For some it's a guilty pleasure, for others an anticipated staple in a nightly routine, but I think almost everyone has watched Jeopardy at some point in life. I must say, the more you watch it, the easier it becomes to get hooked until you are the fourth contestant shouting out answers along with each night's players, and when the show becomes a war between you and Alex Trebek. As someone who can personally relate to this last statement, here are 16 things everyone is thinking when we sit down to watch Jeopardy.
1. Oh, Alex, you're still around?
2. Yes! There's a category about film!
3. Oh geez, a Hawaiian history category, don't think I'll get many points there.
4. Alright Alex, they understand, you don't have to explain that category like everyone is in 1st grade.
5. Ooh, I got that question right, I am such a pro!
6. Two right in a row!
7. *Yells out a wrong answer too confidently to play off as a joke.*
Oh, haha, I was just kidding... *Family, friends, and anyone else in the room still laughs at and judges you for the rest of the night.* (I'm assuming you probably aren't watching Jeopardy alone, but if you are, good for you, you get to laugh at your own mistake in good fun.)
8. *Contestant gets a question wrong that you get right.*
HAH, oh Brenda, make way for the real champion.
9. *Alex conducts the mini interview with each contestant after the first commercial break.*
Alex, I don't care. I have never cared that Brenda has collected glass dolls for 40 years or that Art traveled the country in his 1964 Mustang. And I know that you don't care either due to the insincerity of your responses.
10. *You panic when the first Daily Double comes around and the person makes a risky wager.*
Phew, good job buddy, you're staying alive.
11. *Later, the same person gets a Daily Double again, and this time loses their lead because of it.*
NOO, ART I WAS ROUTING FOR YOU.
12. *You yell out an answer so painfully far off from the correct answer that the rest of the room either laughs through the next question or just remains in awkward silence and everyone tries to pretend that didn't happen.*
13. *Alex corrects someone who answers a hard question wrong like the correct answer is common knowledge.*
Come on, who knows that?! Yes, how dare the lowly human not know that the last Hawaiian Queen was Queen Lili'uokalani. Forgive us, Alex, for not living up to your highest of standards.
14. *Tension rises during Double Jeopardy, and people don't seem so flippant anymore when they get answers wrong as the time ticks away.*
*Reaches for popcorn.* Oooh, Brenda is NOT happy with her game today, and frankly I don't blame her.
15. *You smile in glee when a contestant gets the better of Alex Trebek, like when the recent champ Buzzy Cohen was so far ahead in Final Jeopardy that it was impossible for him to lose. He saw an opportunity and he ceased it.*
16. *You wonder what Alex and the contestants talk about when they converse in a circle when the credits roll over their faces at the end.*
Are you making the losers relive their worst mistakes? Are you just praising the winner? Are you pretending to care about each others' personal lives? I wish I could hear over the loud, catchy theme song!
