A 'Jeopardy!' Clue About Canada Almost Stumped A Contestant & The Trudeaus Tripped Him Up
Is it Pierre Trudeau or Justin Trudeau?
Jeopardy! contestant from February 14, 2023. Right: Justin Trudeau in the prime minister's office.
There was a Canadian Jeopardy! clue that almost stumped one of the contestants and he got flustered by the Trudeaus!
During the game on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, this latest Jeopardy! question about Canada was part of the Double Jeopardy! category "Born to Run" and it required some political history knowledge.
Blaine Smith selected the category's $2,000 clue: "In 1965 he entered politics & won a seat as the member for Mount Royal; 3 years later he was Prime Minister of Canada."
He buzzed in first and responded with, "Who is Trudeau?"
Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings asked him to be more specific with his response, given that two Trudeaus have been Canada's prime minister.
Smith started his response again, brought his hand up and closed his eyes in thought and then finished with the correct response: "Pierre Trudeau."
After Jennings told him that he got it right, the contestant let out a whistle in relief!
This is just the latest in a recent string of Canada-themed Jeopardy! answers and categories.
In January, Jennings came under fire for his pronunciation of a town in Nova Scotia that was part of a clue in the "Small Town America & Canada" category.
Then, a few weeks later, Ontario got its own Jeopardy! category — "Worst Case Ontario" — that offered up imaginary scenarios to the contestants about things related to the province, including hockey, the CN Tower and the Great Lakes.
Back in 2022, contestants were also stumped by a clue about Ryan Reynolds and his movie The Adam Project.
Earlier that year, Canadian Mattea Roach became a Jeopardy! champion and went on an impressive streak of wins that earned her US$560,983, which is over CA$750,000!
During her time on the show, she answered a few clues about Canada correctly, including "3 of Canada's 4 Atlantic provinces start with 'N': Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, this one" and "'Terre de nos aïeux' follows the title in the French version of this anthem."
Roach ended up losing her 23-game winning streak by just $1 in a Final Jeopardy! round that was about the U.S.