Mayim Bialik Under Fire From Jeopardy! Fans For Changing Rules
Mayim Bialik confused Jeopardy fans by saying an answer was incorrect, then making the opposite ruling minutes later.
Mayim Bialik may have walked away from Jeopardy to stand beside the striking writers but shows with her as the host are still airing due to how the show is taped. As a result, long-suffering fans that are frequently annoyed by Bialik’s missteps have a new one from a recent show that is making the rounds on social media. During the episode that aired on May 31, the former Big Bang Theory star said one form of an answer was incorrect, but then, in the same category, awarded it as correct the second time around, leaving fans wondering what just happened.
Jeopardy Contestant Kyle Marshall answered a question under the category “Presidential Doin’s” by stating, “Adams.” Mayim Bialik requested that Marshall be more specific with his answer, prompting “John Adams,” which was declared incorrect. One of the other competitors, Ilhanna Redzovic, stole with “John Quincy Adams,” but even if Marshall got the answer wrong, it was the initial reaction by Bialik that sent fans over the edge later in the show.
Once again, Kyle Marshall gave a short answer in the same category, “Harrison,” but this time around, Mayim Bialik ruled it to be a correct answer. Jeopardy fans were left wondering why Adams prompted a request to be more specific, but the equally vague Harrison was deemed to be acceptable. As with Adams, Harrison could technically refer to either President Benjamin Harrison or President William Henry Harrison, hence the confusion over why the two answers were treated differently.
Daily Hive reported that the episode was filmed in March, allowing Marshall, the eventual second-place winner, to host a watch party up in Canada, where he works as a librarian. Notably, social media isn’t angry with Marshall over his answers, which were both technically correct, with all of the blame being directed towards Mayim Bialik. It’s not the first time that the embattled Jeopardy host has made rulings fans have disagreed with; only a few weeks ago, every contestant was told an answer was wrong after no one could pronounce Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Mayim Bialik may be the target of the fan’s ire lately but in other recent episodes, the producers and writers were under fire, once for including a category about the WWE, and a noticeable trend of a question’s dollar worth not being tied to how difficult it is to answer. Another growing issue during this last season was Final Jeopardy questions that, as with Marshall and Redzovic’s episode, no contestants have been able to answer correctly due to how obscure they are.
Fans have a few more weeks of Mayim Bialik episodes to get through before Ken Jennings, who crossed the picket line and isn’t siding with the Jeopardy writers, takes over as host for the Summer. The venerable game show has been losing viewers all season, as the co-host concept between Bialik and Jennings isn’t working to anyone’s benefit. Fans are now left wondering the answer to the question, “How long until Bialik is no longer a host?”
