Author Topic: Jeopardy! (Read 4070 times)

beatlefreak84 · « **on:** January 08, 2006, 11:24:28 AM »

Hi everyone,

The recent discussions on contestants and sportsmanship had me thinking of a discussion I had with a bunch of people last week while watching "Wheel of Fortune:"

It is so rare that, when somebody wins a good amount of money on J!, they get genuinely excited; usually, it's nothing more than a smile (or a half-smile, in David Madden's case). Yet, on WOF, when somebody wins even a quarter of what champs on J! get, they'll go absolutely nuts. Same with TPIR.

So, my question (and, hopefully those who've been on J! can shed some light as well) is why are the J! contestants so much more reserved? Is it a request of the contestant coordinators? Or is it just the type of contestants picked? Perhaps librarians, lawyers, and software engineers are just more reserved...

I'm still waiting for the day when somebody wins $20,000 and jumps all over Alex like contestants jump on Bob...

Anthony

WhammyPower · « **Reply #1 on:** January 08, 2006, 12:55:30 PM »

[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Jan 8 2006, 10:24 AM\']Why are the J! contestants so much more reserved?

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It's because they can win more tomorrow. On WoF, you can't.

JasonA1 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 08, 2006, 01:03:41 PM »

Yeah, that's it. *eyeroll*

I think it's fairly obvious it's all about the type of contestants. The people who would lose their inhibitions at the sight of a new dining room aren't exactly J! material. If you want to see quiz masters going crazy, watch one of them win the lot on $ale. That's about the only example I can muster - they remain cool as a cucumber even when they win $1,000,000 on WWTBAM.

-Jason

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #3 on:** January 08, 2006, 01:28:20 PM »

On J! you're never playing against the house, as on most other shows, plus you don't want your opponents beating up on you as the credits roll.

Neumms · « **Reply #4 on:** January 08, 2006, 01:52:09 PM »

[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Jan 8 2006, 11:24 AM\']The recent discussions on contestants and sportsmanship had me thinking of a discussion I had with a bunch of people last week while watching "Wheel of Fortune:"

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No offense to the writer, but I love the idea of watching "Wheel of Fortune" with a bunch of people.

"Hey, guess what? The Wheel's gonna be on tomorrow night! Whadya say I make a big pot of chili, get a case of Old Milwaukee and we'll have people over?!"

"You bet!"

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #5 on:** January 08, 2006, 09:10:44 PM »

[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Jan 8 2006, 12:24 PM\']So, my question (and, hopefully those who've been on J! can shed some light as well) is why are the J! contestants so much more reserved? Is it a request of the contestant coordinators? Or is it just the type of contestants picked? Perhaps librarians, lawyers, and software engineers are just more reserved...

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I can tell you firsthand that of all the things the contestant coordinators go over with Jeopardy contestants, not once do they ever encourage us to "go nuts". For other programs, showing them how wild you'll be when you win a bunch of money is part of the application process. For Jeopardy, the number one thing is that you can play the game. Reactions to winning the game are genuine. At least I guess they are. Mine would have been.