LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: There has been significant speculation surrounding the renowned game show, 'Jeopardy!', regarding its handling of contestants' unusual responses, which are occasionally ruled to be correct and at other times incorrect. Recently, host Mayim Bialik received flak from fans after she penalized a contestant with a costly blow based on a debatable mispronunciation.
On Thursday, June 15 ‘Jeopardy!’ broadcast, host Mayim Bialik left fans infuriated by a hair-splitting ruling which cost the contestant a heavy blow. The returning champ, Holly Hassel, an English professor at North Dakota State University had a face-off with competitor Suzanne Goldlust, a marketing manager from Reston, Virginia, and Kiran, a math teacher from Burlington, Vermont. Holly was the one who dethroned the six-day winning streak of champ Suresh Krishnan. While going into Double Jeopardy round, Kiran buzzed first, however, his answer was deemed incorrect after he mispronounced the word and Bialik apparently rendered him incorrect.
Mayim Bialik’s harsh ruling
During a recent episode, ‘Jeopardy!’ host Mayim Bialik had a rough ruling against contestant Kiran which cost him a heavy ruffle. During the Double Jeopardy round, Suzanne had $5600 whereas Holly stood at $3600 and Kiran at $2800. As Kiran was third in place, he chose first and picked, “G Look at that" for $2000. This category entails every response that must start with the letter G. The video displayed a painting and Bialik read, “Seen here is a work of the Venetian Renaissance by this painter, whose name means 'Big George'. Kiran was the first one to buzz and responded what Bialik felt was incorrect, “Who is: Giorgione." Unfortunately, he broke up the syllables which pronounced like two words, “George Gione?”, and his answer was rendered as incorrect. Bialik ruled, “No," and Kiran’s score derailed to $800 which could have been $4800 if he had answered correctly.
When no other contestant buzzed, Bialik replied with the correct answer, “Correct response: Giorgione." By the time of Final Jeopardy, Suzanne was leading with $17,700 while Holly had $8000 and Kiran $5600, again in last place.
The Final Jeopardy under “The US Government” read, “Established in 1938, this congressional group was still issuing subpoenas in 1969 & finally ceased to exist 6 years later." Holly and Suzanne opted for the abbreviation "HUAC" in reference to the group, while Kiram spelled out the entire name but unfortunately made an incorrect response by saying "Commission" instead of the correct word “Committee."
Holly wagered the entire amount ending up with $16,000, but Suzzane wagered $1000, enough to make her the new champ.
‘Really felt for Kiran’
After ‘Jeopardy!’ host Mayim Bialik cost Kiran a huge blow, fans in the Reddit forum mocked Bialik as they didn’t agree with her ruling. One fan wrote, “Was surprised that Giorgione wasn’t accepted? Seemed like pretty reasonable pronunciation," while the former champ Suresh Krishnan also responded, “I was also surprised. I was in the audience and thought that sounded OK." One more fan slammed Bialik saying, “What a ridiculous ruling." Many fans felt for Kiran after the hair-splitting ruling and said, “Really felt for Kiran! He seemed a strong contestant but missed several by one word or a mispronunciation," and another wrote, “There wasn’t a protest by him or anything?” One more fan reflected on gameshow strictness adding, “I had to rewind the DVR. It sounded like he paused after the first syllable. They are getting very strict with foreign-name pronunciations."
