A JEOPARDY! expert has clued fans in on what most likely caused Wednesday’s editing glitch.
The contestants’ final scores on their podiums flashed on-screen for multiple seconds before the game had begun.
NBCAn editing mistake early in the Jeopardy! episode accidentally revealed the contestants’ scores[/caption]
ABCAn insider claimed Jeopardy! most likely ‘redid’ Mayim Bialik’s intro and ‘completely overlooked’ resetting the screens[/caption]
The U.S. Sun was the first to report the antenna-adjusting incident on March 8’s episode when it aired.
Host Mayim, 47, was congratulating the finalists in the High School Reunion Tournament and wished them good luck when the camera cut to their final tallies showing.
Jackson Jones’ $24,000, Justin Bolsen’s $13,570, and Maya Wright’s $3,370 remained on screen for several seconds and were indeed their totals in the end.
Jeopardy! could not spoil the ultimate result of the college students’ fierce faceoff, because it’s a two-game match with the highest combined score determining the winner.
The second game is scheduled to air tonight and the winner will score $100K and a slot in the 2023 Tournament of Champions.
The tournament has reunited 27 former Teen Tournament contestants so they can compete against each other once more.
A blunder of this magnatitude did not go unnoticed and has since made national news.
Clamoring fans took to Twitter calling the slip-up everything from a “big oopsie” to a “horrendous” look for the game show, some joked they thought they were “clairvoyant.”
‘THEY FORGOT TO RESET THE SCREENS’
Lilly Nelson, who hot-or-nots contestants’ outfits under the Twitter handle @OneEcelcticMom – is a favorite figure of in-the-know show followers and attended the 2022 Tourament of Champions.
Lilly tweeted about the gaffe and from her experience, why it may have happened.
“Whoops, they showed a shot of the final scores during Mayim’s intro,” she began a thread.
“My guess is that they had to do a pickup on all/part of Mayim’s intro & recorded that at the end of the game but forgot to reset the screens.
“When I was in the audience for a taping last year, there was a late-game pick-up where something like this could have happened.
“They had put up the Final Jeopardy dividers and cleared the contestant names from the screen for them to write their wagers, but then needed Ken [Jennings] to redo something.
“So they had to clear the wagers, put the dividers back down, and have the contestants rewrite their names so they would appear correctly on the podiums in the shot.
“I assume it was just completely overlooked [this time], but it’s also possible someone noticed the mistake but figured it didn’t matter as much since the ‘final’ scores are only the first of a two-day total.
“They did mention that the turnaround on these episodes was TIGHT.
“Usually, they tape about 2 months ahead, but this tournament taped on Jan. 29/30/31, just 3 weeks before it started airing.
“So the editing process may have been a bit more rushed than usual.”
One fan replied thanking them for some potential clarity: “I was so confused!! I thought I missed a day and this was day two of a TWO DAY TOTAL POINT AFFAIR.”
Lilly wrote back: “Definitely wondered for a minute if I had slept through Wednesday or something!”
“Generally, the show is filmed straight through, but often they have to go back and pick up bits when the host flubs a word or makes a mistake.
“So sometimes those moments are re-recorded during a break later in the show or at the end of the show and then edited into the right spot.”
IT HAPPENS!
There have been a few editing snafus that fans have nitpicked since during both hosts’ respective appearances, though nothing of this caliber.
In Septemebr, a contestant’s Final Jeopardy! response and wager were displayed mid-way through a game hosted by Ken, as The U.S. Sun spotted at the time.
And last March, a contestant’s winning total and third placer’s consolation prize also flashed on screen following a clue with host Mayim – we also scooped.
Ken, 47 is returning on Friday, March 10 to host regular episodes after the special’s finals conclude.
In September he and actress Mayim were announced as the permanent replacements for the late, great Alex Trebek, who had hosted since 1984.
ABCThe expert wrote: ‘either they forgot to reset the screens’ or ‘figured it didn’t matter’ since it’s a 2-day finals that was filmed on a ‘rushed’ schedule[/caption]
ABCEarlier this season a contestant’s final wager was shown but not their final score[/caption]
ABCAnd last year that episode’s winner did have their final score shown but only for a split-second[/caption]
