JEOPARDY!’s latest season is coming to a close, and while there weren’t as many big winning streaks as past seasons, there were no shortage of big losers.

A 21-day champ suffered a Tournament of Champions faceplant, James Holzhauer lost Masters and a 13-day champ lost to an actor.

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Jeopardy! – hosted by the one and only Ken Jennings – had a season of upsetsCredit: ABC

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Fans still aren’t over 21-day champion Cris Pannullo losing the ToC instantlyCredit: Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!’s hallmark 40th season premiered last summer and ends in late July 2024.

The Writers Guild of America strike truncated the season, but when postponed tournaments finally did air, the ensuing events were shocking.

The 2024 Tournament of Champions was even branded by host Ken Jennings as “the most dramatic in history” at one point.

And Masters Season 2 in May saw the previous title-holder, James, lose – in a runaway.

Punctuated by the abrupt departure of co-host Mayim Bialik, here are the most stunning upsets of Season 40.

CRIS MISS

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Cris Pannullo was the 2024 ToC’s frontrunnerCredit: Jeopardy!

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He was defeated in a blowout by a three-day winnerCredit: Jeopardy!
Cris Pannullo won 21 games and $749,000 in Season 39, making him the fifth-winningest Jeopardy! contestant ever.

He was also considered the frontrunner in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.

He entered the quarterfinals with his head held high, sharing on stage how he was previously the alternate for Masters Season 1.

So it came as quite a shock when he proceeded to not just lose, but get obliterated by a three-day champ.

Cris was crushed by three-day winner Jared Watson and finished with $0, knocking him out of the $250,000 annual tournament on arrival.

Jared found all three Daily Doubles, got Final Jeopardy correct, and won in a runaway.

Earlier this week in a Jeopardy! Reddit forum, fans were asked about the season’s most shocking games, and most commented it was Cris.

“Cris, absolutely NO ONE saw coming. Rich Strike winning the Kentucky Derby was less of a shocker,” one comment read.

“I truly thought Cris was going to make it to the finals…” wrote another.

“I was in the studio for the Alex Jacob, Hannah Wilson, and Cris Pannulo losses. There is no doubt that Cris’s was the biggest shock,” wrote a third.

“Almost sucked the oxygen out of the studio.”

IKE DROP

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Actor Ike Barinholtz was invited to the ToC after winning Celebrity Jeopardy!Credit: Jeopardy!

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He was pitted against 13-day champ Ray LaLonde

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In an upset no one will soon forget, he actually wonCredit: Jeopardy!
The 2024 ToC also changed the game by allowing the previous Celebrity Jeopardy! winner to compete in a first for the game show.

Thus, Ike Barenholtz joined in, which initially seemed like just a fun idea at first.

His inclusion became no laughing matter when he faced the tournament’s second seed, 13-day champ Ray LaLonde and Melissa Clapper.

Ike defeated Ray in the shocker of all shockers since the latter is a super-champion, and the former is an actor.

It all hinged on Final Jeopardy, which read, “Far from Rome, this first-century poet wrote, ‘The leader’s anger done, grant me the right to die in my native country.'”

The correct response was “Ovid,” which Ray got, so it all came down to Ike’s response from second place.

Ken even shaded that he didn’t think Ike, of Mad TV and Mindy Project fame, would have any clue.

“Did he think of Ovid, as we know celebrities often do? Oh!” Ken yelled in surprise.

Ike did write “Ovid” and emerged with a cool smirk and the win over a 13-day champion.

“I didn’t think Ike had a chance, and things just really worked in his favor that game. It was fun to see!” one Redditor wrote in the thread.

“I never respected Celebrity Jeopardy. He changed that,” wrote another.

FALL FROM GROCE

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Victoria Groce stole the Masters crown from James HolzhauerCredit: Getty

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The Queen of The Chase is now the Jeopardy! Masters champion

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James, who went in the Masters champion, placed third
Masters Season 2 was another shock as reigning champ James lost to one-day champ and pro quizzer Victoria Groce.

She, James, and 2024 ToC winner Yogesh Raut were the final three.

James didn’t just lose, but lost in a runaway and came in third place.

By the finale’s Final Jeopardy! round, Victoria had so many more points than James that she’d already won.

She received $500,000 and took his Masters trophy, 2024 ToC winner Yogesh received $250,000 for second, and James received $150,000 for third.

Conceding defeat, James declared, “Final boss death music,” and mimicked a Mario death tune at the podium.

Jeopardy! Universe

Jeopardy! first aired in 1964 until 1975. Then the nighttime version began in 1974. Since then, many spinoffs of the game show have emerged. Here they all are:

Jeopardy! – (syndicated) 1974 to present, weekdays on ABC at 7 pm ET.

Tournament of Champions – 1984 to present, features the top champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament.

Second Chance Tournament – 2022 to present features hand-selected non-winners from the season prior, where the prize is entry into Champions Wildcard.

Champions Wildcard – 2023 to present, features all one, two and three-day champions from the season prior worth entry into the Tournament of Champions.

Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (syndication) – 2023 to present, features past greats invited by producers to vie for a slot in Masters.

Jeopardy! Masters (primetime) – 2023 to present, features the six highest-ranked Jeopardy! champions competing against each other.

Celebrity Jeopardy! (primetime) – 1992 to present, has celebrities compete against each other to raise money for charity.

Pop Culture Jeopardy (streaming) – 2024 to present, will feature teams of three tasked with pop culture trivia on Amazon Prime, host and airdate TBD

Jeopardy! has done away with specialized tournaments like its College Tournaments, Kids Week, and Professor’s Tournament to gear towards a more sports-like model, with Masters being the top of the Jeopardy pyramid.

Other versions of Jeopardy! have fizzled out throughout the years as well, like Sports Jeopardy!.

All three players are guaranteed spots in Masters Season 3, which will be next spring.

After Season 40 ends in late July, Jeopardy! will have its summer reruns and return with Season 41 in late August.

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Season 40 of Jeopardy! – in which Mayim Bialik was let go as co-host – may go down as the season of shock eliminationsCredit: Getty