Happy Thursday! Today is Joe Buck’s 4th day of guest hosting. Through 3 days, $84,000 has been donated to Kidsmart. Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Blockbuster Movies) for Thursday, August 12, 2021 (Season 37, Game 229):
Based on a 1974 novel, this film has been described as combining “An Enemy of the People” & “Moby Dick”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Ruth Reichard, a judicial educator from Indianapolis, Indiana
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Steve Spillman, a product manager from Los Angeles, California
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Matt Amodio, a Ph.D student from New Haven, Connecticut (16-day total: $505,200)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: Matt Amodio passed a half-million dollars in winnings yesterday; it’s an absolute shame that this run is being completely overshadowed by the talk about who’ll be hosting come September. If he makes it through 2 more games, Matt will be moving onto his 5th host; his ability to pick up the cadence of multiple hosts quickly is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen on the program.
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.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my new Betting Strategy 101 page!
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is Jaws?
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.)
Jaws, before it became the archetype of a summer blockbuster film, was a 1974 novel by Peter Benchley. (An Enemy of the People was a 19th-century Henrik Ibsen play about a person who dared to speak an unpopular truth, and was punished for it.) Much like An Enemy of the People, Jaws had an unpopular truth: the shark. The mayor in Jaws was so afraid about the cratering of his town’s tourism economy that he refused to close down the beaches, saying that the death that set the events of Jaws in motion was a boat accident and not a shark. (Sounds familiar when it comes to certain politicians refusing to take action against COVID for the sake of the economy, doesn’t it? Economic spoiler alert: dead people can’t buy things.) The Moby Dick comparisons are much more apt. Interestingly, it’s been over a month since we’ve seen 3 correct responses in Final Jeopardy (the last time was July 6)—this could be the night to break that streak.
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:
Matt $30,400
Ruth $21,000
Steve $200
Tonight’s results:
Steve $200 – $99 = $101 (What is I had fun!)
Ruth $21,000 – $21,000 = $0 (What is —?)
Matt $30,400 + $12,000 = $42,400 (What is Jaws?) (17-day total: $547,600)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Matt $11,800
Ruth $800
Steve -$200
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Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) UNUSUAL ISLANDS $1000 (clue #1)
Matt 0 +1000 (Steve 0 Ruth 0)
2) FEATURES OF THE MOON $2000 (clue #16)
Matt 22600 +1000 (Steve -1400 Ruth 8000)
3) CLASSIC BRITISH NOVELS $400 (clue #23, $6800 left on board)
Ruth 10000 +9000 (Matt 25600 Steve 1400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 194
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 211 (0.92 per episode average), 2 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Matt $31,400 Coryat, 34 correct, 0 incorrect, 52.63% in first on buzzer (30/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Steve $200 Coryat, 5 correct, 4 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Ruth $12,400 Coryat, 16 correct, 2 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $44,000
Lach Trash: $4,600 (on 5 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,400
Matt Amodio, career statistics:
551 correct, 62 incorrect
26/30 on rebound attempts (on 63 rebound opportunities)
55.08% in first on buzzer (526/955)
34/39 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $114,200)
11/17 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $26,553
Steve Spillman, career statistics:
5 correct, 5 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $200
Ruth Reichard, career statistics:
16 correct, 3 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $9,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,400
Matt Amodio, to win:
18 games: 90.992%
19: 82.796%
20: 75.338%
21: 68.552%
22: 62.377%
Avg. streak: 27.102 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- $129,400 has been donated thus far to Kidsmart; $2,944,026 has been donated on behalf of all hosts.
- Interestingly, “guernsey” is also a correct response to the SHIRT SHORTS $200 clue; Guernsey is also a Channel Island and a “guernsey” is what is worn by players in Australian Rules football.
- This is the third Daily Double this season in the first row of the board. I would like to see the show do this more often than three times a season.
- Counting tournament play, Matt at $547,600 moves to #8 in all-time winnings. Roger Craig sits #7 at $555,200.
- $31,400 is the highest Coryat score in my dataset in a non-runaway game; Ken Jennings held the previous mark, $30,400, in his 5th game on June 8, 2004.
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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At one point, Jaws was the highest grossing movie based on a novel.
I’d think too they should all get it… but my parents (in their late 70s) don’t know it 🤷♀️
Maybe your parents know the books written by Robert Benchley who is Peter’s father. He wrote books like 1066 And All That, a humorous account of England’s history.
Jaws was in the Top 10 highest grossing movies for 25 years!!! Go Matt!!
Matt became the third-highest in terms of regular game winnings
Nice.
Wow, real chance of Matt going down there since he didn’t have a crush. Luckily it was a very easy FJ (and Ruth overbet).
Ruth deserves credit for the big wager on DD3, but you really do have to go all-in in against a 16-day champion on an $800 clue in Double Jeopardy. That $1000 was almost the difference between the game being a crush vs. two-thirds game.
Moot point since Matt got the final jeopardy clue correct, but I’d think most contestants would know now that in a situation Ruth was in where she had more than 2/3 of the lead, her best bet is to assume Matt is going to bet to cover so she should bet nil (or an amount that would make a wrong answer by her moot). Once again, though, kudos to anyone who gets on to the show.
Since Matt got this right, I would have thought Ruth might have a shot at getting this too despite her getting that last daily double with the 9000 dollar bet. Kudos to her on her efforts to cover matt. Overall I’d say Matt might just continue his win for september when Richards starts his stint. I thought Matt was about to get crushed today but still a good opponent for him.
Glad Matt survived! Otherwise it wouldn’t just be the highest Coryat in a non runaway game, but presumably the highest Coryat in a losing game. And after averaging almost 4 incorrect responses through 16 games, he finally finished with zero incorrect responses!
While comparison with Ken and James is still premature, Ken had just two regular games in 75 where he had zero incorrect, while James had 12 in 33, so Matt’s stats more resemble Ken’s then James’s.
Hitting the DD on the first clue seemed like it might be a bad omen.
How many times did James not have a lock entering FJ?
Watching Joe Buck guest hosting Jeopardy! this week, he has done a great job that FOX should get Joe his own game show as I think Joe would make a great game show host.
Regarding Joe, my wife said, “who is this guy, he’s awesome”. We then switched the channel to baseball and she could not believe it was the same person. Btw, Ruth should have bet zero…… Why can’t these apparently really smart people figure out the basics? This actually makes me crazy. Even in a field of dreams Matt would wager enough to cover her $42,000.
Also, in my opinion, that was the easiest FJ I have ever seen. It actually almost confused Matt.
Come on, what other sea-creature blockbuster was there in the 70s?!
Orca – 1977 — Richard Harris, Bo Derek and Charlotte Rampling
Free Willy – 1993 (but could have been based on a book from the 1970’s)
I wouldn’t call Orca a ‘blockbuster’ 🙂 And, it wasn’t a book.