‘Jeopardy!’ Viewers Are Outraged That A Winning Streak Ended Over A Single Letter

A common trope in movies and television shows is a character being one day from retirement. On Tuesday’s episode of Jeopardy!, a contestant was one letter away from a 10-day winning streak.

Ben Chan, a philosophy professor from Green Bay, Wisconsin, first appeared on Jeopoardy! in April. He breezed through multiple victories until he tested positive for COVID and had to step away from the game show to recover. Once Chan returned, the win streak continued to nine games. That’s also where it ended after a controversial decision in Final Jeopardy.

The clue, in the category “Shakespeare’s Characters,” read, “Both of the names of these 2 lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for ‘blessed.'” The answer is “Beatrice and Benedick” from Much Ado About Nothing, which Chan almost got, but he wrote down “Beatrice and Benedict.”

Those stick-in-the-muds judge wouldn’t give it to him, and even though none of the three contestants answered correctly, “it was Chan who lost the biggest, having bet $12,201. With only $3,000 on the line, Di Vito ended up the winner with $11,800 to Chan’s $5,199 and Danny Leserman’s $1,000,” according to Entertainment Weekly.

Jeopardy! viewers are furious on Chan’s behalf. “Wait what just happened on Jeopardy! Are you kidding that you bounced Ben on a technicality??!! There have been other Final Jeopardy responses with misspelling which were accepted. This has become such an inconsistent policy of late. Get it together. Bring back Ben!” one wrote, while another tweeted, “Really? You kicked Ben because of a spelling error? Had it been a verbal response you would not have known he couldn’t spell it. Ben was robbed. Embarrassing.”

(Via Entertainment Weekly)