What On Earth?-Column #41, October 2005

Welcome to October. For you little ghosts and goblins, it's Halloween month. From candy to costumes, chocolates to witches, it's all here. And I know the kiddies like this time of the year as much as they like Easter and Christmas, (not to mention Valentine's for the sweetie-bears and cutie-pies out there) all because of that "C" word: CANDY. It doesn't matter whether you're into chocolates or fruits, kids; but remember to have your parents check the candy to make sure it's safe to eat. If there are any that are open when you recieve them, throw them away. And be careful of how much you eat. I like candy as much as you do, but you must eat it in moderation. And check to make sure your costumes are flame-proof, especially if you're going out trick-or-treating. Remember to have flashlights with you if you plan to go door-to-door around your own neighborhood, because some kids do this. And while we're on the subject of Halloween, It originated in England and it was originally called "All Hallows' Eve," and was also called "All-Saints Eve," with November 1 being "All-Saints Day." The purpose of the costumes were to drive away evil spirits, and that's what happened. And the rest is history!

First category in this column is Sports. It's been 10 years of 2 events. First off, the OJ Simpson criminal trial ends in a not guilty verdict for the former NFL star. Most of us were optimistic on that all along. It's also been 10 years since Cowboys fans would see famous NFL star Deion Sanders wearing a star on his helmet. Sanders left in 2001, and is now a CBS Sports correspondent. Fast forward to today's sports, and hockey fans can finally rejoice, because the NHL is BACK. The players and coaches finally agreed on a new salary cap, and there are also new rules that come into play. You can find more about the new NHL, at NHL.com. For baseball fans, well, we watched in surprise last year; as the Boston Red Sox finally broke the 1918 Curse of the Bambino and won their first World Series in 86 years. It was a long wait, but it was worth it. As a matter of fact, I watched all the games, and the Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the first 4 games in the World Series. This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the annual Texas-Oklahoma bash each year in the Cotton Bowl. For the last 4 years, OU has had Victory written all over the game. Texas is looking forward for their first win in 4 years, too. My sister attends UT now; and while she's focusing on her medical studies, I'm focusing on the sports teams. And for a good reason. I rooted for Oklahoma back in May 2003, because that was the state where Texas Senate Democrats fled to in order to destroy the Republicans' new redistricting plan (House Democrats fled to New Mexico in July). That failed, and that led to 5 more Republican (aka NOT, I repeat, NOT the GOP) seats in the US House.

Next category is Politics. Chief Justice William Rehnquist died of cancer at the age of 80 at the start of last month, and his successor was chosen in John Roberts, who WAS chosen to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor. Now we're going to find a successor for O'Connor, who'll fit the mold of O'Connor. Remember, I'm a liberal to moderate Democrat (I try very hard NOT to lean to the right, or conservative.), left to middle when it comes to politics. And we've been watching to make sure that our politicians are helping out the vicitms of Hurricnes Rita and Katrina, the two deadliest storms this year (but last year was deadlier, with the 4 major Florida hurricanes). They both hit Louisiana, but Rita crossed into Texas. We're watching to make sure that the victims get all the help they need. Money, food, clothes, you name it. Donate, donate, donate. And, this month, 4 years ago, our military was sent to Afghanistan; after reports claimed that the Taliban, the communist rulers of the country, had been harboring Osama Bin Laden. Well, we know that that wasn't true. Nonetheless, we have a new cabinet, and a new Constitution in the country. We're still allies with them!

Next category is Game Shows. And some of what I'm about to tell you may be historical as well as monumental. Listen closely.

"Jeopardy!"-Well, here we are in Season 22. Last year, we watched as Ken Jennings won his way to 74 days and $2.5 million in winnings on the show, before finally being defeated by Nancy Zerg at the end of November 2004. Because of his success, Executive Producer Harry Friedman and host Alex Trebek decided to do an "ULTIMATE Tournament Of Champions". From February to May of this year, we watched almost 150 of the current version's former champs, from TOC winners to Teen Tournament winners to College Championship winners, etc.; fight their way to the 3-game final, which featured Jennings, Million Dollar Masters champ Brad Rutter, and early 90's great Jerome Vered. In the end, Rutter won the grand prize of $2 million, while Jennings won $500,000 for 2nd place, and Vered got $250,000 for 3rd place. This year also marks the 3rd season of the "Sky's the Limit" rule, allowing for champs to keep playing as long as they keep winning, and for the first 2 seasons of that rule, Ken Jennings took advantage of it (Remember for the first 19 seasons that a player could win up to 5 days before retiring undefeated). This is also the 4th year of the new "Doubled Clues on the Board" format, in an effort to give away more cash. That is, the Double Jeopardy values of the past ($200-$400-$600-$800-$1000) are the new Jeopardy values. The new Double Jeopardy values are $400-$800-$1200-$1600-$2000. As a matter of fact, the very first show of the new format opened up with the old Jeopardy values of $100-$200-$300-$400-$500 loaded up before the contestants were introduced. Alex made note of this change when he mentioned that the show's intro was different than the usual one. That season ('01-'02), which is currently repeating on GSN (after repeating the '95-'96, '96-'97, and '97-'98 seasons), also marked the debut of the show's Clue Crew, a group of roaming correspondents that travel around the world, taping entertaining and educational Jeopardy! clues just for people like me and you. The first Clue Crew members consisted of Cheryl Farrell, Sofia Lidskog, Jimmy McGuire, and Sarah Whitcomb. Sofia left during last season, and they did a search to find some new members. After months and months, they found 2 new members in Jon Cannon and Kelly Miyahara. Also, expect a Jeopardy! DVD to hit store shelves next month. You'll find out more next month.

"Wheel Of Fortune"-Well, here we are in Season 23. There's a commercial break after Round 1, and speaking of which, the prize that you normally would see in Round 2, is being moved up to Round 1. The house minimum (and the consolation prize for shutout players), which was originally worth $500, is now worth $1,000. Also, there are now THREE Gift Tags, and they are not just the usual "$1,000 worth of goodies" type, but they can also be a pair of Round-Trip tickets, Wheel Watchers Club points (more info below), etc. The $10,000 space (surrounded by 2 mini-Bankrupts), which was introduced 10 years ago, is back as usual; in addition to the Jackpot round, and so is the Mystery Round, with the 2 spaces being worth $1,000 (just like last season). The prizes aren't just cars, but can also be shopping sprees or $10,000 in cash. 10 years ago, in addition to the $10,000 space, they had a Double Play token, which you could use to double the amount of money spun on the wheel. For example, if you used the token and spun $300, that means each consonant found would be worth $600. That didn't last long. Fast-forward 10 years later, and they're making the show and the prizes better, with the Wheel Watchers Club. 2 seasons ago marked the launch, as well as the Prize Puzzle, which could entitle a Wheel Watcher to the same prize as the contestant (which is now being carried over to the Bonus Round, where, if a champ wins a car, you can win one too. Neato bonito? You bet!). And speaking of the Bonus Round, the producers want to give away more cars, in addition to the $25K-$100K cash! Good for them! Also, 10 years ago marked the final season of the "Returning Champs", who could play for up to 3 days before retiring.

"The Price Is Right"-Well, here we are in Season 34, the 2nd full season with new announcer Rich Fields. This month, 2 years ago, marked the passing of Rod Roddy, Rich's predecessor. And 20 years ago this month marked the passing of Johnny Olson, Rod's predcessor (who was an inspiration to Rich before he got the gig). As usual, expect more new pricing games, and more Bob, and more cash and prizes to be given away, in addition to the spectacular Showcases, not to mention the ever popular Big Wheel.

"Family Feud"-Here we are in Richard Karn's 4th season as host. There's a brand new set, but gameplay hasn't changed since his 2nd season as host. That is, the goal is the ever popular classic "300-to-win" rule, with a Sudden Death fifth round (if necessary). As usual champs can stay on for 5 days.

"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"-This year marks the show's 4th season in syndication with Meredith Vieira returning as host. The new money tree and enhanced AOL Audience lifeline have returned, in addition to the new Switch The Question lifeline. Again, questions 10-12 are worth $25,000 (down from $32K), $50,000 (down from $64K), and $100,000 (down from $125K). Other than that and a brand spanking new logo, nothing else is new. And while it's also been 4 years since the downfall of the Primetime Millionaire, Vieira was on the Celebrity IV set of shows, where she won $250,000 for the Windows Of Hope Family Relief Fund, one of many 9-11 victim relief funds represented on the show.

Next category is Entertainment. The fall lineups are here, and we get a double-dose of The Apprentice. Martha Stewart, who got out of prison 7 months ago on insider-trading charges, has her own version, which airs on Wednesday. However, don't expect her candidates to be dismissed with "You're Fired." Trump's version, who we're all familiar with, is still on Thursday, along with the ever-popular aformentioned catch-phrase that we associate with the show. And Survivor has taken to Guatemala for the 11th season of Jeff Probst's reality hit. "The American tribe has spoken. It's time to enjoy another great season." Also, NBC's "Joey," the Friends spin-off is back for another season, as is CBS's criticially acclaimed "NUMB3RS" (Yes, the "E" is replaced by a "3", but the "3" resembles a backward "E" or is close to resembling one). This is what is known as Leet, which involves replacing letters with numbers. For example, my name in Leet would be "J0HN." (The "O" is replaced by a Zero). My sister's name would be "K4R3N" (The "A" is a 4, the "E" is a 3). Yahoo! would be "Y4H00", And Google would be "G00G13". (Yes, I know it's a little hard to read, but when you watch "Numb3rs", you'll pretty much understand it. The show itself revolves around a family of 2 brothers and their dad, with one brother helping the other solve crimes, with the use of mathematics. And while rarely any mathematical stuff is used at all, it's a great show. Watch it Friday nights at 10/9 C on CBS. And, one year ago, we watched NBC's Saturday Night Live on the week before Halloween, with guest host Jude Law and musical guest Ashlee Simpson (sis of Jessica Simpson). In her first appearance, she sang "A Piece Of Me" from her then-new album, "Autobiography." She was supposed to sing the title album's song in the 2nd appearance, but apparently, the drummer of her back-up band accidentally hit the wrong button on his machine, causing a re-play of the first song. So, with that going on, Ashlee did a little "hoedown" on the stage, and the show quickly went to break! I didn't see it the first time, but the moment it was rerun over the summer, I got to see what that was like. You'll never want to stop talking about that, I'll betcha!

Next category is Finance. Remember in 2001 after 9-11, when stocks took a nosedive, with the Dow leading the way with it's 600 point drop? Well, they've rebounded, and the Dow's now fiddling around with 10,000 again. It'll be a long time before they get back to their milestone of 11,000. The Nasdaq hit 5,000 in 2000, and is now struggling to get back up there!

Final category is Music. It was 11 years ago that the Go-Go's released their 2nd Greatest Hits album, "Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go's", which featured their classic material, with a few new songs, including "The Whole World Lost Its Head." In 2001, in addition to their God Bless The Go-Go's album, the band released a DVD of their performance in Central Park, featuring songs from all their albums, including the aforementioned one.

Well, that's it for now. Have a great and safe Halloween, and keep those Trick-Or-Treaters safe with flashlights, fire-proof costumes, and totally wrapped up candy, with no holes! This is John Lee saying, "Go HOME!"