# Did kid get cheated out of Jeopardy win? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416 "2013-08-05T18:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/41 "2013-08-06T03:02:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The effects linger on. Too bad the fuckers keep walking on your lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/42 "2013-08-06T03:13:39Z")
And get your damn game show off my patio! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/43 "2013-08-06T06:11:15Z")
So instead of getting the answer right, and being in second place, he got the answer wrong and ended up in second place. Whatever he may have been “cheated” out of, wasn’t any win. If he actually thinks that had they given him the answer he would have won anything different than he went home with, then I don’t know how he ever got on Jeopardy to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/44 "2013-08-06T09:04:33Z")
On a rerun tonight, the judges refused to accept an adult’s response of ‘Waitin for Godot’ because of the missing G. The episode was from a year ago, and I don’t remember any drama then. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/45 "2013-08-06T13:36:44Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > The kid who won was also a serious Lincoln buff as well, it came up in his interview, and Alex had to sheepishly explain that the Final Jeopardy! answer being related to Lincoln was just a coincidence. That kid was a wizard, easily the most impressive “Kids Week” contestant in my memory. [JBoard.tv here](http://jboard.tv/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1489) has a summary of the contestant interviews. After “you memorized the entire Gettysburg Address?” was discussed during the contestant interviews, I wonder if the show should have selected another Final Jeopardy answer/question from its presumably ample stock. Or done so even before the game started, given that one of the 3 12 year olds is a Canadian and got it wrong with “What is the second amendment?” ([game summary here](http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=4285)). At what age do the Canadians start studying the US Civil War? Prize money for the kids is a guaranteed minimum $15000 for first place but only $2000 and $1000 for second and third. If Thomas’s answer had been the difference between, for example, $30000 and $2000, it still would have been wrong, but it could have encouraged more-entertaining righteous indignation. And despite “fit and necessary war measure" being firmly linked to the Emancipation Proclamation, for me it sounds just as apt being linked to The Draft Act of 1863. As **Marley23** and **Elendil’s Heir** noted in posts 6 and 7 above, Ken Jennings also made a Final Jeopardy spelling error in 2004 ([game summary here](http://j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=27)), spelling the country of Grenada as “Granada”. Even though he had a lock game and still would have won, the Jeopardy judges may have regretted their decision to allow the two such misspellings in that Final Jeopardy, there being many more places named Granada than Grenada in the Western Hemisphere. On a moonlight night you can find them all. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/46 "2013-08-06T13:44:22Z")
[QUOTE=from\_a\_to\_z] [JBoard.tv](http://JBoard.tv) here has a summary of the contestant interviews. After “you memorized the entire Gettysburg Address?” was discussed during the contestant interviews, I wonder if the show should have selected another Final Jeopardy answer/question from its presumably ample stock. [/QUOTE] I believe that game shows have to submit all questions/challenges to an FCC representative before taping begins. Altering questions based on one contestant’s knowledge base shown mid-episode would likely be considered fraud. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/47 "2013-08-06T14:27:27Z")
> [@from\_a\_to\_z](#): > > As **Marley23** and **Elendil’s Heir** noted in posts 6 and 7 above, Ken Jennings also made a Final Jeopardy spelling error in 2004 ([game summary here](http://j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=27)), spelling the country of Grenada as “Granada”. Even though he had a lock game and still would have won, the Jeopardy judges may have regretted their decision to allow the two such misspellings in that Final Jeopardy, there being many more places named Granada than Grenada in the Western Hemisphere. On a moonlight night you can find them all. Ken went camping there as a youth which prompted the misspelling. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/48 "2013-08-06T14:27:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s several decades too young to be Generation X. If he’s 12, he’s not even part of Generation Y. He’s one of the first kids to be born as part of [_ **Generation Z** _](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z). ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/49 "2013-08-06T14:32:47Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’d be a lie, though, because he’d already lost. Sometimes a lie is funnier than the truth. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/50 "2013-08-06T14:34:55Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I asked about that at the briefing they give you. If they can’t read it, you don’t get credit, and they get to decide if they can read it. Blast! They’ve foreseen my Sinister Plan. Back to the Evil Lair… > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > If he’s 12, he’s not even part of Generation Y. He’s one of the first kids to be born as part of [_ **Generation Z** _](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z). Does this make my friend’s seven-year-old daughter a proud member of “Generation Oh Shit We’re Out of Letters We Really Should’ve Thought This Through A Little Better Guys Maybe We Can Call It Generation AA But That Sounds Like They’re A Bunch of Little Boozers Crap Crap Crap”? ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/51 "2013-08-06T14:39:41Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I believe that game shows have to submit all questions/challenges to an FCC representative before taping begins. Altering questions based on one contestant’s knowledge base shown mid-episode would likely be considered fraud. I can believe that. I also assume that such shows have (besides whatever online qualifying test there may be) practice games to determine the possible contestants’ entertainment value for television, and pre-selection interviews with those possibles in order to find out what their interests are, to avoid selecting 15 kids whose only interest is something like stamp collecting and to select a varied group with interesting lives. So I wonder why no one found out before the games began that Skyler, the star from [Sonora, Kentucky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora,_Kentucky), knows lots about Lincoln. The show’s organizers did know beforehand that Shuli is from Toronto. At least she gets (I trust) $1000 US, worth about $1038 Canadian. Any taxes for the foreigners? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/52 "2013-08-06T16:13:38Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Does this make my friend’s seven-year-old daughter a proud member of “Generation Oh Shit We’re Out of Letters We Really Should’ve Thought This Through A Little Better Guys Maybe We Can Call It Generation AA But That Sounds Like They’re A Bunch of Little Boozers Crap Crap Crap”? or we could stop letting marketing types define everything. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/53 "2013-08-06T16:18:23Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Does this make my friend’s seven-year-old daughter a proud member of “Generation Oh Shit We’re Out of Letters We Really Should’ve Thought This Through A Little Better Guys Maybe We Can Call It Generation AA But That Sounds Like They’re A Bunch of Little Boozers Crap Crap Crap”? Nope, still Generation Z. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/54 "2013-08-06T16:20:00Z")
“Millennials” seems to have overtaken “Generation Y” as the preferred term. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/55 "2013-08-06T16:27:41Z")
> [@from\_a\_to\_z](#): > > Waitin’ for the Robert E. Lee (It was never there on time!) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/56 "2013-08-06T20:09:33Z")
> [@from\_a\_to\_z](#): > > At what age do the Canadians start studying the US Civil War? You mean the War of Southern Aggression? ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/57 "2013-08-06T20:49:31Z")
This is far from the worst decision I’ve seen from the Jeopardy judges. They’ve been consistent about the “spelling counts” rule for as long as I can remember, so the kid was wrong by historic standards. The one that still has never been explained to my satisfaction [happened last year](http://fikklefame.com/final-jeopardy-7-24-12/), when the Final Jeopardy category was “80s Sitcom Characters” and the answer was: [QUOTE=Final Jeopardy] Creator Gary David Goldberg wrote this Republican character as unsympathetic, but the actor made him lovable. [/QUOTE] Only one contestant correctly responded “Who is Alex Keaton?” (a character played by Michael J. Fox on the TV series “Family Ties”). However, another contestant responded “Who is Alex from Family Ties?” and was ruled incorrect. There were, to my knowledge, no other characters named “Alex” on that program, so the latter answer was as unequivocally unambiguous as you could ask for. Perhaps more so than the first and last names of the character, since it’s not a particularly unique name and may well have been used coincidentally as the name of a different character on another 80s sitcom for all I know. This one still bugs me, and only proves that the judges are capricious and fickle in their rulings. Would they have required “Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr.” had the question been about Tweety Bird’s tormentor? I never saw a thread about it on the dope when this happened, but it seems like the kind of thing that would have gotten some discussion here. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/58 "2013-08-06T20:53:10Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > “Millennials” seems to have overtaken “Generation Y” as the preferred term. Correct - and I suspect that they’ll come up with something similiarly non-alphabetical for the generation to follow them, as “Z” is a dead end. Unless they all turn into zombies, at which point it will be oddly and specifically accurate… ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/59 "2013-08-07T02:52:52Z")
Kid Week is the worst. Absolutely hate it. Little annoying brats and weak ass questions about Pokemon and John McEnroe and shit. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416/60 "2013-08-07T02:56:30Z")
His spelling changed the pronunciation Fair [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kid-get-cheated-out-of-jeopardy-win/665416.md?page=2)