October 6, 2025 - Jeopardy

 

Title: October 6, 2025 - Jeopardy
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

 

 Hike Info:

Type: Jeopardy

Description:

I woke up at 5am, a bit earlier than I wanted to get up, so I did not rise. I just laid in bed until 6. Then I got up and had breakfast . By the time I finished, the others were getting up. The car is all packed, trash taken out and the towels have been put into the washing machine. By 7:45, we are ready to leave. Not bad for this family. 

Sherri goes with Rachel-Rachel brought her new car down Saturday-to the Sony Studios. This was a happy circumstance as she was able to use the car pool lanes, particularly when traffic was backed up. Steven has to deal with me in the car-he drove. We actually made it to Sony only a few minutes after Rachel’s car.

Rachel

You might be asking, what are we doing at Sony Studios? Steven noticed that there were morning tickets to Jeopardy available and was able to procure them. So the four of us are able to see a taping of the show.

We were lined up according to contestants, contestant guests and then the rest of us. We were then brought into the gift shop/visitor center a little after 10. We milled around and then about half an hour later we all filed onto the lot and waited by the Jeopardy studio to be let in. This was timed to have the taping start at 11. Jimmie MC’d the crowd, couching us when to applaud, to make sure there was enough energy in the room to be exciting. Jimmie started as somebody who would go on-site to places to tape aspects of a location. He has been there now 25 years. Johnnie Gilbert was not present, but lent his voice to the opening while the producer provided contestant information.

 

 

Sherri

Several years ago we saw a taping of the NPR show Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me! There were a lot of similarities between that show and Jeopardy. Also there were some differences. Some of the similarities is that when it is noted that the main person muffed a line, later on, it was retaped. But the show essentially went through the entire taping. The obvious difference is that one is radio and the other is TV. Appearances do matter on Jeopardy.

One of those appearances is to make sure everything was right. One of the contestants answered correctly, but too slow. They stopped the taping, had the contestants turn away from the main stage and face the back. Then the judges went through and examined what happened. They then retaped that sequence without the confusion, showing the late answer. It was interesting that they took so much effort to get the results right.

 

 

 

Gary

One of the things which I was surprised at was that the commercial breaks are used to give the contestants a break as well as to make sure they are doing well. During the first commercial break, Ken Jennings comes and answers questions from the audience. Steven got to ask a question about Jennings' college roommate, Brandon Sanderson, who is now a notable author. I think that Jennings liked to reminisce.

On other commercial breaks, Jimmie was MC’ing us and using the time to give background to the show. Also to get some audience involvement. That involvement was to pick people out of the crowd and note something about them. I was the first, which he called me Mr Letterman-that is a first for me. I am usually Mr Muir or Mr Ansel Adams. It was fun.

We got to see two tapings. Our shows will be shown on Nov 3rd and 4th. Having seen how the show is made, I am interested in seeing the final results. Each taping took about 45 minutes with 10-15 minute break in-between. After each taping, Jennings talks with the contestants in a mini-debriefing about how they felt about the taping. By the time we got out of there, it was after 1pm.

Sherri at Dewar's

Steven, Sherri and I have a House Church Potluck at 6pm in Fresno, but it looks like we will not be making it. Before going back to Fresno, we have lunch in Culver City at Mendocino Farms. Very good. I have a chicken park dip. Rachel says this is one of her go to places-there are others closer to where she used to lived. I think we are a bit reluctant to part as we do not leave until 2:15. She will be staying down in LA until Saturday with some friends.

The 2:15 start time and then LA traffic makes it definite that we will not make House Church tonight. I drive over the Grapevine to Bakersfield, where we pick up gas at Costco. Since we are not making House Church, we will do the next best thing: stop at DeWar’s for sundaes. Sherri and I share one and Steven has his own. Contentment.

Steven drives the rest of the way home, getting us back about 7. Even though we have not been away very long, it feels good to be back. Korra also welcomes us.

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