The big news of the day is that a guy lost on Jeopardy. OH FINE. So this one guy, James Holzhauer, he’s been on a tear on Jeopardy, winning over $2.5 million in 32 days, and threatening the reigning Jeopardy champ, Ken Jenning’s record. He was $58,000~ shy of beating Jennings, an amount he could have won easily this week, had SPOILER! he not been stopped yesterday by a 27-year-old librarian, and dragon-slayer, Emma Boettcher.
Yesterday afternoon, before Jeopardy had aired, I had been receiving messages all afternoon screaming, “DID JAMES HOLZHAUER’S RUN ON JEOPARDY END TODAY?” which suggested to me that yes, it had, and I managed to tune in to the Final Jeopardy just in time to see him lose. And to be fair, IT WAS DRAMATIC. (I’ve cropped the video to the big moment below so that you can see for yourself:)
Holzhauer hinted that something big was about to happen in a pretty funny way:
Here’s why he placed such a small wager in Final Jeopardy. Basically: MATH!
Holzhauer was a gracious loser who gave Boettcher proper credit for beating him fair and square:
However, that didn’t stop the conspiracy theories from flying. I have my own conspiracy theory: have you noticed that all of these conspiracy theories are by men? THAT’S BECAUSE MEN CAN’T WRAP THEIR HEADS AROUND A WOMAN BEATING A MAN AT JEOPARDY. A WOMAN WHO WROTE HER MASTERS THESIS ON JEOPARDY. Nope. He must have thrown it. For reasons.
Ken Jennings, whose record stands, had a great response:
And Holzhauer had his own response to Jennings and the fans:
He seems like a genuinely good guy worthy of his success. Good job, James. I also feel I am obligated to mention here that our own Whitney Hall lost to Ken Jennings on Jeopardy, after loaning him a dime in the studio cafeteria.
Your daily Stranger Things update:
We have a new poster and a new monster?
And Harbo has released a mini-Arcade game based on Stranger Things. GET THAT TIE-IN MONEY, Y’ALL.
I am old enough to remember when Fox threatened to “break the wheel” of pilot season. It didn’t happen.
It sounds like the Game of Thrones prequel series is really starting to gear up for filming in Northern Ireland. I am going to Ireland and Northern Ireland later this summer and if you think I’m not staying in the hotel that is a block away from Titanic Studios, you don’t know me at all. SO EXCITE.
I thought the focus on the crew and extras in the Last Watch documentary about the making of the last season of Game of Thrones was a wonderful choice. This show is not just about the big stars, it’s about the thousands of people who made a show that was STAGGERING in scope, and they should be celebrated. But back to my trip to Ireland: I am torn between two Game of Thrones tours — I think I can only drag my family on one. So do I go on the one that is led by Andy the Extra who was wonderful in The Last Watch, or do I go on one where we meet some of the Direwolves (supposedly — though at this point they are getting up in years, so who knows if they are the real deal) (still, Direwolves)?
Instead of finishing my Game of Thrones recap on Sunday, I went and saw Booksmart with my family (please note: my kids are teenagers, it is NOT — I repeat, NOT a family movie), which I highly recommend, especially if you enjoyed Superbad. Anyway, this is a long way to go to explain that the BoJack Horseman animators were the ones to do THAT scene.
Soap opera stuff. I’m genuinely excited that Lost’s Cynthia Watros is returning to daytime.
Linda Fairstein, the prosecutor who destroyed the lives of the Central Park Five, is finally getting what’s coming to her thanks to the release of Netflix’s When They See Us.
Time’s Up
Kevin Spacey’s trial has been set for the fall. He wants the case thrown out for prosecutorial misconduct. Alright.
Producer Peter Chernin has asked other Hollywood executives to help him raise $15 million to fight these anti-abortion laws spreading across the country.
Here are the different ways people are responding to this abortion controversy in Georgia: boycotting; “monitoring”; donating; and remaining silent. TYLER PERRY. I AM LOOKING AT YOU.
Meanwhile, anti-choice groups are SO MAD at Hollywood threatening to pull out of their state over this law, whining that “outside groups” are threatening their economy because they don’t respect their values. Well, yeah, or it could be argued that outside groups refuse to compromise their values to do business in your backasswards state.
Renewals
- Dead to Me has been renewed for a second season on Netflix. GOOD.
- The Spanish Princess has been renewed for a second and final season on Starz.
In Development
- Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, an animated children’s series, is coming to Netflix.
- The Crystal Maze is being brought to the U.S. from the U.K.
- In the Days of Rain is being adapted for TV.
- 100% Julian Edelman is being made for Showtime.
- Randall Winston has signed an overall deal with ABC Studios.
- Richard Brown has signed a deal with Freemantle.
- Nisha Parti has signed a deal with Sony TV.
Casting News
- Patrick J. Adams will return for the final season of Suits.
- Melanie Field and Rosy McEwen are joining The Angel of Darkness on TNT.
- Joshua Johnson-Lionel will star in The Good Lord Bird on Showtime.
- Tracy Morgan will host the 2019 ESPYs.
Mark Your Calendars
- Jane the Virgin will air its series finale on July 31. iZombie‘s series finale will air on August 1. Bye, little shows!
- Two Sentence Horror Stories will come to The CW on August 8.
- For All Mankind will debut on AppleTV+ sometime this fall. It looks like a fun bit of alternative history:
- Carnival Row will debut on Amazon on August 30.
- The Affair will return for its final season on Showtime on August 25.
- Why Women Kill will debut on CBS All Access on August 15.
- Mr. Mercedes will return on Audience on September 10.
- The Damon Lindelof film, The Hunt, has been moved up to September 27. It is a very “The Most Dangerous Game” plot — a bunch of rednecks is kidnapped and then hunted by a bunch of liberal elites. Again, this is not a TV show, but a movie, but it’s my blog, I do what I want.
R.I.P.
Johnnie Planco, WMA Agent
Paul Darrow, British actor
Todd Tongen, Miami news anchor
WATCH THIS
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: OH MY GOD BRANDI IS BACK AND I AM NOT CAUGHT UP. UGGGGH. 8 p.m., Bravo
The Radkes: A reality show that follows the Radke family in Lufkin, Texas. Yes, Houston friends, THAT Lufkin, Texas. Series premiere. 9:30 p.m., USA
Dance Moms: Abby returns. Season premiere. 8 p.m., Lifetime
American Experience: A look back at the Stonewall riots — the event that started it all — as a way to open Pride Month. 7 p.m., PBS
Late Night:
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Emma Thompson, Adam Scott
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Jessica Chastain, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Aloe Blacc
- The Daily Show: Amber Scorah
- Conan: Chelsea Handler, Rhys Nicholson
TUES. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
ABC | The Conners (repeat) |
American Housewife (repeat) |
Modern Family (repeat) |
The Goldbergs (repeat) |
Modern Family (repeat) |
black-ish (repeat) |
CBS | NCIS (repeat) |
FBI (repeat) |
Blood & Treasure (new) |
CW | The Flash (repeat) |
The 100 (new) |
Local |
FOX | MasterChef Junior (new) |
News/Local |
NBC | America’s Got Talent (new) |
Songland (new) |