Jeopardy! contestants slammed for Wizard of Oz…
“Jeopardy!” followers expressed their disbelief after all three contestants had been left stumped by a ultimate query about a character in a beloved piece of popular culture.
On Thursday’s episode of the long-running recreation show, contestants Mary Walheim, Alfred Wallace and three-day defending champion Bryce Wargin got here up short when offered with a clue within the “Fictional Characters” class.
The immediate learn: “Boq is one of these fictional people, ‘Not as big as the grown folk… but neither were they very small.’”
Walheim was left with a greenback in whole winnings after betting $5,999 of her whole $6,000 haul when she incorrectly guessed “What is a Lilliputian?”
“I’m afraid it’s not the Lilliputians from ‘Gulliver’s Travels,’” “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings advised her.
Walheim’s rivals, Wallace and Wargin, additionally appeared to imagine that the clue referred to the 6-inch-tall males dwelling on the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift’s basic 1726 novel.
Wallace’s reply was revealed to be “What are lili?” The contestant, who wagered $10,000 of his $10,600 in winnings, famous that his response was “almost Lilluputian.” Jennings agreed, including that Wallace had doubtless run out of time to write down the characters’ full title.
“Jeopardy!” followers had been shocked when all three of Thursday’s contestants answered the ultimate query incorrect. Jeopardy! / YouTube
Wargin’s first guess was “What are Lilliputians?” earlier than he crossed the reply out and wrote, “dwarves.”
Jennings then knowledgeable the contestants that “What is a Munchkin?” was the right reply.
“In the 1939 movie of ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ the Munchkins are very small, but in the book, the Munchkins are said to be about Dorothy’s height,” Jennings advised them.
The query even stumped the three-day defending champion Bryce Wargin. Jeopardy! / YouTube
Wargin, who was within the lead heading into the ultimate spherical with $16,000, had guess $5,201, which dropped him down to $10,799.
However, as a four-day “Jeopardy!” champion, Wargin’s whole winnings had been $70,199.
Many followers watching at home had simply guessed the suitable reply because the character of Boq performed a outstanding function within the 2024 mega-hit film musical “Wicked,” which was an adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the identical title.
Contestant Mary Walheim thought the clue referred to the small males dwelling on the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift’s basic 1726 novel. Jeopardy! / YouTube
Alfred Wallace guessed the clue was from Swift’s novel too. Jeopardy! / YouTube
Boq was portrayed by Ethan Slater in “Wicked,” which starred Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
After the episode ended, followers flocked to social media to share their dumbfounded reactions.
“Read the word “Boq” and SCREAMED “MUNCHKIN!!!!!!!!” How did NO ONE GET THIS??? wrote one social media person on X.
“How did no one get that BOQ answer on jeopardy right,” one other X person added.
“Everyone who watched Jeopardy and recently watched Wicked was screaming at their TV tonight…,” one viewer chimed in.
Boq was portrayed by Ariana Grande’s boyfriend, Ethan Slater, within the 2024 film “Wicked.” Getty Images for National Board of Review
“No one knew boq is a munchkin on final jeopardy, ” a “Jeopardy” fan posted on X, including crying emojis.
“My entire household was shouting MUNCHKIN!!! Apparently not one of the 3 saw ‘Wicked,’” one other fan wrote on X.
“Final was so easy. How did they all miss it,” a viewer questioned within the show’s Reddit dialogue thread.
Both the film and the play “Wicked” had been primarily based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 guide “The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
Maguire’s novel is centered on the imagined backstory of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and presents an alternate model of occasions that happened earlier than L. Frank Baum’s 1900 youngsters’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
“Wicked” received Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. REUTERS
Boq is featured in each books, however he was not included within the basic 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” which starred Judy Garland.
After “Wicked” was launched final November, the movie grew to become a main blockbuster, raking in $747.2 million worldwide in opposition to a $150 million price range.
The film is now the highest-grossing musical movie adaptation of all time. “Wicked” additionally obtained 10 nominations on the 2025 Academy Awards, together with nods for Erivo as best actress and Grande as best supporting actress.
The film took home Oscars for best costume design and best manufacturing design.
Slater is set to return as Boq, together with Erivo as Elphaba and Grande as Galinda, partly two of “Wicked,” titled “Wicked: For Good.”
It is due out this fall.
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