recaps

Pop Culture Jeopardy

Pop Culture Jeopardy Recap – Wednesday, May 20, 2026

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Current Champion

Matthew Riggle, career statistics:
47 correct, 6 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,300

To win:
3 games: 68.027%
4: 46.277%
5: 31.481%
6: 21.415%
7: 14.568%
Avg. streak: 4.128 games.
(Next game: September 14)
(Click Here for Methodology)

Jeopardy! Masters Standings

(Semifinal Final Standings)

1) Victoria Groce, 7 points, 2 wins, 81 correct responses, $60,000 Coryat Score, $65,800 earned before Final Jeopardy
2) Andrew He, 6 points, 2 wins, 51 correct responses, $33,200 Coryat Score, $34,600 earned before Final Jeopardy
3) Yogesh Raut, 2 points, 0 wins, 48 correct responses, $31,200 Coryat Score, $25,200 earned before Final Jeopardy
4) Paolo Pasco, 1 point, 0 wins, 33 correct responses, $23,600 Coryat Score, $29,200 earned before Final Jeopardy

(Quarterfinal Final Standings)

1) Victoria Groce, 15 points, 5 wins, 172 correct responses, $126,000 Coryat Score, $121,000 earned before Final Jeopardy
2) Yogesh Raut, 12 points, 3 wins, 106 correct responses, $69,000 Coryat Score, $69,800 earned before Final Jeopardy
3) Paolo Pasco, 8 points, 1 win, 94 correct responses, $62,400 Coryat Score, $71,400 earned before Final Jeopardy
4) Andrew He, 5 points, 1 win, 89 correct responses, $53,000 Coryat Score, $50,400 earned before Final Jeopardy
5) Long Nguyen, 5 points, 1 win, 68 correct responses, $40,200 Coryat Score, $45,200 earned before Final Jeopardy
6) Juveria Zaheer, 3 points, 1 win, 86 correct responses, $60,600 Coryat Score, $68,400 earned before Final Jeopardy

Upcoming Encore Presentations

September 5-6: S41 E144 (March 27, 2025)
September 7: S42 E116 (February 16, 2026)
September 8: S42 E117 (February 17, 2026)
September 9: S42 E118 (February 18, 2026)
September 10: S42 E119 (February 19, 2026)
September 11: S42 E120 (February 20, 2026)
September 12-13: S41 E145 (March 28, 2025)
September 19-20: S42 E173 (May 6, 2026)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)

All Time Winnings

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:

1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):

1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,098,403
7. Mattea Roach $897,983
8. Jamie Ding $885,605
9. David Madden $785,733
10. Victoria Groce $773,801
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Larissa Kelly $671,930
14. Matt Jackson $623,612
15. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
16. Paolo Pasco $548,717
17. Andrew He $534,365
18. Scott Riccardi $533,000
19. Jerome Vered $499,102
20. Julia Collins $495,767
21. Austin Rogers $493,000
22. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
23. Ben Ingram $449,201
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603

Are you looking for today’s regular syndicated Jeopardy! recap? Find that here!

Here’s the Pop Culture Jeopardy Final Jeopardy (in the category Characters) for Wednesday, May 20, 2026 (Season 2, Game 8):

All 3 feature films about this ageless character start in a dream; the first dream features his iconic bicycle

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Pop Culture Jeopardy! contestants:

Less Culturistas, Nichi & Elaine

Less Culturistas on Pop Culture Jeopardy!

Oakland Spirit Tunnel, West & Joshua

Oakland Spirit Tunnel on Pop Culture Jeopardy!

Snake Juice, No Pulp, Anita & Erika (1 win)

Snake Juice, No Pulp on Pop Culture Jeopardy!

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Snake Juice, No Pulp are your defending champions here on Pop Culture Jeopardy!; today’s challengers are Less Culturistas and Oakland Spirit Tunnel—I assume West is a last name being used to avoid a name clash with someone on one of the other teams here.

(Content continues below)

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Correct response: Who is Pee-Wee Herman?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2026 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

The three films that included Paul Reubens’s character Pee-wee Herman, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Bit Top Pee-wee, and Netflix’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, each featured the character’s famous bicycle—inspired by Reubens noticing many bicycles on the Warner lot and him asking people where they got their bicycles from. In the first film, Pee-wee’s treasured bicycle is stolen and he has to attempt to recover it.

Being unfamiliar with the oeuvre of Reubens, I definitely guessed ET myself on this Final, despite not being able to really come up with three films in the ET universe.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Here’s the recap for Season 2, Episode 8:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Pandering To Millennials; I Married An Athlete; Brand Mascots; Cher Horowitz’ Letterboxd; Talking Animals; I Hope You Watched What Happened, Live)

A well-played round by all three teams—the only incorrect response came on the opening clue—saw Less Culturistas lead through 30 on the strength of the Daily Double. On the opening board, Oakland Spirit Tunnel went 3/5 in brand mascots, while Snake Juice went 3/5 in the category for millennials.

Today’s interviews:

Less Culturistas met when Elaine needed directions home from a concert; Nichi gave the directions—and her number.
Oakland Spirit Tunnel met each other at a Mamma Mia-themed party.
Snake Juice, No Pulp have quite a sister dynamic.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Less Culturistas 6 correct 0 incorrect
Snake Juice, No Pulp 11 correct 0 incorrect
Oakland Spirit Tunnel 6 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Less Culturistas 5,600
Snake Juice, No Pulp 4,800
Oakland Spirit Tunnel 3,000

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Movie Goofs; 10-Letter Responses; Musica Urbana; Fruit Salad; Twist; Shout)

Oakland Spirit Tunnel came to play in this round, picking up 18 correct responses, including a run of Fruit Salad, going 4/5 in Musica Urbana, and 3/5 in movie goofs and twists. They also found both Daily Doubles—including one in the top row—which let them cement a runaway.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Oakland Spirit Tunnel 24 correct 1 incorrect
Snake Juice, No Pulp 18 correct 0 incorrect
Less Culturistas 8 correct 2 incorrect

Scores going into Final:

Oakland Spirit Tunnel 29,800
Snake Juice, No Pulp 13,200
Less Culturistas 4,400

Oakland Spirit Tunnel put the exclamation point on this one with a correct response; they’ll be back tomorrow to defend!

Tonight’s results:

Less Culturistas 4,400 – 4,399 = 1 (Who is ET)
Snake Juice, No Pulp 13,200 – 800 = 12,400 (Who is .)
Oakland Spirit Tunnel 29,800 + 3,000 = 32,800 (Who is Pee-Wee Herman) (Winner)

Current Overall Standings:

  1. One Baddie After Another: 5 wins, 144,700 points
  2. Oakland Spirit Tunnel: 1 win, 32,800 points
  3. Snake Juice, No Pulp: 1 win, 24,001 points
  4. Quality Tigers: 1 win, 18,400 points
Oakland Spirit Tunnel, today's Pop Culture Jeopardy! winners (for the May 20, 2026 game.)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) PANDERING TO MILLENNIALS 600 (clue #13)
Less Culturistas 2600 +2000 (Snake Juice, No Pulp 2200 Oakland Spirit Tunnel 600)
2) SHOUT 800 (clue #20)
Oakland Spirit Tunnel 16200 +4000 (Snake Juice, No Pulp 12000 Less Culturistas 4400)
3) MUSICA URBANA 400 (clue #22, 8400 left on board)
Oakland Spirit Tunnel 20600 +4000 (Snake Juice, No Pulp 12000 Less Culturistas 4400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 121

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Snake Juice, No Pulp 5 4 3 4 5 5
Oakland Spirit Tunnel 4 3 5
Less Culturistas 3 2 4 3*

DJ! Round:
Snake Juice, No Pulp 3 3 4 5 5 2
Oakland Spirit Tunnel 3 4 5 3 4 3 4 4 4 2 2 2* 1 1*
Less Culturistas 3 2

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Oakland Spirit Tunnel 3.18
Snake Juice, No Pulp 4.00
Less Culturistas 2.83

Game Stats:

Oakland Spirit Tunnel 23,000 Coryat, 24 correct, 1 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Snake Juice, No Pulp 13,200 Coryat, 18 correct, 0 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Less Culturistas 3,000 Coryat, 8 correct, 2 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: 39,200
Lach Trash: 10,200 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Snake Juice, No Pulp, career statistics:

38 correct, 2 incorrect
6/6 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
25.44% in first on buzzer (29/114)
2/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: 1,500)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: 15,800

Oakland Spirit Tunnel, career statistics:

25 correct, 1 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: 8,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: 23,000

Less Culturistas, career statistics:

8 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: 2,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: 3,000

Andy’s Thoughts:

  • I think more Daily Doubles should be in the top row. I also think Oakland Spirit Tunnel should have bet more on it.

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