JEOPARDY! fans are furious over the ‘worst final clue ever’ and have begged the producers to ‘revamp’ the show’s format after complaining the end of season 41 has been ‘stale.’
Tuesday’s game left viewers feeling like watching was a “waste of time” given the low-scoring stakes and yet another triple stumper – which has become a trend in the latter half of this season.
As the season continues to struggle producing multi-day champions, the most recent game was no different as Emily Croke was looking to extend her single-day winnings of $13,201.
The stay-at-home mom from Denver, Colorado went up against Micah Fritz, a teacher from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Nicholas Moline, an attorney from Mooresville, Indiana.
Micah attempted to come in hot by betting the max on an early Daily Double find under the category “Scammers.”
However, the bet didn’t pay off as he was wrong and lost $1,000 right off the bat.
By the first break, the trio of contestants had one of the lowest combined totals heading into Double Jeopardy! in recent memory.
Micah made up for the blunder and was in the lead with just $400.
Nicholas wasn’t far behind in second with $200, while Emily was in the red with negative -$200.
Although each player improved their standings by Double Jeopardy!, the totals were still low compared to other games.
Micah maintained his lead, boosting up to $2,200 while Emily slid into the second slot with $1,800 and Nicholas was just behind her with $1,600.
Emily then zipped through a series of correct answers, earning her $5,400 and a spot in the lead.
However, her success came to a crashing halt when she found the second Daily Double under the “Words About Nerds” category.
After getting the answer wrong, Emily lost nearly everything, dropping $5,000 and leaving her with just $400.
This began to drastically change the outcome of the game, and Micah continued to take advantage of the loss by making it his gain.
Micah found the third Daily Double under “Colorful Geography” and added $3,000 to his score – now leading the pack with $10,000.
Heading into Final Jeopardy!, Micah had all but secured a runaway win with $15,200.
Meanwhile, Emily lost her position in striking distance when she incorrectly answered the Daily Double and had $6,800 while Nicholas had just $1,600.
Host Ken Jennings, 51, then introduced the Final Jeopardy! clue under the category “Websites.”
“A 2006 WSJ article described this website as having “row after row of blue…hyperlinks & nary another color or graphic in sight,” the TV star read.
Everyone was incorrect and did not guess “What is Craigslist?” – dropping Micah $1,000 to win with $14,000.
Jeopardy! Set Secrets
Jeopardy! fans don’t see everything behind the scenes from watching on TV. These hidden set features make the show run smoothly:
- Each podium has a hidden riser so that all contestants appear to be the same height.
- After each clue is read, signal lights go off around the game board, indicating players can buzz in and respond.
- Buzz in too early, and you’re locked out for .25 seconds.
- The podiums have a small white light in the lower left corner, which tells Ken Jennings who goes next.
- Contrary to popular belief, the player with control doesn’t have a buzzer advantage on the next clue.
- To the game board’s left is a scoreboard so the players can see their opponents’ scores.
- All contestants must bring three outfits to the studio, but only the host and returning champion change for the next episode.
- There are wardrobe rules, including restrictions on busy patterns, solid white, purple (like the background), and logos.
- Five episodes are taped in a single day, and sometimes more.
- The categories, players (aside from the returning champion), and Final Jeopardy! for a tape day are all drawn randomly to ensure fairness.
- Female contestants are asked not to wear makeup, which is applied backstage, and don’t wear mascara because of sweat.
- Contestants fill out a questionnaire, and producers select five Q&A topics for the host.
- Host Ken isn’t allowed to interact with the contestants until after the game.
- Players can request to sit in a chair while competing without question.
Both Emily and Nicholas, aware they were not able to win, bet $0 each.
Fans were furious about the Final Jeopardy! clue and complained that “the writing was bad” of what the answer was supposed to be.
“Terrible writing for FJ. They gave the players nothing and got nothing,” someone fired off.
“One of the worst FJ questions ever,” another raged, which an online user responded: “Would’ve helped if the clue had given ANY indication of that!”
“I may have seen a worst FJ clue before but damn it’s been awhile since it’s been that bad. What a letdown,” an angry fan raged.
While another viewer is begging the producers to shake the show up as the conclusion of season 41 has been “disappointing” to many fans.
“Please do something to revamp or shake up the format for next season so the end doesn’t get incredibly stale like it is right now,” they begged.
