Final Jeopardy: Comedy Inspirations (3-31-15)
The Final Jeopardy question (3/31/2015), in the category “Comedy Inspirations” was:
Rodney Dangerfield credited this 1972 Best Picture Oscar winner for inspiring his most famous line.
2x champ Michael Bilow has won $38,802 so far. Today his opponents are: Julio Trujillo, from Denver, CO; and Erica Rosengart, originally from New York, NY.
Round 1: Michael found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “The Fault in Our States” under the $600 clue before the first break. He was in second place with $1,200, $200 less than Julio’s lead. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
The Teton Fault. show
Michael finished in the lead with $5,800. Julio was second with $5,200 and Erica was last with $200.
Round 2: Michael found the first Daily Double in “Napoleon” under the $2,000 clue. He was in the lead with $19,800, $13,000 more than Julio in second place. He bet $7,000 and he was RIGHT.
In 1806, Napoleon wrote Cardinal Joseph Fesch, “I am”, this 9th Century ruler, “the sword of the church.” show
Michael found the last Daily Double in “African-American Authors” under the $800 clue. In the lead with $29,600, he had $20,800 more than Julio in second place. He bet $7,000 again. After blurting out the last name, he remembered to put it in question form at the very last second so he was RIGHT.
She won a 1993 Grammy for her reading of her poem “On the Pulse of Morning.” show
Michael finished in the lead with $37,400, his second runaway. Julio was next with $8,800 and Erica was in third place with $4,200.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
“Dangerfield’s comedic success came relatively late in his life; he spent years as both a singing waiter and an aluminum siding salesman before hitting his stride in the late ’60s and early ’70s. He made appearances on Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” and “The Dean Martin Show,” but, reportedly, his “I don’t get no respect” line came to him while he was watching “The Godfather,” a film that wasn’t released until 1972, when Dangerfield was almost 50. But once he created that loveable loser persona, Rodney started rolling.” (Bullz-Eye’s Standup Hall of Fame)
There was at least one person disputing this bit of info in Wikipedia Talk, claiming that Dangerfield used the line before “The Godfather” came out.
Erica wrote down “No Respect.” She lost her $1,000 bet and wound up with $3,200.
Julio got it right. He bet $300 and finishing with $9,100.
Michael also got it right. He bet $19,798 so he won this match with whopping $57,198. His 3-day total is $96,000.
During the chat Michael talked about his misadventure on a ski lift, when one of his skis got stuck so that he was hanging upside down as the lift was going up. Luckily, an operator noticed.
2 years ago:: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Broadway Musicals”
The last song in this musical is “Tomorrow Is A Latter Day”. show
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The discussions on the board tonight are fascinating. Now all we need is a member of the Academy to join us and clarify. 😀
I’m not sure why John’s analogy about a 90-year-old monarch is coming up. I don’t think anyone here has any doubts about why the Academy Awards for a given year are handed out the following year. It’s just that “2014 Best Picture winner” is ambiguous. It can be taken to mean the 2014 film that won Best Picture or the film that won in 2014 (actually released in 2013). The Academy goes by the first meaning, and that’s obviously what was intended here, but I don’t think there is anything *wrong* with going by the other meaning.
However, the ambiguity is not particularly relevant here because, of the French Connection and The Godfather, only one fit the remainder of the clue.
The only thing out of the movie “the French Connection” that would come close to anything Rodney Dangerfield could use would be Popeye. I saw the movie and Gene Hackman’s played a detective whose first name was Popeye.
I’ve never heard Dangerfield use Popeye or anything else from that movie. If it doesn’t fit you must omit.
Correction: Gene Hackman played a detective named Popeye.
just tried to show that – as unlikely it is- somebody or something might come along at the last moment and snatch the prize away…for those whose strength is not in abstract thinking and who have a problem to comprehend that in 1973 the best movie (in,for) 1972 is announced.
such an easy fj clue
I truly believe that some people think that Google can not misinterpret meaning. Google is a database. It cannot think. It gives out what is entered.
Ask Google “what 1972 picture won the oscar in 1973?” and see what comes up.
If “1972” modifies “Best Picture Oscar” the clue is incorrect because the “1972 Best Picture Oscar” was won by French Connection.
If, however, “1972” modifies “winner” the clue is correct because the 1972 film French Connection won a Best Picture Oscar.
Since the clue can be read either way, one looks to context for additional meaning.
Since, regardless of the wording of the clue, the correct response was The Godfather; 1972 must refer to the film instead of the Oscar for Best Picture.
If a query is entered in google search incorrectly you can get a false result.
Why are you badmouthing Google? It can think too! :):)
Yeah, I know, I’m being silly. It’s just that this board tonight is kind of intense, like the infamous “prime numbers” clue. 🙂
@cece, I’m not badmouthing google. My graduate work was in computer science and I write programs and code. This was my main major back in the day long before AOL, Yahoo!, Google, etc. My students used to come up with incorrect info because they used the wrong query. I think some people input today’s CotD exactly the way it was worded and that’s why they got French Connection.
Even though my doctorate is in International Business I also have background in programming and code. There are ways to enter a query and get the response you need.
Although I’m retired I haven’t forgotten my disciplines.
@Jacob, Guess I should have added “Just kidding!” after my 1st paragraph. I thought the “smiles” were enough to mean it was a joke. Guess not — sorry…
Lol. I googled that portion of the clue verbatim. The first result was The French Connection
I believe it. Btw, did you see my message below to you where I left out Arthur Chu’s name. Forgot about him.
Jacob : AChu: sometimes he don’t get no respect, I’ll tell y’all…
Have a good night, man
Last year, on February 27, Arthur Chu won $58,200. Now, on March 31, Michael Bilow won $57,198. This is now the sixth highest single day cash winnings in Jeopardy! history.
All respect to the 2 contestants who “got it right” but what about French Connection? It was the best picture winner for 1972, not The God Father. French Connection won in 1972, Godfather in 1973. A little fact checking please?
french connection was released 1 9 7 1. therefore the award ceremony was a year later, in 1972 awarding the oscar to the best 1971 movie (which was “t.f.c.”
oscars are always given for movies (etc) the calendar year following their first release in l.a. county of any movie.. the godfather was best picture 1972, the award ceremony was on 3/27/1973.the award year and the year the movie was first released differ by ONE. best movie for 1980 e.g., the award ceremony was hel in 1981 etc..
Let’s break this clue down to its smallest parts. “1972 Best Picture?” Picture had to be shown in 1972. Oscar? Oscars were nominated January 1973. Criteria? Pictures must have been in the theaters in 1972. Presenter at the 1973 Oscars says “the 1972 best picture oscar winner is ‘The Godfather.”
you obviously did not check yours. godfather was released 1972.
@John, you are correct.
Factually, perhaps. I think his silver tongue is tarnished, however.
and had to be screened in l.a. county. hence the slight confusion about “casablanca”, first screening late 1942 in n.y,first screening in l.a. county early 1943. thus it won best picture for 1943 at the 1944 oscar ceremony.
and btw, jacob: any idea why they never edited the blunder the “the letters of transit were signed by de Gaulle”???
this was getting it so 100% wrong, i wonder if they left in the mistake in on purpose since it was already there and only letters signed by hitler would have had any power. i have been wondering about that since the first time i saw c.
The Godfather was the subject of the FJ! from last season seen on this past weekend’s rerun, in reference to Mario Cuomo watching it for the first time recently.
Michael came within a buck of maximizing his winnings without risking the win and Julio guaranteed his second place. I think tonight’s win is fifth from my memory. Roger with $77K , Kenjen with $75K(his second highest day was around $52K IIRC), ANdy RIchter($68K in a celeb game, which probably would have been more had time not run out before the second DD was found in DJ!, and Skyler from kids week have won more money in a single game than tonight’s MIchael win.
No one got the final jeopardy question correct tonight. the 1972 best picture was The French Connection. The Godfather didn’t come out until 1973
sorry. The Godfather came out in 72, but it didn’t win the academy award until 73
It was awarded the best picture oscar for 1972 because no one can determine what the best picture for 1972 was until the year had ended. Thus the nominations were announced in January 1973 for best movies of 1972 (Jan 1 through Dec 31).
Logic?
You can’t determine what the best picture is for 2015 until 2015 ends.
Again, yes, the word “for” clarifies, as would the word “in”. Neither were used here.
So, please Jeopardy! writers, use articles to remove ambiguity!
Further, the use of the colon could signify parts of a list or a modifier, as would the capitalization of Best Picture, but those arguments are far more esoteric.
can’t explain it much simpler than that. as i said – as unlikely as it is – a 90 year old childless monarch could still father a child and thus creating an heir apparent. as long there is breath in the guy the next in line is just heir presumptive, even for all practical intents and purposes he might be viewed by most already as heir apparent. he is NOT as long as the reigning monarch can – how unlikely it may be- procreate for the first time
…and then the communists came. And took over. Then later he came and wanted to sit on his old throne. That could be a Best Picture.
well, except for 1 dollar michael bet as high as possible in fj and it paid off. REAL nice payday and congratulations!that he found all 3 dd clues did not hurt either.betting 7 K in the second and third and getting them right as well as the first one (could only wager 1.200 on that one. i guess he would have made it a true dd, no matter what his score would have been.
i just hope he will know when to scale back on a dd, otherwise it would probably his undoing
just so i don’t start a second post:
erica obviously misunderstood the clue. there is not even a movie titled “no respect” as far as i know.
again, congrats and i wonder how long michael will be able to pull this off or if he will tread lightly on a dd when it is warranted?
@John, did you read my post on Spoiler Talk about your and my opinion on GF III?
yes. III was certainly not oscar material but still better than a number of other movies i have seen.
having been in rome (and the vatican) quite often, plus the exposure of the dealings by vatican bank (it got a lot more media coverage in europe than anywhere else) and being in europe when john paul I died (with rumors that he was murdered because he wanted to clean out the pigsty = vatican bank) i was probably able to relate closer to the movie. the plot was not so far fetched, although the acting by a.p. had visibly declined/.
It sure had. He was at his lucid best in GF II.
I read the CotD page and saw people getting excited about the clue. Well, essentially the clue asked for the movie that won the oscar that year. Nothing else. All the other info was irrelevant.
@Henri
they like to put in all kind of things into a fj clue, trying to confuse the players. not that it mattered in the end today, but it worked with erica.
We like getting excited over there. That’s what makes it fun. Did you read my comment that our Academy Award day as citizens is April 15, 2015? We are taxed in 2015 for our earnings in 2014. That’s our award…pay your taxes for last year in this year.
Thus Oscars are awarded for films the year before.
Again, I disagree.
If the clue was: “2014 Best Picture Oscar Winner”.
What would your response be?
birdman of course. it’s a little like “heir apparent” and “heir presumptive”.
as unlikely it is that a movie is released on dec. 31st 2015 and being eligible for the CEREMONY in 2016 for best picture, it is unlikely that a comatose 90 year old monarch will have a son. IF he had one, then that son would become “heir apparent”,while right now the -say nephew, next in line to the throne- is still only “heir presumptive”. as long as the reigning monarch could – however unlikely- still father an offspring the nephew is technically only “heir apparent” although for all practical intents and purposes he can be considered as “heir apparent”. if by a miracle the 90 year old comes out of the coma and fathers a son, that son would the be “h.a.” and the nephew would be pushed back, not even “h.p.” anymore, since the children of the miracle baby would have precedence.
…for all practical intents and purposes he can be considered “heir presumptive”. sorry about that.
I would enter in google search “what 2014 picture won the oscar in 2015?” Up pops “Birdman.”
Looked like Easy Money for Michael.
Yes, a very stupid movie, but, to me, Rodney ‘s best.
Also, it’s fantastic to see someone take advantage of their appearance. Idk where $57,198 ranks, but my guess would be top twelve (maybe top 7 w/o Jennings).
@Eric, I think you’re right. Our buddy Roger Craig at $77,000 holds the one day record I think for a regular game.
Without counting Ken Jennings and Skyler from kids week ($66,600) Michael ranks second for a one day winning on Jeopardy. Nice going Michael.
Wow. Nice.
Thank you, Jacob.
I forgot about Arthur Chu, Eric. He won more than Michael but less than Skylar’s kids week $66,600.