On the famous “Saturday Night Live” parody of “Jeopardy!” contestants were constantly attempting to get a rise out of Will Ferrell’s “Alex Trebek” — be it “Sean Connery” deliberately misreading “THERAPISTS” as “the rapists” or “WHO READS” as “whore ads,” or “Burt Reynolds” insisting that he be called “Turd Ferguson” — but on the actual show yesterday, life imitated parody as Talia Lavin spent the majority of the episode vigorously fiddling with her buzzer and providing hilariously off-kilter answers, including a “Final Jeopardy!” question for the ages.
Lavin spent the first round making faces at her buzzer, acting as if it didn’t work and earning a rare insult from Trebek. “Two of the contestants figured out how to master the buzzer in our opening round,” he said as her difficulties continued into the second.
If it wasn’t obvious enough that Lavin was more interested in producing an entertaining episode of “Jeopardy!” than actually winning any money on it, her “Final Jeopardy” response to answer “This song from a 1999 animated film about censorship had a word censored from its Oscar performance” made her intentions abundantly clear.
She replied “What is ‘The Love Ballad of Turd Ferguson’?” and, as per the show’s custom, Trebek had to read it aloud, thereby forcing him to do what Ferrell’s parodic version of him was always so reluctant to.
Lavin spent Wednesday afternoon on Twitter enjoying her 15 minutes of fame, tweeting:
it's jeopar-day! #soexcited #jeopardy #contestant #willitriumph #orwillifail #tuneintonight
— . (@swordsjew) September 16, 2015
what is jeopardy? what is happening? what is life? #livetweeting
— . (@swordsjew) September 17, 2015
greatest moment of my life @Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/YVigizaFr0
— . (@swordsjew) September 17, 2015
She was also more than happy to re-tweet the whinging “Jeopardy!” enthusiasts who were unimpressed by her performance:
@SeanMBurns dude she was a wacky beeatch
— Bryan K (@Kahnighticus) September 17, 2015
What is more annoying than Talia and her annoying buzzer style; her long overdrawn bio story…. #jeopardy
— Badri Radhakrishnan 🇺🇸🟦🎥⚾️🥃 (@radbcc) September 16, 2015
"what is toast cut into soldiers" may be the dumbest answer of all time😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 #talia #jeopardy @Jeopardy
— Tommy (@thomasj216) September 16, 2015
This girl Talia on Jeopardy is actually not smart.
— Danielle Kaplan (@jets_NY728) September 16, 2015
How did this Talia chick get on Jeopardy? She is stupid!
— Nick Peroceschi (@therealwhite56) September 16, 2015
Thank god we don't have to see #Talia anymore. #jeopardy
— Sal Stammetti (@SalStammetti) September 16, 2015
Others were more supportive, if not jubilant:
"You made your opponents laugh, Talia." You made everyone laugh, #talia #jeopardy
— Holly Marie (@duchess325) September 16, 2015
I need everyone to stop what they are doing and watch #Talia on #jeopardy
— Lucy Pozek (@LucPoz88) September 16, 2015
Talia is a bit of a hot mess. Obviously we are all now #teamtalia #jeopardy
— Anne Marie (@AwesomeAMT) September 16, 2015
You made AMERICA laugh tonight. Thanks #talia #Jeopardy was a special watch for me this eve
— Sarah (@sjdemps) September 16, 2015
Salon reached out to Norm MacDonald — the original “Turd Ferguson” — but he is, so far, mum on Lavin’s tribute to him.
Watch the “Final Jeopardy” segment below via “Jeopardy!”
Watch an appearance of “Turd Ferguson” on “Saturday Night Live”‘s 40th Anniversary special below via “Saturday Night Live.”
