Posted on 06/06/2021 7:13:09 AM PDT by gattaca
Viewers and fans of the popular "Jeopardy!" quiz show were dismayed when none of the contestants were able to answer the clue based on very elementary knowledge of U.S. History.
The show aired Tuesday and was being hosted by "Big Bang Theory" actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik.
During a round of Double Jeopardy, contestant Robin Lozano chose the "Quotations" category for $800. Bialik gave him the clue from a very famous speech.
"'Government of the people, by the people, for the people' is from the end of this brief but powerful speech," she said.
The seconds ticked away before the buzzer sounded without any of the contestants offering even a guess at the solution to the clue.
The famous line came from the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln in November 1863.
Many viewers were shocked and surprised that none of the contestants knew this very simple factoid in U.S. History.
"Not know the Gettysburg Address?? Worst showing ever. None of these 3 deserved to win tonight. If they'd been asked to add 3 + 2, they'd have looked around like confused squirrels," said one critic.
"I'm gonna pretend like I just didn't see ALL THREE contestants miss 'the Gettysburg Address' just now," replied another.
"How did #Jeopardy manage to find three contestants who don't recognize the closing line of the Gettysburg Address? This isn't Elementary Jeopardy, folks," mocked another critic.
"Wow, no one knew The Gettysburg Address. That made me sad," responded another.
Some made reference to Alex Trebek, the former host of the show who passed away from pancreatic cancer in November.
"That sound you hear is Alex Trebek spinning in his grave," tweeted one
Here's a video of Mayim Bialik as host of Jeopardy!:
to ask passersby what we celebrate on July
Memorial Day is just another long weekend for the VP.
Old timers will remember the 1950s TV show “THE 64,000 QUESTION” when no one gave a correct answer. The producers then decided there had to be some questions answered correctly, so later shows gave some answers to the contestants before the program, leading to the Payola scandal.
Yes, I was appalled when I witnessed this.
You forgot putting a condom on a cucumber.
Heels Up is a Indian Elite caste member from Canada .
Not a American .
“I had a cashier once who didn’t know what happened on July 4, 1776.”
Must be the same one that thought my Susan B Anthony dollars were foreign currency and called the store manager.
Or the one that thought a $2 bill was fake and called the cops.
While I ‘think’ that we usually see the worst of the ‘street interviews’ on the various videos, the ones from the college & spring breaks just make one CRINGE! There was one from outside Harvard Yard that was so deeply ignorant that I would guess that their teachers would be proud of their accomplishment in destroying our country!
Anyone notice that no one talks about Trivial Pursuit anymore? Just a symptom I guess!
PS - read the standard textbooks of K-12. Sad to say these are the books used in almost every private school too.
Because students are no longer expected to actually read, the new texts all come with all kinds of resources from the internet, because, of course, kids don’t get enough exposure to computer/tablet/phone screens.
I’d make a quick and dirty judgement of a text by seeing how the Civil War, WWI and WWII were covered. Sometimes you can tell just by the pictures. If, by looking at the illustrations you get the impression that WWII was primarily fought by black soldiers and women or that the Japanese internment is equated with the Holocaust, you can tell where the text is coming from.
Everybody knows the beginning of the Gettysburg Address, nobody knows the end. Just like nobody knows the end of the big Hamlet soliloquy.
Probably because they were alive when that happened.
My teacher was really into rote learning. Also had to memorize the Preamble of the Constitution, and the poem Abou Ben Adhams,. How is that for Jeopardy Trivia.
I quit watching after Alex passed. I don’t care for any of the new hosts. Content to stay with years of reruns.
While there is no question that schooling isn’t what it used to be, this trio was an unusually weak one for Jeopardy. They stopped-and-stared on several other clues including three others from the quotations category. I believe most other Jeopardy! Contestants, including the younger ones, would have got this one right. Just one of those instances where weak contestants got put on the same day.
Gettysburg address used to be memorized in schools.
I like Buzzy, I’d give him the nod.
The first mattress sale ?
Years ago the NYT had a section in which New Yorkers would submit anecdotes about life in the city. A man told about the time he went to the deli and the cashier rang up his order and said, "Your total is ten sixty-six." The man responded, "Ah, the Battle of Hastings." The girl looked puzzled so he explained that 1066 was the year of the the Battle of Hastings. The girl said nothing for a while, then she asked, "Can you do that with any number?"
Lincoln’s version of the civil war is politically-incorrect; children must not be told white people fought and died to free people of color from slavery. Why would racists do that? If anything, they are to be taught the Confederate version of the civil war. The civil war was to preserve the union, not to free the slaves.
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