Monday, May 31, 2010

Genius on Jeopardy

I love watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune when I can. Maybe it's to learn some new tidbits of trivia. Maybe it's to practice for when I'm old and retired, sitting in an armchair eating prunes and peppermints, and watching game shows.

Or maybe it's for the amazingly dumb moments that make me laugh.

I used to think Alex Trebek knew near everything. After all, he does read all the answers to 61 questions on every episode. Multiply that by over 25 years and you get a heck of a lot of loose facts floating around in your brain. So how did Mr. Trebek make it this far without knowing what the chicken dance is? Maybe I'm just a dork for not only knowing what the chicken dance is, but liking it. It just seems like the type of thing that the majority of people know (and probably hate).

That's not even dumb, just random. There really is dumb out there, and for that, we turn to another show, Wheel of Fortune. The puzzle category was Before and After, and the answer was "Fairbanks and Baked Alaska." Pat goes to congratulate the lady who solved the puzzle, and she says,

"I know what Baked Alaska is, but what is a Fairbanks?"

Really? REALLY?! Even Pat looked stunned as he explained to her that it was a city. He didn't let her forget it either. When she won the prize puzzle later in the game, he told her that the trip she won wasn't to Fairbanks.

Just so you think the viewers are off the hook, I have a good story to tell you. I was watching Wheel of Fortune with my husband one night, and during the final puzzle, my husband goes, "Why does every person always pick R S T L N E?" I had to explain to him that they automatically get those letters. I figured he'd watched it enough to understand. But I'm glad he didn't, because his question amused me.

So here is why I really watch these shows. I'm always amazed at the stuff people know. I'm equally amazed at the stuff that people don't know.

-duckyone.

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