Jeopardy! is in the midst of its latest tournament, the new-to-Season-40 Champions Wildcard, with dozens of former winners and near-winners returning to help populate the current season’s Tournament of Champions. As such, the competition has been as stiff as ever, and semifinalist Jilana Cotter can certainly speak to that, as she earned her victory thanks to an eventful Final Jeopardy round that featured an amusing (if juvenile) misspelling, a re-taped response from host Ken Jennings, and a math mistake that thankfully didn’t have an impact.
Upon entering the final round of the show, Cotter was out in front with $11,500, with Dave Pai close behind with $11,200, ahead of the third-place contestant Brian Adams, who trailed with $5,200. After each jotted down their wagers and guesses to the “Music & Literature” clue, Cotter was revealed to be the only one who answered correctly with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” so she’ll be facing off against another pair of hopefuls down the line. But let’s look at the hiccups that played out alongside her triumph.
Brian’s Awkward Final Jeopardy Misspelling
While Jeopardy! doesn’t always punish its contestants for misspelled words, context is always key, as soundalike errors tend to be accepted if it’s clear what the person meant, especially when it comes to not-so-common names. On the other hand, typos that change the meaning of non-proper nouns are indeed rejected as incorrect, and that’s what happened with Brian’s gaffe, as seen below.
The California native forgot the “L” in the final word of his answer, setting up a real winner of a response for the tween crowd, as well as for the far-too-old-to-be-giggling-at-such-silly-shit crowd for which I’m a card-carrying member. Unfortunately for anyone hoping to hear Ken Jennings use more of a PG-13 pronunciation, he rhymed “repubic” with “republic,” but that moment of hesitation just before was everything.
But it turns out that moment was actually as near-scripted as Jeopardy! gets, as a slight mix-up required that section of Final Jeopardy to be rerecorded on the spot.
Ken Jennings Had To Retape His Reaction To Brian's Error
As revealed by Juliana Cotter herself in replies to fans and viewers on Reddit, neither Jennings nor the judges initially realized that Brian’s answer was marred by his written typo. So TV viewers didn’t actually get to see what played out the first time around, and instead only witnessed the revised version of events. It led one fan to wonder if he made the “L” shape with his hand intentionally as a layered reference to his mistake, which sparked a response from Cotter, who said:
I'm sure it was intentional--the judges didn't notice the missing L the first time, so Ken's ruling on his response had to be re-taped. Brian was an amazing sport about all of it--he's able to laugh at himself with a lot more grace than most of us would manage in that situation. He really is a delight to spend time with, and very smart.
Elsewhere in the Reddit thread, Cotter showered more praise on Brian Adams for his poise and self-awareness in the moment, saying she aspired to be like that herself one day. (I adore the love that Jeopardy! contestants have for one another.) She couldn’t quite remember how the revised recording was first addressed after the mistake was caught, guessing it was likely the judges who caught it.
Hosting Jeopardy! is no easy feat, and past contestants such as Amy Schneider have praised Ken Jennings for successfully transitioning from the player podiums to the host lectern. So I can hardly blame him for not catching the missing “L” immediately, as his brain likely filled in the blank to match his mental expectations. Maybe he just instinctively didn’t want to pronounce “pubic” on TV.
Juliana Cotter's Mismatched Math
While this thankfully didn't end up being a major issue standing in the way of her achievements, the champ miscalculated her Final Jeopardy wager. She bet $10,900, and answering correctly meant she ended the game with an impressive total of $22,400. However, that actually wouldn't have been enough to beat out Dave Pai if he'd landed the right answer, and would have instead tied that total. Juliana Cotter addressed that on Reddit as well, saying it was indeed a brainfart while under pressure. In her words:
Yep, I realized as soon as I tapped the button to finalize my wager that I'd forgotten to add the $1, but it was too late to change then! I was in agony until Dave's FJ response was revealed, since if he'd gotten it right we would have gone to a sudden-death tiebreaker (due to my mistake), and I figured there was no way I could beat him on the buzzer. I got very lucky.
Even though that $1 didn't end up affecting anything, and even though Brian Adams' mistake also didn't change the game's course, both are signs of how easily a victory can slip from someone's grasp if even the slightest lapse in judgment comes into play. So here's hoping Cotter can avoid any futher hiccups during her future Tournament appearances.
Jeopardy! airs daily in syndication, so airtimes are specific to your area, while Celebrity Jeopardy! airs Wednesday nights on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET. While waiting to see what other famous faces are vying for charity gold, head to our 2023 TV premiere schedule for a look at more big shows coming soon.
