Fans Blast Jeopardy For Leaving Out Iconic Rock Band
Jeopardy has a "classic rock flute" category, and none of the answers were Jethro Tull, angering fans of the band as member Ian Anderson is famous for playing the flute.
Fans of NBC’s Jeopardy have taken to Twitter to share their disdain with the iconic game show after it neglected to include an answer about Jethro Tull in the category “Classic Flute Rock.” The band is so well-known for playing the instrument that when host Ken Jennings announced the categories, many fans assumed that Jethro Tull would be mentioned. This oversight is as if show creators created a category about contemporary flutists and left out the superstar Lizzo.
Writer and Producer Sean Thomason (RiffTrax) expressed his disapproval on the social media platform and was far from alone.
Jethro Tull is the most apparent inappropriate exclusion, but viewers felt another classic band deserved mention. Jerry Eubanks of The Marshall Tucker Band is also a talented flute player and brought the instrument to the top 40 music until 1996. Classic rock fans are not to be slighted when it comes to trivia.
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull is one of the few flute-playing classic rock musicians that most people can name off the top of their heads. His album covers, live performances, and the sound of the sonorous woodwind sealed the instrument with the band’s sound and style. Fans heard and saw Ian Anderson with a flute every time the band played. Because of this Jeopardy, audiences found omitting the band from the category disrespectful.
Not everyone who found the Jeopardy exclusion offensive was a fan of the band. Even Twitter users who explicitly stated they couldn’t stand Jethro Tull thought it was a bad call. But, no matter how you slice it, leaving such a well-known band in a niche category was bound to surprise and disappoint the audience.
Not everyone who watched the episode left feeling upset. One viewer had the perfect attitude and understood why the writers skipped Jethro Tull in the category.
Jeopardy writers are likely watching these reactions with some amusement, as excluding the band was strategic. The show has been known to leave out obvious clues and answers to challenge contestants and viewers. Part of the fun of watching Jeopardy at home is shouting out the answers from your sofa and not getting too many right.
Jethro Tull is no stranger to creating genre-related controversy. The band made a pre-Twitter stir in 1989 when they were nominated for a Grammy in a surprising category. Competing against Metallica, Jethro Tull was nominated for the Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Recording award. Unbelievably, the decidedly dad-rock band beat out the arena-selling headbangers, and fans were unhappy.
Flute rock may be dead, but fans still look out for the genre. Ian Anderson and his surviving bandmates will be glad to know that Jeopardy may have forgotten them, but millions of others have not. So the next time Jeopardy features a question about classic rock bands that heavily feature woodwinds, the writers may think back to this episode and remember that the band is very much alive in the hearts and minds of at least a few thousand Twitter users.
