Jeopardy! viewers shocked after contestants failed to name multi-Emmy Award winning series from a ‘dead giveaway’ clue

The episode saw two-time Jeopardy! champ TJ Fischer return to defend his title

JEOPARDY! contestants have stunned viewers after no one could name a mega-popular TV series based on a clue that they thought was a no-brainer.

Monday night’s show featured two-time champion TJ Fischer battling against new opponents, Kate Kostelnik and Brian Dixon.

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Jeopardy! fans were shocked when all three contestants failed to name an award-winning series as the answer to a clueCredit: ABC

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Returning champ, TJ Fisher won the game, with his third consecutive victoryCredit: ABC
TJ had a similar play on Friday where he struggled at first but ended up running away with the game in a big way.

By the episode’s first break, Kate, a personal trainer from Orlando, Florida, had an impressive lead with $2,000 compared to TJ’s $200 and Brian, a server from Atlanta, Georgia, with $600.

In fact, Kate dominated much of the game until TJ, a marketing specialist from San Francisco, California, raced ahead in the Daily Double 2, adding a whopping $3,200 to his score.

He passed Kate, who had $4,300, and was in even more of an advantage when she incorrectly answered the Daily Double 3, shaving off $3,000 from her earnings.

While TJ secured a victory once again, bringing his winning streak to three consecutive games, fans were shocked that neither he nor his competitors knew the answer to Final Jeopardy!.

The category was “TV 2025,” which many initially thought would be an easy win for the contestants, since it focused on more current programs.

However, that wasn’t the case as all three players answered incorrectly.

The clue was, “The star of this new streaming drama said, ‘nobody could gain a pound, lose a pound… we had to look exactly the same for 7 months.’”

Kate responded with The Biggest Loser, which Ken joked would make an interesting season, considering the former series is a weight loss competition.

Brian had the closest guess with the AppleTV+ series, Severance, although that was incorrect.

TJ admitted he wasn’t privy to the current streaming programs, as he jokingly wrote, “What is a very sad diet?”

Ken Jennings then revealed the answer was the HBO medical drama, The Pitt.

Fans were shocked that the three young players were stumped by the clue, given just weeks earlier, the series won multiple Emmy Awards.

The show, which stars ER alum Noah Wyle, Shawn Hatosy, and Katherine LaNasa, has also been widely buzzed about in the media for its realistic portrayal of a day in the life of frontline workers at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hospital.

Jeopardy! Set Secrets

Jeopardy! fans don’t see everything behind the scenes from watching on TV. These hidden set features make the show run smoothly:

Each podium has a hidden riser so that all contestants appear to be the same height.
After each clue is read, signal lights go off around the game board, indicating players can buzz in and respond.
Buzz in too early, and you’re locked out for .25 seconds.
The podiums have a small white light in the lower left corner, which tells Ken Jennings who goes next.
Contrary to popular belief, the player with control doesn’t have a buzzer advantage on the next clue.
To the game board’s left is a scoreboard so the players can see their opponents’ scores.
All contestants must bring three outfits to the studio, but only the host and returning champion change for the next episode.
There are wardrobe rules, including restrictions on busy patterns, solid white, purple (like the background), and logos.
Five episodes are taped in a single day, and sometimes more.
The categories, players (aside from the returning champion), and Final Jeopardy! for a tape day are all drawn randomly to ensure fairness.
Female contestants are asked not to wear makeup, which is applied backstage, and don’t wear mascara because of sweat.
Contestants fill out a questionnaire, and producers select five Q&A topics for the host.
Host Ken isn’t allowed to interact with the contestants until after the game.
Players can request to sit in a chair while competing without question.

Many fans on X posted their correct responses, with some even blindly guessing the right answer just based on the category.

The conversation continued on Reddit, where one person wrote in a thread discussing the episode, “I’m shocked no one knew The Pitt.”

Others, however, blamed the writers and thought the clue should’ve been worded differently.

“I think several of them this season have been poorly written. There should be something in the clue that you can use to lead you to the correct answer, but many times it seems like they just want people to take a guess, and that’s not indicative of good clue-writing to me,” another Reddit user said.

“Judging the writers: They should realize that normal people outside of the entertainment industry have not memorized the story details of every streaming show,” another person commented.

“If the clue had simply stated the drama’s events take place over a certain number of hours instead of hinting at it, that would not have been a dead giveaway,”

Luckily for TJ, he only lost $165 for his incorrect response and ended with $21,035, versus Brian’s $0 and Kate’s $3,000.

TJ’s three-day total is $59,924.

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TJ battled against two new opponents, Kate Kostelnik and Brian DixonCredit: ABC

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Kate came in second place after having a strong startCredit: ABC

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Some viewers blamed the writers for the Final Jeopardy! stumper and thought the clue should’ve been worded differentlyCredit: ABC