JEOPARDY! fans were baffled by Friday’s Tournament of Champions match compared to the rest of the week’s intense yet heartbreaking quarterfinals.

Three-day champ Brian Henegar defeated Wildcard winner Josh Saak and eight-day champ Stephen Webb in a “messy” game where fans “cringed so many times.”

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Ken Jennings is hosting the 2024 Tournament of Champions quarterfinalsCredit: Jeopardy!

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Brian Henegar’s reaction to winning divided fans: ‘I don’t think I’ve seen anyone scream and shout as hard’Credit: Jeopardy!

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Meanwhile, an eight-day champion bombed out: ‘I cringed so many times in this game’Credit: Jeopardy!
After intense battles and fan favorites getting ousted, the closing game in the 2024 Tournament of Champions first week went slightly differently.

Brian unfortunately scored controversy during his initial run for his facial hair style, which he was quick to change up and donated to the anti-defmation league.

Upon his return, what garnered attention instead was how poorly the match went.

In the Jeopardy! round, there were fails across the board, including a triple-stumper about The Princess Diaries and presumed frontrunner Webb thinking Elizabeth Taylor was in the film Roman Holiday.

After another triple-stumper seeking the food dish “raita”, host Ken Jennings quipped: “But no one got it right-a.”

By Double Jeopardy!, Webb (who whiffed a Daily Double) had $-800, Brian had $5,200, and Josh had $5,600.

Webb found the second Daily Double, which got him less out of the red, while Brain missed the last Daily Double as “Ulysses” and was chided by Ken.

Going into Final Jeopardy and after spending nearly the entire game in the red, Stephen had -$800, Brian $12,800 and Josh $8,400.

Ken told Stephen that after “flirting with negative amounts,” he would not answer the final clue, and his opponents slow-clapped as he exited.

Final Jeopardy! under “COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD” read: “Fearful of independence in 1975, around 120,000 of this country’s people, a third of the population, fled to the Netherlands.”

Josh was incorrect with “Papua New Guinea,” which Ken joked his predecessor Alex would say was “not even in the right part of the world,” and he was left with $3,995.

Brian was also incorrect with “Belgium” but bet small enough to win with $8,799, advancing to the semifinals.

As Ken declared he was the winner and revealed the correct response was “Suriname,” Brian burst into celebration.

He cheered, yelling: “Yes yes yes!” and pumped his fist on the podium, screaming in joy.

‘YIKES’

Fans did not mince words about the rough curtain closer to the week on social media.

“Yikes, 11 triple stumpers, 13 wrong answers, and both eligible players got FJ wrong. In addition, not to single out Stephen, but he answered 15 questions and got only 8 correct. Tough game. This is not one to remember,” wrote one fan in the Jeopardy! subreddit.

“I cringed so many times in this game,” wrote another.

“This was a weird game and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone scream and shout as hard as Brian after winning,” wrote a third.

A fourth even called the reaction: “Very unsportsmanlike.”

To which one fan defended: “It’s not unsportsmanlike at all. He’s not doing it in anyone’s face and he instantly shook Josh’s hand afterwards. His emotion wasn’t at anyone else’s expense Brian was even the one who started the round of applause for Stephen when he ended in the red.”

A fifth also defended: “I don’t blame him for being excited. It was a very close game, and he should be proud that he made it to the semis. It’s a rare honor.”

“That was certainly a game of all time. Congrats to Brian, nonetheless,” wrote a sixth.

Another penned: “Not the best game, but I honestly am OK with that as I am treating this as my break from the previous (dare I say, intense) quarterfinal matches and I would have been happy with either of the three winning in today’s match. Congrats to Brian, by the way!”

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Brian had to delete his social media after getting the worst comparison imaginable when he first competedCredit: NBC

TOURNAMENT OF DEATH

At long last, Jeopardy! fans are getting the strike-delayed 2024 Tournament of Champions, the game show’s most treasured tradition.

Previously known as the 2023 ToC, this year’s throwdown was postponed from the fall due to the WGA strike, and in the meantime, past-player Champions Wildcard and Second Chance contests have ensued.

Now it’s finally back with an unprecedented 27 contestants (the largest playing field ever), but just six games in, and the top seeds fans are dropping like flies.

On Monday, 21-day champion and golden boy Cris Pannullo lost in a Ned Stark-esque blowout, with the only super-champion being the gentlemanly Canadian Ray Lalonde (13 wins).

Tuesday, eight-win trans sensation Hannah Wilson lost on an oversized Daily Double bet, leaving fans heartbroken and decimating hopes of a rematch against next week’s Ben Chan.

On Wednesday, Yogesh Raut made his grand return and won after slamming the game show as “not important” in 2023.

On Thursday, fans were crushed when comeback queen Juveria Zaheer lost in a competitive match despite dazzling in the past player contests that have consumed this season.

No semifinalist yet won more than five games during their initial run, an outcome that no one expected.

The semifinalists so far are the bubbly Wildcard winner Emily Sands, three-day champ Jared Watson, Preist David Sibley, the controversial Yogesh Raut, Luigi de Guzman, and Henegar.

The rest of the semifinalists will be determined Friday and next week, with three slots left.

WHAT IS: THE FORMAT?

The 2024 ToC starts with nine quarterfinal games, where one player advances.

Then there will be three semifinals and a first-to-three-wins finale.

That means the final three contestants could duke it out over three games or up to seven.

The ToC will conclude in late March, with the victor earning $250,000, a championship belt, an invite to the next Jeopardy! Masters in May, and serious bragging rights.

Ken, 49, helms the ToC, as he is now Jeopardy!’s permanent and only host following Mayim Bialik’s firing in December 2023.

After the ToC comes the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament is a qualifier for Masters with some OG champs (Arthur Chu!?) potentially returning.

Then, at long last, regular episodes finally resume for the first time this season in April.

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Webb was removed for Final Jeopardy, and Ken shaded his ‘flirting with negative amounts’ all gameCredit: Jeopardy!

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Brian Henegar’s reaction to his win divided fans as he screamed and pumped his fistsCredit: Jeopardy!

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No one got Final Jeopardy correct, and there were 11 triple-stumpers in 60 clues – other fans wrote ‘yikes’Credit: Jeopardy!