LaVar Burton hoped his debut as Jeopardy! guest host would go well.

It did, except for one contestant laying a major egg.

#Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/Vyzv3g9dRN

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) July 26, 2021

Patrick Pearce, a product specialist from Fountain Valley, California, set a dubious Jeopardy! record to begin this week's set of shows. Pearce now holds the mark for the worst score ever recorded by a Jeopardy! contestant. Pearce never had a positive score, finishing the match at $-7,400.

Pearce seemed awfully nervous throughout the game and never found his groove. He frequently buzzed in and blanked on his responses. Later in the match, he bet big on Daily Doubles in an attempt to get out of the hole, only to miss and put himself deeper in the hole.

Pearce beat the previous regular games low score record by $600. The previous record holder, Stephanie Hull, scored $-6,800 in her 2015 appearance on the venerable quiz show.


It didn't take long for the Twitterverse to react to Patrick's poor performance.



The good news for Pearce is that he won't suffer the same fate as Marge Simpson did when she went on Jeopardy! He doesn't owe the game show any money. Contestants who finish in the negative take home $1,000 just for showing up to play.

Oh, we hope he does better next weekend The Price is Right.

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