Today’s Final Jeopardy – Tuesday, September 15, 2020

13 Comments on "Today’s Final Jeopardy – Tuesday, September 15, 2020"

1. Steven Morgan | September 17, 2020 at 3:27 pm |

   People living in the western USA where I live pronounce ‘Barry’ and ‘Berry’ exactly the same. I asked a friend from the east coast about all this, and he left me a voice mail pronouncing both names, and there is a SLIGHT difference in pronunciation, but I still heard ‘Barry’ on both pronunciations. But pronunciation isn’t the issue. The issue is Betsy KNEW the correct answer is Berry Gordy – she just misspelled Berry – pronunciation matters not – spelling is also supposed to NOT matter in Final Jeopardy – but in Betsy’s case it sudedenly DID matter. I always play along in Final Jeopardy – and I wrote down: Barry Gordie – I misspelled BOTH names – but so what – I knew the correct answer – as did Betsy. I know this error by Alex and the judges was not material to the end of the game, but the Jeopardy show still owes Betsy an apology and as a mea culpa she should be brought back to tape a new Jeopardy show.

   • Andy Saunders | September 17, 2020 at 6:40 pm |

     That’s not how re-invites work, Steven.

     • Bill | September 17, 2020 at 7:09 pm |

       Invite back—no. Mea culpa—ABSOLUTELY.

       I only wish she had held them to task, on air. Yeah, they would have edited it—but it still needed to happen.

2. DEBORAH SASSEN | September 18, 2020 at 2:54 pm |

   Very interesting reading all the comments regarding whether they are pronounced the same or not. I am from Massachusetts and I pronounce them quite differently. I say Barry with the vowel sound you hear in “bat”, and Berry with the vowel sound in “bet”. I know that in other parts of the country when folks pronounce them the same, it is with the vowel sound in “bear”. Now even though I am on the side that says them differently, I still feel she was robbed. She clearly knew the answer and they always say spelling doesn’t count. And this was just a spelling error. By the way, my own answer was Gordy Berry. I had it backwards. What do you think the ruling would have been there?

3. Michael Day | September 21, 2020 at 1:40 am |

   Well, here are two thoughts from a former 5 time champ and UTOC participant.

   First, I think the ruling is harsh but correct. Barry and Berry are not the same name.

   Second, this wouldn’t have been a problem if the contestant had followed the first basic rule of Jeopardy: unless it’s something where the first name is essential (e.g., Presidents Harrison, Johnson, Roosevelt, Bush, Adams, authors Bronte, etc) you NEVER EVER give first names. Only last names. You can’t win extra points for first names. You can only lose.

   • Andy Saunders | September 21, 2020 at 1:46 am |

     As you know, though, Michael, being that you are a former champion and UToC participant, if an error is still phonetically correct, it should be accepted—and as has been mentioned multiple times in this thread, that is the case for 57% of Americans.

     To say nothing of the fact that Berry Gordy was credited as Barry Gordy in the credits of Teen Wolf Too (1987).

     Both of those points have been used to credit answers as correct in the past (Eva/Eve Marie Saint, for example here).

     The judges made a mistake and they need to publicly own up to it before it bites them in a more important spot later.

     • Michael Day | September 22, 2020 at 7:40 pm |

       First, please, please stop the sarcasm, Andy. Not appreciated.
       On the phonetics, we’ll have to agree to disagree. It’s not so much that Barry can’t be pronounced like Berry; it’s that it’s a tossup. It’s like writing “hamburg” for “homburg” for the name of a hat. Is that a misspelling? Or does it show that you don’t know the right answer? To me, these sorts of answers need to be resolved against the contestant.

       As for the credits, I wouldn’t have given credit for Eve Marie Saint, because (A) her real name, which she went by, was Eva Marie Saint and (B) the question asked about “On the Waterfront,” in which she was billed as “Eva.” If the credit in TW2 was accurate, I would agree these decisions were inconsistent. But TW2s credit is “Berry Gordy (as Barry Gordy)” for writing “Do You Love Me.” I can find no evidence that the writing credit for that song was given to Barry Gordy instead of Berry Gordy. That seems to be an error in the credits.

       At least it didn’t affect the outcome of the game at all.

4. Steve Probst | September 21, 2020 at 9:10 am |

   While I think the Barry/Berry ruling was wrong, I’m surprised “Eve Marie Saint” was accepted. Eve and Eva are not only spelled differently, but are clearly pronounced differently.

   • Andy Saunders | September 21, 2020 at 9:11 am |

     Eva Marie Saint was credited as Eve Marie Saint in one film early in her career, and that was enough in the eyes of the judges in that instance.

5. Marc Beaudry | September 21, 2020 at 10:10 pm |

   By pronunciation, I make no distinction between:
   dairy/Derry
   fairy/ferry
   merry/marry
   parry/perry
   tarry/terry
   vary/very

   If I was really trying to be picky, I could argue that there is a slight difference in pronunciation between Gord and gourd.

   As Jeopardy is first and foremost entertainment, it seems very strange that the program would apply it rules so harshly. Let’s hope no one is asked to name the former leader of Libya.

6. Michael Day | September 22, 2020 at 7:50 pm |

   First, please, please stop the sarcasm, Andy. Not appreciated.

   On the phonetics, we’ll have to agree to disagree. It’s not so much that Barry can’t be pronounced like Berry; it’s that it’s a tossup. It’s like writing “hamburg” for “homburg” for the name of a hat. Is that a misspelling? Or does it show that you don’t know the right answer? In other words, if the contestant had vocalized the answer instead of writing it, would she have said it as a homophone of berry or not? There is no way to know. In Final Jeopardy, these sorts of conundrums are generally resolved against the contestant.

   As for the credits issue, I wouldn’t have given credit for Eve Marie Saint, because (A) her real name, which she went by, was Eva Marie Saint and (B) the question asked about “On the Waterfront,” in which she was billed as “Eva.” If the credit in TW2 was accurate, I would agree these decisions were inconsistent.

   But TW2s credit is “Berry Gordy (as Barry Gordy)” for writing “Do You Love Me.” I can find no evidence that the writing credit for that song was given to Barry Gordy instead of Berry Gordy. That seems to be an error in the credits.

   At least it didn’t affect the outcome of the game at all.

   • Andy Saunders | September 22, 2020 at 7:52 pm |

     Michael:

     Why should a contestant be penalized in a written sense for only having heard an answer orally, or in an oral sense for only having read about an answer?

   • Gary Kevin Ware | September 22, 2020 at 7:54 pm |

     What sarcasm? And this comment is now posted twice.