The word “scandal” gets overused these days.
Watergate was a scandal. The gown Sydney Sweeney wore to the Bezos & Sánchez Wedding was not a scandal, except maybe only to Megyn Kelly. Somewhere in between lands this week’s “Jeopardy!” scandal.
Did a contestant cheat by using a hidden AI earpiece? No. Did host Ken Jennings get caught on a hot mic mumbling about mainlining ketamine? No.
This scandal was less about the game and more about marriage.
Jason Singer won Tuesday’s show. His wife, Susan McMillan, won in 2021. This led to headlines such as: “Jeopardy! Contestants Become First Married Couple to Win Game Show” and “Who Is (Probably) The First Couple To Win Jeopardy! While Married.”
Answer: It’s not Jason Singer and Susan McMillan.
Fake news has come for “Jeopardy!”?
As former champion Kristin Sausville wrote on Facebook: “There is something really surreal and honestly kind of sinister in watching part of yourself be erased in real time.”
She won in 2015. Her husband Justin won in 2011. Other married champs, according to Sausville, include Amy Stephenson and Scott Bateman; David Rigsby and Ryan Alley; Dan Pawson and Andrea Saenz, whom she identified as the first wedded winners.
She concluded with a broader warning: “It’s really Orwellian to watch how easily it’s happening. Like at the end of the day, I’m not all ‘but my LEGACY!’ about it, but I am really bothered by seeing how quickly misinformation can be spread and accepted as truth. We should keep that in mind for everything we see online and particularly via AI.”
I agree. Though I’m not sure researchers would lump the personal ephemera of “Jeopardy!” contestants in with anti-science conspiracies or foreign attempts to sway elections. Also: How would anyone fact-check this scandal?
A spokesperson for the show told Entertainment Weekly it “does not track spousal records for contestants …” An estimated 17,000 contestants have appeared on “Jeopardy!” (Full disclosure: I got that number from AI, so it may be closer to 5,000 or 300,000. Who knows?)
The show doesn’t have the manpower to build an internal census: “Hey, after you finish writing clues for Landmarks and Potent Potables, call every former champ and ask if they are married to another former champ. And maybe get their zodiac signs before the next scandal.”
Here’s what I want to know: How many once married champs are now divorced? And why did they split? Did a partner wake up one morning and think, “I don’t want to memorize the list of presidents or be able to name every dialect in sub-Saharan Africa. The hell with the periodic table. I want to take up pickleball and escape this trivia black hole. I want to live!”
Do viewers even care about “Jeopardy!” contestants? No, not unless one goes on a wild streak, à la Jennings, Brad Rutter or Arthur Chu. You know that segment in which contestants share a personal anecdote? That’s when viewers dash to the bathroom.
Why does it even matter if two “Jeopardy!” champs are married? It seems natural. Show me a molecular geneticist who is married to a guy who refurbishes gas grills and then tell me more. But there is even another cohort of contestants who tied the knot after meeting on the show.
You can understand why they were thunderstruck. At long last, they are exchanging small talk with an intriguing stranger who knows William of Ockham was born in 1287 or that Superman’s birth name was Kal-El.
Obscure knowledge is sexy.
It makes sense for a “Jeopardy!” contestant to be attracted to another “Jeopardy!” contestant more than, say, a contestant on “Too Hot to Handle.” Random question: has a dyslexic contestant ever cleaned up on “Wheel of Fortune?” And if so, was that person married to someone suffering from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?
I love that the term for “fear of long words” is one of the longest words ever.
Your doctor would be too scared to give you the diagnosis.
“Jeopardy!” producers need not recoil into damage control. This scandal isn’t the 1959 rigging of “Twenty-One.” Or the time a fugitive got on “Super Password.” This is just an endearing nerd skirmish involving sticklers for accuracy who don’t want to be erased from history.
If anything, “Jeopardy!” should note the media attention this week and create a new Tournament of Spouses. Each couple is a team. Both partners have buzzers. Let’s see which couple triumphs after Final Jeopardy.
Now I’m imagining being on the show with my wife and her grimacing smile as I keep botching responses. Babes, we both know I don’t belong on this stage.
But many do. So congratulations to Jason Singer and Susan McMillan, Kristin and Justin Sausville. And to every other couple that took turns in the winning spotlight on “Jeopardy!”
Your victories are in the books even if we can’t recall spousal records.
