Jeopardy! Viewers Rage Over Incorrect Wizard of Oz Answer

You know we've lost our way when those that are supposed to be the smart of the smart don't even know The Wizard of Oz!

That's what many Jeopardy! viewers were thinking on Friday night after all three contestants answered incorrectly on the Final Jeopardy question, which turned out to be about one of the most popular films of all time.

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER WAS A CHARACTER ALSO IN WICKED

With the Final Jeopardy category being "Fictional Characters," host Ken Jennings gave the following clue: "Boq is one of these fictional people, ‘not as big as the grown folk … but neither were they very small.' "

For the three contestants, including three-day-defending champion Bryce Wargin, they were as clueless and lost as Dorothy in Oz. All three characters would answer "What are Lilliputians?" from Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel, "Gulliver's Travels."

One by one, Jennings broke the news to them that they were all wrong. One contestant ended up with just $1, while the second player gambled $10,000 of his $10,600 total, leaving him with just $600. Wargin played it safe, however, betting only $5,201 of his $16,000 total and walking away with $10,999.

"I'm sorry, but the answer is "Munchkins," Jennings told them. "In the 1939 movie of ‘The Wizard of Oz,' the Munchkins are very small, but in the book, the Munchkins are said to be about Dorothy's height," Jennings explained.

Many viewers threw their arms up in frustration, especially as Boq plays a prominent role in last year's Wicked movie starring Ariana Grande. 

"Learned something new again. Never read nor watched Wizard of Oz," one person tweeted while mocking the contestants with a gif of "Young Sheldon."

"Too few people know the important things anymore," another chimed in. "My entire household was shouting MUNCHKIN!!! Apparently not one of the 3 saw Wicked!" exclaimed another.

It just goes to show that one can be brilliant in so many things, but when it comes to pop culture or cultural landmarks, such as The Wizard of Oz, which innovated color in film and brought it to the next level, sometimes street smarts aren't there with book smarts.

I'm sure all three contestants immediately put on "Wicked" as soon as they got home and made sure to never lose any Oz-related trivia ever again.