Jeopardy fans are expressing their frustration over contestants’ inability to answer what they perceive as easy questions on the game show.
Recent controversies have sparked a flood of tweets from fans criticizing contestants Dennis Leung, Kathy Barkey, and Ittai Sopher for consistently missing questions in every round of the show.
One Twitter user exclaimed, “Whoa! What was up with the folks on #Jeopardy tonight? For people of that caliber, those were some pretty basic questions that no one was getting…”
Another user claimed that host Ken Jennings appeared “annoyed” by the contestants’ inability to answer easy questions.
A third user raged, “Holy s–t! I keep saying the Final #Jeopardy clues keep getting easier, but today’s takes the cake. So easy. However, two of the three contestants either misread or misunderstood the clue and didn’t get the answer right. Everyone involved at Jeopardy should be ashamed.”
As an example, the user included the Final Jeopardy clue which read, “At the 1865 Paris art salon, the elder of these two men said ‘If the younger were successful, it would be because his name sounds like mine.'”
Only one contestant correctly guessed “Who are (Édouard) Manet and (Claude) Monet?” while the other two contestants only provided one name.
Another Twitter user commented, “Exceptionally poorly worded final question on #Jeopardy tonight—looks like many were confused about whether it was asking for one name or two.”
A recent survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 51% of 1,500 respondents believe Jeopardy questions are of the same difficulty as they were a few years ago.
This is not the first time Jeopardy fans have expressed their thoughts on social media. After Monday’s episode, Ken Jennings was accused of tricking a contestant into making a large bet.
Despite this minor hiccup, Jennings has received praise as the host of Jeopardy.
One user wrote, “Ken Jennings is a delightful host. Mayim was nice but had such awkward timing. I hope Ken wants the gig full time.”
Another user begged, “Please make Ken the only permanent host. When you were having different people host after Alex passed away I thought she might be a good fit – not so much anymore. I’m 100% team Ken.”
However, the show stands by its decision to choose both Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings as hosts.
“Mayim and Ken are both extraordinarily talented and simply lovely humans,” said Michael Davies, the show’s executive producer. “They support the staff and each other. They love and respect this institution of a television program. In return, the staff and I are honored to work alongside them.”
Prior to Bialik and Jennings, Alex Trebek hosted Jeopardy for 37 seasons. He passed away in November 2020 after battling pancreatic cancer.
