Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Michael Crichton and Jeopardy

I’ve always been a big fan of the game show Jeopardy and I’ve been trying to get on as a contestant for years now. I’ve passed the qualifying test before, but so far I haven’t gotten called to be on the show. Soon I’ll be trying out again. (I passed an online test and was notified early in April that I would have the chance to tryout in person.)

On Friday, April 24, I came home and turned on the TV to watch Jeopardy, which was already in progress. The first clue I saw was:

FICTION
$1,000
"Brain", "Coma", and "Contagion" are among his medical thrillers

The current champion, Liz Murphy, answered incorrectly:
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

The correct answer was “Who is Robin Cook?” However, there is a connection. Michael Crichton wrote and directed the 1978 film adaptation of Coma.

I remember thinking, “It’s a sign,” and I started wondering when else Michael Crichton was mentioned on Jeopardy. Thanks to the fan website J!-Archive, which chronicles the Jeopardy shows, I was able to compile this list of 34 mentions (in reverse chronological order):

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Final Jeopardy! Round
SCIENCE FICTION
A recent re-issue of this Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel includes an introduction by Michael Crichton
“What is The Lost World?”

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
ALL ABOUT AUTHORS
$800
This novelist who wrote about gorillas in "Congo" is on the board of the Gorilla Foundation
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Monday, March 12, 2007
APOCALYPSE SOON?
$1000
In this Michael Crichton novel, a Scoop VII satellite returns to Earth with a deadly virus
“What is The Andromeda Strain?

Tuesday, June 27, 2006
JAPAN-U.S. RELATIONS
$2000
1992 was a year of some tension in the relationship, symbolized by the publication of this man's novel "Rising Sun"
“Who is Michael Crichton?”


Wednesday, May 3, 2006

LITERARY THRILLERS
$1200
2005's "Marker" is the 25th medical thriller from this bestselling physician/author
Incorrect question by Luke “Who is Michael Crichton?”
Alex commented, “Yes, he eliminated the other one for you!” and Robbi, who answered correctly “Who is Robin Cook?” said, “Yes, he did.”

Wednesday, January 18, 2006
PRIMETIME TV
$1600
(Hi. I'm Julie Bowen, and) I appeared on 9 episodes of "ER" as Noah Wyle's girlfriend, a series that was created by this "Jurassic Park" author
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Monday, September 19, 2005
2005 FICTION BESTSELLERS
$800
The doctor was in, or rather on, the list with his environmentally themed "State of Fear"
“Who is Michael Crichton?”


Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Final Jeopardy! Round
BESTSELLING AUTHORS
In 2000 this writer, with more than 100 million copies of novels in print, had a new species of dinosaur named for him

Only one contestant, Jeff Richmond, was left to play Final Jeopardy. He answered correctly “Who is Michael Crichton?”

Tuesday, July 8, 2003
FILMS OF THE '90s
$400
"Jurassic Park", "Disclosure" & "Rising Sun" were all based on books by this author
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Thursday, June 19, 2003
4-LETTER FILMS
$2,000
Robin Cook cooked up the story for this '78 thriller; Michael Crichton directed it
“What is Coma?”

Tuesday, January 21, 2003
"WORLD" BOOK
$800
This thriller by Michael Crichton is a follow-up to "Jurassic Park"
“What is The Lost World?”

Wednesday, December 11, 2002
PEN NAMES
$800
John Lange & Jeffery Hudson are some of the pen names this "Andromeda Strain" author has used
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Monday, March 11, 2002
THE FICTION FILE
$400
An airplane quality assurance officer is the heroine of "Airframe" by this author of "Jurassic Park"
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Wednesday, June 13, 2001
BOOK REVIEWS
$300
One reviewer said "Wondrous beasts and scientific possibilities" made this Michael Crichton novel "alluring"
“What is Jurassic Park?”

Thursday, June 22, 2000
PEN NAMES
$600
Under a joint pen name, this "Congo" author co-wrote "Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston 40-Brick Lost-Bag Blues"
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Friday, February 18, 2000
PEN NAMES
$200
This author of "Jurassic Park" put himself through Harvard medical school writing under the name John Lange
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Thursday, November 11, 1999
BOOKS & AUTHORS
$100
Mathematician Ian Malcolm confronts more dinosaurs in this 1995 Michael Crichton sequel
“What is The Lost World?”

Wednesday, July 14, 1999
CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS
$800
He published "The Andromeda Strain" in 1969, during his last year in medical school
“Who is Michael Crichton?”


Thursday, December 17, 1998

READ THE BOOK, SAW THE FILM
$200
Chicken-sized dinosaurs called compys didn't make it from this 1990 Michael Crichton novel to the 1993 film
“What is Jurassic Park?”

Friday, October 2, 1998
STEPHEN KING (Alex: The author? Yes!)
(Hi, I'm Stephen King, master of horror.) In the 1980s I stated, "I've seen the future of horror, and its name is" this author"
Incorrect question “Who is Michael Crichton?”
Correct question “Who is Clive Barker?”

Friday, September 11, 1998
BOOKS OF THE '60S
$400
One review called his "Andromeda Strain" "Compelling and reasonably executed"
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Tuesday, May 19, 1998
MEN IN WHITE
$200
This novelist & medical school graduate (Harvard '69) created the TV show "ER"
“Who is Michael Crichton?”


Thursday, May 7, 1998

WARNER
$600
This Michael Crichton novel was shaped into a 1998 Warner Bros. film by Barry Levinson
“What is Sphere?”

Friday, February 6, 1998
FICTION
$200
This "Rising Sun" author took to the skies with "Airframe", a suspense novel
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Monday, January 26, 1998
MOVIES: BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
$200
A 1925 dinosaur film based on a Conan Doyle tale or a 1997 dinosaur film based on a Crichton book
“What is The Lost World?”

Friday, December 26, 1997
YUL TIDE FILMS
$800
This author of "The Lost World" wrote & directed "Westworld", in which Yul played a gunslinging robot
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Tuesday, May 6, 1997
1997 International Tournament semifinal game 2.
From Stockholm, Sweden.
NAME THE AUTHOR (SAG FORFATTAREN)
$200
"The Andromeda Strain", "Jurassic Park"
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Friday, May 2, 1997
NONFICTION
$1,000
Between his novels "Congo" & "Sphere", he published "Electronic Life: How to Think About Computers"
“Who is Michael Crichton?”


Thursday, April 10, 1997

"C" YOU AT THE MOVIES
$300
Michael Crichton directed & wrote the screenplay for this medical thriller based on a Robin Cook novel
“What is Coma?”
(One contestant answered “Outbreak” incorrectly.)

Monday, March 3, 1997
AUTHORS
$300
In 1969 & 1970 this "Andromeda Strain" author was a fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
“Who is Michael Crichton?”


Wednesday, December 11, 1996

BOOKS & AUTHORS
$400
In 1993 this author sold the film rights to "Disclosure" for about $3.5 million before it had been published
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Wednesday, October 2, 1996
AUTHORS
$1,000
This author of "Acceptable Risk" has been dubbed "The Master of the Medical Thriller"
Incorrect question “Who is Michael Crichton?”
Correct question “Who is Robin Cook?”


Friday, September 6, 1996

AMERICAN AUTHORS
$200
This "Jurassic Park" author once taught anthropology at Cambridge University
“Who is Michael Crichton?”

Wednesday, April 10, 1996
FICTION
$300
A diamond hunt turns deadly when the expedition meets killer gorillas in this Michael Crichton novel
“What is Congo?

I just remembered something! Michael Crichton was born in Chicago and that’s where I’m going for the Jeopardy tryouts. Another sign!

Links and more info on Michael Crichton at:
http://kahlessa.proboards80.com/index.cgi

Monday, May 18, 2009

Pirate Latitudes Info

Harper Collins has released some information on Michael Crichton’s novel Pirate Latitudes, scheduled for release November 24, 2009:

Discovered among Crichton’s files after his passing last fall, Pirate Latitudes is an adventure tale unlike anything Crichton readers have seen before. Demonstrating the versatility and raw storytelling power of this master of suspense, it is sure to generate tremendous reader interest and media coverage.

Jamaica in 1665 is a rough outpost of the English crown, a minor colony holding out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, Jamaica's capital, a cut-throat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses, is devoid of London's luxuries; life here can end swiftly by dysentery or a dagger. But for Captain Edward Hunter it is a life that can also lead to riches, if he abides by the island's code. In the name of His Majesty King Charles II of England, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking. And law in the New World is made by those who take it into their hands.

Word in port is that the Spanish treasure galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is stalled in nearby Matanceros harbor awaiting repairs. Heavily fortified, the impregnable Spanish outpost is guarded by the blood-swiller Cazalla, a favorite commander of King Philip IV himself. With the governor's backing, Hunter assembles a roughneck crew to infiltrate the enemy island and commandeer the galleon, along with its fortune in Spanish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloody legends of Matanceros suggest, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he finds himself on the island's shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry are all that stand between him and the treasure.

With the help of his cunning crew, Hunter hijacks El Trinidad and escapes the deadly clutches of Cazalla, leaving plenty of carnage in his wake. But his troubles have just begun. . . .


(Thank you John and Juroc for discovering this!)

Links and more info on Michael Crichton at:
http://kahlessa.proboards80.com/index.cgi

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

People magazine's “Most Beautiful People” List

Recently, People magazine published their annual “Most Beautiful People” list and I was reminded of Michael Crichton, who once was on the list and featured in the May 4, 1992 issue.

Crichton’s bio on his official website (before it was revised a while back) said this:

“Crichton was named one of the ‘Fifty Most Beautiful People’ by People magazine in 1992, but, he observes, never again.”

That Crichton was never again on the list is a poor reflection on the staff of People magazine. Seldom has there ever been such a brilliant mind in such a handsome package.

I remember a quote from the play (and later film) The Lion in Winter by James Goldman. Eleanor of Aquitaine is remembering meeting Henry II for the first time and she describes it thus:

“He came down from the north to Paris with a mind like Aristotle's and a form like mortal sin.”

That line always makes me think of Michael Crichton.

And I thought he had especially beautiful hands.

Links and more info on Michael Crichton at:
http://kahlessa.proboards80.com/index.cgi

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