transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're gonna find out what this sound is.

Speaker 2:
[00:06] That was where, oh, that little bit of competitiveness was in there, like, this is f***ing bulls***. It's the electric slide, and now you're f***ing against me.

Speaker 1:
[00:16] Right after this ad. We are doing a special episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, which is a show about investigative journalism and also game show film study. What aired last Friday in the quarterfinals of not just any Celebrity Jeopardy, but Celebrity Jeopardy All Stars, was in fact a pair of PTFO friends, Mina Kimes and Tim Simons.

Speaker 3:
[00:48] This is Celebrity Jeopardy All Stars. Introducing tonight's celebrity player. You know him from the very popular shows, Veep and Netflix's Nobody Wants This. It's actor and comedian, Timothy Simons. A comedian you know from his years with Conan O'Brien, and most recently as a star on Dancing with the Stars. Say hello to Andy Richter. And she's a journalist, podcaster, and NFL analyst at ESPN. Please welcome Mina Kimes.

Speaker 1:
[01:31] And I was delighted to see you guys interact in front of a national audience as Mina's competitiveness, as always, surged almost immediately to the floor.

Speaker 4:
[01:44] I felt like I played it really cool in this episode on the Mina Kimes scale of not playing it cool. No? Okay. Maybe not.

Speaker 2:
[01:54] I'm not going to shade Mina for getting competitive because I also do get like a little competitive in these things. Like I'm not, I want to get competitive enough that it won't ruin anybody's day, but it's more fun if we take it seriously.

Speaker 4:
[02:09] When did you find out who the competition was? Oh, this is already going to reveal that I am more competitive and I'm pretending I'm trying to be cool and I'm not. But when did you find out it was me and Andy?

Speaker 2:
[02:20] Uh, maybe a week before. I will say, Mina, and this is a compliment to you, I saw that and I was like, well, f***. Not that I don't think Andy Richter is going to be a threat, but when I saw that you were on there, I was like, okay, well, I'll be making the minimum amount for my charity.

Speaker 4:
[02:37] Okay, so this is where the overly competitive part comes in.

Speaker 2:
[02:40] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[02:41] So we're all talking, we're chit chatting before. I see Tim like, Tim, so good to see you, buddy. You know, how are you feeling? Meeting your kids. I see Andy and Andy, who I'm meeting for the first time, lovely person, like as warm as he seems in real life, immediately reveals that he has been up since the crack of dawn because he's also doing, he talked about this during the show, dancing with the stars, which is like a four-hour practice.

Speaker 1:
[03:06] He's the Bo Jackson of celebrity game shows.

Speaker 2:
[03:09] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[03:10] He says this to me, and I'm like, yeah, he's playing hurt. The devil in my shoulder just wakes up and is like, who you got an advantage. And I'm not ashamed to admit it, that was my thought process and watching it back, you could tell he was a little tired.

Speaker 2:
[03:29] Yeah.

Speaker 5:
[03:30] Wow.

Speaker 1:
[03:30] Okay. Well, here's the thing though, is that when the game gets going, I will say neither of you seem particularly strong to start.

Speaker 4:
[03:39] I'll start with 21st century bookshelf for 400.

Speaker 5:
[03:43] Barbara Kingsolver's award-winning Demon Copperhead is similar to this Charles Lickens model, both in theme and in title. Mina.

Speaker 4:
[03:51] What is Oliver Twist?

Speaker 5:
[03:53] No. Andy.

Speaker 6:
[03:54] What is David Copperfield?

Speaker 5:
[03:55] That's right.

Speaker 6:
[03:57] Let's go to non-coastal America for 300.

Speaker 5:
[04:01] The mayor of this city where Breaking Bad was set uses Tumaliwood for its burgeoning film and TV industry. Timothy.

Speaker 2:
[04:09] What is, oh, Lord, Albuquerque.

Speaker 5:
[04:13] Oh, too much time. Mina.

Speaker 4:
[04:15] What is Albuquerque?

Speaker 5:
[04:16] It was. Tim just barely missed it. Time ran out for you.

Speaker 2:
[04:19] Stolen Valor.

Speaker 4:
[04:20] Yes, it does mean. I know.

Speaker 1:
[04:23] Oh, God.

Speaker 2:
[04:24] I feel like you got to get the bad one out of the way early. I've shot in Albuquerque before. You get in your head about the button, because I knew the Demon Copperhead answer, and you like the David Copper feel like, I know that. And you're in your head about button timing. And then you have them and you're just, your mind goes blank. So I feel like I had a bad one early on the first time that I did it. And it was like, all right, we got a long game. We can recover.

Speaker 4:
[04:46] You ever seen the Colts, that famous trick punt where it's like four guys lined, it's like with the worst trick play of all time.

Speaker 3:
[04:53] He'll snap it. And actually Colt Anderson is behind him.

Speaker 2:
[04:57] And what in the world?

Speaker 4:
[05:01] And like, you're watching on him. You're thinking like, you idiots, who in your right mind would ever have thought this? But I'm sure some guy in the moment, when they're planning it thought this might work. And like when you're watching it at home, everything is so obvious, so crystal clear. Yes. But like when you're up there, I don't know what happens. It's something, the combination of like the music and the lights and the timing, your brain doesn't work the way it normally does, Tim.

Speaker 2:
[05:27] And it's something that like actors sort of tell each other to make themselves feel better in audition rooms when they like completely blow an audition, which is the moment somebody aims a camera at you, you become 30% dumber than you were the moment before. And that is 100% what is happening here. Like it is true. Like I would like run commercial casting sessions out here. And there was like a story about like a guy that came in and I was like, hey, just show me your profiles, which literally just means turn your head to both sides. And he was like, I'm so sorry I didn't bring them. Because you just are dumber when cameras are on you. It's impossible for your body to not just like cut off 30% of your brain.

Speaker 1:
[06:10] I'm glad that Mina brings up the sports stuff here because insofar as the questions are, yes, seemingly easier than in normal Jeopardy. I enjoyed that it took so long for Mina to break the seal on sports after what was a relatively slow start.

Speaker 4:
[06:28] Let's do sports history for 400.

Speaker 5:
[06:30] In a 2024 Bills 49ers game, he became the first ever NFL QB with passing, rushing and receiving touchdowns in a single game. Mina.

Speaker 4:
[06:39] It was Josh Allen.

Speaker 5:
[06:40] We got a sports clue for you, NFL even. That's correct. And it ties you with Andy for the lead. And it brings us to our first break. Celebrity Jeopardy All-Stars will continue after.

Speaker 1:
[06:48] I mean, Mina, you could not have been proud of that.

Speaker 4:
[06:51] I was really hoping there would be no sports categories because it would be so shameful for me to miss a sports question. But then I remembered that on Jeopardy, sports is the easiest category every time.

Speaker 2:
[07:01] So I don't know if there's like a sports analogy for this or like, you know, somebody who can't like assumes they're going to like waltz in and get drafted high and then they have like a really bad combine. I like I think I came in cocky about my button timing because I was pretty good with it the last time. So I was like, I don't even have to worry about that.

Speaker 1:
[07:19] You're Shadoura Sanders. That's the comparison that you've drawn.

Speaker 2:
[07:23] Probably so. I'm the Shadoura Sanders of Celebrity Jeopardy All Stars. Just like I got this locked and it was not there.

Speaker 1:
[07:33] I do want to point out, I was watching as I often do when I'm grinding tape of Celebrity Jeopardy that my friends are on. And there's another sports category question that if you just watch Mina as Tim answers the question, you get a sense of a level of intensity that I think is worth acknowledging here.

Speaker 5:
[07:52] Claiming to be the first college athlete to sell these three-part rights in 2021, Antoine Owens of Jackson State signed with Three Kings Grooming, Timothy.

Speaker 2:
[08:01] What is his name? Imogen like this?

Speaker 4:
[08:03] Yes. I don't think that's even the worst one. Oh, wow. I just get so mad. You get so mad at it. So for those who don't know, you get the way the buzzer in Jeopardy works. And again, because it's Celebrity Jeopardy and we know most they're easier. The buzzer is even more important, right? You get locked out if you come in too early. But of course, you also want to beat everyone. So it's like the buzzer is really quietly the most important part of the game. So I was really trying to stay calm, which is insane when you watch it back and see how un-calm I was the entire time about it. But it is infuriating in Celebrity Jeopardy because the question is being easier.

Speaker 2:
[08:50] There is a thing that like they tell you that it is based off when the light goes off and when the light, the light that's around the board is also based off of the moment that he finishes the last syllable of the clue.

Speaker 4:
[09:05] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[09:06] I wonder if we can get our button timing reports, like the F1 drivers get their throttle and brake interval times.

Speaker 1:
[09:19] You want button analytics.

Speaker 2:
[09:21] I want button analytics.

Speaker 4:
[09:23] You can ask them in the show, how am I coming in too early, am I coming in too late? If I, and there was one thing, if I had to give people a piece of advice, because I did have a decent buzz in this game, you have to, and this is the most important thing.

Speaker 1:
[09:38] As evidenced by the phrase that she naturally uses now, having a decent buzz.

Speaker 4:
[09:44] You got to figure out what works for you. And once you realize it, you have to just be like a metronome. So I recognized in my last run, and I carried that over to this one, that the lights meant nothing to me. And I was buzzing entirely based on Ken's voice going up at the end. So I wasn't even looking at the lights, purely listening to the voice. And I thought I was coming in early, but I was coming in late. So I started going a little earlier, and then I was buzzing correctly. So from that point on, I was like, always go in earlier than you're comfortable with intuitively, and do it off of his voice. So really, you have to like pay attention within the show to what's working, and then stay in that rhythm. That was the thing that I remember from-

Speaker 1:
[10:29] This is like listening to a quarterback in a center describe like a cadence for a snap cap.

Speaker 2:
[10:33] Can I also tell you, if you zoom in on me, I'm kind of doing a two-hand grip so that I can loosen up, so that like most of the weight is in my left hand, so there's no tension in my right hand for the button. But when that stops working, I kind of shift it around a little bit. And this goes back to like my golf knowledge. I remember when Norman collapsed in the Masters in like 1996. He like lost like a five-stroke or four-stroke lead on Sunday.

Speaker 1:
[11:01] Yes, Greg Norman, The Shark.

Speaker 2:
[11:02] Yeah. So I was listening to a podcast about that Masters, and somebody was saying, like a golf reporter was like, he lost that tournament before he even started. It didn't matter how far ahead he was. It was he was f***ing with his grip on Thursday, and he was playing well and he was getting through it, and as soon as you get to the pressure on Sunday, the lack of confidence in your grip, that's what f***ed him. They were like, he didn't lose it on Sunday, he lost it on Wednesday. Yeah. And that's where I felt like I was. Like, as soon as it started going wrong, I was like, oh, is the two-hand method not the right method? And then I tried to go away from that and that didn't work. So then you go back to the two-hand method.

Speaker 1:
[11:44] So I was shocked, but ultimately unsurprised to discover the vibrant subreddit and internet forum community around Jeopardy and Jeopardy strategy. Tim, have you delved into that at all?

Speaker 2:
[11:57] I haven't. And the moment before the show that Mina told me she had, I knew I had made a terrible mistake by not doing that.

Speaker 4:
[12:07] One more little... I don't know how you... You said you did the wrist strategy. Some people do behind the back. Some people do... I don't know if you did a...

Speaker 1:
[12:13] Behind the back?

Speaker 4:
[12:14] Yeah, that's the thing people do. Did you do a 45-degree thumb? Because I also realized, again, just noticing in game, when I had it at a 45-degree, almost like halfway pressing, that it was working for me, I just... To me, to your point about like the golfing, like you just have to be a metronome. You have to like stick with what works and don't deviate from that. Holding it, thumb timing, just stay with it. Because the second you deviate from it is when you start losing.

Speaker 1:
[12:40] I want to point out here that one of the hallmarks of someone who's struggling at golf or a Jeopardy is complaining. And Tim brought a grievance that I was completely unfamiliar with.

Speaker 2:
[12:53] So when I was on last time, I only missed winning by $100. And there was a category that was like a rhyme category where you had to put two words together. It was like famous physicist from Oslo and a part of the skin.

Speaker 5:
[13:17] Danish physicist Niels' small openings in skin.

Speaker 2:
[13:21] And I was like, oh, Niels Bohr and poor. Because it was going to be possessive, I said, Bohr's poor.

Speaker 5:
[13:29] Tim.

Speaker 2:
[13:30] What is Bohr's poor?

Speaker 5:
[13:32] I'm afraid not. Lisa Ann.

Speaker 3:
[13:34] What is Bohr's pores?

Speaker 5:
[13:36] Yeah, it's got a rhyme, Tim. I'm sorry. I'm so strict about the rhyme.

Speaker 6:
[13:38] Scientist rhyme time 900, please.

Speaker 5:
[13:41] Tim staring down the judges.

Speaker 2:
[13:42] So apparently by Jeopardy rules, if the first word is plural, the second word has to be plural. And I was furious. And then it just became like, we had like, you know, a bunch of people over the house, over the house to watch it. And it became a running joke in our group, in our group of friends in the neighborhood, including that like there was like a white elephant party around Christmas that year. Somebody had gotten, had made a tote bag with Boar's Porr on it. Like it had become that big of a thing. And I just, in these circumstances, I like being competitive and I like taking them seriously. But I just don't think you should ever miss an opportunity for a bit.

Speaker 5:
[14:25] I'm told you have something you want to get off your chest here today.

Speaker 2:
[14:27] Yes, I have written a brief statement.

Speaker 5:
[14:30] Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 2:
[14:31] A few years ago, I was on the losing side of the egregious judge's call about the nature of rhyme. I responded with boars poor and it was ruled incorrect because it was not plural. I didn't then and still do not agree with this decision. But after discussions with my attorney, spiritual guides, and multiple therapists, I have decided to move past the white hot rage that burned inside of me, and return to Celebrity Jeopardy where I hope to perform with integrity and professionalism, and I hope that the rest of us can do the same.

Speaker 4:
[15:08] The statement was very funny, by the way. And you told us, you asked them beforehand, after Andy did his reveal, because here was my thought process. Andy's like, I've been up since the crack of dawn. And I'm like, oh man. And then, you know, my devil brain's like, And then Tim's like, I'm going to do a statement. And I'm like, that's going to be really funny. And my devil brain's like, he's doing bitch. I don't even know, make it like a little Peyton Manning head that like is like, just, yeah, wants to win at all costs.

Speaker 2:
[15:42] Pablo, is this something having known Mina for a while? Is this something that I didn't know about Mina going in?

Speaker 1:
[15:48] Is this a famous thing? It's the number. So people will ask me on the street, what's Mina? Is she really like what she is on television? And I'm like, you have to imagine that, but also quietly. Like Patrick Bateman of game shows.

Speaker 4:
[16:02] I just don't like losing.

Speaker 1:
[16:04] Sociopathically cut your head off. But leave the suit completely clean of blood. Somehow people are still not clued in that Mina Kimes is the most competitive person. Possibly in America.

Speaker 2:
[16:19] Can I ask you, do you know what this traces back to and does it apply to everything or does it just apply to game shows like this?

Speaker 4:
[16:28] Um, to give you an anecdote from my childhood that might explain this.

Speaker 1:
[16:35] Allow me to answer the question for Mina. The answer is yes and yes.

Speaker 4:
[16:39] My dad didn't let me win in board games when I was like four. As a parent of a young child, I now see how hilarious that is. And it made me the psycho I am today. I also did like geography B's and spelling B's and he would study with me for them. Like my dad was in the military and yeah, anyway. So I think it was kind of instilled in me at a young age.

Speaker 1:
[17:02] She was doing the Tiger Woods Navy Seal drills, but for games.

Speaker 2:
[17:07] Nice.

Speaker 1:
[17:08] By the way, not letting your kid win when they're four as the father of a daughter of a six year old, the number of games that I've tanked just to maintain peace in my household. Tim, what is your approach to games with your kids on that level?

Speaker 2:
[17:27] Feel like I might lean more a little bit toward Mina's dad in this, because definitely when I was playing games with the kids, I was like, these guys aren't following the rules. Why are we playing the game? Why are we playing the game if we're not even going to follow the rules?

Speaker 4:
[17:38] When they were young though?

Speaker 2:
[17:40] Yeah, when they were young. I think I had read in a book somewhere that ultimately, if your child tries something and doesn't succeed and you say good job, the cognitive dissonance of that is actually not great for them because they can see what their eyes saw. And so if they have a little model airplane or whatever and they throw it or they try to throw a frisbee and it goes straight into the ground and you're like, good job. It's like, well, they're like, but I didn't. I know what a frisbee is supposed to do and it didn't happen. Why are you telling me? And so I took that and ran with that with like sorry and all of the like kid board games.

Speaker 4:
[18:18] Here's how you know that worked. Because my husband was sitting in the front row next to Tim's kids.

Speaker 2:
[18:27] Oh, this made me really happy.

Speaker 4:
[18:29] And afterwards, Nick told me that they were living and dying, like every correct answer Tim had, they were like, you got this, dad. And as the show went on and I was stomping him, they were so upset, according to Nick. And they were like, no. They were so invested in their dad's success.

Speaker 1:
[19:16] So now the question becomes, how would both of your parents, that's the parents, how would they feel after they saw this?

Speaker 4:
[19:27] Let's do Manoyer Menonics for... Why are you only showing the stuff I was bad at?

Speaker 5:
[19:32] You can say that any way you want.

Speaker 2:
[19:33] Can I do Manoyer Menonics for 400, please?

Speaker 5:
[19:38] Astrologically, in A Tense Grey Cat Lay Very Low, Sneaking Slowly, Contemplating a Pounce, Sneaking Slowly means these two. What are the two S's of the zodiac? Sagittarius and Scorpio. Back to you, Tim.

Speaker 2:
[19:57] No, you're... For 200. Can I tell you when I was watching this last night and he said, no, you're mnemonics, I was like, I know how to pronounce that. I was so confident sitting on the couch. I had no memory of the fact that I just had an aneurysm on that word, shooting the show.

Speaker 4:
[20:17] Those are the ones that are Jeopardy for me are the hardest ones where it's not just like a fact, you know, you have to like do some sort of mental calculus while you're because of the time and the pressure and the way your brain works, it just doesn't add up.

Speaker 1:
[20:32] The game clock moving faster than you realize is another thing. I think that's shared across television into sports versus real life. And one other example of this was when this question came up.

Speaker 4:
[20:46] Let's do Meet the Planets for 800. I hear you.

Speaker 5:
[20:50] This seventh planet is named for a lesser known deity, the son and husband of Gia. You missed your chance to say it on national TV. What is Uranus? Uranus. Never wrong. Back to you, Mina.

Speaker 4:
[21:04] Oh, God.

Speaker 2:
[21:07] Pornheiser is going to be disappointed in you. Did you know that I got to be Stat Boy one time?

Speaker 4:
[21:15] I did.

Speaker 1:
[21:15] This is a legend. This is a legend in the PTI office is that I don't know how it happened, but you were Stat Boy.

Speaker 2:
[21:21] I think I just we were shooting in Baltimore and they recorded in DC. I'm a longtime PTI watcher and listener.

Speaker 1:
[21:29] Yes. You were doing Veep at the time?

Speaker 2:
[21:31] Yeah, this was I was doing Veep at the time, but it was pretty early on. I think it was probably second, it was probably second season because I don't think they would have been like, yeah, come on the show unless they had seen it. You know, they were like, hey, some guy that's on a show that isn't out yet.

Speaker 1:
[21:44] I distinctly remember Kornheiser seeing the clip of you saying that you were sh** in klits.

Speaker 2:
[21:50] How am I doing? Eating so much p**ty, I'm sh** in klits, son.

Speaker 3:
[21:53] Hey!

Speaker 2:
[21:53] What?

Speaker 6:
[21:54] This is an elementary school.

Speaker 3:
[21:55] Watch your spewing mouth, you animal.

Speaker 1:
[21:58] And he was like, yup, now.

Speaker 2:
[21:59] Yeah, get them on.

Speaker 1:
[22:01] Bring them in, bring them in.

Speaker 2:
[22:02] And I just, I think I like reached out.

Speaker 6:
[22:05] Trying to find out what we messed up, and let's go back to the man from Veep and these upcoming movies, The Interview and Inherent Vice. And believe me, nobody gets a plug like this, Timothy Simons.

Speaker 2:
[22:16] I did a bad job being Stat Boy because I was really nervous and I had a good joke about Jay Cutler that they told me that I could throw in. Because it was like, oh, she's like, how should Jay Cutler feel about the Jeff George comparisons? Jay Cutler should feel blank about being compared to Jeff George.

Speaker 6:
[22:33] He should feel furious. This is who brought him.

Speaker 2:
[22:35] And mine was going to be like, he should be exceedingly happy to be compared to Jeff George because I was very anti-Cutler at that point. And in my ear, they said like, yeah, throw in the bit if you want. And I completely froze. It was like I wasn't even there. Mike Wilbon, thank you very much. You brought your A game for me. No mistakes. The gentleman who is not Mike Wilbon, you pronounced it Hooping Cough and it's of course everybody knows, Whooping Cough.

Speaker 6:
[23:04] Are you kidding me?

Speaker 2:
[23:05] I didn't take advantage of the opportunity that I was given, but I was very happy that they had me on.

Speaker 1:
[23:11] This is taking us to a bit of an inflection point that I was monitoring personally from PTFO headquarters because of course, last time, Mina's undoing was herself.

Speaker 4:
[23:22] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[23:23] I mean, Mina, to just recap it, the Daily Double strategy, I mean, so much of what it turns out, Jeopardy read it and Jeopardy Analytics would suggest, would demand of a good contestant is-

Speaker 2:
[23:34] Would demand.

Speaker 1:
[23:35] You must hunt Daily Doubles and then when you get to them, what's the strategy supposed to be?

Speaker 4:
[23:42] The hunting Daily Doubles is really important in Jeopardy, and that's not even about getting points for yourself, it's about playing defense, and keeping them out of the hands of other people is as important a part of why you hunt Daily Doubles. I don't think-

Speaker 1:
[23:56] Tim is just discovering the game he was actually playing. Yeah. Days, months later.

Speaker 4:
[24:01] Actually, how much you wager, your knowledge of the category does matter, Pablo. Like you shouldn't just rager willy-nilly if you don't know a category. The one that I did get in this game was a category I genuinely felt I didn't know. The dreaded opera category for 800.

Speaker 5:
[24:18] Answer there is a daily double, Mina. All right. Now, we don't know how much you're actually dreading the opera category.

Speaker 4:
[24:27] Yeah, a lot. I don't know anything about opera. I'll just go 1500.

Speaker 5:
[24:32] Okay, you'll have 7900 if you're right. Let's look on the positive. Here's your clue in the dreaded opera category. Delicate as a winged insect, the geisha Chocho-san in Puccini's opera is the real name of this title character.

Speaker 4:
[24:45] It was Madame Butterfly.

Speaker 5:
[24:46] See, you do know your opera. There you go.

Speaker 4:
[24:49] I actually wasn't that hard on myself afterwards for wedgering conservatively on it was opera because I truly at that point did not know very much about opera.

Speaker 1:
[24:58] Tim, reliving his Daily Double experience in Triple Jeopardy, I do think that it's worth noting that this happened.

Speaker 2:
[25:06] Director's cut for 1200?

Speaker 5:
[25:08] Answer there. A Daily Double for you this time, Timothy.

Speaker 4:
[25:11] This was hard though. This whole category was hard. Director's cut category.

Speaker 5:
[25:16] You could move into first place if you wager big here.

Speaker 2:
[25:20] I'm going to go 1500.

Speaker 5:
[25:22] Okay. For 6600 then, here's your clue in director's cut. A speech intended to persuade plus a floating ice mass equals this filmmaker.

Speaker 2:
[25:40] Who is Peter Berg?

Speaker 5:
[25:42] Sorry, no. The speech is a spiel. What is spiel-ber?

Speaker 2:
[25:46] Oh, shoot.

Speaker 5:
[25:47] So you dropped out a little bit, too.

Speaker 2:
[25:49] I thought it was first name, last name.

Speaker 5:
[25:50] Good news for Mina, that you two found the Daily Doubles there. It was a good guess.

Speaker 2:
[25:54] All right, thank you. You're just trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate it.

Speaker 5:
[25:57] I absolutely am, yes. I don't want to be on the receiving end of one of your little reconciliation speeches.

Speaker 2:
[26:02] I have a brief written statement for Ken Jennings.

Speaker 1:
[26:07] Peter Berg is such a good answer if you're assuming that it must be first name, last name, which I think was unclear to me as well. I was kind of mad on Tim's behalf when I heard Ken's just sort of like, of course, it could have been just one name.

Speaker 2:
[26:21] And I think also there was a part afterwards, I was also like, I guess I thought it was spiel and not spiel.

Speaker 4:
[26:29] It is spiel. Yeah, I think they're just, yeah.

Speaker 2:
[26:32] And I know they like, look again, the performance speaks for itself.

Speaker 1:
[26:38] We're sending a letter. We're sending a letter to Michael Davies.

Speaker 4:
[26:42] But these are the ones that are hard for our conversation earlier. The ones where you have to do like multiple steps and your buzzer's going, it's horrible.

Speaker 2:
[26:49] And this was one where I probably should have wagered some more, cause I did feel pretty confident in that category. Like I could have cleared that board. I think the pressure being singularly, and like again, Mina, you can probably speak to this too. When you have the Daily Double, you have to like put your buzzer down. So like the little, you know, woobie of comfort that you have, you then also are just like completely naked out there and everybody is focused on you. Like it does, it ramps it all up.

Speaker 1:
[27:19] What do you do with your hands at that point?

Speaker 2:
[27:21] Exactly.

Speaker 4:
[27:22] Yes. The Daily Doubles are, I think, the most stressful part of Jeopardy for sure.

Speaker 2:
[27:27] It also was hard for me in that moment too, because somebody was like revving motorcycles outside my house and keeping me awake the night before. And I'm maybe putting it together that they were hired by Mina Kimes.

Speaker 1:
[27:40] I was going to say, I'm not saying that there was a larger Seattle based conspiracy given that Ken Jennings happens to be a Mina Kimes super fan from her work on such programs as NFL Live. But I do believe that Tim Simons might have a constitutional appeal.

Speaker 4:
[27:56] I think he's a super fan, but...

Speaker 1:
[27:58] Well, the heartbreaking part for Tim is that he does the thing that you're supposed to do, which is get the Daily Doubles. And then...

Speaker 4:
[28:05] Did you get another one?

Speaker 1:
[28:07] Yeah, he had another one.

Speaker 2:
[28:08] Oh, God. Mommy, Daddy Read It Again for $1,500.

Speaker 5:
[28:11] Answer.

Speaker 4:
[28:12] This was hard too. This was hard.

Speaker 2:
[28:16] You can see already. I'm like...

Speaker 5:
[28:18] This is an opportunity. You can once again...

Speaker 2:
[28:20] It's over.

Speaker 4:
[28:21] I don't care. Try to be chill.

Speaker 5:
[28:23] Mommy, Daddy Read It Again.

Speaker 6:
[28:24] Again, that sounds like...

Speaker 2:
[28:26] That sounds poignant.

Speaker 5:
[28:27] No! I don't want to sound like I'm pressuring you to make a big wager. You can wager any amount you want.

Speaker 2:
[28:33] I'm gonna... I don't have a lot of confidence in this, so I'm just gonna go like... I'm gonna go $1,000.

Speaker 4:
[28:37] So I'm stoked right here.

Speaker 5:
[28:39] Mommy, Daddy Read It Again. Mommy, I like when you look at me and say, to me, you will be unique in all the world, like this royal space traveler. Again.

Speaker 2:
[28:54] Who is... I like when you look at me. Who is the little boy who went to space and had a great time?

Speaker 5:
[29:02] No, I'm sorry. No, you're close. The Little Prince.

Speaker 1:
[29:06] Oh.

Speaker 5:
[29:07] The Little Prince. He had a great time too.

Speaker 2:
[29:08] Can we get a judge's call on that one?

Speaker 1:
[29:13] I should say just in terms of the dollar amounts at that point, it was still a game. I mean, Mina had $9,900, Tim, you had $6,300, and then that happened, and Mina, of course, was celebrating. As soon as she did the math in her head, she was like, her fist clenched.

Speaker 4:
[29:27] I was happier that he wagered so little than that he got it wrong. Actually, I was really worried he would do truly a double.

Speaker 2:
[29:34] That's like you just noticing like an offensive lineman's footwork and just being like, oh, this is all going to fall apart. Like the left side is protected right now, but when he starts getting tired.

Speaker 1:
[29:45] And he was about to throw a pick. This is absolutely an internal.

Speaker 4:
[29:48] I was surprised. I just thought children's books, he's got kids, he could really double me up here. And then when you went 1000, as you saw, I was like, hmm. Hmm.

Speaker 2:
[29:58] Can we zoom in on that one too?

Speaker 1:
[29:59] Yeah, we're going to push in. We're going to push in on Mina reading the defense.

Speaker 4:
[30:04] That's a hard one. You got hard questions, Tim.

Speaker 2:
[30:06] Thank you. I appreciate that.

Speaker 1:
[30:08] Speaking of moving feet though, and a difficult question. I did enjoy the dance category.

Speaker 2:
[30:15] Check out my dance moves for 1200.

Speaker 5:
[30:18] Take it back now, y'all. And one hop this time are DJ Kenan Thompson's instructions in a 2019 SNL sketch featuring this dance. Mina.

Speaker 4:
[30:27] What is the Cupid Shuffle? I thought I was right.

Speaker 5:
[30:29] Timothy.

Speaker 2:
[30:29] What is the electric slide?

Speaker 5:
[30:31] Also incorrect.

Speaker 2:
[30:32] What?

Speaker 5:
[30:33] Andy is going to sit on his dance knowledge here. What is the cha-cha slide?

Speaker 4:
[30:39] I thought I had that one.

Speaker 2:
[30:40] I obviously thought I had that one too. What is the electric slide?

Speaker 5:
[30:44] Also incorrect.

Speaker 2:
[30:45] What? That was the only moment where I feel like the mask slipped too much on the bit, where I was revealing what was underneath. You know what I mean?

Speaker 4:
[30:58] You were upset with yourself. You wanted that one.

Speaker 2:
[31:00] I wanted that one. Yeah. That was where, oh, that little bit of competitiveness was in there like, this is f***ing bulls***. It's the electric slide, and now you're f***ing against me.

Speaker 1:
[31:12] I was going to say, when are we going to get some Jonah Ryan out of Tim? And right there in the what? Banging the podium? I was like, finally. I should say that at this point in the show, Mina just goes on an absolute run.

Speaker 2:
[31:27] Yep.

Speaker 4:
[31:27] From Beyond the Grave for $1,500.

Speaker 5:
[31:30] Kind of a Nordic version of lox, it's salmon that's been cured in a salt brine. Sometimes with aquavit. What the f***?

Speaker 4:
[31:37] What is Gravlax?

Speaker 5:
[31:38] $1,500 for you. Some political aids are on the numial side. On Veep, Tony Hale was a bag man. And on Zero Day, Jesse Plemons is put down as this man. What the f***? What is the body man?

Speaker 4:
[31:50] Correct.

Speaker 5:
[31:51] Try it if you dare. Alfonso Ribeiro based this character's move on, quote, the corniest dance on the planet. Mina.

Speaker 4:
[31:59] What is Carlton?

Speaker 5:
[32:00] The Carlton dance, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[32:02] Mommy, Daddy, Read It Again for $300.

Speaker 5:
[32:04] Again, the story of this inquisitive animal. And can I have a first edition of the book he was spun off from, Cecil E. G and the Nine Monkeys? Mina.

Speaker 4:
[32:13] It was Curious George. Yes.

Speaker 2:
[32:14] I mean, I wouldn't have gotten Gravlocks. I would not have gotten that one. But the other two, I might have been able to get, like just get you back on your heels a little bit.

Speaker 1:
[32:26] The other one that you're basically in.

Speaker 2:
[32:29] I'm in that show.

Speaker 4:
[32:31] It's important to reinforce to people, if how Celebrity Jeopardy is like 80 percent about The Buzzer.

Speaker 2:
[32:36] Yes.

Speaker 4:
[32:37] I cannot stress that enough.

Speaker 2:
[32:38] They should give us an opportunity to like be able to press a different button, which just is I knew that. You know, I just, I did know that.

Speaker 4:
[32:46] That button is called.

Speaker 6:
[32:48] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[32:51] Super demonstrative about it. So everyone knows that you knew it. It's actually not why I do that. I do that because it had a legitimate big fury.

Speaker 1:
[32:58] But if you look at the first one that we've played of Mina, it's like she's just disappointed in the buzzer. And then it gets just increasingly agitated.

Speaker 4:
[33:07] I'm looking at it like I was at working. I'm looking at my technique. I'm so mad.

Speaker 1:
[33:11] It's like increasingly just disgusted.

Speaker 4:
[33:13] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[33:13] With this, it did bring us to one of these like moments where I'm like, OK, how's Mina doing? Because I look, I've played Celebrity Family Feud with Mina. And viewers of this show who watched that film room session know that behind the scenes, Mina was audibly disappointed in her teammates at times. And in this...

Speaker 4:
[33:35] We don't have to get into that. It's just so stupid. It's just so stupid. Celebrity Family Feud is a dumb game, too.

Speaker 1:
[33:50] And she was mad that...

Speaker 4:
[33:51] You're mad at America when you play it.

Speaker 1:
[33:53] She was disappointed in the American people. In the hundred people at the Mall of America that we presume that they pull. But this, it got... There's like a smile going into commercial break. She was feeling confident. And we got to the last category.

Speaker 5:
[34:12] We wind up tonight's game of Celebrity Jeopardy All-Stars with Final Jeopardy, and our category tonight is Historic Defendants. Here's the clue. In 2022, Elizabeth Johnson, Jr. was formerly exonerated of this by the state of Massachusetts, 329 years after her conviction. You have 30 seconds, players. Good luck. We'll start in the middle with Andy Richter. $5,600 coming into Final Jeopardy. He wrote down a response quickly. He wrote down, what is witchcraft? Yes, she had been convicted at the Salem witch trials. I believe the last one to have her record cleared. What did you wager, Andy? Almost everything. You will nearly double up. You now have $11,199. Timothy Simons was in second place with $8,000. Boy, he was writing another letter of grievance. That was a long response. Let's see what you got, Timothy. What is the Tea Party? Throwing all that tea away, that should be a crime. Unfortunately, we know now it's not the Boston Tea Party. What did you wager? All of it. So you go down to zero, I'm afraid. Mina Kimes could not be caught here. $17,100. Did she know it was witchcraft? She's right. What did you bet? Didn't have to bet a penny with $17,100. Mina Kimes, you've just advanced to the Celebrity Jeopardy All-Stars Semi-finals. Congratulations. $30,000 Andy and Tim for each of your charities.

Speaker 2:
[35:37] If we had actual sports-based replay, I would be like, go back to when it first cuts to her. It is the most insulting thing.

Speaker 1:
[35:48] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[35:48] How calmly and gently.

Speaker 1:
[35:51] Thank you for pointing this out.

Speaker 2:
[35:52] And still she is in that moment. It is the worst possible thing she could have done.

Speaker 1:
[35:59] It was Patrick Bateman.

Speaker 6:
[36:00] They told us.

Speaker 4:
[36:02] Okay. They told us. First of all, when a game is in Jeopardy parlance, it's called a runaway. The Jeopardy people don't love it because it's anticlimactic, right?

Speaker 1:
[36:15] What parlance? Who decides Jeopardy parlance, by the way?

Speaker 4:
[36:19] Things called a crush game. Anyways. But they told us, they were like, please just keep a stone face. Regardless, like don't celebrate. And also, they said, and Tip was here for this, like don't betray whether you know it or not. Don't betray any emotional reaction. So I was really trying to be like, just be calm. You've already won. That's great. Just be chill. Don't make a face. So I was really trying to not betray any emotions at all.

Speaker 2:
[36:46] They still seeped through.

Speaker 1:
[36:48] I was going to say, I'm not sure if Mina Kimes, the actress, is necessarily nailing that particular role.

Speaker 2:
[36:53] They're going to be like, let's do that one more time.

Speaker 4:
[36:56] I just love winning. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1:
[36:59] Guys, I just love winning so much.

Speaker 2:
[37:16] Do you also do this thing, like I watched that show last night, and I am like, God, I gotta work on my posture. Do you also do this? Like, do you, whenever you actually see yourself, like you're like, ah, is that what I actually look like? And I noticed that when I was writing down my answer, I had decided to like bend at a 90 degree angle at the waist.

Speaker 4:
[37:36] Well, is this where we talk about the fact that I had a little bit of a disadvantage. Andy may have had to dance at 7 a.m. But because one of my competitors, I'm not gonna say which one was so freakishly tall. I'm good, I'm not naming, you can guess. They had to put me on a little riser and lift me like six inches off the ground. And if I had stepped to one side, I would have fallen in hilarious fashion. So I was trying to stay perfectly still for also the entire game, which honestly, a little bit of a disadvantage. I was a little bit nervous about falling.

Speaker 2:
[38:13] It is like an ankle twisting height. You know what I mean? It's like just high enough.

Speaker 1:
[38:18] Wait, Tim, how tall are you?

Speaker 2:
[38:20] I'm six foot five, almost six foot six. Like I'm up there.

Speaker 1:
[38:24] Just the photos, by the way, what this led to. So this is an alleged disadvantage for Mina in the game because the height and the verticality.

Speaker 4:
[38:32] I'm just saying you're on a little riser and so you have to play on this thing, like a little stilt.

Speaker 2:
[38:36] Yeah, it's like a pneumatic thing that raises us all up.

Speaker 4:
[38:39] It's behind, it goes zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz They're all smaller than Ken Jennings. And Ken was like, there's a riser. So then, Ken, who's the best? So then I had to explain to people, I even posted the height chart of all four of us, from me to Tim, to debunk the internet. People also don't understand that I am not a small woman because I work all day with two men who are six foot five, myself, and on NFL Live. So it throws people's sense of purpose. I'm almost five-seven, myself. But Ken Jennings is probably like five-ten, I would say.

Speaker 2:
[39:26] So what you're saying is that people were assuming that you frame-mogged him? Is that where it was going?

Speaker 4:
[39:32] I think it was, people thought it was a, yes, that a little bit of a frame-mogging, a little bit of an alpha move maybe, but it's fine. I didn't mind being on the riser. Honestly, maybe it helped me lock in a little bit and keep perfectly still. I did a couple of other breathing exercises during the show to make sure I stayed perfectly calm.

Speaker 1:
[39:51] Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I want to know the breathing exercise regimen.

Speaker 4:
[39:56] Okay, so last time, like I said, I got so upset about getting locked out and I felt like my emotions got the best of me. So this time, my biggest priority going to this, I didn't study, but I remembered from last time, you know, stay calm, just once you find a rhythm, stay in the rhythm. And then the thing I practiced was if you start getting locked out, take a moment, reset, do a quick breathing exercise. I don't think you can see it on camera. There was a moment where I got locked out or something a couple of times where I paused, I took a few deep breaths and I said to myself, you are Nino's mom, you're going to win.

Speaker 1:
[40:35] Oh my God.

Speaker 4:
[40:36] Then I locked in and so it was like my Tom Brady.

Speaker 1:
[40:41] Tim, did you know you were actually competing against the Navy Seal? Did you know that?

Speaker 2:
[40:44] No, I didn't and honestly, I would have prepared differently. I am Nino's mom as she's jumping like she's doing a halo jump. The M4 on her back.

Speaker 1:
[40:56] Activating an energy sword.

Speaker 4:
[40:58] I was just trying to keep my heart rate at a steady beat.

Speaker 2:
[41:03] She's training with that thing that like that thing they put over the mouth that like inhibits your oxygen intake so that when you're actually at whatever like at playing at altitude. God, she saved that guy in Iran.

Speaker 1:
[41:16] She did it off camera. They have to cut it out. I want, in fact, my next investigation is can I get the in building like closed circuit feed of Mina doing insane breathing exercises to not become the Incredible Hulk?

Speaker 4:
[41:29] I really didn't get that unnerved during this episode for obvious reasons.

Speaker 2:
[41:34] Oh my God. There it is. There it is.

Speaker 4:
[41:37] How many texts did you get about not getting the Veep one?

Speaker 2:
[41:41] None. The only text that I've gotten so far was from my mom who was like, you did a really good job honey and you were very funny. You know what I mean? Like I got a nice text from my mom.

Speaker 4:
[41:52] That's good.

Speaker 1:
[41:54] I am Timothy's mom.

Speaker 2:
[42:00] And I am going to win.

Speaker 4:
[42:01] She would win if she did that.

Speaker 1:
[42:12] Also, just a quick post script before I let you go. Because Mina Kimes, in the semifinals of Celebrity Jeopardy All Stars, on May 12th, has been announced, will face Lisa Ann Walter and Katie Nolan. Which means that we have some more finding out to do. So, tune back in. In the meantime, I am Pablo Torre, and this has been Pablo Torre Finds Out. We will talk to you next time.