Sometimes on the beloved game show Jeopardy, contestants getting answers wrong can result
in some hilarious unintentional comedy.
In this video, we’ll be looking at some times where Jeopardy contestants gave answers
that were so bad that they became funny.
Join Facts Verse as we explore the absolute WORST Jeopardy answers the show has ever seen.
A Contestant Mistakes a Love Triangle for a Threesome
In one memorable episode of Jeopardy, a contestant was given the relatively simple clue of “if
Andy yearns for Brenda and Brenda cares about Charlene who pines for Andy, the three of
them form one of these."
The majority of viewers at home at the time, as well as the majority of you watching this
video now, will likely know that the answer should’ve gone something like “what is
a love triangle?”
Instead, the answer that the contestant gave went “what is a threesome?”
Of course, many in the audience figured that the contestant was just being cheeky, but
the apparent shame in the contestant’s eyes after making the Freudian slip suggested that
it was truly an accident.
It seems that there are some Jeopardy contestants that need to brush up on their interpersonal
skills!
Was There a Hymn in the Bible Named “Kinky Boots”?
Another memorable flub made by a contestant on Jeopardy occurred when said contestant
was given the clue “a Christian hymn and a Jewish holiday hymn are both titled this,
also the name of a 2009 Tony-nominated musical."
Unless you’re a fan of Broadway musicals and an avid reader of the bible, the question
is certainly on the trickier side.
The category of the question was “Hymns”, suggesting that the contestant went about
answering the question under the presumption that he was supposed to be keeping things
biblical.
However, the answer that the contestant ended up giving was decidedly unbiblical.
Perhaps simply naming the only Broadway musical from that time period that he could think
of, the contestant gave the answer of Kinky Boots.
For those that don’t know, the correct answer to the clue would’ve been Rock of Ages.
Thankfully, the contestant that made this mistake was already so far in the lead that
he ended up winning regardless.
Infamous Jeopardy Personality Ken Jennings Accidentally Gets Misogynistic
Everybody and their mother seems to be against Ken Jennings nowadays, but there was a time
when the infamous Jeopardy personality was simply known as another contestant on the
show.
During this time period, Ken made a name for himself as the Jeopardy contestant with the
longest winning streak in history.
However, that doesn’t mean that the contestant was above making a mistake every once in a
while.
In fact, Ken made a mistake during his early days as a contestant on the show that has
gone down in history as being nearly as infamous as the man himself.
That mistake saw Ken accidentally brandishing a slur that is often used to describe sexually
available women.
The clue that Ken Jennings was given went “this term for a long-handled gardening
tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker."
Of course, those who are more familiar with their old-fashioned vernacular may quickly
realize that the answer that Ken should’ve given was "what is a rake?"
However, Ken’s mind ended up going somewhere else entirely, and it caused quite a stir!
Instead of giving the corrected answer, Ken responded with the answer of “what is a
hoe?”
Instantly, Alex Trebek let out a cry of shock and gave a cunning response to Ken’s slip-up.
Alex made a joke about whether that was the kind of thing that Ken was taught in school.
Little could anyone have anticipated that Ken would go on to temporarily replace Alex
as the host of the program after the latter figure’s death!
One Jeopardy Contestant Wasn’t All That Fond of Liberals
On another memorable episode of Jeopardy, there was a slip-up wherein a contestant accidentally
showed his true beliefs about those on the political left.
The contestant was presented with a picture of a pinkish flower, and then given the clue
of “the flower pictured here is called this, which is also a disparaging term for people
on the political left."
The contestant apparently didn’t know the correct answer, so he went about approximating
it as best he could.
It seems that he went into his brain database and searched through all of the names of flowers
he knew that also doubled as insults.
The best one that he could think of was apparently “pansy”, and so he gave the answer of
“what are pansies?”
If we’re following the above logic, the contestant certainly wasn’t meaning to make
a political statement.
Instead, he was just trying to win the game!
However, it’s undeniable that the answer the contestant ended up giving was unintentionally
hilarious, and made it seem like he had some kind of a vendetta against democrats.
For those that haven’t figured it out for themselves, the correct response to the given
clue and picture would’ve been “what is a bleeding heart?"
The term “bleeding-heart liberal” denotes that liberals are overly sympathetic, which
is much kinder than denoting that liberals are a bunch of pansies or cowards.
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A Contestant Unintentionally Shows Their Love for the Late Latina Pop Idol Selena
Another memorable Jeopardy flub came when a contestant was asked to define what the
term “selenophobia” meant.
The word certainly isn’t all the common, and it’s hard to divine its etymology from
simply looking at it.
The contestant certainly seems not to have been familiar with the word, so they went
about trying to break down its etymology the best they could.
Of course, the two main parts of the word would be “seleno” and “phobia”, with
“phobia” obviously denoting fear of something.
One can easily infer that the term “selenophobia” might mean the fear of someone or something
called “seleno”, and “seleno” sounds a bit like “Selena”.
For most people, the first person that comes to mind when they hear the name “Selena”
is the late Mexican pop sensation.
With no better answer to give, the contestant then gave the answer of “what is the fear
of Mexican music stars?"
Sadly, the answer was not correct, and should’ve instead been “what is an irrational fear
of the moon?”
However, it was an undeniably fun moment, especially for those in the audience who were
fans of Mexican pop.
A Contestant Makes a Joke About the Pope All of the above moments certainly got some
big reactions from the audience, but it took another level of humor entirely to get a real
rise out of Alex Trebek.
One of the few moments that got an authentic chuckle from the beloved former host of Jeopardy
was when a contestant made a decidedly tasteless joke about Pope Paul III.
The category of the question was “16th Century Names”, and the clue that the contestant
was given went “Paul III roared at him, 'I have waited 30 years for your services.
Now I'm Pope, can't I satisfy my desire?'"
Of course, the word “him” in the clue suggests unquestionably that whoever the Pope
was addressing would’ve had to be a male.
However, whichever male it was supposed to have been was beyond the contestant.
Instead, the contestant relented to give the joke answer of “who is Lady Godiva?”
The play was cheap, but it somehow managed to get a laugh out of Alex Trebek.
Perhaps, the late game-show host just enjoyed seeing religious leaders getting taken down
a peg.
A Contestant Makes a Reference to Norm Macdonald Those that are fans of the late Norm Macdonald
and his time on Saturday Night Live will certainly get a kick out of this next memorable moment
from Jeopardy.
In one episode, a contestant was given the clue of “this song from a 1999 animated
film about censorship had a word censored from its Oscar performance."
Younger audience members may have a much easier time answering the question, but the Jeopardy
contestant apparently couldn’t do it for the life of her.
Instead, she took the opportunity to make a reference to one of her favorite gags from
Saturday Night Live.
Having no idea what the real answer was, the contestant wrote down “what is ‘The Love
Ballad of Turd Ferguson’."
For those that don’t know, this was a reference to the popular Celebrity Jeopardy sketches
on Saturday Night Live.
These sketches featured beloved cast member Norm Macdonald doing one of the only impressions
that he could… which just so happened to be Burt Reynolds.
This moment is made all the more poignant in the wake of Norm’s passing, though there
was another memorable Jeopardy flub where an entirely different deceased Saturday Night
Live star was mentioned.
A Contestant Mistakes Johnny Cash for Chris Farley
Chris Farley certainly isn’t the first name that will pop up in most peoples’ heads
when they think of “Musical Legends”.
However, that was just the category that this next clue came in, and the contestant at hand
couldn’t think of any better answer.
The clue went “his 2003 People Magazine obituary was headlined 'Fade to Black’."
It’s certainly true that Chris Farley is a deceased celebrity, though that fact had
to have been just about the only rational thing going through the contestant’s head
when they said “who is Chris Farley?”
The answer should’ve been “who is Johnny Cash?”
A Contestant Gets Cocky Last but not least, let’s take a look at
this memorable moment from a 2014 episode.
A contestant was given the clue of “in 1891, this European said, 'perhaps my factories
will put an end to war sooner than your congresses’."
The contestant had absolutely no idea what the correct answer was, and instead decided
that he was going to try and make the audience laugh.
He accomplished his goal and did so by writing “this handsome gentleman” and drawing
an arrow pointing up to himself.
There’s nothing funny about missing out on millions of dollars, but these Jeopardy
contestants somehow managed to get laughs from giving incorrect answers on the show.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that infamous Jeopardy personality Ken
Jennings once inadvertently used a misogynistic slur during his time as a contestant on the
program and that another contestant used her time on the show to pay tribute to Saturday
Night Live alum Norm Macdonald?
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