Kale, Caesar!

Do you think they meant it to be funny,
or just a coincidence?
Hail, Caesar!

Sounds Like a Jeopardy! Category -- the way they love puns!

Speaking of which . . .
I have been shocked, shocked recently by the plethora of missed clues! We have follwed Jeopardy! for years, but more and more, the show seems to resemble a random fact contest rather than a challenge of cultural literacy.

Sadly, just the other day, no one knew that Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day -- didn't I just explain this (and not for the first time!) a few weeks ago? Sigh.

It's tough when the missed answer is a topic dear to your heart. My son was dismayed when no one knew that Aldous Huxley wrote The Doors of Perception. He couldn't help himself: "These fools on Jeopardy need some education. This is why society is going to sh-t."

We all happened to be watching on the infamous evening when none of the contestants could fill in the blank with the word hallowed.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, ________ be thy name."
On the same night, no one knew that

1. “Gentian” = blue

2. “Gather ye rosebuds” = a poetic metaphor for youth

3. National Velvet = a horse novel / movie starring Elizabeth Taylor

4. Big Daddy = father figure from the play / movie Cat in a Hot Tin Roof -- also starring Elizabeth Taylor, but that wasn’t part of the question. Still, it made me feel kinda bad for Elizabeth Taylor. One by one her big films are losing their currency. Even though two different titles popped up — in two different categories — no one recognized either one. Poor Liz! Alas, I've seen this has happen before to Judy Garland & Robert Redford.

A few days after "The Lord's Prayer" fiasco, we watched a 2022 re-run with another string of embarrassing non - answers. All on the same show, no one guessed

1. that Sugarloaf Mountain is in Rio de Janeiro

2. the meaning of the phrase How many angels on the head of pin

3. the color pattern of the Luna moth (visual cue)

4. the identity of Zooey Deschanel

A cartoon which pretty well captures
the typical Jeopardy! contestant's
knowledge of the Old & New Testaments:

Additional recent biblical misses:

1.
the meaning of "prodigal," as in "Prodigal Son"

2.
A: Ancient biblical manuscripts discovered in 1947.
Q:

No one guessed "The Dead Sea Scrolls" . . .
but someone guessed "The Ten Commandments."
Sigh . . .

3. (on 12 July)
A: What book of the Bible contains the quote:
"Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death."

Q: The 23rd Psalm -- right?
[Actually, "23rd" was not required;
all you had to say was "Psalms."
But no one could even do that!

Okay, so the Jeopardy contestants
havent been to Sunday School,
but don’t they even go to funerals anymore?
Maybe that’s no longer a thing . . .

*******************

P.S.
Not forgetting Weird Al:
Sometimes ya just have to sing along:
I Lost On Jeopardy!

P.P.S.
Not about Jeopardy:
For years, I have merged this
Ray Stevens / Barry Manilow
parody with Weird Al;
too many tabs open in my brain!
Maybe if I post it here, I can remember:

"We need you now Barry Manilow,
no one else can make us feel so yucky . . . "

P.P.P.S.
Not forgetting Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
"Avē Imperātor / Caesar moritūrī tē salūtant"
["Hail, Emperor / Caesar,
those who are about to die salute you"]