Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, March 16, 2023


Warning: This page contains spoilers for the March 16, 2023, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 1980s Movies) for Thursday, March 16, 2023 (Season 39, Game 134):

A writer & producer of this movie said he wanted it to be like a Western or James Bond film, “only it takes place in the ’30s”

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Sarah Mathews, a middle school teacher from Loxahatchee, Florida
Sarah Mathews on Jeopardy!
Andrew Brady, a leadership development consultant from Rochester, New York
Andrew Brady on Jeopardy!
Stephen Webb, a data scientist from Longmont, Colorado (7-day total: $175,282)
Stephen Webb on Jeopardy!

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Stephen Webb has been very consistent: about $20,000 before Final Jeopardy, and an average of $25,000 after it. Seven wins in, will he pick up win #8? Andrew Brady and Sarah Mathews want to stop him.


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Correct response: What is Raiders of the Lost Ark?


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More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2023 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

Fun fact about Steven Spielberg: Spielberg—after having directed Jaws, to boot—expressed an interest in directing a James Bond film, but his pitch was rejected. His good friend George Lucas told him not to worry, that he had a different project: Indiana Jones—and Raiders of the Lost Ark hit the big screen in 1981, with Harrison Ford playing the title archaeologist.

This is also a timely clue in the respect that Ke Huy Quan from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor on Sunday for his role in Everything Everywhere All At Once.


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Game Recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Comic Influences; World Universities; Love, In So Many Words; Here “Ye”, Hear Ye; The Leader Before The Leader; What Kind Of Fowl Am I?)

Andrew was hardly heard from in this round—or in the game, really. Meanwhile, Stephen and Sarah had quite a battle going! Sarah held the lead after 30 clues as a result of finding the Daily Double.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Stephen 8 correct 1 incorrect
Sarah 7 correct 1 incorrect
Andrew 0 correct 0 incorrect

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Sarah 14 correct 1 incorrect
Stephen 14 correct 1 incorrect
Andrew 0 correct 1 incorrect

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: U.S. Islands; The “A”rts; Food Stuff; Letter Perfect; Scientific Laws & Theorems; A Heavenly Body In Music)

For the fourth day in a row, Stephen was left wanting for the Daily Doubles. However, he still had a very strong game. Sarah got to both of them but unfortunately failed to bet to take the lead twice, even though she had the opportunity to do so. Scores going into Final were Stephen at $22,400, Sarah at $17,600, and Andrew not making it to the Final at -$2,000.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Stephen 27 correct 3 incorrect
Sarah 22 correct 4 incorrect
Andrew 3 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 16 (0 today).

Final Jeopardy! today was a Double Stumper—and this was the time Sarah picked for an overly aggressive bet. This means that Stephen is now an 8-time champion; he’ll go for win #9 tomorrow!

Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, March 16, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers:

Scores going into Final:

Stephen $22,400
Sarah $17,600
Andrew -$2,000

Tonight’s results:

Andrew -$2,000 (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Sarah $17,600 – $15,000 = $2,600 (What is Bugsy Malone?)
Stephen $22,400 – $12,801 = $9,599 (What is Top Secret?) (8-day total: $184,881)


Stephen Webb, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the March 16, 2023 game.)


Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Sarah $9,000
Stephen $8,000
Andrew -$400


Opening break taken after: 15 clues

Daily Double locations:

1) LOVE, IN SO MANY WORDS $800 (clue #20)
Sarah 4600 +3000 (Stephen 4600 Andrew -400)
2) U.S. ISLANDS $800 (clue #9)
Sarah 7800 +5000 (Stephen 14000 Andrew 0)
3) A HEAVENLY BODY IN MUSIC $1600 (clue #29, $2000 left on board)
Sarah 15600 +4000 (Stephen 24400 Andrew 0)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 155

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Stephen 5 4 2 1 1 4 4 5 2 4
Andrew
Sarah 3 1 2 1 3 3 2 3 5 4*

DJ! Round:
Stephen 5 4 3 2 1 4† 5† 2 5 3 5 1 5 4 3 1 3
Andrew 1 2 1 1 2
Sarah 2* 3† 3 4 4 2 4*

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Stephen 3.26
Sarah 2.88
Andrew 1.40

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 16 (0.12 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Stephen $22,400 Coryat, 27 correct, 3 incorrect, 47.37% in first on buzzer (27/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Sarah $8,800 Coryat, 22 correct, 4 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Andrew -$2,000 Coryat, 3 correct, 3 incorrect, 8.77% in first on buzzer (5/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $29,200
Lach Trash: $11,000 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $13,800

Stephen Webb, career statistics:

196 correct, 25 incorrect
12/13 on rebound attempts (on 32 rebound opportunities)
42.76% in first on buzzer (195/456)
5/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $20,200)
3/8 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,450

Andrew Brady, career statistics:

3 correct, 3 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
8.77% in first on buzzer (5/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/0 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: -$2,000

Sarah Mathews, career statistics:

22 correct, 5 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $12,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,800

Stephen Webb, to win:

9 games: 72.007%
10: 51.850%
11: 37.335%
12: 26.884%
13: 19.358%
Avg. streak: 10.572 games.

Today’s interviews:

Sarah has students who are very excited for her to be on the show.
Andrew is active in the “Conscious Capitalism” movement.
Stephen has a great-grandfather who was kicked out of a church for dancing and refused to apologize.

Andy’s Thoughts:

  • The maxim “Players generally underbet Daily Doubles and overbet Final Jeopardy” rings true once again—especially for Sarah. She probably should have won this game, but did not.
  • Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Stephen $22,400 Sarah $17,600 Andrew -$2,000)

Stephen: Standard cover bet over Sarah is $12,801. (Actual bet: $12,801)

Andrew: (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)

Sarah: Bet between $4,801 and $7,999. (Actual bet: $15,000)


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26 Comments on "Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, March 16, 2023"

  1. Another fact about Final: George Lucas originally wanted to name the titular character “Indiana Smith”. When Steven Spielberg wanted to change the name because he thought it sounded too corny, Lucas got frustrated and just told Spielberg, “Name him Indiana Jones, or whatever you want! It’s your movie now.” So that’s how Indiana Jones got his current name. I don’t know why I know this, but I know it, so there’s your useless knowledge for the day 🙂

    • Thanks for the info, MasterDoge! I thrive on collecting useless knowledge!

    • I had heard that before, making your “I don’t know why I know this” less likely to have been remembered from an SNL skit or some such rather than an actual interview.

  2. Andy, interesting fun fact about Spielberg and James Bond. Makes you wonder about that pitch that was rejected.

  3. Michael Johnston | March 16, 2023 at 12:50 pm |

    Fortunately, the 80s produced film that takes place in the 30s with an implied action narrative points to Raiders. I don’t know the quote :/

  4. For no good reason (well, perhaps the 30s reference), I thought about The Untouchables…….
    And the original Raiders is one of my favorite movies
    🙁

  5. I thought Bugsy Malone, too. I loved that movie.

  6. My mind went straight to an 80s remake of a 30s movie, Scarface. But then Western and James Bond made no sense.

  7. DruidOfTheFang | March 16, 2023 at 3:19 pm |

    An adventure-style action flick set just before the Second World War? What else could it possibly be?

  8. I knew indiana Jones because I played one of his games on my computer. Still I remember raiders of the lost ark with Harrison Ford. Great movie. Happy to see stephen winning again

  9. Hi Andy, just wondering why you made a point of Sarah overbetting in final today but did not mention it in your comments on Monday when Stephen did the same thing (besides mentioning it in your wagering suggestions).

  10. Anybody think Chinatown?

  11. Indiana Jones just doesn’t make me think of Westerns nor James Bond. Everything that came to me was from the 60s and 70s (like ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ and ‘Chinatown’ and ‘Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid) or later like ‘The Wild Wild West’ (though the clue did not sound like it was talking about a remake of a TV show). I have trouble pinning movies to the 80s because of very young offspring during that period 😀. Though I agree that Sarah should not have bet more than $7,999 I suspect she likes movies and saw a lot of them in the 80s and was just overconfident, then the clue was not helpful as a lot of us do not think of the Indiana Jones movies as being similar to a western nor a James Bond movie. And he did say “he wanted it to be like” so though it turned out great, it might not have turned out a lot like a western/Bond movie.

    • Remember that point where Indy comes riding up on a horse and jumps onto the truck carrying the Ark? Just like a John Wayne type jumping from a horse onto a stagecoach. As I recall from when the movie came out, that image, specifically, is what inspired Lucas’ vision of the film.

      • I get your point and now I remember the scene, but there have been similar scenes in many movies and horses were ridden all over the world during the same time period of the “American West” of TV and movie westerns.

        I am not saying that the clue was wrong or that Spielberg and/or Lucas didn’t say that, just that if you have never heard that claim, then you are left trying to piece together the other clues to come up with a movie that matches and ‘Raiders’ just doesn’t easily and quickly fall into place (ESPECIALLY the James Bond part).

  12. Sarah missed a great opportunity to dethrone Stephen. She had the very good fortune of landing all 3 Daily Doubles, and she got all 3 correct. That normally should result in a lead going into FJ. She still would have won this game with optimal betting in FJ. But I don’t feel bad about Stephen winning. He had a much higher Coryat, indicating he is the stronger player. He just got unlucky in drawing DDs today.

  13. Robert Fawkes | March 16, 2023 at 8:11 pm |

    P is for probability. What are the odds of Stephen’s going four straight games without hitting a single daily double? It’s even more astounding/surprising when you consider that he consistently responds to more clues than any other contestant. He is first in on buzzer more than his competitors and has a higher Coryat and still manages not to pick a daily double. This is an amazing streak that probably defies the odds. It’s a real tribute to his great depth of knowledge. Congratulations to Stephen for his odds-defying success.

    • He’s had roughly half the board control in these games, so not accounting for DD hunting proclivity, the probably of him missing them all would be about (1/2)^12, or roughly 1 in 4000.

      • Michael Johnston | March 17, 2023 at 10:03 am |

        Aren’t the odds of missing both DDs in Double Jeopardy! different? My statistics was never strong but it feels like it should be worse overall.

  14. If I were to get outraged about something on Jeopardy — I try not to — it would be that “Sutherland” was accepted without comment for Kiefer but drew a request for more specificity for Donald.

    • Robert Fawkes | March 16, 2023 at 10:51 pm |

      Not outraged by it but it does indicate a certain level of inconsistency on the part of the show.

      Also, thanks for working out the odds regarding the remarkable run of no daily doubles for Stephen.

    • I tend to agree with you, but I suppose it could depend on what the category was. (I haven’t seen [video nor written] those two instances.)

  15. Bill Vollmer | March 18, 2023 at 6:25 pm |

    I thought I had my DVR set to record this game, but either I didn’t, or, I some erased it, in setting up for Friday’s game to be recorded.
    When I read the clue for this game’s Final Jeopardy, Bonnie and Clyde came to find, though I couldn’t remember any James Bond-like plot about it. When I scrolled and saw the correct response, the figurative light bulb came on.

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