For once it was not Wheel of Fortune making the mistakes in America's nightly game show hour. Last week, Jeopardy! actually got one of its answers wrong—and The Simpsons fans were not having it.
In an episode last week, the show and its host Ken Jennings both misspelled and mispronounced the name of one of The Simpsons' most iconic characters, Sideshow Bob, when it showed up in a clue.
One of the show's former writers, Bill Oakley, was quick to jump on X, aka Twitter, and take the game show to task for its gaffe.
The question, for $600, appeared in the show's category “Real Names of Unreal People," meaning the birth names, if you will, of fictional characters with unusual monikers.
The question was:
“Robert Underdunk Terwilliger is the real name of this vengeful The Simpsons character.”
The answer? Sideshow Bob, one of The Simpsons' longest-running characters.
A former member of the show-within-the-show the The Krusty the Clown Show, Sideshow Bob is now an at-large criminal obsessed with murdering Bart Simpson and Krust the Klown, his arch-nemeses.
Being the subject of a Jeopardy! question is a fitting tribute to the character, who's appeared in some 40 episodes over the course of the show's staggering 35 seasons.
But Robert Underdunk Terwilliger is not actually his name. It's Onderdonk, as Oakley pointed out in his tweet:
“Yes @Jeopardy you made a rare mistake. It’s ‘Onderdonk.’ And @Joshstrangehill and I are certain cause we wrote that script. Cc: @KenJennings."
In a follow-up tweet, he revealed the inspiration from the character, which derives from he and fellow writer Josh Weinstein's high school days.
Of course, fans of The Simpsons were quick to take Oakley's side.
But it turns out there was plenty of reason for Ken Jennings and Co. to think it was actually "Underdunk."
Eagle-eyed fans pointed out that it has appeared with that spelling on Wikipedia...
...and in the show's own onscreen captions...
...and in a tweet by Kelsey Grammer, who voices Sideshow Bob.
So you get a pass, Jennings—but only this one time!
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