Norman Lear, TV’s greatest producer, gave questions about his career on Jeopardy and the contestants got stumped on a very easy question.
He wanted to know, “Of all the TV characters I’ve created, the one who most shares my passions and my politics is…” Is it All In the Family’s Archie Bunker or Mike Stivic, Sanford and Son’s Fred Sanford, The Jefferson’s George Jefferson or Mr. Bentley, One Day at a Time’s Ann Romano, Good Times Florida Evans or her son J.J. Evans? All seem logical.
I will continue on with what else he said during that $1,600 clue. He said, “…this woman who lived in Tuckahoe, NY.” All three contestants did not even try to guess. Which makes you wonder, how could they not know Maude? She would have gone ballistic at them for not knowing who she was. You know, it does make sense that his most outspoken character is the one that is most like him.
He gave four other clues on the game show yesterday, see if you can get them right. I only missed one, but in my defense, it was not entertainment related.
Alex Trebek has been very open about his health issues in the past and today he announced, in a video message, that he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer this week.
Although the prognosis is not good, the 78-year-old vows, “I’m going to fight this. I’m going to keep working. With the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to BEAT the low survival rate statistics for this disease.”
Then his signature style he added, “Truth told, I have to because, under the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy for three more years.”
He concluded his message with, “So help me. Keep the faith and we’ll win. We’ll get it done.”
As long as he keeps telling cancer he is going to kick its ass, he is going to do it. Not only that, he will be around long past the terms of three-year contract with Jeopardy. Heck, he’ll be around to sign a few more contracts.
If he can beat two heart attacks and fall that caused blood clots in the brain, then he can he show cancer who’s the boss! Sony who holds his contract. It is more enforceable than the Devil’s. Therefore, he ain’t going anywhere soon.
The Oscars are on Sunday, but yesterday Jeopardy wanted to see how much the contestants knew about Hollywood’s biggest night. Together they answered every question on the board. Including what were the two words that Patty Duke said during her acceptance for Miracle Worker.
Do you know what they are? Press play and see how well do. I swept the category, so where is my Academy Award for that?
While Jeopardy will never be nominated for a Golden Globe award, that did not stop them from doing a whole category based on the awards show. Most of the questions were pretty easy, but there was one that stumped them all. Did you get it? I didn’t. I thought it was Charlie Chaplin. Boy, was I off.
For Christmas, Jeopardy gave us people, who are not good at the game, a nice stocking stuffer. A category even we can master. The game show gave us answers to some of the biggest holiday pop culture phenomenon of the last 200 years. If you don’t get all five, then you might be a real Scrooge because who doesn’t love actually every one of those movies, songs and books.
