The Best Game Show Moments of 2015

Whether or not you like competing at home, this was definitely a good year to watch Jeopardy!, The Price is Right, Family Feud, and Wheel of Fortune. From memorable contestants to ridiculous answers, here are the top game show moments from 2015.

The star of the game show world in 2015 was no doubt Jeopardy!’s Matt Jackson, who won over viewers at home, along with more than $400,000. His quick answers and no-nonsense play led him to a 13-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in Jeopardy! history. His memorable moments included steamrolling Alex Trebek, shouting “Boom” after correctly answering a Daily Double, quoting Hamilton lyrics, and of course, his perfectly timed, creeping smile at the beginning of each intro. 

Talia had a rough time during the two rounds, but she redeemed herself in Final Jeopardy. Since she didn’t know the correct answer in response to the clue “This song from a 1999 animated film about censorship had a word censored from its Oscar performance,” Talia used the opportunity to troll Alex Trebek. Her response was “What is the love ballad of Turd Ferguson,” a reference to the classic Saturday Night Live “Celebrity Jeopardy!” sketches, where Burt Reynolds, played by Norm MacDonald, insisted on being called “Turd Ferguson.” Trebek didn’t understand the reference, but fortunately, the entire Internet did. 

The Price Is Right contestant Danielle was thrilled when she had a chance to win two awesome prizes. And it was great, except for the fact that one of the prizes was a treadmill—and she uses a wheelchair. Twitter users took note of the awkward moment, but Danielle took it well and ended up winning the treadmill and a sauna. She later responded to the moment with a good-natured tweet and appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she received a cruise. Much better than a treadmill she was planning to use as a piece of extra furniture. 

He may have come in third place, but his good looks definitely won the game. Tom the bartender competed on Jeopardy!, and immediately, his Blue Steel poses coupled with his I’m-too-cool-for-school vibe had Twitter posting screenshots of the hot Jeopardy! guy. 

Family Feud contestants have been known to give some ridiculous answers, but this one may take the cake. During a toss-up, contestant Darci buzzed in to name one thing a doctor might pull out of a person. Her response: a gerbil. While she immediately cringed, her opponent stood in stunned silence for three seconds before bursting out laughing. “I didn’t say that. I didn’t say that,” Darci repeated. Needless to say, she did not win that toss-up. 

Upspeak for $1000? When contestant Laura competed on Jeopardy!, people weren’t discussing how well she was doing, but how she was talking. Laura—who’s from Georgia—had a distinct way of selecting categories, ending her requests with a rising intonation. Her two-day appearance spawned a #JeopardyLaura hashtag as well as a Twitter account of her voice. But Laura remained a good sport about it with her own tongue-in-cheek tweets. 

Jeopardy! contestant Becky took a wild guess on Final Jeopardy and in doing so, unintentionally insulted liberals. The clue was a photo of a flower, which has a name that is also a disparaging term for people on the political left. Not knowing that the flower was a bleeding heart, Becky guessed pansy. Ouch. 

Everyone knows you should choose R, S, T, L, N, or E during Wheel of Fortune, but a contestant named Nura picked two of the least common letters in the English language. In the final speed-up round, Nura guessed X and Z and inexplicably failed to select any letter for two turns. Despite losing the bizarre round, she ended up winning the game and moving on to the bonus round. 

Mellie Grant has some impressive credentials on Scandal, but actress Bellamy Young is no slouch either. The Yale grad competed on Celebrity Jeopardy! where she dominated the Literature category and placed first over Ginger Zee and Josh Gad to win $50,000 for Operation Blankets of Love.  

Everybody makes mistakes, but it’s a little more costly when you accidentally give away a $21,960 car on The Price Is Right. In one game, a contestant had three chances to correctly guess the price tag on a new car. After her first guess, model Manuela took away the card to reveal that it was incorrect. But thinking the game was over, she then went on to reveal the correct price tag. “Congratulations, Manuela just gave you a car!” host Drew Carey joked to the contestant, causing Manuela to duck behind the stand and hide from embarrassment. 

The show’s called Family Feud, but this moment’s not so family-friendly. In response to Steve Harvey’s question, “What’s the last thing you stuck your finger in?” one contestant named Kevin pauses before answering, “My wife.” Harvey has heard some outrageous answers in the past, but he said this one is his favorite. 

During an episode of The Price is Right, a model stepped off to the side and accidentally broke a light bulb on the set. The funny part isn’t that she slinks back and says “I’m just going to die of embarrassment,” but that an alarmed contestant standing several feet away cries, “Did I do that?”