‘Jeopardy!’ Is Being Called Out For This “Total Fail” Of A Clue

It’s no secret that taking home the big bucks on Jeopardy! is hard work. Going round for round with your competitors can certainly be daunting, but when you finally arrive at Final Jeopardy, the end is in sight and that hard-earned cash may soon be in your pocket. Last night’s Final Jeopardy found contestants Robert, Katy, and Johnny ready to face off in the ‘1960s No. 1 Songs’. Host Alex Trebek read out the following clue: “Complaints about heavy workloads inspired the titles of 2 songs by this group, No. 1 hits 7 months apart”.

If you answered “Who are The Beatles?”, congratulations. Katy and Robert did the same, though Katy didn’t bet high enough to come out victorious, and Robert was declared champion. (Johnny, sadly, lost it all when he guessed “The Rolling Stones”. You can’t always get what you want.)

We don’t want to diminish Katy and Robert’s success, but guessing “The Beatles” for a ‘1960s No. 1 songs’ category would be just about the smartest move you can make, regardless of the clue. Despite this seemingly simple question and answer that earned Robert $23,601, however, some Jeopardy! fans are crying foul.

The two songs referenced by the clue were “A Hard Day’s Night”, which was No. 1 in August 1964, and “Eight Days A Week”, which was No. 1 in March 1965. Is “Eight Days A Week” really about a heavy workload, though? Last night’s viewers don’t think so.

Yep. It turns out that a song with “love” in the lyrics some 23 times is not about a heavy workload, but about, well, y’know, love. “Eight Days A Week” itself is about as much a “complaint about a heavy workload” as “Walkin’ On Sunshine” is, but the clue – which references the songs’ titles – is not entirely off-base. The title was reportedly inspired by a comment by Paul McCartney’s chauffeur about how busy he was. Still, we can’t blame these viewers for their confusion. Guess that’s why we’re not on Jeopardy!, and folks like Katy and Robert are.