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Celebrity Jeopardy! (Saturday Night Live)
Encyclopedia
Celebrity Jeopardy! was a recurring sketch on the television comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live
that regularly aired between 1996 and 2002, the years when Will Ferrell
was a cast member. It parodies the same-named special event on the television quiz show Jeopardy!
which features competition between notable individuals with all winnings going towards charitable organization
s, and significant reductions to the game's level of difficulty. Fourteen sketches aired between December 1996 and May 2009: two sketches per season from 1996
to 2002
, when Ferrell was a regular on the show; and one each in 2005
and 2009
, when Ferrell returned to the show as host.
Ferrell appeared in all fourteen sketches, portraying host Alex Trebek
. Darrell Hammond
also appeared in each sketch, twelve times portraying Sean Connery
, in an impersonation that "often questions Trebek's sexuality and sometimes implies that he has known Trebek's mother in a carnal sense." Norm Macdonald
appeared in five sketches, all as Burt Reynolds
. Jimmy Fallon
appeared six times, each time portraying a different character.
On several occasions, Celebrity Jeopardy! sketches have been referenced during actual episodes of Jeopardy!
revealed that he created the Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch purely as an excuse to do his Burt Reynolds impersonation. Macdonald also stated that Reynolds is a fan of the sketch and that there were talks to do a sketch where the real Reynolds would crash the game and punch out Macdonald. Reynolds would then play the remainder of the game, with his responses being even dumber than Macdonald's. However, Macdonald was fired from Saturday Night Live before that sketch could be written.
At the end of almost every sketch (with one exception), all three celebrities are losing, with scores usually in the negative thousands of dollars, and in most cases, a humorous, often sexual, Final Jeopardy! punchline is delivered by Hammond's Sean Connery character.
The rules of Jeopardy! require that a contestant select a category and a dollar value from the game board in order for the game to proceed. Many times, the celebrity contestants on the SNL sketches will refuse or fail to select a clue, grinding the game to a halt. Often, Trebek violates the rules by making the selection himself. The show originally used such reasonable categories as "Celebrities," "Movies," and "Popular Music," but as the celebrities' ineptitude grew more apparent the categories became more childish, even including categories whose titles suggest that the contestants will be able to infer the correct response without even reading the clues, such as "Colors that End in 'Urple'," "States that Begin with 'Californ'," "Black Comedians Named 'Whoopi'," and "Drummers Named 'Ringo,'" and categories that do not require any responses whatsoever, such as "Don't Do Anything" (where all three contestants are required to remain motionless in order to receive money), "I Have a Chardonnay" (where the contestant automatically gets the points and Trebek would get to have a glass of wine), and "Automatic Points" (where a contestant is "automatically awarded the points" just for choosing a dollar value from the category). Categories are often misunderstood by the celebrities and transformed by one of the contestants (almost always Connery) into sexually suggestive phrases (i.e., misreading "Catch These Men," a category about people on the FBI's Most Wanted list, as "Catch the Semen;" "A Petit Dejeuner," a category about French phrases
, as "Ape Tit [...];" "The Pen Is Mightier," a category about quotes from famous authors, as "The Penis Mightier;", etc.). Connery would also appear to change categories, such as crossing off letters in the category "I Have a Chardonnay" to make it read "I Have a hardon," and occasionally covering up entire categories with a piece of paper with a new one on there (ex. "Potpourri" was covered up by "Things Trebek Sucks").
Trebek eventually grows exasperated with his inability to conduct the show, and cuts it short by moving to the Final Jeopardy! Round. Often, he discards the scripted category; when this happens, the scripted category is usually never revealed (although at times, if conducive to another contestant's character, they will, as in the category "Famous Mothers"). When Trebek discards a category, he moves in favor of a much easier task; for instance, he will ask the celebrity contestants to write their own clue and respond to it, or make any mark whatsoever to earn a correct response. Sometimes, a childishly simple category is announced, such as "First Grade Math" or "Horsies." Despite constructing scenarios wherein it appears impossible for the celebrities to fail, they invariably do. On rare occasions, contestants respond correctly to Final Jeopardy! questions, but such success is never accompanied by an appropriate wager, rendering the whole effort pointless. Connery occasionally provides the correct response, but uses his wager to transform the text into a rude phrase. For instance, when Trebek asks the contestants to write a number to earn a correct response, Connery writes "V" for his response, which Trebek acknowledges as correct since "V" is the Roman numeral
for 5, but Connery reveals "SucK it, Trebek" for the wager (the "V" coming from the top of the "K"). In some occasions, Connery appears to have sympathy for Trebek until the wager reveal, which happens to be a rude drawing at Trebek's expense. However, Connery wasn't the only contestant to perform this. In response to a Final Jeopardy! question from one of the earlier sketches, which has each of the contestants name their favorite food, John Travolta
responds "miso
," surprising Trebek who says that miso is indeed a soup; yet when he asks for the wager, Travolta reveals it to be "horny," which is read as "me so horny."
Trebek then ends the show, many times by announcing that money will not be awarded to charity or by declaring his intention to resign and/or commit suicide.
Both the host and contestants are played as caricatures of their real life personalities. In Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, Hammond said that, while his initial Connery impression was as accurate as possible, it would eventually morph into a "bastardization" of the actor, which audiences—and Hammond himself—found far more entertaining. Though Trebek shaved his trademark mustache in 2001, Ferrell retained it as long as he played the character, even in the twelfth sketch—Ferrell's last episode as a cast member—when a clean-shaven real Trebek made a cameo at the end.
Trebek is the beleaguered straight man
, and is generally the only person on stage who is interested in playing the game. The contestants, who often appear either unaware of what the game is or uninterested in playing it, will either ramble incoherently, deliver irrelevant monologues, or openly antagonize the host. Whenever a contestant takes the game seriously, he/she proves utterly incapable of supplying the correct question. In all fourteen sketches, no contestant ever buzzes in with a correct response; Phil Donahue
in the second sketch came closest, answering "This December 25th holiday involves decorating a tree and opening presents." with a vivid description of a Christmas morning scene but going out of his way to never actually say the word "Christmas". Meanwhile, Trebek makes little to no effort to hide his contempt for the celebrities' stupidity, and in return, is bombarded with sophomoric insults from Sean Connery. Initially, Burt Reynolds had been the celebrity who appeared on each episode. When Reynolds appears for the last time on the sketch, he misreads categories in the same way as Connery, and insists that he be addressed as "Turd Ferguson" because, as he states, "it's a funny name."
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
that regularly aired between 1996 and 2002, the years when Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
was a cast member. It parodies the same-named special event on the television quiz show Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
which features competition between notable individuals with all winnings going towards charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
s, and significant reductions to the game's level of difficulty. Fourteen sketches aired between December 1996 and May 2009: two sketches per season from 1996
Saturday Night Live (Season 22)
Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-second season during the 1996-1997 television season on NBC. The twenty-second season began on September 28, 1996 and ended on May 17, 1997 with 20 episodes in all....
to 2002
Saturday Night Live (Season 27)
Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-seventh season during the 2001-2002 television season on NBC. The season started on September 29, 2001 and ended on May 18, 2002, 20 episodes were produced....
, when Ferrell was a regular on the show; and one each in 2005
Saturday Night Live (Season 30)
Saturday Night Live had its thirtieth season on the 2004-2005 television season on NBC. The thirtieth season began on October 2, 2004 and ended on May 21, 2005 with 20 episodes in all.Before the start of this season, Jimmy Fallon left the show...
and 2009
Saturday Night Live (Season 34)
The thirty-fourth season of the variety series Saturday Night Live began airing in 2008 and concluded in 2009 on NBC. This season of Saturday Night Live consisted of 22 episodes, in an attempt to compensate for episodes lost during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike...
, when Ferrell returned to the show as host.
Ferrell appeared in all fourteen sketches, portraying host Alex Trebek
Alex Trebek
George Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself...
. Darrell Hammond
Darrell Hammond
Darrell Hammond is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history...
also appeared in each sketch, twelve times portraying Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
, in an impersonation that "often questions Trebek's sexuality and sometimes implies that he has known Trebek's mother in a carnal sense." Norm Macdonald
Norm MacDonald
Norman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years...
appeared in five sketches, all as Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
. Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
appeared six times, each time portraying a different character.
On several occasions, Celebrity Jeopardy! sketches have been referenced during actual episodes of Jeopardy!
Origins
During the May 2007 special Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation, Norm MacdonaldNorm MacDonald
Norman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years...
revealed that he created the Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch purely as an excuse to do his Burt Reynolds impersonation. Macdonald also stated that Reynolds is a fan of the sketch and that there were talks to do a sketch where the real Reynolds would crash the game and punch out Macdonald. Reynolds would then play the remainder of the game, with his responses being even dumber than Macdonald's. However, Macdonald was fired from Saturday Night Live before that sketch could be written.
At the end of almost every sketch (with one exception), all three celebrities are losing, with scores usually in the negative thousands of dollars, and in most cases, a humorous, often sexual, Final Jeopardy! punchline is delivered by Hammond's Sean Connery character.
The sketch
Under the guise of a celebrity game show wherein celebrity contestants appear and donate their winnings to charity, the sketches usually begin at the start of the second round of Jeopardy!, called Double Jeopardy! The host, Alex Trebek, welcomes the audience (while sometimes apologizing for any inappropriate acts which the celebrities have performed in the game's first round), and introduces the celebrity contestants, along with their current scores, which are revealed to be either $0, a negative score, or a very low positive score.The rules of Jeopardy! require that a contestant select a category and a dollar value from the game board in order for the game to proceed. Many times, the celebrity contestants on the SNL sketches will refuse or fail to select a clue, grinding the game to a halt. Often, Trebek violates the rules by making the selection himself. The show originally used such reasonable categories as "Celebrities," "Movies," and "Popular Music," but as the celebrities' ineptitude grew more apparent the categories became more childish, even including categories whose titles suggest that the contestants will be able to infer the correct response without even reading the clues, such as "Colors that End in 'Urple'," "States that Begin with 'Californ'," "Black Comedians Named 'Whoopi'," and "Drummers Named 'Ringo,'" and categories that do not require any responses whatsoever, such as "Don't Do Anything" (where all three contestants are required to remain motionless in order to receive money), "I Have a Chardonnay" (where the contestant automatically gets the points and Trebek would get to have a glass of wine), and "Automatic Points" (where a contestant is "automatically awarded the points" just for choosing a dollar value from the category). Categories are often misunderstood by the celebrities and transformed by one of the contestants (almost always Connery) into sexually suggestive phrases (i.e., misreading "Catch These Men," a category about people on the FBI's Most Wanted list, as "Catch the Semen;" "A Petit Dejeuner," a category about French phrases
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, as "Ape Tit [...];" "The Pen Is Mightier," a category about quotes from famous authors, as "The Penis Mightier;", etc.). Connery would also appear to change categories, such as crossing off letters in the category "I Have a Chardonnay" to make it read "I Have a hardon," and occasionally covering up entire categories with a piece of paper with a new one on there (ex. "Potpourri" was covered up by "Things Trebek Sucks").
Trebek eventually grows exasperated with his inability to conduct the show, and cuts it short by moving to the Final Jeopardy! Round. Often, he discards the scripted category; when this happens, the scripted category is usually never revealed (although at times, if conducive to another contestant's character, they will, as in the category "Famous Mothers"). When Trebek discards a category, he moves in favor of a much easier task; for instance, he will ask the celebrity contestants to write their own clue and respond to it, or make any mark whatsoever to earn a correct response. Sometimes, a childishly simple category is announced, such as "First Grade Math" or "Horsies." Despite constructing scenarios wherein it appears impossible for the celebrities to fail, they invariably do. On rare occasions, contestants respond correctly to Final Jeopardy! questions, but such success is never accompanied by an appropriate wager, rendering the whole effort pointless. Connery occasionally provides the correct response, but uses his wager to transform the text into a rude phrase. For instance, when Trebek asks the contestants to write a number to earn a correct response, Connery writes "V" for his response, which Trebek acknowledges as correct since "V" is the Roman numeral
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
for 5, but Connery reveals "SucK it, Trebek" for the wager (the "V" coming from the top of the "K"). In some occasions, Connery appears to have sympathy for Trebek until the wager reveal, which happens to be a rude drawing at Trebek's expense. However, Connery wasn't the only contestant to perform this. In response to a Final Jeopardy! question from one of the earlier sketches, which has each of the contestants name their favorite food, John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
responds "miso
Miso
is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus , the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso...
," surprising Trebek who says that miso is indeed a soup; yet when he asks for the wager, Travolta reveals it to be "horny," which is read as "me so horny."
Trebek then ends the show, many times by announcing that money will not be awarded to charity or by declaring his intention to resign and/or commit suicide.
Both the host and contestants are played as caricatures of their real life personalities. In Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, Hammond said that, while his initial Connery impression was as accurate as possible, it would eventually morph into a "bastardization" of the actor, which audiences—and Hammond himself—found far more entertaining. Though Trebek shaved his trademark mustache in 2001, Ferrell retained it as long as he played the character, even in the twelfth sketch—Ferrell's last episode as a cast member—when a clean-shaven real Trebek made a cameo at the end.
Trebek is the beleaguered straight man
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
, and is generally the only person on stage who is interested in playing the game. The contestants, who often appear either unaware of what the game is or uninterested in playing it, will either ramble incoherently, deliver irrelevant monologues, or openly antagonize the host. Whenever a contestant takes the game seriously, he/she proves utterly incapable of supplying the correct question. In all fourteen sketches, no contestant ever buzzes in with a correct response; Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
in the second sketch came closest, answering "This December 25th holiday involves decorating a tree and opening presents." with a vivid description of a Christmas morning scene but going out of his way to never actually say the word "Christmas". Meanwhile, Trebek makes little to no effort to hide his contempt for the celebrities' stupidity, and in return, is bombarded with sophomoric insults from Sean Connery. Initially, Burt Reynolds had been the celebrity who appeared on each episode. When Reynolds appears for the last time on the sketch, he misreads categories in the same way as Connery, and insists that he be addressed as "Turd Ferguson" because, as he states, "it's a funny name."
Episodes
| # | Original airdate | Celebrities impersonated | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 7, 1996 | Sean Connery Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy... |
Burt Reynolds Burt Reynolds Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its... |
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis... |
|
| 2 | May 10, 1997 | Phil Donahue Phil Donahue Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S... |
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St... |
||
| 3 | October 4, 1997 | John Travolta John Travolta John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease... |
Michael Keaton Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's... |
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| 4 | May 9, 1998 | Sean Connery Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy... |
Minnie Driver Minnie Driver Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life... |
Jeff Goldblum Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day... |
|
| 5 | October 24, 1998 | Tom Cruise Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards.... |
Adam Sandler Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office... |
Sandler was the only former cast member to be parodied. | |
| 6 | March 20, 1999 | Nicolas Cage Nicolas Cage Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and... |
Calista Flockhart Calista Flockhart Calista Kay Flockhart is an American actress who is primarily recognized for her work in television. She is best known for playing the title character in the Fox comedy-drama series Ally McBeal for which she won a Golden Globe Award... |
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| 7 | October 23, 1999 | Burt Reynolds Burt Reynolds Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its... |
French Stewart French Stewart Milton French Stewart , better known by his stage name French Stewart, is an American actor, best known for his role as Harry Solomon on the 1990s sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.-Early life:... |
Only episode with the four people (Ferrell, Hammond, Fallon, Macdonald) who appeared more than once | |
| 8 | April 15, 2000 | Keanu Reeves Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix... |
Hilary Swank Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi... |
Ricky Martin Ricky Martin Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide... (Chris Kattan Chris Kattan Christopher Lee "Chris" Kattan is an American actor/comedian, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:Kattan was born in Sherman Oaks, California. His father, Kip King, was an actor and voice actor who appeared on the series Reno 911! as Larrie Plum. His mother, Hajnalka E.... ) appears in the Video Daily Double. Swank was the only contestant to be played by a person of the opposite gender. |
|
| 9 | December 16, 2000 | Robin Williams Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance... |
Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of... |
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| 10 | February 8, 2001 | Ozzy Osbourne Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal... |
Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising... |
SNL Prime-time Extra 2 | |
| 11 | September 29, 2001 | Chris Tucker Chris Tucker Christopher "Chris" Tucker is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.-Early life:... |
Anne Heche Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,... |
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| 12 | May 18, 2002 | Dave Matthews Dave Matthews David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band... |
Björk Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk... |
Rock & Roll Edition; Connery had recorded an album of filthy limericks Limerick (poetry) A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line or meter with a strict rhyme scheme , which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century... "just so I'd be eligible". Alex Trebek Alex Trebek George Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself... made a cameo appearance, and last episode with Ferrell as a regular cast member |
|
| 13 | May 14, 2005 | Bill Cosby Bill Cosby William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the... |
Sharon Osbourne Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne.... |
Ferrell, now hosting, reprising his role as Trebek | |
| 14 | May 16, 2009 | Kathie Lee Gifford Kathie Lee Gifford Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin... |
Tom Hanks Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title... |
A fourth podium for Burt Reynolds Burt Reynolds Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its... appears for only one round, then he and his podium mysteriously vanish while no one is paying attention, only to re-appear at the end of the sketch. Tom Hanks appeared as himself. Darrell Hammond's last episode as a regular cast member. |
|
SNL cast members
A typical Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch featured three cast members (two as contestants and Ferrell as Trebek) plus that week’s host as a third contestant. The thirteenth edition of the sketch (Cosby, Sharon Osbourne, Connery) featured three members of the SNL cast as the three contestants and Ferrell, now hosting, reprising his role as Trebek. The episode with Connery, Ozzy Osbourne, and Martha Stewart featured cast members in all four roles.| Cast Member | Celebrity |
|---|---|
| Dean Edwards Dean Edwards Dean Edwards is an American stand-up comedian, actor, singer, writer, voice artist, comedian, and musician whose trademark is a voice similar to Eddie Murphy.... |
Chris Tucker Chris Tucker Christopher "Chris" Tucker is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.-Early life:... |
| Jimmy Fallon Jimmy Fallon James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC... |
Nicolas Cage Nicolas Cage Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and... Dave Matthews Dave Matthews David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band... Adam Sandler Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office... French Stewart French Stewart Milton French Stewart , better known by his stage name French Stewart, is an American actor, best known for his role as Harry Solomon on the 1990s sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.-Early life:... Hilary Swank Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi... Robin Williams Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance... |
| Will Ferrell Will Ferrell John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega... |
Alex Trebek Alex Trebek George Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself... |
| Ana Gasteyer Ana Gasteyer Ana Kristina Gasteyer is an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best known for her comedic roles when she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002.-Early life:... |
Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising... |
| Darrell Hammond Darrell Hammond Darrell Hammond is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history... |
Sean Connery Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy... Phil Donahue Phil Donahue Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S... John Travolta John Travolta John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease... |
| Norm Macdonald Norm MacDonald Norman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years... |
Burt Reynolds Burt Reynolds Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its... |
| Amy Poehler Amy Poehler Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is... |
Sharon Osbourne Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne.... |
| Horatio Sanz Horatio Sanz Horatio Sanz is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998-2006. Sanz most recently starred alongside his former SNL castmate Chris Parnell in the Comedy Central series Big Lake.-Early life:Sanz, the youngest of three sons, was born in... |
Ozzy Osbourne Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal... |
| Molly Shannon Molly Shannon Molly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from... |
Minnie Driver Minnie Driver Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life... |
| Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as a cast member of NBC's long-running sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live... |
Bill Cosby Bill Cosby William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the... |
| Kristen Wiig Kristen Wiig Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American film and television actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Wiig was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, and has appeared in several films and television series, including Bridesmaids, MacGruber, Flight of... |
Kathie Lee Gifford Kathie Lee Gifford Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin... |
SNL hosts
13 of the 14 sketches included the episode's host, usually as a contestant (the tenth sketch was the only one not to feature a host, as it was part of an SNL primetime special that did not feature a guest host). Both Ferrell and Macdonald were previous cast members that reprised their Celebrity Jeopardy! role upon their return.| Host | Celebrity |
|---|---|
| Drew Barrymore Drew Barrymore Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered... |
Calista Flockhart Calista Flockhart Calista Kay Flockhart is an American actress who is primarily recognized for her work in television. She is best known for playing the title character in the Fox comedy-drama series Ally McBeal for which she won a Golden Globe Award... |
| David Duchovny David Duchovny David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:... |
Jeff Goldblum Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day... |
| Will Ferrell | Alex Trebek |
| John Goodman John Goodman John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising... |
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St... |
| Lucy Liu Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early... |
Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of... |
| Norm Macdonald Norm MacDonald Norman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years... |
Burt Reynolds |
| Tobey Maguire Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:... |
Keanu Reeves Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix... |
| Matthew Perry Matthew Perry (actor) Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends... |
Michael Keaton Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's... |
| Winona Ryder Winona Ryder Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition... |
Björk Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk... |
| Martin Short Martin Short Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live... |
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis... |
| Ben Stiller Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.... |
Tom Cruise Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards.... |
| Reese Witherspoon Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower... |
Anne Heche Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,... |
Real Jeopardy!
On several occasions, Celebrity Jeopardy! sketches have been referenced during actual episodes of Jeopardy!- During the September 5, 2001 episode, the Double Jeopardy! categories were "Sean Connery", "Surprise Me, Trebek!", "Therapists" (misread by Connery as "The Rapists"), "Things You Shouldn't Put in Your Mouth", "The Number After 2", and "Rhymes With 'Dog'".
- The June 27, 2006 episode featured the category "Japan-U.S. Relations", which had been misread by Connery as "Jap AnusAnusThe anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...
Relations". - In the 2006 Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament, categories included "Surprise Me, Trebek!" and "Answers That Start With 'Feb'".
- On the November 23, 2009 episode, the categories in the Jeopardy! round were inspired by Celebrity Jeopardy!, including "SNL Celebrity Jeopardy!", "States That End In HampshireNew HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
", "What Color Is Green?", "Current Black PresidentsBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
", "Sounds That Kitties Make", and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Word That Rhymes with Star".