Hello! Today is Wednesday, April 14, 2021 (Season 37, Game 143). The silence from Jeopardy! is growing more and more deafening in the face of the 230,000-signature strong petition asking for LeVar Burton to host. This is becoming an increasingly bad look on Mike Richards’ part and could eventually be seen as another strike against a producer who has been sued by former employees on multiple occasions for discrimination. Richards also seems to think that, somehow, Dr. Oz isn’t political or divisive; I’m very quickly losing confidence in the judgement of Mike Richards.
(I would also like to explicitly point out that none of this is the fault of any of the other guest hosts chosen, some of whom I have worked closely with in the past. You’re doing your best to honour Alex’s memory the best way that you can, and I hope that you feel that you did an incredible job. My criticisms are pointed solely at the Executive Producer.)
On with the show, here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Shakespeare):
With 4,042 lines, it’s Shakespeare’s longest play & it’s also the one that’s been filmed the most
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Patrick Hume, a project manager originally from Stoneham, Massachusetts
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Kari Stadem, a retired homeschooler from Willmar, Minnesota
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Erick Loh, a pastor from Northridge, California (1-day total: $21,000)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: Erick won yesterday after being the only person to get Final Jeopardy! correct; however, he would not have won had either of his opponents done so, despite leading going into Final. If Patrick or Kari picked up on that from the audience.
PSA: The best way to keep COVID-19 at bay (and keep Jeopardy! producing new episodes) is for everybody to get their vaccinations as soon as they are able to. When wearing a mask, ensure that your mask covers both your nose and your mouth.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is Hamlet?
More information about Final Jeopardy: (The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2021 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
Since the beginning of the 20th century, over 50 versions of Hamlet have been released. The most significant of these include Laurence Olivier’s 1948 version that won the Oscar for Best Picture. Interestingly, because the play at full length will run about four hours long, this has given directors the opportunity to shape the narrative more to their own personal liking (for example, Fortinbras is omitted in Olivier’s version, giving it a less political tone).
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Proceeds from the sale of the “Doctor Oz’s Fast-Acting Snake Oil Elixir” T-shirt are being donated to The Trevor Project:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Patrick $20,600
Erick $12,200
Kari $7,800
Tonight’s results:
Kari $7,800 – $4,000 = $3,800 (What is Romeo + Juliet?)
Erick $12,200 – $12,200 = $0 (What is Romeo and Juliet?)
Patrick $20,600 + $3,801 = $24,401 (What is Hamlet?) (1-day total: $24,401)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Patrick $5,800
Kari $5,800
Erick $2,600
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Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) BIBLICALLY INSPIRED BOOK TITLES $800 (clue #9)
Kari 1000 +1000 (Erick 800 Patrick 2000)
2) OLD OCCUPATIONS $1600 (clue #19)
Patrick 14600 -3000 (Erick 10200 Kari 7400)
3) MALFUNCTION $1600 (clue #29, $2000 left on board)
Patrick 17600 +3000 (Erick 12200 Kari 7800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 96
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 171 (1.20 per episode average), 2 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Patrick $22,200 Coryat, 23 correct, 2 incorrect, 40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Kari $7,600 Coryat, 13 correct, 1 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Erick $12,200 Coryat, 17 correct, 2 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $42,000
Lach Trash: $7,200 (on 6 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,800
Erick Loh, career statistics:
40 correct, 5 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (41/114)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,200
Kari Stadem, career statistics:
13 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,600
Patrick Hume, career statistics:
24 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $0)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $22,200
Patrick Hume, to win:
2 games: 60.837%
3: 37.011%
4: 22.516%
5: 13.698%
6: 8.333%
Avg. streak: 2.553 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Thus far, $194,626 has been raised for the North Valley Community Foundation.
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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I was stuck between Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. I did not realize how many times Hamlet had been filmed but went with it since I was pretty sure it was longer than Romeo and Juliet.
I am in total agreement with you, Andy. I feel that Richards is killing the show.
Andy, you mentioned above the discrimination lawsuits since Richards has taken over, and one of those is from Glenn Kagan, a 25+ year staffer, unceremoniously let go, supposedly due to a lack of complying with COVID guidelines while on the set. I met Glenn (senior contestant coordinator) at my in-person audition in LA back in 2016, and he was such a nice guy…full of stories from way back when he worked at SNL in the early days with Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd. It was worth going just to listen to him, nevermind the audition.
Interesting. I met Glenn Kagan at my interview in 1990 and left with a negative impression of him. Perhaps he was having a bad day. Susanne Thurber, however, was very nice. I suppose that she is long retired.
I tend to agree with Mike more about Glenn Kagan. I think Glenn ran my second audition in Denver. He seemed very knowledgeable and wanted to help everyone feel at ease and do their best. I remember he loved Corvettes and had a black jacket for the car brand. I also called him the “Planes Trains and Automobiles” guy. Contestants, especially repeaters, will remember how he came on set during the two major breaks during each taping and encouraged contestants to keep their calls for clues short, such as “Planes for 6” instead of “Um, let’s see, i think i will take “Planes Trains and Automobiles for $ 600, please, Alex” to save time and keep the show moving at a good pace.
Sad to hear he was let go. And sad that Maggie Speak retired, too. She ran my third audition and i think she helped me relax during the audition, and get on the show. Glenn was a bit more quiet than Maggie and less outgoing (but then, who wasn’t!) She was great! And her long-treasured photo of Alex, which she only showed to contestants in the green room.
Glenn was very recent. He ran my Zoom audition in June. When these alleged violations occurred would be when they resumed taping in July, although I knew nothing about it when I taped in September and was a little surprised not to see him again at taping, until I read something on this site after that.
I knew it was either Richard III or Hamlet. Went with my gut (RIII) rather than the sober second guess. This feels like one of the easiest FJs in a long time, my brainfart aside.
Andy, thanks for sticking your neck out on the LeVar Burton thing. Jeopardy’s been pretty tone-deaf lately when it comes to listening to the fans.
This clue had two paths to it, but I didn’t know the factoid for either one. Just guessed Hamlet out of the statistical likelihood that the more versions there are of a movie, the more likely it is that one of them will win Best Picture. Hooray for getting the right answer in a totally off-base way!
I was stuck with either Romeo or Juliet and Hamlet, but I knew the obvious one was Hamlet because Romeo and Juliet wasn’t that long of a play since there was a movie on this one. Furthermore, my gut instinct worked today without brain freeze.
Having ushered at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC for ten years, I had no trouble with this one. Hamlet is long long long. Arguably the finest play ever written however.
I probably saw one of your productions if you were there for Macbeth around 2010. I was thinking of Hamlet for longest Shakespeare play, but I kept coming back to Macbeth since I’ve seen it so many times, though not on film. No idea what I would have written in an actual game…
Yes I was there in 2010. Macbeth — or the Scottish play as we used to call it — is actually the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, because there aren’t lots of subplots. It pretty much sticks to the main idea. I believe that Comedy of Errors is the shortest play overall.
This is all making me think Sony misplaced their faith in Mike. Maybe they should only let him EP Wheel and replace him on J! next season. Otherwise he’ll continue making missteps that could harm the J! brand and all the goodwill and credibility built up over more than 50 years. What a joke. Yes, Harry Friedman retired, but that kinda makes us wish he hadn’t (or at least, only retiring from Wheel). Wonder what he thinks of Richards right now?
Yes, this is his first season, but you need to have a good first impression to be a good EP, and Mike’s not looking good right now. Yes, Sony may be the ones picking the hosts, meaning no LeVar, and yes, he was probably forced to say that Mehmet isn’t divisive or political for job security, but Mike could at least have stayed silent on Oz, while making a statement regarding LeVar, a host Sony probably passed up and is A: universally beloved and personable, B: has years of TV experience under his belt, C: has a completely clean slate right now, and D: is diverse.
In short, you were probably right after all: Mike most likely has huge problems listening to the fans that helped J! last so long, and unless he somehow turns things around next season (he better do it, but I’m not holding my breath), people will say J!’s credibility died with Alex. Sony probably made a major mistake casting him as EP for J!. Not as big as distributing Mehmet’s little show, but still major.
My apologies but I must have missed something. I thought LeVar Burton was a confirmed guest host.
That should’ve happened, and likely would’ve had Mike or the people in charge of the selection process listened to the fans, so you had every reason to believe that.
“Mike Richards not listening to the fans” seems like another common thread in his career.
Doesn’t help that a lot of his changes on Price, while good for the show, alienated longtime fans.
Have seen oblique references on the web that LeVar Burton has a reputation for being litigious. If true, might this be the reason he is being bypassed?
Jasper
He didn’t know he didn’t own the rights to Reading Rainbow.
A lot of thoughts on the above comments.
First, I didn’t know they fired Glenn. That’s awful. I remember Glenn, Maggie, and Susanne very well from the UTOC. They all treated us wonderfully.
Second, I’m not sure why Andy thinks Anderson Cooper is the favorite to replace Alex. Maybe his shows have been filmed and Andy knows something I don’t. But to me, Cooper is even more controversial than Dr. Oz. He will immediately alienate about a third of J! viewers (maybe more, as the J! audience skews older). I’ll continue to watch J! if they pick Cooper, because I like the show, but I won’t be particularly happy, and I’m no hardcore Trumper by a longshot. And for those of you on the left, ask yourself how you would react if J! chose Megyn Kelly to host.
Third, in terms of a new host, although my top pick by a country mile would be Bob Circosta (yes, I’m serious), I don’t know why Brad Rutter isn’t being given a shot. Watch him on “The Chase.” He’s a natural, who hosted a high school quiz for ten years or so (that’s how Alex got his start).
Finally, if you want a person of color to host, the obvious choice to me is not LeVar. It’s Clint Holmes, an actor, singer, and Vegas entertainer (remember “Playground in My Mind”) who has hosted tons of TV shows (in addition to being Joan Rivers’ announcer). He hosted the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (College Bowl for HBCUs) for many years on BET (and even after that) and was truly outstanding (a bit of trivia for you: Art Fleming hosted College Bowl on TV in 1978-1979 and on CBS radio from 1979-1982). Not sure Clint would be interested, however; he makes a fortune in Vegas. He’s also about 74 or so.
“not sure why Andy thinks Anderson Cooper is the favorite”…
He’s been considered the heir apparent since the emails came out in the Sony leak of 2014.
Forgot about that. On the other hand, that was 7 years ago, when Cooper didn’t have nearly the partisan reputation that he does now.
So why is it, that to you. Anderson Cooper is more controversial than Dr. Oz?
Dr. Oz is controversial because (i) a lot of the “medical advice” he offers is either questionable or, in some cases, just plain wrong and potentially very harmful and (ii) he was one of Trump’s advisers on COVID who advocated opening up businesses and schools a lot faster than Fauci (in retrospect, Oz was probably more right about this than Fauci was). So a lot of folks on the left really despise him.
Cooper is an unapologetic left-winger who pushes a left-wing agenda on CNN. That’s certainly his right, but it alienates all of Trumpland (people like my wife) and a good number of traditional conservatives like me who aren’t Trumpers but who can’t stomach the progressive left. As I said, I’ll keep watching J! even if he is named the permanent host, but folks like my wife and her family (all big fans) will never watch it again — ever.
I honestly think Cooper alienates far more people than Oz, because he is far better known, but I could be wrong about that.
Regardless of who is more controversial, I don’t think Sony wants to alienate a huge part of their audience, which is why I think either Oz or Cooper would be a huge mistake. So would Katie Couric for that matter (conservatives don’t like her), but she was terrible as a guest host, so I don’t think that will come to pass.
Michael:
All the “progressive left” generally wants is for everybody to be treated equally. That’s all it boils down to.
If you can’t stomach that, that’s on you.
Good-bye.
An unapologetic left winger? Should progressives have to apologize for being progressive?
Anderson Cooper is not any sort of radical leftist, and I hardly think he’s controversial. Wouldn’t be my pick as permanent host – though I look forward to seeing his guest stint – but I hardly think he’s controversial. I mean, if you’re either liberal or conservative, half the country is going to disagree with you. But I don’t recall a whole lot of controversy around Cooper (as opposed to Doc Oz’s problems with questionable meds and in particular hydroxychloroquine).
I find both of them irksome. No way that Oz will be permanent host, and if Cooper somehow snags it, I’d probably find something else to do for that half hour 5 days a week, no problem. Am hoping he’s not the choice.
Since it seems quite a number of you are more up-to-date on this topic: How many (if any) of the guest hosts (or non-guest hosts, for that matter) have publicly expressed a desire/willingness to take the full-time position? Most of them have current full-time gigs of their own, which would likely have to be dropped (or at least significantly restructured) to be able to take the reins. I get the feeling that for most of them, this is more about making a two-week (/two-day) commitment to both honor Alex, and to check a unique item off their bucket lists. It’s like the difference between babysitting your niece and nephew for a weekend, vs. having kids of your own.
Only Ken and Aaron have expressed this interest so far.
Take Aaron Rodgers’ alleged interest in the full-time gig with a grain of salt. There have been whispers in the sports media about his dissatisfaction with the team’s chronic inability to get supporting players around him. The Jeopardy talk may be nothing more than posturing on his part: “hey front office, if you don’t get on the ball, maybe I should consider becoming full-time host of Jeopardy.” Even though he said Jeopardy only takes “x number of days per year so I can do both”, no NFL quarterback is going to make that kdin of commitment.
Another one I would like to see get a guest host spot is Wayne Brady. He seems pretty sharp and has a ton of personality.
Interesting option.
I think Jeff Probst would be good too–and he has past Jeopardy!-hosting experience, having hosted Rock-and-Roll Jeopardy!
I thought you’d lost confidence entirely in Richards entirely by January 29? After all, from the “More info about Final” that day: “Mike Richards, you should have vetoed this clue. Forcing your contestants to weigh in on these matters in 2021 is a mark of an incompetent Executive Producer. Sony needs to find a new one.”
He didn’t say he was losing confidence in Mike. All he said was that Sony should fire him.
At the top of this post, Andy said “I’m very quickly losing confidence in the judgement of Mike Richards.”
I think that Andy’s call for Richards’s firing nearly eleven weeks ago is quite fairly interpreted as a vote of no confidence whatsoever in the current Executive Producer.
I know that. I was just referring to his older comment.
Is it just me, or did the John Major clue seem badly worded? I haven’t had a chance to watch the episode, but supposedly (not supposably!) the clue just read “Until 1997, his official residence was 10 Downing Street.” Was there more to it? That would make it sound like he was the PM for his entire life up until then. Am I missing something?
Patrick had a Daily Double question where he didn’t even guess. He just shook his head and said, “I don’t know. I have no idea.” I remember that I did know the answer, but I don’t remember what the question was, and I was surprised he didn’t at least take a guess. Does anyone remember what the Daily Double question was?
Washer woman
I’ve deleted the recording, but it went something like, “Today this word refers to a color or a flower, but it originally referred to a washer woman.” I didn’t know it either, despite my high school Latin.
BTW, the correct answer was lavender, from the Latin lavare = to wash. It’s actually quite a good clue, which could have been used for FJ.
Thanks!
BTW, the correct answer was lavender, from the Latin lavare = to wash. It’s actually quite a good clue, which could have been used for FJ.