which (?) city or town (in Nevada?) did Mormon missionaries settle?

Question: What is Las Vegas (aka the City that Losers Built...)

I caught that one about Mormon missionaries and Las Vegas too. Groan! \
It was too obscure for the contestants to know.

Ken seems to enjoy letting everyone know about Mormon trivia. I'll bet he was a know it all in his Gospel Doctrine class at church! LOL

Recently they had a couple clues tangentially related to Mormon pioneers too.

I was going to let this one pass - there have been so many lately. Maybe Ken has a clause in his contract that there has to be one Mormon reference per month (or more).

I already can't remember if it was tonight or last night that one of the contestants said he wanted to thank his Lord and Saviour. Ken didn't appear to react.

It would be news (to me at least) if a Mormon uttered that phrase aloud in public.

Yes, Ken was letting the contestants thank someone in the introduction part. That one guy (Wargin was his last name) was going full Jesus. At least Ken didn't go into testimony mode too!

I think they guy was sincere and all that. To me it's strange when people thank Jesus for winning a game or getting a favor when so many people are suffering more. Thanks, Jesus, for ignoring those other people! I'm sure they don't mean to come across that way.

I think Mormons still tend to shy away from praising/thanking Jesus in casual public conversation. I was taught to keep it private out of respect (too scared and all that). I also had a feel for when it might make me as a Mormon seem weird. Just my take anyway.

I've noticed another thing happening more frequently on Jeopardy. They promote and advertise more. They will have threads about upcoming movies or strange product references sometimes. This seems to be happening more on a lot of TV programs. I suppose the show gets approached by all kinds of promotion pitches. Sigh.

Oh, Nighty...

Today (Apr 14th) there was a category about centenarians.
The clue talked about something something Nelson and his dumb bday party.

The contestant correctly guessed what church the clue was about. He managed to say the whole name of the church correctly and didn't say Mormon. Good boy!

Out of all the thousands of people who reached 100, Nelson wouldn't have been in my top 10, but OK.

Yeah, saw that. {{groan}}

The clue was in the category "Centenarians". "Faith leaders who beat 3 score & 10 included President Russell Nelson of this church. His 100th birthday party was on Temple Square."

Yeah, the contestant used the New Name for the church.

Who out there in the wide, wide world would know about the change? I amused myself by wondering whether if someone responded "What is the Mormon Church?" would they have been judged incorrect?

Ken maybe would have corrected him by saying the full name if he had just said Mormon.

I remember when Mormons had that big push to get everyone to vote to get the prophet (whoever it was at the time) on the cover of Time Magazine. I chuckled at how important they think they are, as if their President is equivalent to the Pope or something. Most of the world has zero idea who their prophet is.
I'm getting the same vibes on Jeopardy. They think they are a lot better known than they are. I think contestants know to bone up on Mormon and Utah trivia by now.

I could be very wrong though. I suppose when the church is rich enough, they actually will be known as well as the Pope.

KJ has lowered himself to be a Shill for ChurchCo

Does he choose the questions or does someone include questions they think he might like to ask?

Kentish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does he choose the questions or does someone
> include questions they think he might like to ask?

Maybe a bit of both?

There are definitely more religion categories on Jeopardy since he's been the host and absolutely more mentions of Mormonism, if by a different name, as occurred the other night. I wondered if most viewers would realize that the reference was to the Mormon church - I would think not.

You know what they say about a rose by any other name (would smell as sweet) but in this case, you can change your name from Mormon to Church of Jesus Christ but in the end you're still stuck with Joseph Smith, Mormon founder, who said that other churches had "some truth" but then also referred to them as an abomination.

There is a staff of writers and researchers.

I'm sure Ken reviews the proposed questions and provides input. He has to be prepared to host the show and all.

I suspect the staff, knowing Ken's Mormon interests, might have some people who are kissing up to him. Shrug.

I suggest the opposite causation.

The show's producers know exactly who their audience is. They choose their questions, and in fact chose their host, accordingly.

That makes good sense, but I thought I was the only one in the audience!

Hmmmpph.

I think there are three of you, maybe four if you include NG's pet iguana.

Oh, Nighty...

Today (4/30/25) they had a Religion category.
Sure enough, there was a question about the year a religious text was written and guess what!? The answer was the BoM. LOL. Of course it was.

Ha. I just saw that. How are they going to expunge "Mormon" from the collective consciousness when it's the name of their book.

And so often it pops up on the Jeopardy board these days.

I used to watch with my mum for years and never once did Mormonism get a mention. Now...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2025 09:41PM by Nightingale.

Tonight there was a weird one (5/12/25).
There was a clue that caught my attention in the next room because I heard the names Moroni and Brigham. I missed the category but the question had something to do with a flag or letters.

The answer had to do with the UofU's flag.
I knew from hearing the words Moroni and Brigham right away it was going to be a Utah thing.

We were right the first time. Surely it must be a big nod to Mormon Ken. I wonder which hosts or commentators in other secular programs make room to regularly share their religion.

I know it's not a big deal in the history of the universe but it's a little weird plus which other game show host or host of anything wants to bring religion in to the mix on a noticeably frequent basis.

Obviously we notice it more because it's about Mormonism but how would people feel, I wonder, if it was a more offshoot sect. Too, there are countless potential categories of knowledge out there. How many times does anyone want to think about J. Smith or read of his exploits. Even for $2000 Alex.

I think LW is right. It probably has to do with Mormon belt having the highest number of viewers for the show or somesuch.

I do think Ken fancies himself as an openminded Mormon (which I agree he seems to be in most cases) who everyone thinks is cool. In reality, people are probably wondering about his cognitive dissonance and why he would proudly associate with such a weird religion.

Does it help Mormonism and Utah to be better known from frequent mentions on the show? Maybe. The clues never include anything from the dark side of the religion of course.

Imagine if we heard proportionally the same number of clues about Iowa and the Hawkeyes. We'd wonder why.

Your Jeopardy Reporter, dagny.

>The answer had to do with the UofU's flag.

It was actually the state of Utah's new flag

https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2025/04/17/utah-state-flag-celebrity-jeopardy-clue/

"Kimes had control of the board at the start of the game, and chose to select the following clue in the category “Run it up the state flagpole”:

“Utah’s revamped state flag features a beehive, once favored by Brigham Young as an emblem of this religion.”

Friedberg buzzed in with “What is Mormonism?” — which host Ken Jennings deemed correct — and added $200 to his score."

Hmm. Thanks.

That doesn't seem like the one I saw tonight though.
I distinctly remember Moroni and Brigham in the clue and UofU the answer. Maybe I'm going crazy(crazier) than usual.

I think (because this thread is getting old) there might be a mix up in the date of the question. So far I can't seem to muster the interest to find the site that has the official questions from today.

You are probably right, I didn't check the date on the DN article. But I have a hard time seeing a connection between BY or Moroni and the U of U flag(s).


https://www.store.utah.edu/home-office/flags-pennants-signs?page=1

There was a flagrant one today 5/22/25.

I don't recall the category, but the clue was something like, "He was mischaracterized in the movie American Primeval" (I can't remember the exact wording).

The answer was Brigham Young.
The contestants didn't guess it. I presume they didn't care to learn the things Mormons get offended about. :-)

As I've asked a few times before, why would they want to keep BY in the forefront? That's got to be the 2nd or 3rd reference in just a couple of weeks.

I'm planning on NOT being shocked or amazed when they actually get around to having an entire category about Mormons and not just a random clue here and there. That way prospective contestants would *really* have to start studying moism more deeply.

I know it's no big deal in the scheme of the entire world but there are more mo-related clues randomly placed than clues about other more mainstream groups. That cannot be by accident. All the years of Alex Trebek and did anybody anywhere ever get to know his religious leanings? Or have to study up on them in hopes that one clue here or there could be their chance to win a game?

I have no idea what's up with BY references. I suspect they are trying to present him positively as a builder and also polish up BYU's name.

Funny that they don't stress the controversial things. I think they might want BY to be another historical figure that we treat as heroes and pretend they didn't have a very dark side.

They are so thin skinned they had to complain about a dumb movie that no one takes seriously. It may have hit a nerve and they want to fix it. When the Broadway play BoM came out, I remember hearing Mormons "correct" things, but now they've learned to laugh it off.

Now you mention it, I have no idea what Trebek thought about religion.

I saw that. The questions actually started off even more blatant with "The LDS church feels he was mischaracterized...."

I think it's about the 3rd Mo or Utah-related clue in just a few weeks. I know it's no big deal in the scheme of world events but we mention it here due to the topic of this board.