A Jeopardy! question aired on December 6 in a category called “Celebrity Tell-Alls.” The answer was Matthew Perry, which rubbed some fans the wrong way. That is because this happened just over a month after Perry died. Now, the Jeopardy! producers are explaining what happened and why the question was on the show.
Here is what they had to say and why it was something that wasn’t done on purpose.
Jeopardy! producers talk Matthew Perry question
On December 6, Jeopardy! had a category titled “Celebrity Tell-Alls.” The clue was “‘Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing’: He Revealed That Future Editions Of His Memoir Will Not Include Keanu Reeves.” The answer was “Who is Matthew Perry.” The clue came from the fact that Perry had a lot of references to Keanu in his memoir and regretted it after the fact.
However, many fans felt this was not a good clue for the show. Matthew Perry died on October 28, just over a month before the episode of Jeopardy! aired. Mentioning his memoir getting “future editions” seemed disrespectful at best. Yet, there was a good reason for the question. It was something where the Jeopardy! producers had little control. The episode was filmed on October 11, over two weeks before Perry’s death.
Producer Sarah Foss and co-host, Buzzy Cohen were on the podcast Inside Jeopardy and talked about the question. Sarah said they can’t anticipate things happening after the show is aired. They said they wanted to show on the TV screen that this was recorded before his passing.
Matthew Perry cause of death revealed
This podcast episode also came after Matthew Perry’s autopsy reports were made public. It turns out that the Friends star’s cause of death was due to “the acute effects of ketamine” (via USA Today). His manner of death included “drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine.” He was 54.
I’m not sure why, but it kind of creeped me out when they put that message on the screen for the clue about Matthew Perry during last night’s Celebrity Jeopardy. I guess I’m just not used to seeing anything other than the clue on the screen while it’s being read, so it was weird.
— Devin Hudson (@DevinTHudson) December 7, 2023
Perry was sober for 19 months after years of drug addiction. He was also a smoker but was not currently smoking. However, he was on ketamine infusion therapy with his last therapy a week and a half before his death. He was reportedly using this for “depression and anxiety.” At the time of his death, he had 3,540 ng/ml of ketamine in his system, which is in the same range as when it is used in general anesthesia (1,000-6,000 ng/ml).
The FDA approved esketamine nasal spray for depression when two alternative antidepressants have failed. It has also received a negative reputation as a party drug called Special K. According to the coroner, the amount of ketamine in Perry’s body could not have been from the previous therapy session. There was too much there.
What are your thoughts on the Jeopardy! question about Matthew Perry airing after his death? Could there have been a better way to deal with that specific moment in the show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
