Jeopardy! strategy question

[sshuffield70]

the poor stagehand who operates the board

Michele Lee Hampton who's been with Jeopardy for many years, and has been with WOF since the inception of the current board.

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Apr 5 2004, 01:53 PM\'] And as I said, it's not just Alex.  The contestant coordinators definitely encourage you to go top-to-bottom, but they do make it clear that you don't have to (except in rare circumstances).  

Personally, I've always wondered why they didn't just change the rules and require players to go from the top down.  Ninety percent or more do anyway, and since it's a pain for the production people and probably distracting to some viewers to do it differently, why not just forbid it? [/quote]
 I'm surprised no one has mentioned Chuck Forrest in this thread yet.  When Chuck appeared on J! in 1984, he used this scattershot approach to throw his opponents off, but even he has since acknowledged that today's players are not easily rattled.

As for Matt's suggestion of making top-to-bottom mandatory, that day may come eventually, particularly if the cost of maintaining 36 monitors (including the six for the categories) becomes prohibitive.  Remember, Debt moved to this format when it switched from trilons to a 9-screen video wall.

[Brandon Brooks]

[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Apr 5 2004, 03:04 PM\'] As for Matt's suggestion of making top-to-bottom mandatory, that day may come eventually, particularly if the cost of maintaining 36 monitors (including the six for the categories) becomes prohibitive. [/quote]
 That would be the least of their problems to think about.  How often does your TV go out?  

Brandon Brooks

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Brandon Brooks\' date=\'Apr 5 2004, 08:14 PM\'] [quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Apr 5 2004, 03:04 PM\'] As for Matt's suggestion of making top-to-bottom mandatory, that day may come eventually, particularly if the cost of maintaining 36 monitors (including the six for the categories) becomes prohibitive. [/quote]
That would be the least of their problems to think about.  How often does your TV go out?  
 [/quote]
 Ironically, many shows have found that the high-tech route of using the monitors is actually MORE convenient (and probably less expensive) from a production standpoint than the art cards.  Not only Debt, but you'll remember Win Ben Stein's Money went away from the cards, which probably have a huge labor cost associated with them, and to the monitors.

[Jay Temple]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Apr 5 2004, 12:53 PM\'] [quote name=\'Neumms\' date=\'Apr 5 2004, 02:13 PM\'] Thanks. I must say, while this doesn't keep me up at night, I've long wondered about that. I'd agree, too, that momentum is a good thing, and that it might impact a player's state of mind to see Alex sneer at him because of how he plays. [/quote]
And as I said, it's not just Alex.  The contestant coordinators definitely encourage you to go top-to-bottom, but they do make it clear that you don't have to (except in rare circumstances).  

Personally, I've always wondered why they didn't just change the rules and require players to go from the top down.  Ninety percent or more do anyway, and since it's a pain for the production people and probably distracting to some viewers to do it differently, why not just forbid it? [/quote]
 Pure guesswork on my part:  I don't think they'd want to have a situation late in the game where the implication of choosing the $2,000 clue over the $400 clue is huge but no longer an option.

Depending on how the board works, if I had that job, I might enjoy seeing someone move around just for variety.  But that's just me.

[Ian Wallis]

Pure guesswork on my part: I don't think they'd want to have a situation late in the game where the implication of choosing the $2,000 clue over the $400 clue is huge but no longer an option.

Depending on how the board works, if I had that job, I might enjoy seeing someone move around just for variety. But that's just me.

How about this amendment to that rule:  only allow contestants to go out of order after Alex says "one minute left".  That way it would give any contestants who were behind a better chance of catching up - especially if there was a Daily Double still hidden.

[Clay Zambo]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Apr 5 2004, 01:53 PM\'] The contestant coordinators definitely encourage you to go top-to-bottom, but they do make it clear that you don't have to (except in rare circumstances). [/quote]
 In what sort of rare circumstance would that be? Admittedly, I don't watch every day, but I can't recall ever having heard of a category in which players are required to work top-to-bottom.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 07:29 AM\'] Admittedly, I don't watch every day, but I can't recall ever having heard of a category in which players are required to work top-to-bottom. [/quote]
 They do happen. Infrequently, a category is written in such a way that the lower clues feed off of the upper ones for information, and when those come up, the players are told they will need to work that category in order.

(No, Zach, an exhaustive list of what and when this happened is not necessary. Unless someone else actually cares.)

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 10:41 AM\'][quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 07:29 AM\'] Admittedly, I don't watch every day, but I can't recall ever having heard of a category in which players are required to work top-to-bottom. [/quote]
They do happen. Infrequently, a category is written in such a way that the lower clues feed off of the upper ones for information, and when those come up, the players are told they will need to work that category in order.[/quote]
And they're told to go from top to bottom on audio or video categories for technical reasons (basically, it's a lot easier to cue the clips when they're in order).

[gameshowguy2000]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 01:38 PM\'] [quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 10:41 AM\'][quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 07:29 AM\'] Admittedly, I don't watch every day, but I can't recall ever having heard of a category in which players are required to work top-to-bottom. [/quote]
They do happen. Infrequently, a category is written in such a way that the lower clues feed off of the upper ones for information, and when those come up, the players are told they will need to work that category in order.[/quote]
And they're told to go from top to bottom on audio or video categories for technical reasons (basically, it's a lot easier to cue the clips when they're in order). [/quote]
 When you mean "Video Categories", do those categories include clues provided by the "Clue Crew" (Cheryl, Sofia, Jimmy, and Sarah) ?

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 12:34 PM\'] When you mean "Video Categories", do those categories include clues provided by the "Clue Crew" (Cheryl, Sofia, Jimmy, and Sarah) ? [/quote]
 I'm fairly sure he's referring to wholly-video categories, those with clips for every clue, whether they feature Clue Crew members or not.

[Tony]

[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Apr 3 2004, 11:42 PM\'](in fact, getting a "Daily Double" would probably scare me to death because I'd have to answer the question and be forced to either gain or lose money; at least, with the rest of the clues, I can simply lay my thumb to rest!).
[/quote]
Somehow, I don't think being forced to gain or lose five dollars would be enough for me to worry about!

[Tony]

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Apr 4 2004, 10:17 PM\'][In this age of more commercials, I wouldn't be totally shocked to see J! go to 5 categories per round(25 questions) within the next five to ten years. Hopefully it doesn't happen, but chances are that they'd get to every question more often.[/quote]
If this were ever to happen (not that I want it to), the Pressman Jeopardy! game released last year would actually be more in line with the TV show than it currently is! :-D

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 03:24 PM\'][quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Apr 6 2004, 12:34 PM\'] When you mean "Video Categories", do those categories include clues provided by the "Clue Crew" (Cheryl, Sofia, Jimmy, and Sarah) ? [/quote]
I'm fairly sure he's referring to wholly-video categories, those with clips for every clue, whether they feature Clue Crew members or not.[/quote]
You win the crocheted chamber pot.