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3 stars
"WIn Ben Stein's Money" put Jeopardy to shame.
February 22, 2008
It just never reached the masses as it was on cable.
The questions were much tougher.
Watching the show, I would do a victory lap after getting one or two right.
It's also where Jimmie Kimmel got his start.
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5 stars
Carrying On the Tradition: JEOPARDY! Good As Ever
February 22, 2008
When Merv Griffin invented this TV program, I was a wee kid, and the host was the late Art Fleming (whose style on this program I'd probably emulate, were I hosting). Alex Trebbec is every bit as social today as Fleming was decades ago, and Griffin's production staff have done an excellent job in keeping the Categories and Answers up to date. Occasionally we have a clueless contestant who's out prior to Final JEOPARDY! (the scenario that Weird Al Yankovic used for I Lost on Jeopardy, a rewrite of a Greg Kihn single), but the clueless contestant is as rare today as in the 1960's; the vast majority are on their game, for the most part. I laugh at those Answers that stump all three contestants in terms of the correct Question.
The new contestants on every Episode provide a cross-section of America's workers who use their brains on the job, every day, and those brains seldom fail them. The way that the production staff stack up the Answers in three rounds makes sense: Seven Categories are selected for JEOPARDY! (with one Daily Double), seven more for Double JEOPARDY! (with two Daily Doubles), and one for Final JEOPARDY!; seventy-one Answers are amongst them, with four tough Answers for the Daily Doubles and Final JEOPARDY!. I wouldn't be surprised if, like me, other viewers find themselves scheming up Final JEOPARDY! Answers for some future episode--this show has had good reviews from the Mensa brainiacs on account of its worth as a demonstration of knowledge and intelligence.
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4 stars
LOVE YOU LONG TIME
February 22, 2008
I have loved Jeopardy since it was on afternoons in the NYC market. The original host was Hugh Downs, I believe? Check out the old show answer board , with it's pull up cardboard cover ups.Thats about 35 years or so. I enjoy it now more than ever with it's 7 PM time slot.I usually get 25 to 35 questions right, and final Jeopardy question right 80% of the time. In 35 or so years it's my all time favorite show, it's never the same
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3 stars
Who Wants to Be A Millionaire Is Better
August 25, 2007
Jeopardy is a good trivia and random facts show but I've always liked Who Wants to Be A Millionaire better. Unlike Jeopardy, Millionaire gives you time to ponder the question with the conestant. In Jeopardy you're lucky if you can think for 2 seconds before one of the contestants says his or her answer. Also in Millionaire you can win up to 1 million dollars in one or two days. In Jeopardy you'd have to be a returing champion for a dozen shows and even then you'd probably not have a million dollars. I really love Millionaire better than Jeopardy, the questions are arguably harder but you also get 3 or 4 life lines. It's a great feature of the show, where you can get help to the question if you need it. In addition, I enjoy the more one on one aspect of Millionaire, it's just the host and the contestant sitting across from each other no one else except for the studio audience in the background.
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4 stars
The Final Question is. . .
August 12, 2007
What is Jeopardy? It is one of the few shows that is worthwhile watching. I like seeing the contestant providing questions for small facts. It is one of the more educational game shows on TV. You all get the answers instantly with have to what through drama building music. (OK Final Jeopardy, but its the last question of the show.)