Here’s What Happened When Jeopardy Experienced Their First Tiebreaker
When Alex Trebek passed away of pancreatic cancer in November 2020, it was a big loss for game shows—specifically, Jeopardy! Trebek has been the loved and longtime host of the trivia show since 1974, growing as much on screen as technology has come, right before our eyes. Certainly, a lot has happened between then and now on the show, but one thing never changed: Him.
After his death, Trebek has been replaced with several guest hosts—from Ken Jennings to Mayim Bialik and many others in between. And while many of the hosts have done a great job attempting to fill his shoes, they are, of course, very big shoes to fill, and it’s hard to beat the man that was truly perfect at his job.
Since it’s been over a year since his death, it’s got us reminiscing on some of the most memorable moments in the show’s history. What a ride it has been!
One of the best moments had to be when the show experienced its very first tiebreaker. Can you believe that the show hadn’t experienced one until just a few years back? It was after a round of Final Jeopardy! when all of the contestants wrote down the wrong answer. That caused one contestant to end the episode with just $5, but the other two somehow ended at the exact same random amount of $6,799, even though their final scores before the round were a difference of $4,600. What are the odds? Pretty slim!
There obviously can’t be two winners in Jeopardy!, so to solve for the tiebreaker, Trebek had another Final Jeopardy! answer up his sleeve for the two to battle off against. The twist? The two ladies didn’t have to sit through the Final Jeopardy! song and write down their answer—they just had to buzz in after the question was asked, and if they got the right answer they won the game! Pretty simple, yet had everyone on the edge of their seats.
To see how the tiebreaker went down in that episode, check out the video below.
What’s your all-time favorite moment in Jeopardy! history? Who, so far, do you think has done the best job guest hosting the show so far? Who would you like to see be the permanent guest on the show? Do you think the tiebreaker rule is fair? If not, how do you think Jeopardy! should handle ties in the future?