‘Jeopardy!’ fans are ashamed of contestants missing answers

“Jeopardy!” fans are fed up that some of the show’s contestants are getting some pretty “easy” questions wrong on the game show.

Amid a rash of recent controversies, fans flooded Twitter this week to blast their frustration after contestants Dennis Leung, Kathy Barkey and Ittai Sopher, two-day champion, missed several questions throughout every round of the show.

“Whoa! What was up with the folks on #Jeopardy tonight?” one Twitter user ranted. “For people of that caliber, those were some pretty basic questions that no one was getting…”

A separate Twitter user claimed that host Ken Jennings looked “annoyed at the contestants fluffing some pretty easy questions.”

Another user raged on Monday: “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.”

Along with the user’s statement, he 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?” with the other two contestants only penning one name.

“Exceptionally poorly worded final question on #Jeopardy tonight—looks like many were confused about whether it was asking for one name or two,” another Twitter user added of Monday night’s last question.

On July 6, Redfield & Wilton Strategies conducted a survey where they asked 1,500 people if they believe “Jeopardy!” questions are too easy. 51% of the polled individuals “believe the questions on Jeopardy are the same in difficulty/easiness as they used to be a few years ago.” 

This is not the first time “Jeopardy!” fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the show. After Monday’s episode, “Jeopardy!” fans accused Ken Jennings of tricking a contestant into betting big.

Despite the small hiccup on Monday’s show, Jennings has received praise online as the host.

“Ken Jennings is a delightful host,” one user previously wrote. “Mayim was nice but had such awkward timing. I hope Ken wants the gig full time.”

“Please make Ken the only permanent host,” one user begged. “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 has always stood behind choosing Mayim Bialik along with Jennings.

“Mayim and Ken are both extraordinarily talented and simply lovely humans,” Michael Davies, the show’s executive producer, previously said. “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.”

Before Bialik and Jennings took over, the show was hosted by Alex Trebek – whose tenure at the game show spanned 37 seasons. After a long battle with pancreatic cancer, the 80-year-old died in November 2020.