'Jeopardy!' Contestant Just Had Second Worst Score Ever

In a season 9 episode of The Simpsons, Marge Simpson goes on Jeopardy! to make money after Bart lies about burning down the family’s Christmas tree and presents. It’s a whole thing. The point is, Marge’s plan backfires when she finishes with the comically low total of negative $5,200.

But that’s still $2,000 better than how a recent contestant did.

On Monday’s episode of Jeopardy!, Erin Buker, a stay-at-home mom from San Pedro, California, competed against Michigan graduate student Drew Basile and Canadian lightning designer Graham Hicks. But really, she was competing against history: according to TV Insider, Buker finished with negative $7,200, which is the second lowest score in the game show’s history. She was only 200 bucks away from the lowest total, set by Patrick Pearce on July 26, 2021.

Once the episode aired, Hicks (who lost to Basile) showed his support for Buker on the Jeopardy! subreddit. “Huge respect to Erin, that’s a tough situation to be in and a lot of people would have let it knock them down. Instead she dug in and kept swinging like a tough competitor should,” he wrote. Others were with him. “Erin, you gave it your all and I was rooting for you the whole way. The fact that you have such kind things to say about your fellow contestants just cements in my mind what an awesome person you are,” one user wrote, while another added, “I can hardly imagine how different and nerve-wracking it must be up there. Much love and respect.”

It’s unclear if Buker had to pay the money back, like Marge did.