Your Gameshow Machiavelli
I am best-known as a Jeopardy has-been. I might be the game’s equivalent to a punch drunk, starting monologues on the Jacobite Rebellion in crowded elevators, and the like. However, my Jeopardy “contenda” status occasionally lapses into relevance. Now is one of those rare moments.
March 16th, a date that will live in trivia, the Jeopardy match ended in a three-way tie. The show has had a number of games where two players tied, but a triumvirate is unprecedented. The situation required an unusual convergence of circumstances. First, the player in the lead has to be a nice, thoughtful individual. Well, how often do nice,thoughtful individuals get into the lead? You have to be a megalomaniac just to qualify for Jeopardy, and it takes a sociopath to win.
Second, the other two contestants would require a tie score prior to Final Jeopardy. That in itself would be rare. The typical Jeopardy match is a duel between the leading player and a competitive runner-up. The third player, alas, is usually thinking of hanging himself with the microphone cord.
But March 16th was the day of exceptions…and the footnote in game show chivalry belongs to a Mr. Scott Weiss. (Mel Gibson obviously won’t be rooting for him.)
You might wonder if I would have been so noble in similar circumstances. I can imagine playing for a tie against:
Mahatma Gandhi and St. Francis of Assisi
or Al Capone and Vin Diesel
Beating Gandhi and St. Francis, I probably could not live with myself. Beating Capone and Diesel, I probably could not live.
I imagine that I also would settle for a tie score if competing against Uma Thurman and Anne Hathaway. In fact, I would probably be giving them the answers.
so now what happens?
this is sooooo cool!
Wait for Monday and the premiere of Gameshow of Thrones.