Witz Pickz: Jeopardy!

For those of you doubters who said Jeopardy was gonna have to change up it's schtick when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire came out-- shame on you. Jeopardy is a classic and has maintained its integrity through the years, riding out the tough times and staying constant to their viewership. It's almost shocking how solid a show it's been without changing any kind of format. Where's Millionaire now? Deadsies. Deal or No Deal is already having to use gimmicks to enhance its viewability, and no other show has really challenged the paradigm for more than a season. I will say that the Ken Jennings Era gave Jeopardy a life that it can no longer live up to, and I'm always a little disappointed by the lack of a long time champion, but I guess that's what made Ken special. I still enjoy the tournaments though, and I think they should do a regular tournament for normal folks for most of the year-- then at least it'd mean more.

I've been getting back into watching Jeopardy more regularly recently, primarily due to the Teen Tournament, and this led to two AWESOME Jeopardy/Alex Trebeck lines that made me remember why Jeopardy is still like a fine wine. The first time, one of the teens tried to scare Alex by saying that she was supposed to say, "POWERTHIRST!" for one of her friends. She shouted right at him and he didn't flinch. Instead he said, "You were trying to scare me, weren't you? Do you know why you can't scare me? Because I died a year and a half ago!"
.....
HUH? Everyone kind of laughed because it was a punchline, even if it wasn't what they expected, but Alex got off the hook without any further questioning. But what did he MEAN? It's such an odd thing to say, and more so, such an oddly SPECIFIC thing to say! He didn't say, "Because I'm actually dead!" or "Because I died last year!" No. He said, "Because I died a year AND A HALF ago!" I can only assume that either a) Alex was on some drugs and this was the result or b) Alex Trebeck died a year and a half ago. Given the options, I have to go with B. Alex must have died a year and a half ago, and has either been replaced by a robot (a robot that can't keep a secret, that is) or an alien being, vampire, or other replicant. What else explains it? Alex Trebeck was killed a year and a half ago, but Jeopardy can't go on without him. Clearly, he has been altered and is now just as good as before, but with a little special secret. Shocking. Just remember that Witz broke the story.

The second great thing Jeopardy brought me recently was this clue in the category "Before and After"-- "Show starring Jim Belushi in which they practice racial segregationalist practices." or something to that extent. The answer? "What is Life According to Jim Crow Laws?" Take a sec. Read it again. Ok. That's amaaaaaazing. That's a joke I would have made after driving with my buddy Jazz on a road trip for several hours, when the boredom had passed into pure insanity (like when we played a car game like that and said, "Toyoto Corolla quarters" -- get it, roll of quarters? It was a long drive.). And now it's the type of clue Jeopardy is throwing on the air. Awesome.

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P.S. This is post #198, which means I've ever so close to the mythical 200. I'm not sure what to do for it, but hopefully something sweet. Let me know if you have any ideas.