A JEOPARDY! player has fans buzzing as he is being compared to one of Hollywood’s funniest men.
Sam Buttrey– who was a finalist on the show’s Tournament of Champions- looks just like actor Steve Martin according to some viewers.
5
It all kicked off when Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings, 48, took to Twitter to comment on a photo shared by Sam.
In the snap, Sam is posing with the legendary game show notable but seems to be distracted while Ken smiles.
Sam captioned the photo: “Me (to Ken Jennings): ‘May I have a selfie?’
Ken (graciously): ‘Of course!’ Me (to self): ‘Now, how do I work this thin–(click) darn it!'”
Ken responded to the tweet: “One of my favorite things about the Jeopardy ToC was seeing this tweet cross my feed many times a day. I seem so gracious in it!”
“Gonna start putting ‘Ken (graciously)’ before all my tweets,” he added.
While plenty of fans loved the tweet, there was something in particular that many focused on instead: Sam resembling the Father of the Bride star, 77.
One person joked: “I’ve always wanted to meet Steve Martin,” while another added, “Cool pic with Steve Martin!”
“The new season of Only Murders is gonna be great, I just know it,” one user chimed in referring to Steve’s Hulu series Only Murders in This Building.
Most read in Entertainment
One viewer added: “Doesn’t Sam look like Steve Martin?” and a user said, “Sam looks like like Steve Martin than Steve does.”
Sam, a California-based associate professor of operations, gained a big following while competing in the tournament, and was able to reach the finals alongside Andrew He and Amy Schneider.
Unfortunately for Sam, he was bested by Amy– who previously made headline by winning 40 consecutive games.
GAME SHOW CHAOS
However, the tournament did not come without some controversy.
In a Final Jeopardy segment during one episode in the tournament, the group was asked: “Paul’s letter to them is the New Testament epistle with the most Old Testament quotations.”
Amy’s response of “Hebrews” was accepted, while Sam was deemed incorrect for saying “Romans.”
The topic is still a matter of heated discussion among Biblical scholars and researchers who have shared varying perspectives on whether Paul actually wrote the letter to the Hebrews.
Andrew ended up winning the episode, but had Sam’s response been accepted, he would have notched the victory.
Many viewers felt Sam was “robbed,” as The U.S. Sun covered upon airing.
Soon after, longtime producer Sarah Foss explained on the show’s weekly podcast Inside Jeopardy!: “[We] just want to talk a bit about, you know, I understand authorship traditionally is attributed to Paul, although some say uncertain.”
“And in that [traditional] case, there’s only one New Testament epistle with the most Old Testament quotes, and it is Hebrews,” she added.
The program has not apologize for any confusion caused and stated that they always go by the King James Version of the bible.
Meanwhile, Ken will step aside from behind the podium in January so that co-host Mayim Bialik, 46- now handling Celebrity Jeopardy!– can take the reins.
5
5
5