TV: Celebrity Week on Jeopardy!

I love Celebrity Week on Jeopardy!, which has been airing all this week (and part of last week and some of next week -- it's Celebrity Fortnight!), from Radio City Music Hall. It's fun to watch some of my favorite entertainers try their best in the event which could be retitled "Jeopardy! for Dumb Guys." I don't mean to take away anything from your win, Harry Shearer, but come on, those questions are easier than during Kids Week.

That said, I will admit I have a stronger rooting interest in Jeopardy!'s Celebrity Week than I do in baseball, football, basketball, or even the Olympics. USA, USA? -- Forget that! Neil Patrick Harris! Neil Patrick Harris! (Barney crushed the competition, in case you missed it.) And there's no way in hell I'm going to miss Dana Delany tonight!

When a celebrity I like and admire turns out to be good at Jeopardy!, it feels like a personal vindication. Their victory is my glory. A stranger whose acting I like did well at a trivia game, therefore my own value has been elevated. The mathematical expression for this would be:

Miguel Ferrer kicked ass on Celebrity Jeopardy!   ∴  I am awesome

(I just really wanted to use the mathematical symbol for "therefore" today. Hope it shows up for you.)

(EDIT: The symbol works on the preview for this post, but not on the actual blog -- at least, not on this computer. Maybe it's a browser thing. I'm going to leave it the way it is for now. Please let me know if you can see it or not. It's supposed to look like three dots in the shape of a triangle.)

Sometimes the celebrities pleasantly surprise me. My mind is still boggled by the fact that in 2001, Mike Piazza, who was once my favorite athlete (hell, he's probably still my favorite athlete, even though he hasn't played for the Dodgers since '98), pulled out an impressive win. Way to go, catcher-boy! And sometimes they disappoint me. This week, for example, I saw Soledad O'Brien compete. I've always had the impression I should be fond of her, but I'm not really sure why; it's like I had a subliminal crush on her, possibly absorbed from Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. I don't think I've ever watched her on CNN, but I still felt this unfocused obligation to think she's swell. No more. On Jeopardy!, she came across as a humorless, inattentive (nothing worse than the contestant who constantly has to be reminded, "Your turn to select"), uptight little prig. She was extremely unpleasant to watch. Not Nancy Grace unpleasant, but still.

Speaking of whom... negative rooting interests are twice as strong for me. It would've killed me if that heinous bitch Nancy Grace had won. If that meant I had to root for Regis Philbin instead -- so be it! (And Reege won!) I need to watch Friday's show specifically to root against Mario Cantone. God, that guy irritates me. But who am I going to root for against him? Martin Short? The two of them are going to be straining to top one another all night. What a chore that should be. Guess it's Joely Fisher for me!

Celebrity Week continues through next Tuesday. Be sure to tune in; your personal self-worth depends on how well your favorite Law & Order franchise actor does. (Hint: pick Christopher Meloni.)