‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Fuming as Millions Miss Thrilling Drew Goins ‘Wildcard’ Win
Jeopardy! fan favorite Drew Goins chalked up another runaway victory on Monday’s (January 20) Champions Wildcard semifinal, but many viewers are fuming because they couldn’t watch the episode due to Donald Trump‘s inauguration.
The episode saw Goins returning to the Alex Trebek Stage alongside fellow semifinalists Joey DeSena and Jen Feldman. Fans had been highly anticipating the match-up due to Goins’ impressive run through the Second Chance tournament and the Champions Wildcard quarterfinals.
However, many networks across the United States chose not to air the episode, instead providing coverage of President Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C. This led to frustration among Jeopardy! fans, as they weren’t previously warned that the episode would be preempted.
“I literally spent all day avoiding news about the inauguration only for it to f*** my nightly routine and the one thing I was looking forward to,” wrote on user on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum.
“It got preempted halfway through on the NBC channel we watch on,” said another.
“I was so looking forward to this all day. I audibly shouted when I saw what I saw instead of these lovely contestants,” another added.
One X user wrote, “What a lousy Monday 7PM #jeopardy peeps. The brain exercise is preempted.”
“I was already bummed about today for obvious reasons but now it feels personal,” added another.
“Talking heads keeping us from having 30 minutes of freedom from political craziness,” another said.
As with previous games, Goins got off to a quick start, answering an impressive 14 clues in the opening round to give him a solid lead of $7,200 over Feldman’s $2,400 and DeSena’s $800.
Goins continued to rack up correct responses in Double Jeopardy, though Feldman found the first Daily Double for a sizable $5,000. However, Goins landed on the second Daily Double, making an educated guess and snagging $4,000 for a total of $26,800, just enough for a runaway heading into Final Jeopardy.
Host Ken Jennings then read out the final clue, “A U.S. Navy website says its journey from New London to Norway in 1957 opened up Arctic waters previously ruled by the Soviets.”
Only DeSena answered correctly with the USS Nautilus, but it didn’t matter, as Goins (who wagered $0) had already secured his spot in the Champions Wildcard finals, where he’ll now be hoping to win and land a spot in the Tournament of Champions.
Did you get to see Monday’s episode of Jeopardy? What did you think of Goins’ game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Comments are closed on this story.
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C
I HATED TO SEE A CONVICTED FELON REPLACE PEOPLE WHO REALLY DO HAVE BRAINS.
Typical of the dumbest guy to hog TV for an endless day. A pox on him!
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E
Got to see the episode. Drew is one of the most personable contestants with no negative energy. I hope he goes all the way! And he gave a great response to Final Jeopardy!
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B
Our market had Jeopardy at the normal time but didn’t air WOF. I agree it was a horrible day!
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J
Our local ABC channel in L.A. played the episode last night Jan 20th at it's regularly scheduled time. One of the best shows I've seen. Drew is a veritable cornucopia of general knowledge and with a little bit of DD luck will be a force to be reckoned with in the championships.
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O
I was fortunate enough to be in the studio audience that day, back in mid-November when they filmed it. When Drew, Joey and Jen initially appeared in their shows during the season, I really enjoyed watching them progress to this tournament. Great show, including the delight of seeing Sam Buttrey in the audience and speaking to him briefly during a break! Knowing the air date to be on Inauguration Day was the only reason I turned on the TV that day.
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R
I didn't recall Surfer Boy from his first appearance, but became a fan during WILD CARD. Luckily able to see all his episodes since, and looking forward to tomorrow & Friday night's matches. Expect to see him in TOC!
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O
Drew Goins was a class act -- knowledgable, fun, humble, engaging. I hope that Yogesh Raut was watching and learned a lesson of how a true champion should act and project the best of the game. Then again Raut was likely at Trumps inaugural; they are like two peas in a pod. I unequivocally hope Drew goes all the way, but win it all or not, he had elevated these championship series.
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P
I totally agree! Well said! Thank you for your post! I hope Drew becomes the next Jeopardy MC!! ;-)))
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G
Here's a tip. Search YouTube for "Jeopardy" and the date of the episode. If you're lucky, you'll find a bootlegged upload that may only be available for a short time. This is how I watched last night.
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B
Too many adds running on TV these days. Like most is, we fast forward or silence the ads, or change channels. The negative news is more than we need to put up with. It is no surprise that GREED is taking over everything these days. The ads are depressing and most are ridiculous. The Attorneys who pay people to lie, the charities that pay families to cry, the contractors that we have already hired just to find out how unqualified they are! Where do you think the money is coming from to pay for the ads. Yes, your pocket. Anyone who needs to advertise that much is not getting “word of mouth” ads! Never hire these in unscrupulous companies.
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K
Loved it!! Go Drew!!!!! Sorry you all missed it!!!! Loved the day and loved the show!!!!
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B
Was very dissatisfied that the network thought we all wanted to see the biggest disappointed ever with this so called narcissistic felon as our leader. You owe all fans of your show an apology.
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P
Drew all the way. He is adorable. Always smiling and cheerful. He has such an awesome attitude. I hope he completes this tournament and then on to the Tournament of Champions
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O
Could not watch Drew & Ken, was totally bummed about election coverage after I heard that NBC, in my market, was covering until 3 PM, but then it (the coverage) just went on and on, about to barf from the coverage, finally turned that crap off!!!!
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G
"I audibly shouted ..."
At least that's better than shouting mutely.
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P
Personally, I think celebrity jeopardy is a waste of time. My husband and I love jeopardy. But when we see celebrity jeopardy, we take a quick peak to see who the slums are, and if we don't recognize the names, we don't even try to watch. It's just silly. I can think of a lot better things to do with the time than sit and watch a bunch of unknowns. Try to act cool and make jokes about the questions they can't answer.Personally, I think celebrity jeopardy is a waste of time. My husband and I love jeopardy. But when we see celebrity jeopardy, we take a quick peak to see who the celebs are, and if we don't recognize the names, we don't even try to watch. It's just silly. I can think of a lot better things to do with the time than sit and watch a bunch of unknowns try to act cool and make jokes about the questions they can't answer.
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R
We need more Drew’s in this world!!
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G
These sad stories about missing the game are so sad, because the game is on YouTube with no ads, just like it has been for at least a year.
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P
When Ken retires, please have Drew Goins MC Jeopardy! He has a great personality is SO smart, and he is SO CUTE❣️❣️❣️
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G
We had looked forward to this episode also!
Very bummed out that provisions weren't made to keep fans up-to-date on a Tournament we've been following for this long!
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B
So much fun to watch a game like that! Great competition! The way it should be!
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P
In NYC the episode was shown at 3:30 AM, when the station normally broadcasts reruns of last year’s shows.
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C
Our Houston affiliate SAID it was going to do the same thing. Heck the Guide on my TV even said it was going to be Champions Wild Card. So the autorecording grabbed the episode. As I fired it up last night, to my chagrin, it was instead a rerun of a previous episode. Aaaaarrrrgh.
Then we missed yesterday's episode because of the wall-to-wall snow coverage.
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G
We had Trumps stuff all dayand night, sooo did notgetto seethe show!
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Website called J Archive. Go to season 41 (current season). Choose the date you want to see.
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O
Drew is a very good player very well versed and knowable on many subjects as should be for working in the news plus no male mlsfunshion all around good guy
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O
Did Drew Goins answer one of the questions correctly when he said Les Mis instead of Les Miserables?
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J
Yes...the shortened title is generally used 9and accepted) more often than the full form.
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R
I figured it wouldn’t air as it is usually on at 4:30. So I planned to just read the highlights here.
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P
I like Trump, but I was upset when they cut the show off after the Jeopardy round to show him signing executive orders.
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J
get over it you whining cunnies.
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