• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, November 27, 2024

I was all ready to deride the phrase “pop culture” in advance of writing about the new “Jeopardy!” spinoff “Pop Culture Jeopardy’!” starting December 4 on Amazon Prime.

But then I looked up the phrase’s origins and found that its history establishes it as an accepted phrase since at least the 19th century for referring to popular modes of entertainment and leisure activities.

In my evident ignorance, I used to disparage the phrase because I questioned how the word “culture” could be associated with cartoon, TV and movie trivia.

As I thought I understood it, “culture” is supposed to encompass categories such as museum-quality art, orchestra concerts and opera. 

But then I realized I don’t even like orchestra concerts and opera (although I do go to art museums).

Epiphany alert: I realized that I am a “pop culture” guy. Among other qualifications is the fact that I have written on the subject of television for my entire adult life.

That’s a medium that is undeniably popular, but definitely not cultural in the same way as old books and antiquated poetry (which I also don’t care for).

To bring this TV Blog back full circle to TV, the new “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” is the latest spinoff from the folks who bring you the original “Jeopardy!”

On the premiere episode of “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” which the TV Blog previewed this week, host Colin Jost said there are 40 episodes of the new, half-hour show, which is styled as a tournament that will eventually crown a championship team.

Elements of the new show that are the same as the original “Jeopardy!” include the voice of announcer Johnny Gilbert, the show’s apparent location on the same Alex Trebek stage where the original show is filmed, and the familiar category-and-clue grid.

The chief difference between the two shows is that the “Pop Culture” show has three teams of three in the competition, instead of solo contestants.

Each of the teams has a name of their own invention. On the episode I watched, the teams were named Pop Queens, Queen City Kidz and Oops! We Guessed It Again.

In the show’s first round, the categories were: Johnny Gilbert, Film Thespian; That’s Not My Name!; Sad Girl Summer; Famous Because the Internet [sic]; It’s Time For Cartoons!; and The Hair Up There.

One concern many may have with a pop culture version of “Jeopardy!” is the possibility that it will come across as -- to put it bluntly -- dumbed down in comparison to the original “Jeopardy!” which is famous for the difficulty of its questions.

Whether or not the pop-culture version is “dumber” is a matter of opinion. On the show I watched, the teams correctly answered some clues -- in the form of a question, of course -- on subjects for which I had no clue (pun intended).

For example, here is a clue in the category of Sad Girl Summer: “In the chorus of this song, ‘It’s new, the shape of your body’ but'‘it’s blue the feeling I’ve got'."

One of the teams answered it correctly: “What is ‘Cruel Summer’?” It’s a Taylor Swift song, which I had to look up.

Here is another one, in the category of Famous Because the Internet: “This fella who went viral yodeling Hank Williams’ ‘Lovesick Blues’ in a Walmart in 2018 turns 18 in 2024.”

This too was answered correctly: “Who is Mason Ramsey?” To me, having knowledge of this kind of thing takes the definition of “trivia” to a whole ’nother level.

But what do I know? On this show, the topics are decidedly modern. The farthest back in time that this particular episode went was the 1990s.

There were no clues about the Three Stooges, ’60s TV or old Japanese monster movies -- categories in which I can hold my own. Oh, well -- time marcheth on.