Jeopardy! Fans Allege Ken Jennings is a “Stickler,” Sparking Online Debate
Jeopardy! fans are fuming after the latest episode saw Ken Jennings “become a stickler” towards a hopeful contestant, which has viewers noticing a “pattern” in the host’s introductions.
The backlash moment came after the Wednesday, July 2 episode, which saw contestants Jeff, Jason, and Stephanie go head to head. As Jason was being introduced, Jennings began teasing him after he revealed he is in the brewery business despite not having ever drank alcohol.
As the game continued, fans started to pick up on Jennings being extra strict towards Jason’s answers compared to the other contestants. Specifically, fans were annoyed over Jennings not accepting “crab” when one of the answers was “king crab.”
Backlash Mounts Over Recent Jeopardy! Episode
Fans stormed an online thread, with one saying, “It felt like Ken was (unintentionally) picking on Jason a little in last night’s episode.”
They explained: “Twice in the first round, Jason started answering the question but was ruled too late, including in a daily double question. Both times he said ‘What is’ before the buzzer and the actual answer just after. Only I’ve definitely seen plenty of questions answered in similar fashion be accepted.”
They went on to add, “Then later on he says ‘crab’ when the answer is ‘king crab.’ Seems like the type of question where he should’ve been prompted with a ‘Can you be more specific?’ but he was just ruled wrong. This one I can kind of see since the category was about royal titles in names, but even so I again feel like there were plenty of similar past situations where the player was given the chance to clarify.”
The user concluded their post, “Ultimately he won, so it didn’t really matter, but it still could’ve been a game-changer in other circumstances. Just felt like Ken was being much more of a stickler than usual, and I’m wondering if that’s a trend we can expect to continue,” the fan finished.
Other fans sounded off in the comments, with one saying, “He’s been doing that a lot lately! It’s becoming a pattern.”
“I absolutely agree,” another wrote.
A third chimed in, saying, “He should’ve been able to fix his answer after ‘crab.’ Alex Trebek would never.”
Comparing Hosting Styles: Jennings vs. Trebek
Alex Trebek, who passed away from stage-4 pancreatic cancer in 2020, was the original host of Jeopardy! until his passing, which struck fans everywhere.
Ken Jennings’ Enduring History with Jeopardy!
Jennings first made his name known in the Jeopardy! world in 2004 when he made history with an unprecedented 74-game winning streak that earned him more than $2.5M and skyrocketed the show’s ratings by 22%.
He joined Jeopardy! as a consulting producer in September 2020 after Trebek’s diagnosis and even rehearsed for hosting, until Trebek died on November 8, 2020. Jennings then became the first guest host in January 2021, following a six-week guest-host stint that concluded in February.
Reflecting on that challenging debut, he said, “Everybody there was very emotional…I’m like, ‘I don’t want to be here. I would give anything to not be here right now.”
