'Jeopardy!' Fans Noticed a Sly Bernie Sanders Reference in the Categories During 'Greatest of All Time' Night 3

All eyes were locked onto the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time competition that pitted Ken [...]

By Kyle Phillippi

All eyes were locked onto the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time competition that pitted Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter against each other. In the end, it was Jennings who came out on top with Holzauer picking up one win and Rutter failing to pick up a win on any of the nights.

Despite the national spotlight and all the attention it received, it took a few keen-eyed viewers to pick up on a subtle Bernie Sanders reference. While Alex Trebek read off the categories on night three, a few viewers noticed the final two went: "I" Wrote and The Dam Bill.

This is in reference to one of Sanders' more iconic moments. Last July during the second Democratic presidential debate, Sanders engaged with Tim Ryan on health care and let out the phrase as Ryan questioned his understanding.

"I do know," he quipped. "I wrote the damn bill."

Many fans didn't pick up on the reference right away, and many were stunned to look back on it.

"Wow. I totally missed the reference when I watched it," one user wrote on Twitter. "The writers brought their A game."

Following Jennings' victory, ABC announced that there are more plans to host tournaments like this moving forward after all the attention that came with the primetime showings.

"Whether it's something with Jeopardy! or not, certainly I would argue these three guys are the biggest stars in primetime right now. Is there a different game? I don't know," ABC's head of alternative programming, Robert Mills, told Deadline. "But you can't look at this and not acknowledge the impact that they have had over the 20 years and this past week without saying, 'OK. how do we tap into it.'"

It was also revealed afterwards that Jennings nearly didn't participate in the ultimate showdown, even though he was fully expecting a call someday after Holzhauer's historic run.

"After James made such a splash, I knew people were going to want to see a showdown, but I was not prepared for it so soon… I thought I was a little past my prime and it was maybe time for me to hang up my buzzer," he said.

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