[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'257050\' date=\'Feb 12 2011, 04:31 PM\'][quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'257048\' date=\'Feb 12 2011, 04:22 PM\']I don't find it so funny when the judge rules a Final response incorrect because a letter was left out. That irritates me, and I don't like watching a fun quiz show and end up irritated.[/quote]
For some reason, there seems to come a point in the development of any hard-quiz when it starts taking itself too seriously. Jeopardy hit that point for me in 2005 when they didn't give a child credit because, with immaculate penmanship, she wrote "Who is Bejamin Franklin?"
Similarly, the folks at NAQT -- who provide our show and many other tournaments with terrifically written questions -- have what I believe is an
overly officious rulebook for the tournaments they host themselves.* They say it's because the teams that participate at the upper levels take the game so seriously that such rules are necessary. And they have a point. It's one of the reasons I don't tend to accept requests to moderate outside tournaments. I still remember being lectured to a couple of years ago by a sixteen-year-old about the proper way to read a math question. Still, somebody needs to tell these students to lighten up and enjoy playing the game, and it might as well be the people organizing the game.
On our show, you're best off being right. If you're close, you might get credit for it or you might not. That's what a judge is for. And just like a referee at a sporting event, the call might go your way or it might not. On another day, something similar might get judged differently. We have rules about what to do when OUR material is flat-out wrong, but beyond that, you accept the judge's decision and that's it. We've had some very disappointed players (a game turned the other day on a player not getting credit for 'commutative' when what he said was 'communative') but by having fewer rules we give ourselves more leeway and, we think, provide a much more enjoyable experience for all concerned, including the viewers.
*Don't even get me started about the Big Hairy Deal they make over the difference between 'Invisible Man' and 'The Invisible Man'.
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Question, since I believe Jeopardy! has a panel of judges, (if anyone knows) what happens if there is a question about a response given, but one group of the judges believe it should side one way and another group believes it should be sided another way? Does Harry Friedman have tiebreaker authority then or how do they come to a decision if there is no consensus with the judges on how to rule?