Jeopardy fans are NOT happy after this recent episode…
On October 18, fans took to social media to share their disappointment with Ken Jennings, the current host of Danger!, about a complicated call when two contestants mispronounced their answers.
The $1000 track under “KICKIN AZTEC” read:
“The Aztecs founded two cities where Mexico City is now located: Tlatelolco and this, its capital.”
ABC
The correct answer was “Tenochtitlan,” now the heart of historic Mexico City, and it is certainly a difficult word to pronounce.
Contestant Kendra Blanchette walked in and responded, “What is Te-no-chit-lan?”
His pronunciation left the “T” in the middle.
ABC
Jennings judged his answer to be incorrect after a slight hesitation. Then John Saak, who later won the Champions Wildcard tournament, chimed in with his attempt to pronounce the word that was actually much worse:
“What is ‘Techno-cheech-lan?’” Saak said.
Once again, Jennings stated that his response was not acceptable.
“Um, I’m going to say no.”
ABC
Jennings’ decision knocked Blanchette from $5,200 to $4,200 and Saak from $1,400 to $400.
What gives? Is the pronunciation so serious?
on the podcast Inside Danger! On Monday, producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss addressed the incident that left fans torn on social media. Foss was joined by former Jeopardy! champion, Buzz Cohen.
“There was a lot of discussion about ‘Tenochtitlan,’” Foss said. “This was one of those, you know. We went back, we listened, we deliberated.
“It’s a tough breakup,” Cohen shared. “We can understand why our players might mispronounce that name, but the report is very clear.
“You have to pronounce the word correctly or phonetically correctly and unfortunately that didn’t happen in this case.”
Foss later said, “If someone had said ‘tee-no-teet-lan,’ even though it’s not the way we pronounce it, it’s phonetically correct and that would have been acceptable.
“So it was a difficult breakup, but certainly something that the judges reviewed and tried to deliberate until we knew we had the right decision on it.
“It was a difficult decision to make.”
This is not the first time that the new model has gone through the hair Danger! Hosts
Viewers of the long-running show have been nervous about the fate of Danger! following the rapid changes that the program has undergone since 2020, especially the new presenters of the program. Co-host Mayim Bialik even admitted that she wouldn’t feel like a strong contestant if she ever got the chance, so being a host feels strange.
Jennings, on the other hand, has adapted well to the role. In a recent story, she even agreed and made a special request for a contestant on live television.
Earlier this month, fans quickly realized that the show was reusing old material, in the wake of the Writer’s Guild of America strike, which forced them to make necessary adjustments.
After this incident, fans shared their feelings about the decision in a Reddit thread.
One user wrote: “I had trouble understanding what caused the answers to not be accepted. Obviously the judges heard something I didn’t, but to my ear, they both sounded good to at least one contestant.”
Another commented: “It seems to come up a lot and it’s always a problem. A little annoying because it’s a very technical ‘gotcha’ answer.”
“I think it should be counted if it’s close enough to be able to unambiguously say what they’re trying to say,” another responded.
Very bad very sad
This is not the first time that a contestant botched their answer on the show and lost because of it.
Last season, all three contestants were judged incorrect with three different pronunciations of the same correct answer.
Bialik was the host at the time. The track said the following:
“The author and former prisoner who said ‘socialism of any kind and nuance leads to the total destruction of the human spirit.’”
Each of the participants guessed who the correct author was, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, but one by one, Bialik told them that their answers could not be accepted.
All players lost the $1,600 earned by correcting the pronunciation because Bialik refused to accept the incorrect pronunciation. The host even commented saying, “This is a difficult question to pronounce.”
Variety
Fans complained on X about the seemingly unfair ruling:
One fan wrote: “If you’re not going to accept anyone’s attempt to pronounce Solzhenitsyn, don’t write a track about him.”
Then, once again on Reddit, fans expressed their disappointment:
“A good reason for them to abandon these types of tracks. It’s one thing to have clues that ask about the translation of common French or Spanish words or idioms, but Russian has several letters that are difficult for Americans,” said one user.
“Give me a break. Everyone had the right name!” said another viewer.
Ken now solo hosts the 40th season of Jeopardy!, while Mayim is on an indefinite hiatus as a member of SAG-AFTRA. They were initially named co-hosts in 2022 following the passing of Alex Trebek.
Categories: Biography
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