Welcome to another weekly editorial!
Why I Think You Should Always Have A Watch Party—No Matter How Your Game(s) Go
A couple of months ago, my editorial columns mentioned the UK game show Countdown in passing, especially in the context of my friend Jessica Pratesi, who became an octochamp and advanced to that show’s Series 89 finals. Those Series 89 finals concluded on Friday, and this section of the editorial is inspired by this past week of Countdown, as I think there are some parallels here that can be made.
For those who weren’t following Countdown, Jessica was eliminated in the semifinals by #1-seeded and eventual series champion Arthur Page. However, Jessica has been the only player in Arthur’s 11 games to have kept Arthur anywhere near close—their semifinal went down to a “crucial conundrum”, basically the Countdown equivalent of a non-runaway game on Jeopardy.
While Jessica was obviously disappointed—as any player would be, everyone wants to win—Jessica’s Twitch community spent the last week having viewing parties and celebrating her accomplishments (much as she mentioned on the show itself during her quarterfinal, talking about what happened during her original eight games.)
Now, I don’t normally talk about Countdown on The Jeopardy! Fan—here’s how this relates to Jeopardy!Two of the three players in every episode don’t win and will, therefore, have a modicum of disappointment. However, I would also say that your friends don’t actually care whether or not you win or lose, but want to be there for you as you celebrate a major life milestone. (Yes, for many, I would absolutely say that getting onto Jeopardy! is a major life milestone.)
In short, I would recommend setting up some sort of viewing party if you’re on the show. Your friends will want to celebrate you, because they’re proud of you—regardless of if you win or don’t make it to Final Jeopardy.
My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have introduced a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.
Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2024? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!
Do you appreciate the work I do here on The Jeopardy! Fan? Would you like to make a one-time contribution to the site? You may do so here!
You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 17 players, now including Adriana Harmeyer, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!
You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!
Regarding Advertising Content Over The Coming Months
In the past, I have restricted certain organizations’ ability to have their advertisements appear on The Jeopardy! Fan with my ad service provider. Going forward, I will very likely loosen those restrictions, as I would rather have the increased revenue that the looser restrictions provide. Additionally, in the past, I felt more of a friendship with many more in the community. However, as many of those people decided they were less interested in my friendship, I felt less obligated to restrict the advertisements seen here.
If you’re a regular reader here—and it’s really only the regulars who read my editorials anyway—while I will not go as far as to officially recommend ad-blocking technology, it is not in my short- or medium-term plans to restrict the use of ad blocking technology here on this website.
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Here are our current featured items, including our new Masters Season 3 Player List T-shirt:
In Closing
There is four weeks left of this season. Have a great July!