The final season of JEOPARDY! is coming to an end, and while there haven’t been as many big winning streaks as in previous seasons, there has been no shortage of big losers.
A 21-day champion suffered a faceplant in the Tournament of Champions, James Holzhauer lost the Masters, and a 13-day champion lost to an actor.
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The landmark 40th season of Jeopardy! premiered last summer and ends at the end of July 2024.
The Writers Guild of America strike truncated the season, but when the postponed tournaments finally aired, the events that followed were shocking.
The 2024 Tournament of Champions was even called by host Ken Jennings “the most dramatic in history” at one point.
And Season 2 of the Masters in May saw previous title holder James lose – in wild fashion.
Punctuated by co-host Mayim Bialik’s abrupt departure, here are season 40’s most stunning surprises.
CRIS MISS
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Cris Pannullo won 21 games and $749,000 in season 39, making him the fifth winner of Jeopardy! competitor ever.
He was also considered the favorite in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.
He entered the quarterfinals with his head held high, sharing on stage what he was like previously as an alternate in Season 1 of the Masters.
So it was quite a shock when he not only lost but was destroyed by a three-day champion.
Cris was crushed by three-day winner Jared Watson and finished with $0, eliminating him from the annual $250,000 tournament at the finish.
Jared found all three Daily Doubles, got Final Jeopardy right, and won on a runaway.
Earlier this week on a Jeopardy! On the Reddit forum, fans were asked about the most shocking games of the season, and the majority commented that it was Cris.
“Cris, absolutely NO ONE predicted it. Rich Strike winning the Kentucky Derby was less shocking,” read one comment.
“I really thought Cris would make it to the final…” wrote another.
“I was in the studio to see the defeats of Alex Jacob, Hannah Wilson and Cris Pannulo. There is no doubt that Cris’s was the biggest shock,” wrote a third.
“It almost sucked the oxygen out of the studio.”
IKE FALL
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The 2024 ToC also changed the game by allowing the previous Celebrity Jeopardy! winner to compete for the first time on the game show.
So Ike Barenholtz jumped on board, which initially seemed like just a fun idea.
His inclusion was no laughing matter as he faced the tournament’s second seed, 13-day champion Ray LaLonde and Melissa Clapper.
Ike defeated Ray in the most shocking of all shocks, as the latter is a super champion and the former is an actor.
It all depended on Final Jeopardy, which said: “Far from Rome, this first-century poet wrote: ‘The leader’s anger is over, grant me the right to die in my native country.'”
The correct answer was “Ovid,” which Ray got, so it all came down to Ike’s answer coming in second.
Ken even said he didn’t think Ike, of Mad TV and Mindy Project fame, would have any clue.
“He thought of Ovid, as we know celebrities often do? Oh!” Ken cried out in surprise.
Ike wrote “Ovid” and left with a cold smile and victory over a 13-day champion.
“I didn’t think Ike had a chance, and things really worked out in his favor in that game. It was fun to see!” one Redditor wrote in the thread.
“I never respected Celebrity Jeopardy. He changed that,” wrote another.
FALLING OUT OF THE GROCERY STORE
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Season 2 of the Masters was another shocker as defending champion James lost to one-day champion and professional quester Victoria Groce.
She, James and 2024 ToC winner Yogesh Raut were the three finalists.
Not only did James lose, but he lost on a breakaway and came in third place.
At the end of Final Jeopardy! round, Victoria had many more points than James who she had already beaten.
She received $500,000 and took away her Masters trophy, 2024 ToC winner Yogesh received $250,000 for second place and James received $150,000 for third.
Admitting defeat, James declared, “Final boss death song” and imitated a Mario death song on the podium.
Danger! Universe
Danger! it first aired in 1964 until 1975. Then, the nighttime version began in 1974. Since then, many spinoffs of the game show have emerged. Here they are all:
Danger! – (syndicated) 1974 to present, weekdays on ABC at 7pm ET.
Tournament of Champions – 1984 to present, features the top champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament.
Second Chance Tournament – 2022 to Present features hand-selected non-winners from the previous season, where the prize is entry into the Champions Wildcard.
Champions Wildcard – 2023 to present, features all one-, two-, and three-day champions from the previous season that are eligible for entry into the Tournament of Champions.
Danger! Invitational Tournament (distribution) – from 2023 to the present, features big names from the past invited by producers to compete for a place in the Masters.
Danger! Masters (primetime) – from 2023 to present, features the six Jeopardy! champions competing against each other.
Celebrity Danger! (Primetime) – From 1992 to the present, celebrities compete against each other to raise money for charity.
Pop Culture Jeopardy (streaming) – from 2024 to present, will feature teams of three in charge of pop culture trivia on Amazon Prime, host and air date to be determined
Danger! eliminated specialized tournaments, such as University Tournaments, Children’s Week and Teacher’s Tournament, to move towards a more sporting model, with the Masters being the top of the Jeopardy pyramid.
Other versions of Jeopardy! have also failed over the years, such as Sports Jeopardy!.
All three players are guaranteed spots in Season 3 of the Masters, which will be next spring.
After Season 40 concluded in late July, Jeopardy! will have its summer reruns and will return with season 41 at the end of August.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
