I think it’s time we all just step back, relax, and take a chill pill.
Our Democracy is in peril, our Supreme Court is trashing our liberties, and a former President of the United States staged a bloody insurrection and is still walking the streets instead of rightfully being on Death Row for High Treason. A deadly virus is needlessly killing hundreds of thousands of ignorant people, and climate change is wreaking havoc worldwide.
So what are people incensed over? What are they grabbing their torches and pitchforks for? What injustice is so heinous that social media is all aflame?
Mayim Bialik referred to the first round of JEOPARDY as “Single Jeopardy” instead of just “Jeopardy.”
Hello? What? That was an actual thing?"
Yes. You can read about it here. Mayim Bialik called the Jeopardy round something slightly different.
And this caused an uproar.
Are you fucking kidding me? Seriously? THAT’S your big concern?
I love JEOPARDY as you know, but it’s just a stupid game show. The Titanic is sinking and passengers are livid that there are no mints on the bed.
If you want to get mad at something, how about idiocy? Idiocy in numbers is what’s causing people to believe the Big Lie, die unnecessarily, support the biggest traitor this country has ever known, and preventing scared spineless elected officials from upholding the sacred Constitution they were sworn to uphold and protect.
So social media may rail against me, but I think the current round we find ourselves in should be called “Serious JEOPARDY.”
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Far right anti-vax Qanon insurrectionists dropping dead of Covid is natural selection in beautiful action.
Rant away any time. I love it when you write from the heart.
Trump is supporting Putin/Russia. (Surprise.) This is weirdness, on an epic scale. Watch "The Family" on Netflix - much will be explained. The Religious Right has lost its mind, if it ever had one.
It appears to be human nature that people worry/be upset firstly about the things that directly concern them in their day-to-day ordinary lives e.g. traffic congestion on the way to work, price increases of items they specifically buy, changes to their favorite TV shows etc.
After that, they then worry about the bigger picture e.g. your examples.
It's a little like saying to your friend that he must stop disliking coleslaw, because of the starving people in this world who would only be too happy to eat it.
Thank you for your rant, Ken. One more reason to read you everyday (your sense of proportion about what is important).
You're telling it like it is, Ken.
I think I've done my ranting, so I won't.
I'll just agree with you, because I do.
-Kate
Captain Pop Psychology here. It seems pretty obvious: All the horrible facts of reality you list have people feeling absolutely powerless. Hunkered in their figurative or literal panic rooms, ridiculous trivial matters are something they can try to influence.
If they're going to distract us with bread and circuses, then they better serve some quality bread and provide the good clowns.
I got this email by accident and it made me smile: "It's true (sigh), Lisa farted during her presentation to the Exec Committee. And of course this would happen in front of the whole department in the second-floor conference room. She walked to the podium, bent over to pick something up, and boom. Oh, good grief! NEVERTHELESS, SHE PERSISTED. She said, "Excuse me! Wow. I wanted to finish with a bang, not start with one." Everyone laughed their butts off, and the rest of her presentation was superb. Even Catherine liked it! I said to her "you're my new hero" and she just chuckled."
I guess you didn't hear the latest, Ken. Now they're criticizing that she's being introduced in a different way from Ken Jennings. Johnny Gilbert introduction for Ken Jennings was, "And now hosting Jeopardy: Ken Jennings," reflecting his interim status, whereas Balik's intro is the same as for Alex Trebek. I don't know what's more mind boggling: This or that (no joke) they're going to make the Weird Al Yankovic Story.
Who is railing against Mayim? I saw that article and read about a sentence before realizing it was clickbait. These are often on the MSN site and usually are headlined "world reacts to... Personally, I prefer Ken, but Mayim does give the show a little more zing.
She is now doing the J-6 questions on Alexa (the Amazon Echo). Fun to play, but sometimes even when you say the answer in the form of a question she will say "please give your answer in the form of a question starting with who is or what is". It's really annoying when you have done that. You then have to overemphasize the "WHAT Is" Did I drift off the subject?
"Single Jeopardy" doesn't bother me, but contestants that say "please" every time they make a selection (or call a letter on the sister show) does. The "uh" preface is equally infuriating. Yes, I know, it's not life and death, but for someone like me, it's aural torture.
The views expressed in your rant bring a Friday question to mind: As an unabashed progressive, how were you able to get along with co-workers that didn't share your point of view? Talent like Kelsey Grammer and John Ratzenberger, and writers/producers like Rob Long come to mind.
I'm half tempted to start referring to Final Jeopardy as "Triple Jeopardy" just because I can.
Why keep your rants to a minimum, they're always amusing. Plus, you need to keep those skills sharp for when Trump runs for President again.
The orange disgrace just called the russian disgrace a genius for his plans for invading Ukraine. What is the United Nations for? Why hasn't the orange traitor been charged with crimes against humanity and put on trial before a world court? The russian disgrace as well! Republicans are supporting the enemy of our country. Why isn't somebody doing something? What has happened to the United States of America that I love?
My rant. Keep or delete.
Try being in the singles scene when 40 percent of the country are brainwashed cult members. I find myself bringing Trump up immediately as (dis)qualifying criteria immediately. Today's 'match' told me she believes Antifa was responsible for Jan 6, and called herself 'a former democrat.'
Who could argue with this? I’ll go one further, the entire concept of JEOPARDY is dumb. It’s just crossword clues with the idiotic requirement that contestants prefix “What is…?” to their answer.
Who could argue with this?
The kicker is that Jeopardy is actually a game show that rewards intelligence, unlike so many others.
I love your rants - never stop them! (Probably because I agree with you 99.9% of the time.)
These people wanted a clone of Alex Trebek and just can't accept anyone else behind the host's lectern. It's the same people who think Drew Carey is awful on The Price Is Right because he's not Bob Barker. Drew's been doing the job for 15 years, so he must be doing something right.
"...on the brink of WW3." Really?
I think sometimes the big things are just *too* big.
It's too much for us and it's easier to go and take out our frustrations on something a little easier to deal with.
Also, as far as I know, Mayim stopped calling it Single Jeopardy.
Of course I only watched one game of the college championship so far, but I haven't heard any screams recently. And honestly, one night when I couldn't sleep, I followed a tweet with a reference to the "script" and found it's always been single jeopardy on the script. So what did Alex call it? The Jeopardy Round.
I can't control this anymore than I can control what's going on in Ukraine - except for the fact that I have long since gotten past calling it The Ukraine, as we used to. And sure, I spent some time the other day digging up a historical map of the borders of Europe since the year 400 BC.. It's just that I only talked about it on my wall on Facebook. And I think only one other person engaged. And it could be the algorithm, or it could be that no one cares. Or it could be that everybody already knows. But maybe because I never took world history, I was not aware of such things before I read the book Poland. Okay I read it twice. Back in the '80s. It disappeared at least once... The current city of Lviv was occasionally Lwów. I really don't know where the borders should be. But I was happy with where they were last week.
As for The Former Guy, There isn't a whole lot I can do about him. I did what I could last fall. I hope I don't have to do it again. Scarily, the alternative is "governing" the state I live in. Someone needs to send him somewhere where he can't do any damage. I wish I could think of where that might be. And, oh yeah, some people are trying to change the voting laws so that they won't lose next time.
It occurs to me that I came here in the bogus Facebook browser and if I want to not have to log in again I will have to copy all of this and paste it into a real browser.
Add Zuckerberg to the list of people who are annoying me in general.
By the way, I'm really enjoying watching Ken hosting Jeopardy. The other Ken.
Next time rant about something truly important, like the mlb lockout.
I love your POV cuz. We share the same thoughts. Run for office against these wing nuts cult politicians and dilute their voice. You’d make a great congressman.
Unpopular Take:
Mayim Bialik just looks uncomfortable hosting, and never really seems like she is into the flow of the show or it's nuances. It's just awkward, and it doesn't seem like she'll ever get any better at it. Ken is not terrible, and knows the finer points, but seems like he tries too hard to be "New Alex" at times.
Jeopardy should be thanking their lucky stars for Matt Amodio and Amy Schneider, who made the game watchable during this cluster----...
I'll take "spot on rants by Ken Levine" for a thousand.
Even worse, with all these horrors going on, people still yap about baseball!
I think Potato is partially correct. Mayim, in Final JEOPARDY, will not recognize the winner has won after they've revealed the right answer when they're already locked in the game but the bet has not been revealed. Alex would say, "You're the champion with... how much?" Jennings, and for that matter, Buzzy Cohen, who knows the game, don't state the obvious. At least, she's been telling people with say $600 that when they hit the Daily Double, they can bet up to the maximum amount on the clue. SOME of this is not Mayim, but the producer, who should have corrected her much sooner.
I'm not religious, but Amen.
The format is a play on the quiz show scandals of the 1950s in which popular contestants on the big money programs were fed answers beforehand.
As Merv Griffin developed "Jeopardy!" in 1963 for NBC's daytime schedule, his wife at the time, Julann, suggested giving the contestants the answers and letting them come up with the proper question.
Before revealing each clue, Art Fleming, the original host, would invariably say, "The answer is...," which also served as a cue for the backstage crew.
Joke time.
What's the difference between a supporter of Hitler and a supporter of Trump?
One's a very stupid, gullible and easily manipulated anti-Semitic fascist who's a member of an unthinking and dangerously fanatical cult of personality that believe everything their leader says and do whatever their leader tells them to do, including rampant violence and murder.
And the other supported the leader of Nazi Germany.
Ken,
Yesterday, Biden walked away without taking questions after slurring and mangling his pre-written statement on why he'd failed so badly on Ukraine. Everyone saw it as weak. Everyone saw Joe Biden as running from questions -- especially given that, during his last press conference, he invited Putin to stage a "minor incursion" into Ukraine.
N.A.L.
If I could delete one line from JEOPARDY shows, it would be the "Let's make it a TRUE Daily Double" bit.
Jaskaran Singh of UT Austin won the college tournament. I'm sure he's thrilled that all the attention is focused on Mayim's verbal slip.
At least he won't graduate next spring thousands of dollars in debt.
Wondering if Chimeri is (was) a member of Toastmasters.
When my club gets over Co-Vid fears (less to fear these days - especially with the Omigod strain) I hope to rejoin and try for two-to-three laughs per meeting (I know - NOT professional-funny).
The famous audible pause - since joining ca 2007, hearing certain luminaries fill the void with um/ah/uhhh became jarring. Sec. Clinton was a frequent offender. Pres Obama not so much but.....
Mayim was a bad choice for host and she also dresses like a 1920's school teacher.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: we're doomed.
Friday Question:
Imagine there's a Cheers reunion coming up. John Ratzenberger, Kelsey Grammer, and Kirstie Alley are going to be there. Each has voiced strong support for Trump, and Kirstie has even made multiple appearances on Tucker Carlson.
Do you have the cojones to tell them to their face that you think they're evil, or do you play nice?
While we're on the subject of controverisl co-workers, are you okay with Ted Danson wearing blackface and using the n-word like it was going out of style? Did that offend you as much as someone making a private medical decision that was different than your own?
The problem is that humans have not evolved any ability to deal with social media and the amount of information that is available to them through the Internet. Giving people social media access is like giving monkeys hand guns. Nothing good will come of it. Now everybody can have an opinion on everything and everybody thinks their opinion is the only good opinion.
Think about the average person and how clueless they are. OK, half of humanity is stupider than that. Yeah we're in trouble.
I hope in a million years the cockroaches evolve and have better luck at dealing with social media.
@Bob backwards - "...on the brink of WW3." Really?
Hey, anything's possible. We are living in scary times. Really. Full stop.
"I'll delete anything hostile from either side."--Ken Levine
I guarantee the ones doing all the kvetching have never and never will be on Jeopardy. Inferior minds at work.
Rant? I smell a book....Go for it
My God, people in here talking about world war 3 and why talk about baseball when there are "horrors" going on. If Russia invading the Ukraine effects just one persons life in here I will donate 12 million dollars to Ken's favorite charity. And don't give me "well I have a third cousin living in the Ukraine" shit. How does it effect you? How will Putin's decision effect you watching Bononza on a big screen TV while eating steak. Please, come back here and tell us all. "Horrors", what horrors are you going to be living? Some people should just post under the name "Knee Jerk Reaction"
I'd never heard of Toastmasters, Jahn, but I did take public speaking one semester in college. Ever since I was an awkward child with a thick New York accent, I have been working to perfect my speech. It's jarring when I hear others doing what I used to do. And being repeatedly subjected to "kind of," "sort of," and "at the end of the day" is just as torturous as the stuff I listed before. (Oh, and "so.") I used to subscribe to the YouTube channel The Completionist, but the guy said "at the end of the day" multiple times in his videos. In one such video, he said it five times!
As for the other stuff that Ken Levine and Alec Watson (of the Technology Connections YouTube channel) feel I should be mad about, the less I know about current events, the better. I like having my head in the sand, so to speak, because I don't want to aggravate myself. Politics is like professional wrestling, only the hatred between sides is real. I used to be addicted to following it myself, from right-wing media, but unless I'm bored, I'm able to avoid it. In fact, before writing this sentence, I took my latest indefinite hiatus from Twitter. After tweeting this, I logged out in my browser, removed any pages from my browsing history, and deleted the app from my phone. I have been off Twitter before, but always end up coming back. I hope that next time isn't for a while. If you do want to follow Alec for his politics, his handle is techconnectify.
You win, David. He'll take your question over mine because it was hyperbolic and aligns with his views. Mine was milquetoast.
Mike Chimeri
You are trying too hard. No need for "so to speak" after something we all clearly understand.
I only said that, Joe, because humans put everything but their head in the sand. Regardless, I won't say "so to speak" anymore.
Ken, Rant away - we like 'em. As I've always said "It's your blog". I didn't think it was that big of a deal. If it was really wrong, a producer would have asked her to not call it "single jeopardy" the first time she said. Obviously, the show has passionate fans (including Ken and some of us). I think both are great hosts, but Ken has that "something" because he has been a contestant so many times.
You know what's worse? The Clickbait headlines.
‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Enraged by “Totally Ridiculous” Host Announcements..."
Yup! We're headed to Sony with torches and pitchforks!
While we'd love an explanation - or possibly hate an answer (I've been wait years for Ken. I really like him) on other topics, we appreciate the transparency
https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/news-events/jeopardy-second-chance-tournament-ep-michael-davies-explains from the newer management.
I, for one, like Mayim Bialik's hosting demeanor. She seems truly invested and excited to be there...and she dresses like a professional adult woman, unlike Sara Haines on "The Chase" or Elizabeth Banks on "Press Your Luck," which is refreshing and a good example to young female viewers that one doesn't need to wear a skimpy dress to be attractive or successful. I've never seen a man host a traditional game show in a tank top and shorts. That'll be the day...when pigs fly and there are snowballs in hell.
You must be the new Barry Maguire. Of course, he ended up becoming a reborn christian but I'll always remember him for EVE OF DESTRUCTION.
That's, like, a really good point
ALL OF THIS!!! 👏👍
David, not sure if you're being sarcastic with your non-sequiturs, but I'm curious: "...going out of style" implies Danson used the n-word periodically, rather than at that one (admittedly disastrously-conceived) blackface skit from almost 30 years ago. If you have better info on this please share.
Also, "a private medical decision" is a grossly misleading phrase at best. If the action could truly stay private (i.e., not affecting the health/well-being of mass groups of others) I doubt any of us would be disagreeing as much.
@JW Booth: Russia's actions have already caused oil prices to increase. It's one of the world's most prolific petroleum and oil producers, and whatever it does that unnerves oil markets and supply will send futures and prices -- and inflation -- shooting up more than they already are. If this keeps up, we could be looking at $5 a gallon for gas.
Germany's decision to halt progress on the Nordstream 2 pipeline will increase demand on other countries' oil, and more demand for that will lead to higher prices, not to mention the climate change side effects.
Besides that, a Russian invasion could mean an influx of Ukrainian refugees into the US and North America (Chicago and several Canadian cities, for starters, have sizable Ukrainian populations who will push for bringing them in). U.S. military involvement can never be ruled out, and the effects will be felt most on the soldiers who go to the front and absorb the violence first-hand.
But most of all -- and this is the one good thing that could possible come out of it -- this might be Putin's Waterloo moment. A disastrous and unpopular invasion would ruin his already diminishing domestic credibility (limited economy, oligarchs creating a Gilded Age-like society) and send him out of power. Russians ousting him in favor of a more reasonable leader will be a much-needed relief to the rest of the world.
And for the record, I'm part-Ukrainian, so I'm taking this very seriously.
Right on Ken!! There are so many more important things to get upset about instead of some game show. Up here in Toronto we still have those dumb-ass truckers protesting the measures that kept many of them alive. There is the possibility of a war that will result in the deaths of thousands if not millions of innocent victims instead of the sick-minded, egotistical, power hungry leaders and wealthy contributors. And to the contributor who said who won't effect any of us - gas prices are skyrocketing even more, the stock market is dropping like a guided missile and there is the possibility of an all out world war. And if one doesn't care that innocent people will die, than he doesn't have a heart or soul.
I think the articles about "Single Jeopardy" are maybe going for a little clickbait in describing people as incensed. I was never incensed, but it is a little odd hearing the first round called "Single Jeopardy" when it's been called "The Jeopardy Round" on the air for the last sixty years or so.
Who'd a thunk that "clickbait" would become such a commonplace term ? Or that "cancelled" would take on an entirely different meaning than what happened to "Hello Larry," and countless others.
I agree completely. We have far more serious things to deal with. Getting all worked up over a single word that makes no real difference is a waste of time.
Just here for the comments...Full California stop.
Interesting history, but in reality it is as I described. Just switch the questions and answers around. It doesn’t really follow the format:
“What is Colorado?”
“The Grand Canyon was carved out by this river.”
Amazing how the comments evolved on a pretty simple rant . . . .
Jeopardy! has evolved a lot over time. I watched an early Art Fleming episode on YouTube and it was almost unwatchable and the questions hardly engaging. A "State Capitals" category had such exciting and informative "answers" as "Columbus", where the question "What is Ohio?" would challenge no one after fourth grade.
Both Bialik and Jennings have brought a lot of thoughtful and positive energy to the show, which is still reeling from the Mike Richards detour in many ways, and although they've each stumbled in some small ways, and there does seem to be some momentum lost when we go from one to the other, that's hopefully a temporary thing as they get their sea legs. They both clearly love the show and respect the show and very much feel, as Alex did, that the stars of the show are the contestants and the show is best when the contestants do best.
Seriously! I did not even notice
BRAVO!
And while we are at it, Putin has shown that our entire doctrine of having the most expensive(and possibly the most formidable) military in the world fails as a deterrent because there is nothing we will do to stop him if it means WWIII. Would we go to war if he decides Finland or Poland or Romania is next?
If the obese, orange, depends wearer was still president, he'd be handing America's nuclear codes over to his buddy Vladimir.
I really like Mayim Bialik as host. I think she should be given the full-time job
I've been a "Jeopardy!" fan from the Art Fleming years (yes, I was one of those fourth-graders who watched on NBC when school was on hiatus), but if you had placed current-level A & Q(!) on the show in 1964, it never would've gotten off the ground. I don't recall the complexity of the A & Q when its revival began in 1984, but I'm guessing it initially wasn't all that different; it probably took the Trebek edition some time to build a "cult" audience -- and remember, this aired in prime-time, to a far different clientele from the first, daytime "Jeopardy!"
This is my problem with the constant news cycle, both online and on TV. Because we have so many sites and channels, outlets are desperate for stories. The Housewives of Boise are beefing again? Story. One of the Kardashians farted? Story. Don't even get me started on sites collecting a bunch of tweet reactions and calling that a story.
I notice with game shows, the most insignificant things are now a story. That includes someone on Wheel of Fortune solving a puzzle with one letter, or people getting upset at Mayim Bialik referring to the first round as "Single Jeopardy!" I could not imagine working in news nowadays...so glad I got out when I did.
Doesn’t your rant apply to your rant?
Not to mention something I still can't comprehend: we have an active Fifth Column in this country, choosing Putin over Biden.
If one agrees or not with your ranting it does not matter...For we really live in a FREE country that ALLOWS you to express your opinion...For me, THAT is the big take here...
I've been watching some vintage game shows on BUZZR like Super Password, Classic Concentration, Password Plus, etc. I'm noticing that some of the hosts (especially Bert Convey, Allen Ludden, and Alex Trebek) do a thing where they comment on how and why the players made their guesses, what may have been behind their moves, and even how they could have done better. It's almost like a bit of sports commentary on the plays. Trebek seems to especially enjoy this extended analysis. I find it very amusing.
"Andrew said...
Not to mention something I still can't comprehend: we have an active Fifth Column in this country, choosing Putin over Biden."
Yes, we do. The Republicans are no longer "The Loyal Opposition." They are now traitors, all of them still in the party who have not denounced Trumpism, committing treason daily, often doing it ON TV, and have been since 1/6/21.
So Republicans IN CONGRESS are knocking Biden, while Trump verbally fellates Putin. I understand why Trump is doing that; he wants to keep on Putin's good side so he will be welcomed when he flees to Moscow to hide from the American prison cell awaiting him. But what is Cruz's and Rubio's and Marjorie Taylor Greene's and other Congressional traitors' excuses for giving aid and comfort to Putin? The Constitution calls that TREASON!!!!!
LOCK THEM UP! LOCK THEM UP!
If the oh so self-loving leftist elitists in Hollywood are still determined to put on the Oscars this year, given the horrific news from Ukraine of late, everyone involved needs and deserves to be utterly destroyed.
You must be really mad at SNL then.
https://youtu.be/2k6xroHtn-8
I did not even know about this non-troversry. I am glad the rant was short--too short and polite to even be called rant in my opinion. Yawn.
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