Jeopardy! may be one of the best game shows of all time, as well as one of the brainiest, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely immune from catching viewer flak for making what’s perceived to be boneheaded moves. Or in this case, eyeglasses-headed. A pre-Halloween episode clue featured a Dorothy Parker quote that was deemed sexist by some viewers, and the ep’s female contestant has spoken out about the quizzical quiz moment.
A week after the ep’s airing, Heather Ryan spoke with the Binghamton University student newspaper Pipe Dream in her hometown of Binghamton, and shared that she had a “great time” on the show, despite a dramatic $1 loss to Ohio native Ian Taylor. What’s more, she said she spoke with both Taylor and the ep’s outgoing former champion Will Wallace on the night their shared episode aired. Gotta love the Jeopardy! social community.
Less great, perhaps, was the moment in the ep when Ken Jennings read the $400 clue under “Complete the Rhyming Phrase,” which drew from the Parker quote “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.” Ryan, who herself was donning a pair, got an off-the-cuff apology from the host, and confirmed it was indeed an unexpected part of the experience, saying:
It is definitely an odd choice. I think it made everybody in the audience and on stage, and Ken Jennings too, a little uncomfortable. It was like, ‘oh, that was unexpected.’ Maybe we choose better rhyming phrases in 2024. Unfortunately, there are still girls who are [in] middle school and they don’t want to wear their glasses and they’re losing out on their education. So, I think it’s much better to be able to see than anything else.
I’m glad that Heather Ryan viewed the incident as a curiosity more than a purposeful insult, since it was one clue among thousands used during any given Jeopardy! season. The randomness of the selection just worked against everyone’s favor in this case, and I wonder if the fan reaction would have been the same had the contestants been three men, or with women who didn’t utilize eyewear. Or if Ken wouldn’t have called Ryan out with his apology. (Imagine if he had flubbed that apology, and then they had to go back and re-record it.)
In any case, I think most of us would agree with the former contestant in her assessment that it’s far better for girls in middle school to see what they’re doing than to feel pressured and judged for wearing glasses. Several Jeopardy! contestants over the years have talked about the importance of being able to see clearly on the set, which can turn into a nightmare for those who nervously forget theirs.
Jeopardy! Producer Sarah Foss Clapped Back At The Minor Backlash
Jeopardy! has often showcased clues that speak to outdated social customs and viewpoints, and not all of them are so quickly pounced upon by the viewership. And producer Sarah Foss thinks that fans took this instance way too seriously, and called viewers out for missing the point during the latest installment of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast. As she put it:
I think many people thought the Jeopardy! writers wrote this, or thought this. But in fact, Dorothy Parker wrote this, about 100 years ago, in a 1926 book. We were simply, just, filling in the category. And Ken in the moment was like, ‘Oh gosh, woah that’s harsh’ to Heather, because he was just being a host in the moment. But I really think that people out there are convinced that Jeopardy! writers pinned this because they think ‘men seldom make passes…’
While Foss certainly isn’t wrong about the quote attribution, and I don’t doubt that some of the fan complaints she saw did indeed surmise that the clue writers penned that opinion themselves, she seemed to be ignoring all of the other very direct comments. You know, the ones that pointed out how many other thousands of rhyming-word clues were available to use that didn’t require the use of an on-stage apology and post-show explanation.
Fans can watch Ken Jennings glancing past semi-problematic clues and poking fun at Wheel of Fortune every weekday night in syndication, so check your local listings for network and time slot. And as always, never forget the woman who found art in a toilet.