Celebrity Jeopardy! (SNL)

Celebrity Jeopardy! Was a popular recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live that parodies the television game show Jeopardy! tournament of the same name, which is known to have easier-than-normal answers asked when celebrities compete.

Related Topics:
Sketch - Saturday Night Live - Parodies - Game show - Jeopardy!

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Will Ferrell appears as host Alex Trebek in all 13 of the sketches. Darrell Hammond appears in all episodes as well, 11 of them as Sean Connery. Norm MacDonald appears in four episodes, all as Burt Reynolds. Also, Jimmy Fallon appeared in six episodes, and Dean Edwards in two, but never as the same character.

Related Topics:
Will Ferrell - Alex Trebek - Darrell Hammond - Sean Connery - Norm MacDonald - Burt Reynolds - Jimmy Fallon - Dean Edwards

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The sketches always begin during the second round of Jeopardy!, and two of the "contestants" have somehow attained very negative scores, while another "leads" with a score of zero. Trebek, being portrayed as the beleaguered straight man, attempts fruitlessly to manage the contestants, who are over-the-top caricatures of other celebrities. The question categories are usually (with a few exceptions) humorously simple, such as Foods ending in "amburger" or Months beginning with "Feb" or even Movies that begin with the word "Jaws"; the category Potent Potables (which is more in line with a typical Jeopardy! category) is always featured but never selected by a contestant or Trebek. The contestants blatantly misinterpret questions, misread topic titles (S-Words becomes Swords, for example, and Therapists becomes The rapists), and in general display high levels of neuroticism and incompetence. Meanwhile, Trebek insults the contestants, is bombarded with sophomoric insults from Connery (often referring to alleged sexual acts with Trebek's mother), and eventually finishes with giving up on the scripted questions and delivers a childishly simple "Final Jeopardy!" question (e.g. "Things You Like", "Horsies"), which of course is always botched by the contestants (excepting Connery, who occasionally answers correctly but whose wager transforms the answer into something rude.)

Related Topics:
Jeopardy! - Caricature

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Initially, Burt Reynolds was to be the celebrity that appeared in each episode. Sean Connery was supposed to be one of the many celebrites that only appeared once. Upon Norm MacDonald's firing in 1998, writers decided to bring back Sean Connery, who appeared in every episode since, although Reynolds did return when MacDonald hosted in 1999.

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The sketch was apparently retired on Will Ferrell's own retirement as a regular SNL castmember in 2002, but returned for one more appearance on May 14, 2005, when Ferrell hosted for the first time since leaving as a regular. The final regular sketch featured the real Alex Trebek in a cameo appearance, and the return featured the return of Trebek and Connery as characters, with the Final Jeopardy! question "Math questions a first-grader could solve".

Related Topics:
2002 - May 14 - 2005 - Alex Trebek

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See Jeopardy! in culture

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