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Bad Santa actor Brett Kelly’s time on Jeopardy! was not very merry.
Kelly, who played Thurman Merman in the 2003 Christmas dark comedy that starred Billy Bob Thornton, appeared as a contestant on the hit game show’s Wednesday, October 23 episode.
The former child star, who hails from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, went up against Sophia Mayudes, a software engineer from Seattle, Washington, and returning champion Will Wallace, a game design director from Austin, Texas. Wallace entered with $18,799 from his previous day’s winnings.
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Mayudes shined in the first round, getting every question right in the “Be Witched” category. Going into the second round, also known as Double Jeopardy, Mayudes led with $6,200, Wallace was in second with $4,400, and Kelly sat in the negative with -$1,200.
The Trick ‘r Treat actor made it out of the negatives in the Double Jeopardy! round, getting four clues correct and three clues incorrect — and one of those incorrect answers was in response to a clue about a famous actor in his field.
For $400 in the leading ladies category, host Ken Jennings posed the clue: “Betty Buckley introduced the song ‘Memory’ on Broadway as Grizabella in this musical,” which Kelly responded, “What is Wicked?” The correct answer, however, is “What is Cats,” which Mayudes replied.
Kelly could not salvage the game, as he finished the round with $0. Wallace had a runaway lead with $10,800 going into Final Jeopardy Mayudes followed with $2,800.
The Final Jeopardy, which Kelly was not eligible to compete in as he was at $0, was about the Roman Catholic Church — neither Wallace nor Mayudes got it right. Wallace came out victorious in the end, winning $10,000 that day, putting his total winnings at $28,799. Mayudes walked away with $3,000 and Kelly came in third leaving the game with $2,000.
Fans took to the Jeopardy! subreddit page to discuss the actor’s unfortunate run on the iconic quiz show.
One Redditor commented, “I said it in another thread, but as a fellow crossword constructor, for me Sophia was the celebrity in this game.”
“Gotta feel for Brett here, I found this to be an extraordinarily difficult game today, some of these were categories and clues I’d expect to see in the TOC [Tournament of Champions] or even Masters,” another user opined. “He was also up against two strong players who were quick on the buzzer, so he was never really able to even mount an offense. Still, just making it on the stage alone is an accomplishment, you can’t really feel bad for yourself.”
“Today was tough,” another individual commented.
Kelly reprised his role as Merman in the 2016 sequel Bad Santa 2 and nabbed other parts in movies like 2006’s Unaccompanied Minors, the 2007 Halloween film Trick ‘r Treat, and more. Kelly is also a recurring character in the Canadian legal drama Family Law.
