On Wheel of Fortune the two folks who do not "win" go home with the money they earned. Whereas on Jeopardy after answering many difficult questions the money the two runner-ups "won" vanishes. Guess that makes the competition more intense and wagering in final Jeopardy more crucial?
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Jeopardy cheap?
- Thread starter Frank Ferreri
- Start date
I
imhomerjay
Guest
Hardly an issue of being cheap--it's always been that the winner is the only one to walk away with the cash, thus making it all a part of the strategy. Used to be prizes awarded to the runners up, now $2000 and $1000 cash, which still isn't a bad piece of change for a half hour.
If airfare, meals, and hotel accomodations are included it is a great experience for sure. Otherwise after taxes and expenses a grand or two isn't much. "Cheap" was just an attention getter not a critique.
T
trojanrabbit
Guest
I always used to say "The winner gets cash, the others get trash"
imhomerjay said:
I don't believe this has always been true. On the original Jeopardy in the 60s and early 70s (you know, Art Fleming, Don Pardo), all the contestants were allowed to keep whatever money they had accumulated. This change happened when the show came back (early 80s?) with Alex Trebek.
It's not because the producers are cheap. The rationale is that it heightens the suspense for the viewers. It's typical for one of the three contestants to dominate, so there's often little suspense as it is. But if the 2 runners-up happen to be within winning range, they'll take a chance and bet all their money on Final Jeopardy. Before the change, they'd play it safe and bet nothing so they could at least go home with a few hundred (or thousand) bucks.
Shows like Wheel of Fortune are different - unlike Jeopardy, there is as much luck as skill involved...how often have you heard Sajak say to the loser "sorry the wheel wasn't more kind to you today" ?
Wheel Of Fortune is different because they play a series of rounds each show. Each round is like a little game in itself. You can win 5 or 6 times within the same show. You can't really take back Money and prizes after you just congratulated a person on winning them. That would be really awkward..LOL. So Wheel Of Fortune can have several winners. However Jeopardy is pretty much played with just one goal in mind. End the half hour with the most money. That "IS" the game. On Jeopardy you either win lose or Lose.
I imagine the amount of money in Jeopardy now is much greater than in the old days.
It makes sense 'cause let's say the first place has $10,000 and the second place has $9,500
2nd place guy may be just as happy to bet nothing and walk away with the money. This would put all the onus on the first place guy to bet to win or bet thinking the 2nd place guy will be happy to walk away.
If you add in a scenerio where 3rd place guy has $9,000 and could walk away you see how it quickly adds up.
As other's have noted, the tax man is right there to take his share so you're gonna wind up with much less.
It makes sense 'cause let's say the first place has $10,000 and the second place has $9,500
2nd place guy may be just as happy to bet nothing and walk away with the money. This would put all the onus on the first place guy to bet to win or bet thinking the 2nd place guy will be happy to walk away.
If you add in a scenerio where 3rd place guy has $9,000 and could walk away you see how it quickly adds up.
As other's have noted, the tax man is right there to take his share so you're gonna wind up with much less.
All these years watching Jeopardy! and I just assumed the two runners-up kept their earnings...how wrong I was.
I
imhomerjay
Guest
Lkeller said:
Indeed--bad choice of wording. Should have included "in this incarnation..." which, being around for a quarter century, certainly qualifies as a pretty established version.
Lkeller said:
Many time...or at least a variation on that theme.
J
JackBauer112
Guest
The change from the Prizes from 2nd/3rd place occured after the 4,000th episode in May, 2002. on May 16, 2002, The 2nd place gets $2,000 while the 3rd place is $1,000.
1
1st of 5
Guest
Forget the money, what about the "dumbing down" of the show? The current Jeapordy cannot be compared to the original show from the '60s. I remember those questions as somewhat challenging. In today's excuse for a quiz show, part of the answer is usually contained in the question, ( I know that the answers are displayed and the brain surgeon rocket scientists' response must be in the form of a question)! Most of the questions are contemporary trivial celebrity pop culture crap. Its a shame that it has come to this but if the questions from the original show were used there would most definitely be total silence for 30 minutes. I recall that during our town's Jeapordy tryouts, way back in the late '80s, the screening test questions ranged from pre-K to PhD level and ONLY THE LOWEST SCORING cretins were selected. I know because I took part and was befuddled when the winners were anounced. I knew one of them personally and his cerebral capacity was comparable to a sea urchin.
I
imhomerjay
Guest
Please. There's usually no more than one pop culture category in a round, meaning "most" of the questions are nothing of the sort. Sorry it doesn't live up to some rosy image of the dusty past, but for millions of people, it works just fine.
While the stated purpose of the rule that "only the winner
keeps the cash" is to increase the suspense going into Final
Jeopardy, I think there's an unstated reason: the show has
a budget. Imagine, if you will, this scenario (to use someone
else's example on this thread): first place has $10,000 going
into Final Jeopardy; second place, $9500; third place, $9000,
and no one wagers anything in order to keep the money won
(as might be the case on the original show). Total payout
for one day: $28,500. And since the show's on five days a
week, imagine similar scenarios every day. Conceivably, the
show could end up paying out $150,000 or more a week,
and I'm not sure the budget can handle that. The modification
that allows second place $2000 and third place $1000 is basically
to allow them to pay for their expenses in coming to LA for the show,
since many contestants are from somewhere else.
It's analogous to the original "Twenty-One." NBC allotted Jack Barry
and Dan Enright $10,000 for prize money; anything over that came out
of their pockets. Since they weren't about to part with their own money,
Enright and Al Freedman would arrange a series of ties and let the money
allotted by the network mount up (but then award only part of it, with the
rest--usually at least $25,000--going into Enright's bank account).
keeps the cash" is to increase the suspense going into Final
Jeopardy, I think there's an unstated reason: the show has
a budget. Imagine, if you will, this scenario (to use someone
else's example on this thread): first place has $10,000 going
into Final Jeopardy; second place, $9500; third place, $9000,
and no one wagers anything in order to keep the money won
(as might be the case on the original show). Total payout
for one day: $28,500. And since the show's on five days a
week, imagine similar scenarios every day. Conceivably, the
show could end up paying out $150,000 or more a week,
and I'm not sure the budget can handle that. The modification
that allows second place $2000 and third place $1000 is basically
to allow them to pay for their expenses in coming to LA for the show,
since many contestants are from somewhere else.
It's analogous to the original "Twenty-One." NBC allotted Jack Barry
and Dan Enright $10,000 for prize money; anything over that came out
of their pockets. Since they weren't about to part with their own money,
Enright and Al Freedman would arrange a series of ties and let the money
allotted by the network mount up (but then award only part of it, with the
rest--usually at least $25,000--going into Enright's bank account).
1st of 5 said:
It was my pleasure to know Art Fleming as a friend after his retirement to Florida. Art was a great guy. He told me that when Jeopardy was reincarnated he was asked to host. He turned it down for two reasons. 1- Move to California 2- They were going to water down the questions to make it easier. He would not be a part of the watered down version.
J
JackBauer112
Guest
I got a good site for all you J! fans out there.
http://www.j-archive.com
They carry all the games (or at least most of them) and they have the calculation scores for Final J!.
But in all contrasts, The game itself and even Alex seems a bit like Richard Dawson during his final seasons of the original ABC Family Feud as well as the '94-'95 season before it got booted. In other words, Alex has a case of "Dawsonitis".
http://www.j-archive.com
They carry all the games (or at least most of them) and they have the calculation scores for Final J!.
But in all contrasts, The game itself and even Alex seems a bit like Richard Dawson during his final seasons of the original ABC Family Feud as well as the '94-'95 season before it got booted. In other words, Alex has a case of "Dawsonitis".
I'm just fine with the current format, and I'm a university graduate. The literature categories and some of the history categories are a real challenge and I rarely get anything from those categories.
JackBauer112 said:
While I've always thought Alex had an arrogant streak, even on his early shows like "Wizard Of Odds" and "High Rollers," I'm not sure he's contracted "Dawsonitis." Dawson was getting people fired right and left during those last few seasons of the original "Feud"; I'm not sure if Alex is doing that. Maybe if we give him time...
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