Television Q&A: Does filming strain put people at 'Jeopardy!' of losing?
Published in Entertainment News
You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: I am an avid fan of “Jeopardy!” but there is one thing that has bothered me. It is my understanding that they tape several shows on one day. That would mean that the day’s winner would have to do multiple shows on one day, as long as they are winning. With the total concentration and recall needed to play the game, don't they have a disadvantage because of exhaustion? Sometimes I wonder if this is not the reason there are so many one-day winners!
A: Playing — and winning — on “Jeopardy!” is strenuous, as Claire McNear detailed in her book “Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History and Insider’s Guide to Jeopardy!” and many contestants anticipate that. Players have prepared by turning down their thermostats to match a chilly studio, “wear uncomfortable shoes” … (and) stand on boxes.” One cut back on coffee so a cup in the green room before the show “would have maximum effect,” McNear wrote. Another began training like for a 15K race. (And you should see McNear’s description of all that goes into buzzer timing.)
And don’t think that the strain begins with being on the show. My friend Lynne Sherwin, an editor at Endeavor B2B and “Jeopardy!” veteran, recalls how tough it is just waiting at a taping: “I didn't go on until the fourth game taped that day, so I'd been waiting around, all keyed up, through the three morning tapings and lunch. After I won that game, I could physically feel the tension release (or adrenaline crash), couldn't get my buzzer timing back for my second game, and lost.”
Q: Is John Reardon leaving “Hudson & Rex” or is this only a long absence for some unknown reason?
A: It is an absence, and there is a reason: Reardon was being treated for tonsil cancer as the show’s seventh season was shooting. (It has already aired in Canada but began U.S. telecasts on UPtv in July.)
In February, Reardon said on Instagram, “I am happy to say … that I am cancer free and have been cleared to go back to work in full capacity!” So there’s hope he will be back for Season 8.
But the show suffered another loss as Diesel, the dog playing Rex on the detective show, passed away early in the filming of Season 7. People.com said that “Diesel's legacy lives on through his nephews, Dillon and Dante, who have taken over his role as Rex.” The Toronto Star added that two other Diesel nephews are stunt performers on the show.
Q: I am trying to remember the name of a movie from the late '70s or '80s where a deputy sheriff riding in an open jeep in the desert finds a rifle case stashed in an old, abandoned cabin and the rifles inside were supposed to have been used by the shooters on the grassy knoll in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I'm thinking the deputy may have been James Brolin.
A: While some details differ from your memory, my guess is that you saw “Flashpoint,” from 1984. Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams as lawmen whose desert discovery leads down a path to information about the Kennedy assassination. It was based on a novel of the same name.
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