Show #5512

Now entering the studio are today's contestants:

Josh, A hot gay with a comics blog.

Joanne, who is dull.

and Mark, who won yesterday and still features a head so squarish it could be mistaken for a Honda Element with hair.

Let's Play!

Alex starts the day as usual, with smiling humiliation. "You remember Daniel, from yesterday?" Alex asks Mark, who might be sweating and crying inside. "He was a much better player than you, wasn't he? I wish he was here today instead of you, because he was brilliant, and you are a disappointment who got lucky. Make the first selection!" (Note: Specific quotes may or may not be made up.)

They have a Poe category? And a Pop Culture one!? Hooray for me! (Though this bodes poorly for Double Jeopardy...)

You notice Alex has been more into people's stories this week than usual? Maybe the producers told him to lay off the smug until Celebrity Jeopardy!

Speaking of the stories: Josh, as stated above, writes a comic blog, specializing in the old romance comics. "Like Rex Morgan?" Alex asks, to which Josh replies, "Rex MORGAN!" Gay gay gaaaay! Which is okay, because Josh is cubbish and cute, and his blog is pretty funny. Joanne tells a story as dull as her hairstyle and Alex interrupts Mark's story to make an age joke about Johnny Gilbert. Johnny never responds to these jokes, which unnerves me a little. One, it's like Alex is laughing at thin air, and two, it leads me to think that Johnny's quietly muttering Alex's name somewhere, and perhaps sharpening something.

Joanne says "Amontillado" and pronounces the Ls like Ls instead of like a Y. That's not right, is it? And while we're on the subject, Josh says "suffragist" instead of "suffragette" for a "female agitator for women's voting rights." Which, by the way? Wrong. The key word here is female, and suffragists can be ladies or dudes. When Alex is wrong, it's like Mr. Rogers lying to you. (When Alex is abusive, it's like any episode of Mr. Wizard's World.)


Double Jeopardy!

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Yep, see, I knew we'd pay for two cool categories in the first round. First category here? State Fish. Awesome.

One of the clues references Mr. Hand from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. My husband Shawn turned to me and said, "Um. Did Alex just make a masturbation reference?" Is this shame or pride that I'm feeling?

I hope my friend Tracey is watching this across town. One of her favorite phrases ever is "whole hog." And now we know the origin!

The Clue Crew is all over the Sleep Center category - which, by the way is horrifying. Every patient looks like Hannibal Lector. I'm always intrigued by which Clue Crew members get to be in a category. Cheryl, Sarah, and Jimmy are all present, but Kelly and Jon are mysteriously absent. Maybe plotting with Johnny?

Josh knows all about CPAP machines. It's fun to be a bear!

All right, I've verified that the term "scrapple" makes me giggle.


Final Jeopardy!

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I was unaware that Israel was an invention of the 20th Century. Shawn was incredulous. "They teach that in high school!" Awesome.

Hot Josh was putting up a good fight there for awhile, but no one beats Honda Element Skull. The correct answer is "Golda Mier," which Mark guessed correctly ... but spelled incorrectly, as Alex pointedly remarks, then goes on at length about. I don't think they let Alex into the meeting that decided that misspelled answers in Final counted as right answers. Alex is pissed.

Which means! Mark's at a 3-day win with a grand total of $81,402! He'll be back tomorrow, and so will I!