Final Jeopardy: Academy Awards (5-15-14)
The Final Jeopardy question (5/15/2014), in the category “Academy Awards” was:
1 of the 2 movies in the last 30 years, one a drama & one a comedy, to win Oscars for Best Actor & Best Actress
The Battle of the Decades finals have arrived at long last. Today and tomorrow, Brad Rutter,Ken Jennings and Roger Craig pit their knowledge and strategies against each other for a cool million. They will take whatever they finish with today into tomorrow’s game.
Round 1: Brad found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “U.S. Geography” under the $800 clue before the first break. He was in the lead with $3,200, $1,400 more than Roger in second place. He made it a true Daily Double and thought it was Mt. Hood. That was WRONG.
The snowy dome of this tallest volcano in the lower 48 states is often shrouded in clouds. show
Roger finished in the lead with $5,000. Ken was second with $3,200 and Brad was last with $2,000.
Round 2: Brad found the first Daily Double in “Historic Dates” under the $2,000 clue. He was in second place with $7,600, $600 less than Roger’s lead. Not wishing to risk starting from scratch again, he bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.
December 15, 1791. show
Roger found the last Daily Double in “Medical Terms” under the $800 clue. In the lead with $10,200, he had $600 more than Brad in second place. Right after a loud whisper that seemed to come from Ken — “DO IT!” — Roger bet it all, but couldn’t come up with an answer in time so he was WRONG. Roger took it in stride while Brad said something to Ken and they shared a hearty laugh.
Doctors use this 5-letter term for swelling or bloating in the body due to an excess build-up of fluid. show
Brad finished in the lead with $14,000. Ken was next with $12,000 and Roger was in the hole for $800, so he could not even play Final Jeopardy! Shocking, indeed. “It’s a 2-day final, right,” Roger quipped, and Alex Trebek complimented him on his attitude.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “SILENCE OF THE LAMBS” or “AS GOOD AS IT GETS”?
1991’s “Silence of the Lambs” won the Oscars Grand Slam of Best Picture, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Director and Best Screenplay (or Best Writing). It was the third movie to have ever done so. The others are: “It Happened One Night” (1934) and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975).
Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt won Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars for 1997’s “As Good As It Gets.” The film received 7 nominations and those were the only wins. This was Nicholson’s 2nd Best Actor Oscar. His first was for “Cuckoo’s Nest” and in between, he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “Terms of Endearment” (1983).
Ken couldn’t come up with anything. He lost his $5,000 bet, finishing with $7,000.
Brad had “Terms of Endearment.” He lost $4,000 and finished with $10,000.
So Brad will begin with a $3,000 lead over Ken when we resume tomorrow. This finish gives Roger a fighting chance.
2 years ago:: NONE of the players got this FJ in “Sporting Events”.
First held in May of 1875, it is the oldest continuously held major sporting event in the United States. show
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@VJ
since roger is in the hole 800 bucks and this is a 2 day affair where the 2 totals are “added”, will they “deduct” the 800 from his second day total?? it would be logical if you “combine” day 1 and 2 ??
Interesting that many are quite upset with Roger’s big DD gamble. Hey, hasn’t it been made clear at this point that this is his Jeopardy MO?!
Frankly, I think he did the right thing from the standpoint that these Finals contestants have track records of being in the 80 percent or better range on Daily Doubles overall, in addition to the fact that the category was one that Roger felt comfortable with. Unfortunately for Roger he missed one which I have virtually no doubt he wishes he could have back –he almost certainly suffered from brain freeze in missing “edema”.
The bottom line though is that better Jeopardy players are generally best served (in most cases) by betting as much as they dare on Daily Doubles, particularly if they fancy the category, or if prior clues in the category indicate reasonably accessible material.
Sure, I think it’s fair to argue under particular circumstances the choice of wager amount needs to be carefully weighted to the needs of the moment, but when you account for the fact that Final Jeopardy clues are frequently a crap shoot it makes sense to go big on DDs whenever they look reasonably enticing.
If I were to criticize Roger on his 10,200 wager, I might suggest that something in the 6 to 7000 range as perhaps more reasonable, only from the psychological standpoint that a miss on a 10,200 wager presents not just a big money hole, but a big mental and momentum barrier to overcome.
But hey, that’s why the name of the game is “Jeopardy!”
😉
P.S. As to Roger’s swollen head, I don’t think he’s really that much different than Brad or Ken. Egos abound in this round. Hopefully, these guys are conscientious enough in their private lives to do good things with the influence, money and/or time that Jeopardy has afforded them.
Personally, I don’t think Roger has a big ego. I got upset with him because he had a 100% accuracy rate in the first round then he gave in to Ken’s comment “do it” in DJ. After that moment Roger in Double Jeopardy had a 57% accuracy rate. Someone as intelligent as Roger should know better than to give into peer pressure from a fellow competitor. I thought it was hilarious that Ken did that. But, Ken may not have felt Roger would actually do what he whispered. After all, Roger had the lead going into DJ. I’m sure he is livid at his downfall. Tonight should be interesting because Brad has 10,000 and Ken has 7,000. This is not a runaway game. Those amounts are not insurmountable. Roger has a possibility of coming back if he stops ringing in first and trying to mentally fumble for the correct response. I still say this is anyone’s game tonight.
I agree about the psychological factor — that’s what caused him to jump in on that April 14, 1865 date and screw it up in an effort to get into FJ!
Well, we can certainly hope for some great drama in the closing game tonight. I like to see the last DD show up late in the Double Jeopardy round with the finder in a position to do something interesting with it.
Roger’s draw as a contestant is that he has a tendency to shoot from the hip to a degree that makes some viewers actually get angry with him, but it makes for entertaining Jeopardy play. We can call him “Reckless Roger” in all fairness, but one of the surest routes to a memorable final game might be Roger with that last DD and an opportunity to go gigantic on an oversized wager.
We’ll see. Just hope that there is some good drama for the Final Jeopardy showdown.
ken certainly is a “good” guy in private life. i think the big ego just surfaces at j, and there they have accomplished a lot, so they may have some right to flaunt it…???
Excuse my phraseology, but I feel strongly about this.
My goodness, what an effin’ idiot Roger turns out to be. And he was in the lead at the moment of his effin’ idiocy, too.
This is the whole Craig-Chuian thing that I don’t like. What kind of arrogance does it take to bet it all when it isn’t necessary?
What these aggressive types forget in their arrogance is — THEY MAY NOT KNOW THE ANSWER!
Why not split the difference and bet half of your pile? But it seems compromise isn’t in style these days.
There’s a big chunk of me that enjoys watching arrogance go down in flames.
Another thing that makes me a little sad is when I know the FJ and the Biggest of the Big Guns don’t.
I’m sick of this whole champion thing. Only one more day of it, then back to normal next week!
As for who will win tomorrow: I literally couldn’t care less, and I said so on Jeopardy’s Facebook, too — fully realizing that people couldn’t care less that I couldn’t care less.
Tom, as always you are correct. I found it hilarious because did he not realize who his opponents were? He had a moment to prove he was pompous and the end result was not pretty.
May he think evermore of edema whenever he gets a “swelled” head. 🙂
I can’t help but think that Roger came into the match feeling (knowing) that he had the least talent amongst the three and by a good margin. With this in mind, his best strategy to win would be to make the very most of every advantage. In that respect, I think that he may have taken his only possible path to victory: a more conservative route would certainly lead to ruin.
Further, it may be possible that as his bravado may stem from insecurity, he may know that showing insecurity would lead to certain ruin.
Good points, Eric. I felt that he did seize the advantage Brad’s DD miss afforded and was doing better than I expected, at any rate. Then he just up and threw it away, seemingly on a dare from an opponent!! Who does that??
Like Tom said, he could have went with half of what he had – or even 2K, like Brad did when he got the first Double Jeopardy DD.
Ah, well, it was a fatal move in this match but to quote Scarlett O’Hara: “Tomorrow is another day.”
Fatal? I think not quite. To discount a good player who is cornered like a wounded animal could be fatal. From purely a game theory point of view, Roger is actually were he wants to be: to be discounted and only 10.8 behind for a guy who once scored 77.
Suppose Roger was going to bet a lot (maybe everything!?!), then heard Ken, why not give him the false confidence and act as if his action mattered? Or suppose it was early in a regular game and he had risked 5K in a regular game, you might think it brazen not foolish. Remember, this is a two-day game.
Admittedly, personally, I don’t really like the player, but I do recognize a lot of these tactics from previous poker tournaments: I have used and seen them used successfully.
So, to quote Colonel Roosevelt, “The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who does not do anything”.
I said fatal in THIS match. To paraphrase Charles de Gaulle: Roger has lost this battle but he has not lost the war.
How many on this website heard Ken whisper to Roger “do it” when Roger had to make a decision on the DD? Then the audience laughed. Roger had better not do that tomorrow. I was surprised he missed that DD given he has an undergrad degree in Biology. Roger had better hope they have some computer clues tomorrow since he has a doctorate in Computer Science. He led in the first half but blew the second half on that easy DD. From that point on it was downhill for Roger. He had an abysmal 57% accuracy rate in the second half (double jeopardy). Brad and Ken were more cautious in their wagers. However, I saw no performances from any of the players that was deserving of $1 million. We shall see what tomorrow brings.
If you want to know where I got 57%, Roger responded 7 times and responded correctly only 4 times in the second half. John, I rate that an “F.” You are a generous grader. 😉
i know, but i am taking into consideration that he even got there. so i don’t consider him a complete failure….:-)
I don’t consider him a complete failure at all. He had 100% accuracy in the first half. I was referring to the 57% accuracy rate he had in DJ.
I mentioned the loud “Do It” whisper in the recap, jacobska, as well as Brad and Ken laughing about something after Roger threw that 10K+ away.
VJ, I always read your recap and saw what you about that moment. But, I was wondering if any of the commentators heard it. It can also be heard on the video you made available to us. I just thought it was funny Ken swayed Roger to do that. Thanks for all you do for all of us.
jacobska, I think Roger was already 7/8ths of the way there to doing “IT” – LOL! I also wondered if Ken doing that contributed to Roger’s brainfreeze… Wasn’t it you who brought up Alex Trebek’s commentary interfering with the contestants’ focus?
Yes it was. I think Ken did that to toy with Roger’s momentum. Remember up to that point Roger had no incorrect responses. I truly do not believe Ken thought Roger would wager the entire amount.
Mr.Craig is as good as they come; he should’ve won tonight by a few, I feel he would have won tomorrow, but now after that mistake he’ll be lucky to even get his thoughts together by tomorrow. The three men are well above the rest of champions
well,well,well. we have our “dream” final but i can’t say i am utterly impressed. even i knew the two missed dds and fj. the only problem i had was with the “bill of rights”dd. but missing mt. rainier???? i bet that 90% of candidates in a teen tournament would have gotten this.
maybe the players finally feel the pressure of the high expectations put on them??
Phoenix was nominated but didn’t win
but the clue was “WIN”, not nominated. as vj pointed out philip seymor hoffman beat out phoenix. he also beat howard,ledger and stratham that year.
sorry, i meant david strathairn.
I must not be understanding the question…didn’t Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix both win for Walk the Line?
No — she won, but Philip Seymour Hoffman (in Capote) beat Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor
I see it now on IMDB. I didn’t see that line the first time between wins and nominations. Tks.
Joaquin Phoenix did NOT win Best Actor for Walk the Line. Best Actor that year went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote
VJ, I can’t help but wonder if you were hoping that Roger gave the correct response to the DD, but was not credited due to timing. Thank you for providing the clip so I could watch (unethical?).
Ok. Not hoping, but anticipating a bit of poetic justice?
Nah, Eric, when I saw the clue, I was sure Roger would get it. So I was really shocked watching him trying to come up with it and couldn’t believe he was trying to say something else when his time ran out! I’m not rooting for Roger by any means.
The clips I make are generally very short and I don’t think it is unethical to just highlight a notable moment on the show (and I mainly started doing it every week when I found out some readers don’t get to see the show at all). I don’t even do anything with them to attract people to my posts.
Thanks VJ. I know you are referring to readers like me 🙂 . I can tell that the moments in your clips are thoughtfully chosen.
Oh nooooo. By unethical I meant me saying that I would boycott the show, due to the producer’s seeding, then run to the website. It seems a little light in the fortitude department. I most certainly did not mean anything done by anyone else. Again, I think that you provide an admirable service.
Ok, sorry for misreading that then, and yes, Nomi, I am thinking of readers like you so you can get to see a good category or moment. I wonder if there will be another DD fiasco tomorrow or the FJ will provide the most tense moment of the show. We shall see! (I guess I should say I hope because my ability to see the show is subject to the same stuff as everyone else — weather, preempting, etc)
Yes, thanks VJ. I forgot to add that your choice to put up the video of that roman numerals category last week was excellent. I kept pausing and trying to guess the answer. Without your video I wouldnt have known what a smart category it was and how smartly Ken ran through it.
that’s an advantage you have when you had to go through 8 years of latin. in europe you have elementary school ( grade 1-4) and then you start with middle school (4 years) or “gymnasium”, the equivalent to high school in the u.s.
you have latin for 8 years mandatory. greek (the old greek) is a “freifach”, meaning you can chose it as additional subject. the advantage is, if you get an “F” it does not count towards the total year’s result but it certainly helps, especially when you pursue a classical/humanistical career, like a physician,lawyer,chemist, historian etc….
so EVERY european in a german speaking country HAD 8 years of latin if he graduated with a “matura” (mature) diploma at 18 or 19 (you are allowed to repeat a year only ONCE. a second time and it is curtains…..
Brad has a $3000 lead, should be well ahead, but missed the big Qs. Brad, nonetheless should easily beat Ken.