepoardy! thing is that Melizza Zygmunt’s husband is the physics department chair. He definitely led the charge to get her into the Battle of the Decades.
Actually the last round of Celebrity games was three years ago in May 2012 – it was called “Power Players” week though.
Be ruthless, but tender.
Keep in mind too you handled wagering for Kids Week and I have the same wagering expectations (and clue difficulty expectations) of Kids Week that I do of the celebs. I voted for “ruthless” though because who doesn’t like TMZ? 😉
My vote would be for being neither crueler than usual nor nicer than usual, and treating them like regular contestants, with the same exasperation you would usually have for bad players/wagerers. I hope they all studied up on wagering $4000!
So that’s what Vince Gilligan looks like …
What’s going on with the subscription form in the middle of this post? There’s no context to it, which immediately makes me worried it might be a malicious code inject.
Wagering is a little different here because the charities are guaranteed a certain amount of money.
True – when in doubt, the celebs should just bet everything.