Jeopardy executives have apologized for their editing error, admitting they “screwed up” and sent fans into a tailspin after the mistake accidentally revealed the winner of last week’s episode.
Executive producer Michael Davies admitted a ‘horrible mistake’ had been made when they revealed the final scores in the opening cut during presenter Mayim Bialik’s monologue.
Davies admitted that it was a sequence of errors that led to the catastrophic reveal, but added that re-recording the opening dialogue was pretty standard for the show.
The humiliated executive said as part of his apology that ensuring something like this never happens again is the most important outcome for the popular game show.
Executive producer Michael Davies admitted that a “horrible mistake” had been made when they revealed the final scores in the opening cut during presenter Mayim Bialik’s monologue.
Jeopardy executives have apologized for their editing error, admitting they “screwed up” and sent fans into a tailspin last week.
Davies admitted a “horrible mistake” had been made when they revealed the final scores in the opening cut of their March 8 episode during host Mayim Bialik’s monologue (pictured)
“Immediately, apologies to our entire audience,” Davies said during “Inside Jeopardy!” podcast.
“We completely blew her at the top of the show. We made a horrible mistake when we revealed the final scores at the end of the opening cut during [host] by mayim [Bialik] monologue.’
Davies said that while filming they usually clean up the podium scores, but they didn’t on this occasion.
‘Occasionally we take monologues for some reason. Sometimes there is a fact that is wrong, sometimes there is just a performance issue. So, we pick it up at the end of the show,’ he said.
‘There’s a court shot there, of course, it should be standard procedure. And it’s supposed to be standard procedure that we bring the podium scores back to their original level, but it didn’t happen.
He said the blunder occurred in post-production and was not detected in final quality control checks.
“We have now put in place a new set of protocols that will prevent this from happening again,” he promised.
While the error could not be rectified after broadcast, Davies was adamant that the show’s handling of the incident would be top of mind for fans.
“My whole thing is to always focus not on what happened and why this happened to punish people, it’s what happened and why it happened so that we can build a protocol to make sure it never happens again,” he said.
“We live and we learn, and we apologize for anyone whose experience with this program was ruined.”
Trivia fans noticed the mistake and took the Twittersphere by storm with their disappointment.
Davies said it was the show’s executives who took the error most seriously and intend to be “more transparent” when an error occurs.
“We take these mistakes very seriously, the self-flagellation that occurs in the senior management team and the postal team and everyone involved. That’s the beauty of ‘Jeopardy!’ We take mistakes very, very seriously,’ he said.
Several spin-offs and specials are expected to be released according to Davies, who said he “presses production.”
We are doing more episodes. People are working longer hours, and that leads to mistakes. But still, there is no excuse for this. It’s too basic. We will do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Davies said.
The bug took place during the March 8 episode of the show when Bialik congratulated gamers on making it to the long-running game show.
Jackson Jones’ score of $24,000 was shown, while Justin Bolsen’s $13,570 and Maya Wright’s $3,370 were also revealed.
The finalists were playing in the High School Reunion Tournament, with the second game airing Thursday night.
Trivia fans noticed the mistake and took the Twittersphere by storm with their disappointment.
In person he wrote: ‘#Jeopardy #glitch: Final scores shown when Mayim Bialik introduces contestants, even before the first question. He check the podiums from the start. The score display areas should be blank, but there are numbers there. And those are the final scores! Major editing mistake.
As for the High School Reunion Tournament, as viewers of March 9 know, contestant Jackson Jones (pictured left) won that day’s game. Contestant Justin Bolsen (pictured right) won the tournament
‘Did anyone else notice a score #spoiler on @Jeopardy right now? oops!’ said another.
One person added: “Wow, since this was recorded months or weeks ago, you’d think they’d actually review it first before airing it.”
‘I thought it was already Thursday and I missed something when I realized that. But then I realized I didn’t sleep all day and it was just a mistake,” another joked.
As for the High School Reunion Tournament, as viewers of March 9 know, contestant Jackson Jones won that day’s game. Contestant Justin Bolsen won the tournament.