‘Jeopardy!” Fans Call Out Ken Jennings For ‘Messy’ Show

On Wednesday, Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings watched former Survivor player Drew Basile win the competition in a landslide over  Adriana Harmeyer, who was on a 15-game winning streak, the longest of the season so far. The next day, Basile won again., but this time around, fans complained about a “messy” game.

Here is what Jeopardy! fans are not happy about, and what happened that caused the frustration.

Jeopardy! Fans Call Out Ken Jennings After Rough Game

Jeopardy! pre-records and edits its episodes for television. That makes it surprising when bad mistakes make it on the air. That happened on Thursday’s episode. The game had to come back and cancel an answer originally declared right, but it once again showed no consistency.

On Thursday’s episode, newcomer Bob Longstretgh, a Superior Court judge from San Diego, California, gave an answer to a “What is Wimbledon” question. However, he pronounced it as “Wimbleton.” He got it right, but when the show returned, Ken said he had to take the money away because he hadn’t said the word right.

This has happened before with the exact same word before on Jeopardy!.

However, while the judges counted that wrong, there was another question with the answer “Waverly,” from the TV show Wizards of Waverly Place. Jonquil Garrick-Reynolds answered, “What is Witches of Waverly’s Place?” They said the wrong title for the show and also said “Waverly’s” and not “Waverly.” However, she got the answer counted correctly.

Fans Blast Jeopardy! For The Inconsistencies In The Rules

Fans were unhappy on social media and called out Jeopardy! for the “messy” episode and the inconsistencies in the rules.

Episode of Jeopardy was messy af tonight they retroactively docked someone’s points bc he pronounced Wimbledon as “Wimbleton”

— Eden (@eden_tetris) June 21, 2024

Among the better responses:

• “This was a messier game than we’ve seen in a while. Lots of corrections”
• “Wimbledon/Wimbleton has occurred before. I’m surprised they weren’t ready for that possible misstep.”
• “The players were messy and the clues again were not worded the best”

This is similar to other instances in the past where Jeopardy! chooses to remain a stickler for pronunciation in some cases but not others. The most notorious was when a question in the Alex Trebek days counted off someone for saying “Gangster’s Paradise” instead of “Gangsta’s Paradise” as the Coolio song title.

However, this season,  Yogesh Raut answered a question about rap artists Salt-N-Pepa. He answered “Who Is Salt And Pepper,” which is just as wrong as “Gangster’s Paradise” and “Wimbleton,” but he received credit for answering the question correctly. With “Witches of Waverly’s Place” counted right on the same show that “Wimbleton” was wrong, it seems the judges pick and choose.

What are your thoughts on the inconsistencies in the Jeopardy! rules? Let is know your thoughts in the comments below.

Shawn S. Lealos has been a freelance writer for over 25 years and is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He is also a published author with a book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers.

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