Jeopardy! fans are well-known to be vocal about the contestants and the clues used in every single episode. But early 2000s movie fans were especially surprised when a nostalgic clue stumped all three players during one of the most important games to date.
The hit quiz show is currently in the middle of airing the 2024 Tournament of Champions, and the March 1 episode saw Josh Saak, Brian Henegar and Stephen Webb compete for a chance to advance to the semifinals. While the three impressed the audience and host Ken Jennings with their knowledge, they eventually found themselves stuck when it came to the "Pop Culture Princesses" category during the second round. As Ken read the clue, "In The Princess Diaries, Mia Thermopolis finds out that she is the crown princess of this (fictional) country," no one even attempted to guess the answer. When the timer eventually ran out, Ken revealed the answer.
"Been too long since those movies?" he joked with the contestants. "Crown Princess of Genovia."
When fans of the 2001 Disney film discovered the competitors weren't familiar with The Princess Diaries, this led many viewers to get riled up about how they knew the right response to the clue.
"Not me screaming Genovia at my phone 😂😂😂," one person exclaimed on Instagram. "As an honorary Genovian citizen myself I am very upset by this," another remarked. "UH UH Put some respect on 👏🏽 Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi 👏🏽 👏🏽 PrinCESS of Genovia 👏🏽 😂," a different fan declared.
Despite all three men missing the question about The Princess Diaries, Brian eventually won the game and advanced to the semifinals. Unfortunately, his streak ended on the March 11 episode when he lost to Troy Meyer, who is now a finalist to win the $250,000 grand prize.
Troy will face off against Ben Chan and Yogesh Raut tonight, Friday, March 15.
After we tune in to the latest episode, we're in the mood to watch The Princess Diaries!
As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
