Final Jeopardy: Classic TV (7-8-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (7/8/2026) in the category “Classic TV” was:
“Burning Fuse” was the working title for the iconic theme song to this TV series that was later on the big screen
4x champ Caleb Groen, a law & policy student originally from Thousand Oaks, CA, has now won $71,200. In Game 5, he’s up against: Taylor A’Latorre, a fulfillment worker from Plano, TX; and Molly Grove, a physician from Camas, WA.
Round 1 Categories: Twent-Oy! 26 – Big Farm-A – Their First U.S. No. 1 Hit – “Field” Notes – U.S. Geography – Words of Our Time
Caleb found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “U.S. Geography” under the $800 on the 1st pick of the round. Nobody was on the board. Caleb bet the $1,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.
Of the 48 contiguous U.S. States, it’s the largest in area that only uses one area code show
Caleb finished in the lead with $8,000. Taylor was in second place with $5,600. Molly was last with $600. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Looooooong Literary Titles – Scientific Discoveries – Economists – Flicks Gone Wild – Sea Change – AKA
Caleb got the first Daily Double in “Looooooong Literary Titles” under the $1,200 clue on the 10th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $12,800 now, $3,600 more than Taylor in second place. Caleb bet $6,000 and he was RIGHT.
“Merlin’s Tower” is chapter 7 in this 19th century time-traveling novel show
On the next pick, Caleb got the last Daily Double in “Economists” under the $1,200 clue. In the lead with $18,800, he had $9,600 more than Taylor in second place. Caleb bet $5,000 this time and he was RIGHT again.
This former treasury secretary has been called “The Ruth Bader Ginsburg of Economics” show
Caleb finished in the lead with a runaway $31,400. Taylor was in second place with $12,800. Molly was last with $9,400. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE”?
Possibly, the most famous thing about the “Mission Impossible” theme song is the “dun-dun-da-da” motif standing for M-I in Morse code. That’s probably why CBC.ca didn’t include it in their “7 things you didn’t know…” article about the theme song. I didn’t know a few of those things they did include, like Tom Cruise being 4 years old when the original TV series debuted in 1966. I found No. 4 the most interesting: Lalo Schifrin, the theme’s composer, “struck an agreement with the show where incoming composers working with Schifrin’s original theme would have to split the pay with him.” In addition to the honors he received, that surely paid off big time when others were brought in to work on the theme for the film franchise.
Click here to see a video featuring a 1992 live performance of the “Mission Impossible” theme song “Burning Fuse” with its composer Lalo Schifrin on piano.
Molly had no response and she didn’t bet anything either, so her score remained $9,400.
Taylor got it right. He bet $6,005 and finished with $18,805.
Caleb got it right, too. He bet $600 and won the game with $32,000. Caleb’s 5-day total is $103,200 and he is now qualified for the Tournament of Champions.
A triple stumper from each round:
BIG FARM-A ($800) Used to prepare for planting, a harrow smooths the surface of soil & loosens clumps left behind after this process
LOOOOOOONG LITERARY TITLES ($2000) Edgardo Vega Yunqué: “No Matter How Much You Promise to Cook or Pay the Rent You Blew It Cauze” this guy “Ain’t Never Coming Home Again
2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “FAMOUS AMERICANS”
In his 1999 memoir he wrote, “I had been shot down a short walk’s distance from the French-built prison, Hoa Lo” show
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Well, this certainly wasn’t a competitive game at all as Caleb finished with an overwhelmingly runaway. Anyways, I performed slightly above average in the game while the FJ was a dead giveaway.
I thought Taylor competed well. Molly also managed to get a decent score before FJ!
The back-to-back Daily Doubles in Round 2 are what turned the tide against Caleb’s challengers.