Three “Jeopardy!” contestants were criticized by viewers after being stumped over a pop culture question.
During Wednesday’s episode of the beloved game show, contestants Melanie Hirsch, John Rindone and Josh Weikert were given a clue for the category “Be My TV Show Guest” that read: “This star of the O.G. ‘Shaft’ guest starred as two different characters on ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.’”
All three players were left speechless, which ignited fans of the show to share their frustrations.
“I am deeply saddened about the original Shaft Triple Stumper,” one fan wrote on Reddit.
Another expressed their frustration on X, writing, “Meanwhile, these idiots don’t know who Shaft is? Shut yo mouth!”
“They didn’t know Richard Roundtree?!” another asked.
“Richard Roundtree! I think we’re all screaming!” one fan added.
Roundtree, who died in 2023 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, starred alongside Will Smith in the hit ’90s sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” as two different characters, Dr. Mumford and Rev. Gordon Sims.
However, he was best known as the “first Black action hero” after his standout role in the 1971 film “Shaft.”
Roundtree also appeared in several of the movie’s sequels, including “Shaft’s Big Score!” in 1972 and “Shaft in Africa” in 1973. He reprised his role for the CBS series in 1973. He later appeared on the hit television miniseries “Roots” as the carriage driver Sam Bennett.
Last week, a similar situation occurred when three contestants were left stumped by a final puzzle about the hit ’80s show “Cheers.”
During Tuesday night’s “Final Jeopardy!” round, fans called the clue a “triple stumper” after each contestant failed to answer correctly. Game show host and former “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings announced the category was “Classic TV Shows.”
The prompt read, “Posted over the door of this show’s setting was a notice reading, ‘Maximum Room Capacity 75 Persons.’”
Player Lily St. Laurent, from Bakersfield, California, answered, “What is a TV show I don’t know.”
David DeBacker from Ypsilanti, Michigan, wrote, “What is MASH.”
“That’s a good guess, but that is not it,” Jennings said.
Alex DeFrank from Brooklyn, New York, also answered, “M*A*S*H.”
Jennings pointed out, “I’m very alarmed to learn that the ’80s shows of my childhood are now classic TV — What is ‘Cheers.’ The bar in ‘Cheers.’”
Fans were quick to share their thoughts on social media.
“MAS*H and Cheers were both on the air in the early 1980s… I think both would qualify,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “This was one of the few triple stumpers that my wife and I both got instantly. We’ve never really watched more than a handful of episodes, but a capacity sign like that meant it had to be in a public place, and Cheers famously takes place in a bar.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
