Michael Caine

Game contestants have made waves of late for screwing up in truly creative ways, but they’ve been usually consigned to Wheel of Fortune. Jeopardy!, meanwhile, is the show for brainiacs, only marred by the producers’ truly chaotic attempts to replace the dearly departed Alex Trebek. That changed on Monday night’s show, which featured a doozy for the ages.

The clue was almost insultingly basic, despite being in the $400 slot. The category was about knights. It was a picture clue about a “star who was knighted in his birthname” to honor his father, who had the same name, meaning he’s actually Sir Maurice Micklewhite. The image [spoiler] clearly showed Michael Caine, one of the most beloved screen actors in history.

Alas, the first contestant to ding in, named Mazin, did not know that. Instead, he replied, “Who is Mick Jagger?” He was wrong. It was not the co-writer of the absurdly problematic “Brown Sugar.” It was the Jaws: The Revenge alum who once spent eight years trying not to blink.

As one can imagine, poor Mazin — who came in second, losing to six-time champ Ryan Long, came in for a fair amount of online dragging, which we don’t need to share here. In general, Jeopardy! contestants aren’t so hot with pop culture references, possibly because they know actual smart stuff few others do. For instance, in May, during Mattea Roach’s reign, no one, not even she, could identify a picture of Miami Vice stars Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas.

As it happens, Monday’s episode of Jeopardy! aired on the same day it was announced Jagger himself had to postpone Rolling Stones shows because he’d tested positive for COVID-19. Here’s hoping for the best for the third greatest lead singer in music.