A "John-John" moment on Jeopardy! ?

[ActualRetailMike]

This might be one of the sillier trivia questions, but I wondered about this since around age 5 with the Art Fleming version of J!  Has there ever been a "John-John" moment on the show?

You know the modus operandi of J! since day one: the host reads the answer, then calls out the name of the contestant who buzzed in first.  A "John-John" incident would be where the last word of the clue and the called-out contestant's name are one and the same.  So the name is said twice in a row.  Hypothetical example:

John Higgenbotham:  "I'll take 60's Ballads for $200"
Host:  "The answer is.. 'He recorded a tribute to the assassinated, in a hit titled Abraham, Martin, and John.'   John!"
John Higgenbotham: "Who is… Dion?"

This of course could be any name, as long as it's the same.  Now when I first thought this up a half-century ago (there was a kid who went by John-John at a day camp I went to), the concept was of a single-word answer, and THAT being the same as the name of the contestant.  One-word answers are uncommon enough as it is, so having that be the same as the contestant would be a rare event indeed.

P.S.  Be sure to catch J! on January 19th.

[BrandonFG]

I've never seen something like this, but I wonder if S&P would allow for a clue swap to avoid such a scenario? Doesn't each category contain a sixth alternate clue?

[bscripps]

I've never seen something like this, but I wonder if S&P would allow for a clue swap to avoid such a scenario? Doesn't each category contain a sixth alternate clue?

It does.  They had to pull out the sixth clue on one of my episodes; the clue required us to identify a particular style of hat, but the picture didn't appear on the monitors.  Naturally, as soon as they stopped tape, it popped right up.  But we all had to turn around for a few minutes while they loaded the replacement into the board. 

\Waste not, want not: That discarded clue showed up on another episode several months later.

[JasonA1]

I've never seen something like this, but I wonder if S&P would allow for a clue swap to avoid such a scenario?

They would. But in my experience, if anybody noticed, they'd likely leave it alone, namely because it happened by chance. To change it would be to deny the material intended to play simply because one contestant shared a name with the end of the clue. It creates a bizarre dilemma in which you're more or less saying as a rule, for instance, I'd never see a clue about the Argonauts if I ever got a chance to play.

-Jason

[MSTieScott]

Exactly. The purpose of the randomization that every game show conducts is so no contestant receives any intentional advantage or disadvantage. Removing game material because the producers know that John Higgenbotham is a contestant isn't different than adding game material because the producers know that John Higgenbotham is a contestant.

And while I can't cite specific examples, and it isn't exactly the same, I feel like I've seen a scenario similar to the following play out at least once:

Host: In Aramaic, the word for "rock" is the same as the name of this apostle.
(contestants try to ring in)
Host: Peter?
Peter: Who is Peter?
Host: Correct.

[ChrisLambert!]

...good luck, Mike

[gromit82]

It's not exactly what you are looking for, but I saw a clue where the contestant's name was Rebecca and she correctly answered, "What is Rebecca?" (referring to the novel). It was last year, in the game here:
https://j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=7151

[SamJ93]

Not J! admittedly, but at 4:24 here...

[TimK2003]

Not quite, but in the vicinity:

On the lone copy of the Who What Where game that's out in the trading circut, there was a contestant named Clare  ‐‐  Throughout the entire show when the contestants postested their wagers, Art James would say, "Clare, declare".

[Mr. Matté]

Dick Clark references your hypothetical situation in the below clip, but he says that they can't change a category if mentioned beforehand:

[ActualRetailMike]

...good luck, Mike

Thanks Chris!  Though it's actually my wife, Hillary, who's on the show.  Just announced it on the Show Summaries board. You might catch my pinstriped cap in the studio audience, though, for this entire week.

[TLEberle]

Celebrity Jeopardy’s final had a clue on I Like Ike questioned by Mr. Barinholtz, but there were also categories devoted to George Patton and Wills.