It all seems to be going down in the game show Jeopardy this week, with an editing blunder, and the infamous awkward ‘black book answer’ from contestant Justin.
Jeopardy! has been running since 1964 and it’s still as popular as ever. The show has even had celebrity spins offs, featuring Will Wheaton, and now a High School Reunion Tournament. Of course, there were some teething problems.
We take a look into all the game show drama that’s been going down on NBC.
Jeopardy blunder reveals winner early
On the March 8 episode of the show, fans seemingly found out who won the episode before the end. Spoiler alert!
The three players were introduced by host Mayim Bialik who has since been replaced by Ken Jennings, however, the shot displayed the ‘final Jeopardy’ and showed all the contestant’s final prize pots. Whoops.
Fans were shocked by the blunder and took to social media to see if any other eagle-eyed viewers had noticed the error.
One tweeted: “Wow, given that this was taped months or weeks ago, you’d think they’d actually proof-view it first before putting it on air.”
Another said: “For a moment I thought I’d become clairvoyant.”
However, one superfan revealed what might’ve actually happened.
“My guess is that they had to do a pickup on all/part of Mayim’s intro & recorded that at the end of the game but forgot to reset the screens”, she tweeted.
“When I was in the audience for a taping last year, there was a late-game pick-up where something like this could have happened. They had put up the FJ dividers and cleared the contestant names from the screen for them to write their wagers, but then needed Ken to re-do something.”
“They did mention on the podcast that the turnaround on these episodes was TIGHT, usually they tape about 2 months ahead but this tournament taped Jan 29/30/31, just 3 weeks before it started airing. So the editing process may have been a bit more rushed than usual”, she continued.
Let’s hope they address it on the podcast!
Justin’s infamous Jeopardy black book answer
The blunders didn’t stop there.
Justin, who actually won the episode and advanced to the finals in doing so, was asked a Daily Double question about Black history.
“From 1936 to 1967 this ‘colorful’ guide aided African Americans in traveling safely during segregation”, was the clue read out by Mayim.
It was evident Justin wasn’t sure of the answer when he took a long pause and incorrectly answered: “What is the Black Book?”
One user shared the clip on TikTok, which has since gone viral with the caption “girl same.”
Of course, TikTok users went wild in the comments. One said: “His face said even I don’t want me to be saying this right now.”
Another said: “I saw this last night and looked at my husband – like he could’ve chosen ANY other color.
Jeopardy HSRT winner announced
Despite his Jeopardy blunder, Justin was the first winner of the Jeopardy High School Reunion Tournament.
He received a two-day total of $35,361 — $363 more than Jackson’s second-place total of $35,198.
He took home an impressive $100,000 and will be welcomed back to the Tournament of Champions.
Speaking on the rest of his contestants, the champ said: “They’re all so supportive, so smart, so sweet,” said Justin, describing his fellow High School Reunion Tournament competitors. “I hope our connections will last far into the future.”