Saturday’s contestants:
(from left to right; Andy Srinivasan, Gregg Bingham, Jessica Hawks)
When I looked at j-archive.com, I noticed this episode first aired on my birthday in 2009!
Why, by the way, do you suppose they have aired Andy’s episodes after Dave Belote‘s, which were more recent? I was looking forward to watching both Stephen Weingarten and Ryan Chaffee, both of whom I had the privilege of interviewing for this blog.
As for this episode, my dad noticed immediately that he was wearing the same sweater as Greg. (I was too busy trying to take the contestants’ pictures that I didn’t notice.) My dad said, “That’s something for your blog, Jeanie.” And he eagerly stood up for me to take his picture. It does look identical. What do you guys think?:
(my dad)
(Gregg)
We were able to watch the show live, but I’m still happy to report that the recording worked – timer, sound, everything.
I didn’t keep track of my score this time, but I wished I had. I felt like I was kicking butt, but probably not like Andy, who was a two-time champ coming into this episode. Wow. He was dominant, especially in the Double Jeopardy round. He was a pleasure to watch.
Andy found all three Daily Doubles. He found it in Haunted America in the Jeopardy round. He wisely wagered all of his 1800 on this clue: “The spirit of Marie Laveau reportedly utters voodoo curses to trespassers at a cemetery in this city.”* I took a guess and got it right, and Andy got it right, too. At the end of the Jeopardy round, Andy had 5800, Gregg had 7200, and Jessica had 3000.
Andy found the first Daily Double of the Double Jeopardy round in “A” in Science. By that time, he had 19400 while Gregg had 6800 and Jessica had 3000. Andy wisely wagered big, 5000, on this clue: “Metabolic imbalances can cause this, an electrical disturbance that alters the heartbeat.”* Andy got it right, and so did I.
Andy wagered 5000 again on the next Daily Double, this one in Charity. He had 28800, Gregg still had 6800, and Jessica had 3400. This was the clue: “It was founded in 1887 to coordinate 22 Denver charities.”* I thought this one was tough. Andy and I both missed it.
Not that it mattered in the end when it comes to the victory, but I felt like Gregg should’ve gotten credit for this one in Hope, and my dad seemed to agree: “Francis Bacon opined that ‘Hope is a good breakfast but a bad’ one of these.”* (Both Gregg’s response and the “correct” response are below.) It wound up being a triple-stumper.
At the end of the Double Jeopardy round, Andy had 29000, Gregg had 9200 (a pretty good score any other time!), and Jessica had 1400. The Final Jeopardy category was Music Halls of Fame. Interesting, and it sounded fun. It was probably the most fun for Jessica, though, as she was the only one to get a correct response! Here is the clue: “2 of the 4 Country Music Hall of Fame acts who are also in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as performers.”* I agreed with Mr. Trebek when he said that one of the answers would be pretty easy to get, and the other three possible answers would be more difficult! That was the case for me and all of the contestants, as we all had the (arguably) most obvious of the correct responses. I didn’t come up with the second correct answer. Jessica added 100 to her final total. Andy lost 9000 and Gregg lost 57 (not 5700, just 57!). So Andy’s fourth episode should air next Saturday.
*New Orleans, arrhythmia, United Way, supper [Gregg said dinner]