Jeopardy! fans feel ‘so bad’ for contestant after he finishes with one of the lowest scores in show history

JEOPARDY! fans have felt for a contestant who wound up with a collosally low score on Tuesday night's episode.

Tim Herd, a Ph.D. student from Detroit, Michigan, spent every round in the negatives and ended up with -2400.

He faced Loionsville, Pennsylvania software engineer Neilesh Vinjamuri - who'd win his third game - and Smithtown, New York writer Lindsay Denninger.

Fans rallied behind Tim from the start to make a comeback as he took several swings and misses.

Sadly, Tim didn't recover and only got one answer correct in the whole game.

His score was in the negatives throughout, making him ineligible for Final Jeopardy!

Fans were also rooting for Tim as he told a charming anecdote to host Ken Jennings during the interviews.

Tim told Ken that he does a lot of dancing to keep his mood up while working the grueling hours it takes to complete a Ph.D.

He shared he tries to spread “joy” through dance while working so hard and even shared he has a hashtag for his dance breaks.

“It’s an act of showing my joy and encouraging other people to do the same,” Tim told Ken, who smiled and replied, “That’s great! I love that for you.”

'POOR TIM'

When Tim bombed out, fans felt awful and expressed sympathy over the rough game on social media.

"I feel so bad for Tim. In the unlikely event I ever get on, I feel like I'd do quite similarly," one Redditor wrote.

"A rough day for Tim. He looked deeply uncomfortable the whole game. Congrats to Neilesh!" wrote another.

"Poor Tim! He looks so panicked. But he’s got great penmanship," wrote a third.

"I think Tim is terrified. All the knowledge in the world doesn’t matter if nerves are causing a mental breakdown," one X user wrote.

"Props to Tim for making it to the Alex Trebek Stage. Really wasn't his day, but getting on #Jeopardy is an accomplishment in and of itself," wrote another.

""Poor Tim just could not get anything going. He got run over by his opponents who were like buzzer demons," wrote a third.

"To Tim: at least you tried your best; I hope you had fun on the show. "#Jeopardy," wrote a fourth.

"Tim is exactly how I would be on #Jeopardy: Somewhere in the negative," joked a fifth.

RECORD LOW ON JEOPARDY?

While Tim’s scores were low all game, he didn't put up the actual worst numbers in the show's history.

While he finished the first round with -1600, a Redditor pointed out that the record for that round was set in 1985, when a player scored -$3,800.

Tim’s final score of -$2,400 is also far from the record for the lowest final Jeopardy! score ever.

Patrick Pearce ended his 2021 game with -$7,400.

The second-lowest all-time score came recently - in June, Erin Buker ended the game with -$7,200.

Celebrity Jeopardy! player Becky Lynch also set a record as the first contestant ever to get zero correct answers in 60 clues (she got two in the special's Triple Jeopardy! round.)

Meanwhle, Neilesh won the game with $11,999 while Lindsay came in second with $5,000.

However, fans also called out Lindsay, who "could have won" had she not wagered so much ($8,000) in Final Jeopardy.

NEW CHAMP NEILISH

Neilsish is a three-day champ as of Tuedsay night with a total of $53,099.

Many fans have been impressed by his strong play, which comes with just days left before the game show takes its summer hiatus at the end of the week.

The reigning champ has one two of his three games so far in runaways and Ken called his second win "dominating" as it nearly reached $30,000.

Some are predicting he'll make it into the Tournament of Champions before Season 40 ends -and could spend the summer the reigning champ a la Lucas Partridge (but hopefully not eight months).

"Neilesh's depth and breadth of knowledge is pretty impressive. Congrats!" one social media user recent wrote.

"Loving watching Neilesh, now I hope he gains confidence in himself in his future DD wagers," wrote another.

"I hope Neilesh wins until at least on Thursday, making him at least a 5-day champion," wrote a third.

"Neilesh seemed nervous for a while during Friday’s episode before taking over that game. Seems like those nerves are gone and the rest of this week’s competitors may have been in for a tough time," predicted a fourth.

"I know it's just nerves, but he makes me dizzy," quipped one more on the champ's tendency to shift back and forth at his podium.

Neilesh will go for his fourth win on Wednesday's episode, which would likely qualify him for the next Tournament of Champions.

So far, the qualifiers are Isaac (9 wins) Survivor alum Drew Basile (7 wins), Adriana Harmeyer (15 wins), Alison Betts (5 wins) and Dr. Amy Hummel (5 wins), and Celebrity Jeopardy!'s Lisa Ann Walter.

With four wins, Grant DeYoung and Amar Kakirde will also likely join in.

The last episode of Jeopardy!'s 40th Season will air on Friday, July 26, with reruns starting Monday, July 29.

Season 41 will premiere on September 9, 2024, and run through to July 25, 2025.

Jeopardy! airs at 7 pm ET - check your local listings.