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It's been a rough few days for current Jeopardy host Mayim Bialik. Earlier in the week, she repeated a mistake she previously made when she ruled a contestant incorrect even though they were still answering the question. Producers stepped in both times and fixed the issue mid-game, but viewers have pointed out another pair of errors the actress made this week. She has accepted answers that should have been considered only "partially correct," and it's really upset some people.
On the game show, if the response a player gives isn't detailed enough and can refer to more than one person or thing, the host should follow it up by requesting more information, but Bialik hasn't. It first occurred on Monday when the clue was, "A memorable 2018 photo showed this president's flag-draped casket, with his service dog Sully beside it." A contestant named Eleanor buzzed in and answered, "Who is Bush?" Since there have been two presidents with that last name, Mayim should have asked Eleanor to be more specific, but instead she replied, "Yes, George H.W. Bush."
On the following show, Mayim read the clue, "Celebrity Jeopardy pitted Lloyd Bridges III (aka Beau) against Coy Perry III (aka Luke), 'Dylan McKay' on this FOX drama." A contestant responded, "What is 90210," and Mayim accepted it saying, "Yes, Beverly Hills, 90210." However, as fans pointed out, there is a spin-off show that aired on The CW called 90210 and that the official name of the show Luke Perry was on is Beverly Hills, 90210, which should've been the only accepted response. They tweeted things like, "What the heck!!! The show was not named 90210. Way to just let that one slide Mayim!" and, "So dude shouldn’t have gotten the money for answering 90210 because that wasn’t the series that had 'Dylan McKay' as a character. It was Beverly Hills, 90210."
Viewers aren't the only ones upset, one former champion took to Twitter to blast Mayim. Josh Hill, who won $150,000 during his seven-game reign on the show in 2018 wrote, "Ken [Jennings] would have prompted. #HireBuzzy [Cohen] would have prompted. A middle-school quizbowler hosting a kids version of the show would have prompted. The things the current host has been allowed to get away with are astonishing. Alex [Trebek] would have prompted - in fact, Alex DID prompt on this."
For those looking forward to episodes hosted by Ken Jennings, he returns behind the podium on July 18 for the final two weeks of shows of the season.