‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React to Controversial Dr. Seuss Ruling by Judges
Jeopardy! fans are not happy with how one question turned out. The game show took away a contestant’s answer, which lowered their score going into Final Jeopardy.
On Friday, April 11, Stephanie Rosman, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, played against Michael DiScuillo, from Austin, Texas, and returning champion, Andrew Hayes, from Tupelo, Mississippi.
Going into Double Jeopardy, Rosman was in third with $4,600. One question during this round caused controversy after Rosman’s answer. The clue read, “After he was barred from contributing to Dartmouth’s humor magazine, Ted Geisel began submitting pieces under this middle name.” She answered with, “Who is Dr. Seuss?” His real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel.
“That’s how he became Dr. Seuss. Yes,” host Ken Jennings said. Rosman gained another $400. She ended the round with $13,700, putting her in second.
However, when the game show came back from a commercial break right before Final Jeopardy, Jennings told Rosman that the answer was ruled incorrectly because she said “doctor” instead of just Seuss. They took away $800 from her total, dropping her down to third place with $12,900.
“Maybe I’m wrong, but that Seuss/Dr. Seuss ruling seemed harsh,” a Reddit user said.
“Yes, I thought it would fall under the ‘you can provide extra information as long as all the information is correct’ precedent,” said another.
“I didn’t understand their reasoning,” added a third.
“Yeah, that was dumb. His middle name is obviously not the literal ‘Dr Seuss.’ The other 2 players should be allowed to veto the ruling, haha,” said another.
However, some fans agreed that Rosman was wrong and shouldn’t have said “Doctor.”
“All the more reason to rule it incorrect,” a fan replied to the above comment.
“Because saying only the middle name (not the full name) was required,” a user said.
“I’d rather they were harsh on rulings like this and not so strict on minor pronunciation errors. Fact is, his middle name was not Dr Seuss,” wrote one last fan.
Rosman did not win the game, coming in $1,000 under her opponents after Final Jeopardy.
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Comments are closed on this story.
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O
Yah, I've been a fan of Jeopardy since the Art Fleming days...I'm getting a little turned off by all the nitpicky decisions. I roll my eyes whenever I hear something like this, not watching as much anymore...I saw this game and I said "WHO GIVES A FCK"......very anal.
12 3
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G
Nitpicky? It's clearly wrong. It asked for his middle name not his pen name. Not a difficult concept to grasp.
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C
When they do this, they need to adjudicate it then and there. Waiting until the end to tell the contestant doesn't allow her time to strategize.
12 3
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They let them change their bets
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B
No they don’t. They explain the ruling to the contestants after the ruling comes down with the cameras off. All bets are made with everyone knowing the amended scores.
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G
I saw an interview with Alex once and he said on some clues he had a list of potential responses that would be incorrect so he could rule against them right away. The writers should have anticipated that somebody may say Dr. Seuss and informed Ken that it wouldn't be acceptable.
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The judges don’t stop the flow of the game. The only pauses in gameflow are at Daily Doubles and the ends of rounds. When there is a ruling, the taping stops, the host explains the ruling, and then the cameras go back on for the explanation to the viewing audience. (I was a contestant and they dinged me for a very minor mispronunciation that cost me $3200) But she and the other contestants have more than enough time to strategize. They only make it look seamless through the magic of TV editing.
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G
I don’t ever remembering this many controversial decisions being made when Alex was still the host.
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O
The host doesn't make that kind of decision, so it matters not whether it was Alex or Ken.
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What's wrong with you?
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C
Did they use different judges back then? The host doesn't make these decisions.
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O
Could it be because (1) the audience is a different generation which just opines on everything and (2) there wasn't always an internet that picked on every, little thing that one said or did?
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C
Am I the only who doesn’t like the “modern” approach to Jeapordy. , start at the bottom anwork your way up. I really dislike it, I like to see a category build to the $1000 or $2000 answer
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G
They're looking for the daily double
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B
What about that weird actor portraying Mary Todd Lincoln
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O
That's because that actor is the person who plays Mary Todd Lincoln in the comedy play "Oh, Mary!" Which was also the name of the category they were in.
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G
Some trivia person you are who didn't know about the play Oh, Mary.
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I loved him!
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G
Weird? You mean the accomplished and acclaimed actor?
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C
We know why that person was chosen. These freaks have taken over Jeopardy. It all starts with the super freak producer Davis with his obvious agenda. So many transsexuals, transvestites, etc. I don’t care what these people do in their personal life, but they never fail to mention their “husband” or their drag show follies. They are ruining the show. I know many people who have stopped watching.
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P
You should watch WOF.
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G
Too many "wrong* answers when they are right and too many right ones that are wrong.
Final Jeopardy spelling used to count now it doesn't
Also they don't take in account of a persons accent when they talk. For example thick New York accent "talk" would sound like "tawk" like you are saying the word "hawk" but instead of using the "h" you are using the letter "t"
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This time, Reddit's right on my book.
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It's clearly wrong. It asked for his middle name not his pen name. Not a difficult concept to grasp.
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Do they give you things to study?
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The judges aren’t consistent! I’ve seen so many that should have been correct and so many that should have been judged as wrong. Not fair at all. Get on the same page judges!!
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C
What was the category?
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R
The ruling was correct.
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Absolutely. I don't know anyone who has the word doctor as a middle name.
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O
I agree
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G
Ken can be very condescending. He pads or pares many contestant responses and also adds words when naming the categories. No one will ever meet or exceed Alex, but Ken needs to do better.
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It's very interesting how many of these questionable rulings negatively impact women contestants.
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Oh stop. It does not.
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C
It's even more interesting when people make accusations of sexism with no evidence.
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Seriously?
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