‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After Ike Barinholtz’s Huge TOC Shock
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the March 4 episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy! features a first with its Tournament of Champions in 2024: an actor, who won Celebrity Jeopardy!, taking part. Ike Barinholtz won three games, like one of his opponents Melissa Klapper; the third player in the March 4 quarterfinal, Ray Lalonde, won 13.
Barinholtz started off great, with the first correct answer (in Vacation Spots for $800). He was in third after the first break, when host Ken Jennings asked him what it’s like to be the first Celebrity Jeopardy! champion to appear in the Tournament of Champions.
“I feel like a guinea pig a little bit, but I like guinea pigs, they’re adorable, like me. But yeah, it’s an honor to be here.” Barinholtz shared. “A lot of people were giving me well wishes, and a lot of them were tinged with the tone of, ‘I thought you were dumb,’ and I am, full disclosure, but it was wonderful. People were surprised, but I was happy they were saying nice things to me.” In other words, it was a “pleasant surprise,” as Jennings put it.
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Also a pleasant surprise? How well Barinholtz did after that. He chose one of the two Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy! round. “Ike, you have the lead against two great Jeopardy! champs, including a 13-game winner,” Jennings noted, asking how much he was going to risk. Barinholtz made it a true Daily Double and was correct—in Numeric Movie Titles, “Fellini felt he’d directed 7.5 film before making this 1963 gem” (What is 8 1/2?)—bringing him to $15,200.
Klapper did have the lead going into Final Jeopardy ($21,400 over Barinholtz’s $14,800 and Lalonde’s $13,800), and Jennings remarked it was a “great game” at that point.
The final clue, in Poets of Ancient Rome, read, “Far from Rome, this first century poet wrote, ‘The leader’s anger done, grant me the right to die in my native country.'” Lalonde was correct, and so Jennings wondered, as he turned to Barinholtz, “Was he thinking about Ovid, as we know celebrities often do?” He was, and in fact, with Klapper not getting the answer, Barinholtz won, with a total of $28,601. (Lalonde was in second with $21,800 and Klapper in third with $13,199.) He’s advanced to the semifinals.
Over on the Reddit thread for this episode, viewers were pleasantly surprised, though did note it did mean another fan-favorite (Lalonde) is out. “My favorite victory so far for sure,” one fan wrote. One said it was “fantastic to watch,” while according to others, Barinholtz delivered an “impressive performance” and it was “the craziest thing to ever happy in the history of Jeopardy!”
Even Lalonde fans enjoyed watching the game and seeing Barinholtz win, with one adding that it’s “cool” that a Celebrity Jeopardy! champion is in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions. “Ike played phenomenal and proved he can hang with the champs. Man crush fully activated,” the person wrote. “What a f**king baller.”
A self-proclaimed “huge Ray Lalonde fan,” added, “I must say, wow, go Ike Barinholtz! What an amazing game! He singlehandedly redeemed and elevated the Celebrity Jeopardy! name in one fell swoop. That was genuinely one of the best Jeopardy! performances I’ve seen, against some of the toughest challenges. Props to Ike.”
In general, fans have enjoyed the multiple shocking winners over the Tournament of Champions this year already. “Unreal! Despite so many of my favourites getting kicked to the curb, this has been such a blast to watch,” one viewer said, and another called it “entertaining to watch.”
At least one person is trying to come up with an explanation for what we’re seeing so far during this tournament. “This TOC has been full of surprises, and part of that might have to do with that fact that there are no wildcards. Contestants have to play to win. And that makes it all the more exciting,” reads the comment. “It really does feel like you’re watching a proper sports competition now. I don’t mind that at all, I love it.”
What did you think of Barinholtz’s performance in the quarterfinal? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Conversation19 Comments
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Comments are closed on this story.
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R
I was rooting for Ike the whole time. I'm a bigger fan of the show. My late husband and I saw all of Kens game's!!!
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P
Ike was gentlemanly and gracious to other players.
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G
I loved it! Ike was gracious and earnest. It was great fun to watch! These (TOC) games have been a welcome change! Thank you Jeopardy!
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O
There was already a celebrity tournament of champions. Is Ray Lalonde going to appear on that program next year?
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G
Watching Ike win was awesome! The best game I've seen thus far! It shows the obsessive uber-nerds playing Jeopardy like it was a death match that ordinary folk (& actors) can play & win too! And why? Because it's not life or death, but just a gameshow. Ike was obviously enjoying himself and he was a pleasure to watch. I'll be rooting for him in the semifinals!
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I think it was great! It was fun to watch and I was very impressed with his play.
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B
For what charity is Ike playing?
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R
TOC isn't for charity, that's Celebrity Jeopardy.
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N
But I have been wondering since his win on Celebrity Jeopardy went to charity, if he wins TOC does his winnings again go to charity are does he keep the money?
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O
And it does say SPOILER ALERT at the top....so it's not like you weren't warned.
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D
I know I am a curmudgeon, but am I the only one who thinks something stinks here? Ovid? Ovid? Really? I feel like the fix was in.
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R
Off point, but is Jeopardy the only game show that doesn't have a winner only final round? Wheel, People Puxx, Master Minds etc. all have a final round for the winner to go for a bigger prize.
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P
Can't believe I lived long enough to see Jeopardy compared to People Puzzler. Go Ike!
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R
But, you're oK with it being compared to Master Minds?
Wheel is unique because the losers get to keep what they've won during the game, (jeopardy losers get a pittance). Both of Merv Griffin's shows are not cut from the game show mold.
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P
Was just trying to be witty. Jeopardy is the only true test of intelligence. Did you see The Floor where contestants had to identify a fork among other things? Other than Jeopardy, I try to stick to British quiz shows.
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G
I guess I’m going to have to stop going to this website at night because you jerks keep on spoiling the results. I was only a few minutes into the show and I see this. I guess you don’t t care about the viewers so I Don care about any of you. Since you spoiled the results may all you BURN IN HELL.
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B
...a bit extreme
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C
Um, it's a TV site. They write about TV shows....
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Yeah if you want to avoid spoilers you should stop coming to this website until you're all caught up
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