Jeopardy tonight

[phantom8019]

Anyone see Jeopardy tonight? The Final Jeopardy category was "Billboard top 100 albums."
The clue said something like "This album, from a movie based on a PLAY, spent a record number of weeks at number 1 in 1962 and 1963." I am paraphrasing all this, but I clearly read and heard the word PLAY.
The answer was "West Side Story."
Do the meticulous writers of Jeopardy really not know the difference between a play and a musical? Did anyone else see this?

[ljay889]

Did any of the contestants get it?

[supportivemom]

I hate when people call musicals a play! It's a pet peeve of mine!

[phantom8019]

Yeah when the Final Jeopardy music ended Alex said, "I can think of three possible good guesses."

The first woman answered "Sound of Music."

Alex said, "That's one of the good guesses, but wrong."

The second guy said "West Side Story" and Alex said it was right.

I do not remember the third person's answer, as I was in shock.

[bjh2114]

I mean, I hate to be THAT guy, but technically it is a play. The definition of a musical is " a play or motion picture in which the story line is interspersed with or developed by songs, dances, and the like." The use of the word play here is NOT to distinguish a stage play from a stage musical, but RATHER to distinguish between a stage musical and a movie musical. The term play is being used to denote that it was based on a stage piece, hence "play".

[bjh2114]

And just to clarify, I don't like when people refer to stage musicals as "plays" either, but that wasn't the intention here. If in fact the wording was, as you say, "This album, from a movie based on a PLAY..." there is no problem. You can't say "the album from a movie based on a MUSICAL" because the movie isn't BASED on a musical. It IS a musical.

[phantom8019]

I agree with you a bit. But it seems a little misleading. I was thinking, "Geez a movie from the 1960s based on a play... what the hell could it be?" I didn't even consider any musicals because I really took it as meaning PLAY.

PS--Haven't I seen in certain opening credit sequences in movie musicals something like "Based on the musical with music by X and lyrics by Y?"

[dramamama611]

1. I'm jumping on BJH's comment: it IS the musical, it wasn't based on the musical.

2. Melodramas are PLAYS, Dramas are plays, Comedies are PLAYS, Musicals ARE plays.

3. Could it be the PLAY (for you purists) the writers were referring to was actually R&J?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

A few weeks ago, the final Jeopardy question was "what is the longest running American Broadway musical of all time?" Only one contestant guessed the right answer, I believe (CHICAGO). The other guesses were RENT and LES MIZ.

[flossie2]

I assume it was meant that West Side Story, both the movie and musical, were based on the play Romeo and Juliet. Anyway....WSS was the answer I came up with.

[bjh2114]

The other guesses were RENT and LES MIZ.

This makes me oh so sad.

[DottieD'Luscia]

The 3rd contestant also came up with The Sound of Music. That was my first guess, followed by West Side Story. Alex said a 3rd good choice would have been The King and I. I don't believe that movie opened in the 60s. I too was kind of thrown when the question read "play" as opposed to "musical".

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I saw it and knew the answer. I also don't go apoloectic when I hear a musical play referred to as a play.

I mean, if you really want to pedanticly nitpick, I would nitpick why Alex thought "Sound of Music" would be a good answer, since the movie version of that didn't even exist in 1963.

I don't understand that question from the one WickedRocks mentioned. Chicago is the longest running what?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

This was the actual phrasing of the final Jeopardy: "Based on a 1926 play & real-life events, it’s now the longest-running American musical in Broadway history."

[bjh2114]

Haven't I seen in certain opening credit sequences in movie musicals something like "Based on the musical with music by X and lyrics by Y?"

I'm not sure. I've definitely seen "A musical with music by X and lyrics by Y." I'm trying to think of an example where I've seen the "based on" as part of the credits. The only time I've ever seen the words "based on" is when the title of the work has been changed.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Oh, I get it. I guess the category was specifically American musicals?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Nope, the final Jeopardy category was just "Broadway Musicals."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

The only time I've ever seen the words "based on" is when the title of the work has been changed.

Really? Then you haven't been paying attention.

[phantom8019]

The fine print on the back of my Sweeney Todd DVD case says "Based on the musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler"

But on other movie musicals it is worded differently.

[bjh2114]

Let me rephrase: The only time I can currently REMEMBER the words being used is when the title has been changed. It's totally possible I've seen it hundreds of times and just can't remember because it's so common I don't even think about it.

[bjh2114]

It's so funny you said that Phantom. I was just going to say that I feel like the one I remember recently that MAY have done what you said was Sweeney. My other thoughts were Nine and Chicago, only because they were such huge reimaginings of their respective stage shows.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Yeah, it's really virtually like every movie that's been made of a movie or play. I'm not being snarky, but whether it's written "based on the play/muscial of the same name" or in like Chicago's above, I think it's phrased that way like 99% of the time.

[bjh2114]

Thanks Phyllis. Do you have any specific examples of "Based on the musical" with nothing else after it? I'm racking my brain, and I can't come up with any other than Sweeney.

[phantom8019]

Anyway, seems plenty of people figured out the Jeopardy answer.

I just fixated on the word "play." (There are lots of movies based on regular old plays, and they too have music and soundtracks.)

[bjh2114]

That have been on the Billboard Top 100?

[phantom8019]

1962? Who knows? I am not well versed in movies from that time.