It’s been a week-and-a-half since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, receiving massive pushback from abroad as well as from Ukrainians themselves. The news has been troubling. Sometimes it’s been surreal. And on Friday night’s Jeopardy!, the brainiac game show inadvertently added to everyone’s woes.
Like any program, Jeopardy! tapes its shows well in advance. Big-time winners, like Amy Schneider, have to hide the truth about how well they’ve done — and when they finally lose — from the public. Back in early-to-mid January, when Friday’s night’s Ken Jennings-hosted episode was taped, the idea of Russia invading Ukraine about a month-and-a-half later seemed pretty far-fetched. So, in the simpler times of early 2022, no one thought anything about having a) a category called “Bordering Russia,” and b) an answer whose question was “What is Ukraine?”
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The full $800 clue went as follows: “The Kerch Strait — along with serious border issues — separates Russia from this country on the Black Sea.” The “answer,” of course, is the nation weathering increasingly aggressive Russian forces, who’ve even targeted Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, in an assault that thankfully didn’t lead to continent-threatening catastrophe.
The show’s producers were aware that a category that seemed fine in January is triggering in early March. When the clue appeared, the show’s producers added both a disclaimer in the upper left side of the screen, reading “Recorded on January 11, 2022,” as well as a tweet ahead of the episode’s airing that further clarified the matter.
Please note the clue in today's show concerning Russia and Ukraine was recorded on Jan. 11, 2022.
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) March 4, 2022
The night’s champ, Margaret Shelton, incidentally, did not get that one.
(Via THR)
