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Fact-or-Fake Friday: This Is ‘Jeopardy!’

May 16, 2014

What follows are three weird news items that pertain to the TV game show Jeopardy! Two of them are true…and one of them isn’t. Why? Because we made it up, that’s why! Can you guess which one is the phony? (The answer—or maybe the question?—is at the end of the post.)

A.

After Jeopardy!’s first commercial break, Alex Trebek has a one-on-one chat with each of the contestants and asks them about their lives—contestants provide prompts on index cards given to Trebek before the show tapes. A man named Tom appeared on Jeopardy! recently, and his card indicated he wanted to talk about a documentary he was making. “It’s on sweatshop labor. It’s to try to put a face on who makes our clothes. Maybe you can find out the names of the eight-year-olds who made your fancy suit there, Alex.”

B.

Sometimes contestants get lucky on Jeopardy and the categories correspond to their personal interests. That happened to Janelle, a big Game of Thrones fan who competed on an episode with a Game of Thrones-themed category, which was there to promote that show’s new season. Janelle audibly yelped when the category was announced, and when it was her turn to pick a clue, she picked Game of Thrones. She then answered all five Thrones clues correctly, giving her answers in the form of a question…and also in the form of the Dothraki language, a language invented for and used on Game of Thrones.

C.

The Final Jeopardy! category was “Signs and Symbols.” The answer provided to the contestants was: “Meant to evoke a person with arms outstretched and pointed downward, it was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom.” It stumped all three contestants, with none even attempting an answer. The answer, or rather the question was, “What is a peace sign?” (Did you get it? Good for you!) Three-day champion Sandie Baker added a fourth day to her winning streak, as she bet just $200 of her $26,800. However, she probably should’ve got the Final Jeopardy! clue correct. Ironically, Baker was wearing peace sign earrings at the time.

 

 

Want more of the patently untrue? Check out Uncle John’s Fake Facts. (Really!)