‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Slam Show’s Writers As Sam Buttrey Loses Controversial TOC Game 3
This… Is… Jeopardy!
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Jeopardy‘s Tournament of Champions continued on Wednesday (November 16) night as Andrew He won his second game of the week, leaving him just one victory away from claiming the TOC crown. However, many fans believe Sam Buttrey was robbed.
Heading into Final Jeopardy!, Professors’ Tournament winner Buttrey led with $14,800, with He at $13,200, and super-champ Amy Schneider trailing with $2,400. The final clue under the category “The New Testament” read: “Paul’s letter to them is the New Testament epistle with the most Old Testament quotations.”
Schneider’s answer, “Who are The Hebrews,” was deemed correct by host Ken Jennings, while Buttrey’s “Who are The Romans” was considered incorrect. Meanwhile, He answered incorrectly with “Philippiaes,” but after Buttrey’s wager, he ended up with enough earnings to win the episode.
Some fans were not happy with this outcome, as there is much debate over who wrote the biblical texts, including parts of The New Testament. As noted on the Jeopardy Fan website, there are “conflicting sources as to whether Romans or Hebrews contains more quotations. Secondly, there’s the more pressing question of authorship—specifically of Hebrews. There’s no dispute that Paul wrote Romans.”
“What a bunch of crap,” one fan wrote on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum. “This is a terrible clue. The authorship of Hebrews is disputed. Not counting Hebrews, Romans has the most [quotations]. Sam was robbed.”
“Way to go writers you have just screwed up the biggest TOC in years,” added another commenter. “Sam was correct. This should be overturned.”
“I just feel sick for Sam,” said one viewer. “He played a tremendous game and lost on a questionable FJ clue. The writer of Hebrews never identifies themself, as Paul does in his letters.”
Others are holding out hope that the show will correct this in the next episode. “Wondering if, since it’s a tournament, they’ll make an announcement at the beginning of tomorrow’s show?” wrote one fan. “It’s just hard for me to believe that nobody caught this pretty massive blunder.”
“What a rough break for Sam; it’s been awhile since we’ve had a FJ this egregiously misleading or outright wrong,” wrote another user. “It’s sad to see a tournament affected by something like this, as bringing the affected contestants back for another chance won’t work here.”
Jeopardy!, Tournament of Champions, Weeknights, Check your local listings
