I was watching every day in the fall while I was on paternity leave, but admittedly I haven't seen much since then. I watched this episode and a couple others in the last week, and I have to say it feels like this show is in a new golden age.

Drew has reached a new level as a host. The main cast has longevity we haven't seen in decades. They have good rapport (I've enjoyed Drew's banter with James as of late). Contestant casting has improved drastically. Prizes have gotten less outlandish. There's more space for interacting with contestants.

This might not be the exact same show that it was when I was growing up. It's certainly not perfect. But it's the fun, positive, exciting, funny, happy show that I remember. It brings me joy in a way that it hasn't in a long time.

At the conclusion of S52 I'd planned to write a post in the main forum echoing exactly this. I've been enthusiastic about S52 all over this forum and I can't add anything to this. I've been tuning in more frequently (and even made my first trek to the show) because there's a magic in the air there hasn't been in a very long time. And I assure you that magic is there just as much in person as it is at home. I lay a lot of the credit at Evelyn Warfel and her production of the show. She navigated COVID and a required move while also shifting the show to seek more grounded contestants that are a cross-section of America (rather than the viral wanna-bes Stan/Mike seemed to want to find at the end of their tenures). I also have to give a lot of credit to Drew as having an audience back seemed to do something to kick him into a high gear he didn't know he had. Not only is he more relaxed and having more fun but he also seemed more positive and upbeat in general.

And when the show I attended airs (a week from Monday), I'll also be ruminating on George as announcer and how he was really star of the show when we were there in person. He's also got an infectious warm positivity that seems to remind me of what people said about Johnny in person back in the day. I wrote something along the lines of he treated that audience like they were guests in his personal living room...and he sure made that whole day feel like it. That translates on camera I think.

Just tune into the Pluto Drew eps to make a comparison. I know its a bit apples to oranges given Drew was only with the show 3 years when those were taped and aired (I admit it wouldn't be fair to compare Barker in S3 and S17). But something was still vey different. Drew and Rich were more disconnected from the goings on. The contestants were so much more over the top. Gameplay seemed to be secondary to the commotion on screen. It really is night and day.

As of this moment, the Leafs are on the ropes after losing Game 4 to the Bruins, 3-1 and trail the series as such, 3-1. I will say however that they did a great job paying tribute to Bob Cole especially when the Leafs were featured on Saturday night on CBC (and later Sportsnet) quite often, hearing his voice on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts.

The New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning stay alive in each of their respective series, with the Islanders winning it in double overtime and the Lightning winning it in regulation.

I love James's new hair.

Wow.   Just wow.   I was absolutely floored on tonight’s show.   Although Kate did win $16,500, she suffered like 1,000 to 100,000 cuts tonight.    Yeah I’m over exaggerating but still…a very painful Bankrupt in round 1, AND her missing a LIVING THING puzzle which she actually made easy with key letter picks.   And to top it all off…OOF.   I actually got this one with her picks.   This one really hurt because she lost a lot of money tonight.   I even felt she picked the right category for Bonus Land.   I would have chosen LIVING THING myself.

Well…we did have 2 additional Bonus Land wins this week to bring our victories to 56 for the season.  This loss was VERY painful.   I’ll just leave it at that.   Fortunately we did NOT have a skunked week.   The THING puzzle on Tuesday was the most difficult one.

30 more shows till we bid adieu to Pat Sajak.

Why is it so hard for us to win the Bonus Round more than twice a week? This seriously reminds me of early 2010's Price when we rarely saw more than 2 out of 6 games won.

We've found that a lack of Bonus Round wins is nothing new for the show. They seem to have been having trouble since the 2000-2001 season, including a 17-loss streak around the winter holidays, and they didn't even have a $100,000 prize yet.

2000-2001 was also a weak season for Jeopardy! winnings overall. Yes, they hadn't doubled the clue values yet, though they still could've made clues (and Final) easier if they wanted.