Jeopardy! fans floored by rare event they’ve ‘NEVER SEEN’ in Ken Jennings’ first game since hiatus
JEOPARDY! fans can’t believe the rare event the witnessed on Monday’s episode.
It occurred during Ken Jennings’ first game since his hosting hiatus.
5
Jeopardy! fans who want Ken Jennings for full-time host were thrilled he returned tonightCredit: ABC
5
→ Swipe to see more articles
But also quite thrilling was the game’s ending, a tremendous tie breaker eventCredit: ABC
Ken, 48, returned to Jeopardy! for his first game since May.
He earlier shocked his supporters when he announced that he’d be out for “months” – and he’s indeed now set to close out the season.
The permanent hosting slot between him and Mayim Bialik is still on the board with Season 38 ending on July 31st, 2022.
But tonight, his return was upstaged by a simply stunning showdown some fans had “never seen before.”
Three-day champ Emily Fiasco – a music teacher with nifty earrings – faced off against Erica Weiner-Amachi and William Chou.
But things reached a crescendo as Final Jeopardy! proved to not be so final.
Going into the ever-important last round, Emily had $7,800 to Erica’s $11,600 and William’s $8,800.
The clue was a triple-get; meaning all three got it correct with “Waiting For Godot.”
Though Emily boldly doubled her score with a total of $15,600, her newcomers wagered enough to beat her if right – by $1.
Indeed, they were and suddenly the two new players both had $15,601.
Their podium screens then lit up announcing, “Tie Breaker!”
“Friends, William and Erica are headed for a tie-breaker!” Ken announced in surprise as they laughed exuding sheer nerves.
The clue did not have a dollar amount, whoever got it would win.
“The Passage of Power” covers 1958 to 1964 in Robert Caro’s 4th volume on the life of this American,” it read.
Though right podium’s Erica in rainbow glasses feverishly pressed her buzzer with might, William was first, and responded “Who is Lyndon Johnson?”
The suit-clad Austin, Texas research fellow – who was at a point in the negatives during the first round – came back and became a 1-day champ in an absolutely unbelievable way.
‘OMG!’
“Today was the first time I’ve seen a tie breaker ion Jeopardy!” one fan wrote to Twitter.
“Oh my God, there’s a tiebreaker on Jeopardy” wrote another.
A third wondered: “Jeopardy tie breaker- why am I so excited?”
“Glad to see Ken back! A most exciting game!!” wrote a fourth.
“What a fantastic game,” Ken even remarked – starting the week with quite a buzz, even if the returning champ was dethroned.
This is the second tie-breaker this exciting season – the first came back in February.
In 2016 Jeopardy! formally added a tiebreaker round – their website quite declaratively reads, “there can only be one winner.”
Before then, ties would result in players being co-champs and both appearing in the next game, per Decider.
HOST LIKELY?
Ken and Mayim, 46, began filling in for the legendary Alex Trebek after his tragic 2020 passing and a fleet of Season 37 celebrity guest hosts, including now-disgraced Mike Richards.
The show’s ratings nearly doubled to 9.7 million viewers when Ken made his first appearance.
When Mayim took over her hosting duties the headcount dropped to 5.9 million viewers during a college championship and sadly, she hadn’t bested Ken’s ratings since.
From those telltale ratings to “cryptic hints,” fans have collected clues that the former champion will be chosen over the actress.
For one, he sent his fans into meltdown when he bowed out of the new season of The Chase.
Another was that Ken accepted a 2022 Daytime Emmy award in June alone without Mayim, who also wasn’t in its montage – and she has had her Fox sitcom renewed rendering her busier than him.
Fans have not been pleased with Mayim’s stage presence, slamming her for errors and mishaps quite regularly during her past eight weeks.
They have nit-picked her “slow” reaction time to players’ responses, frequent judge interventions for re-scores, and stiff interactions with players during the Q&A storytelling portions.
Mayim then faced fan fury when a player’s signature was ruled too sloppy in FJ though she had seemingly written “Harriet Tubman.”
And last month – though not Mayim’s fault – there was ironically a typo in Final Jeopardy just days after the spelling snub which couldn’t have come at a worse time.
That said, viewers have warmed up to the star and would surely be fine with an ongoing co-host situation given the show is about the players not the host, as Alex once said.
Additionally, fans have found it refreshing to have a female host who is multi-talented on a game show that’s been so dominated by male champs up until recently.
Ken surprisingly tweeted in May: “I’m handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) Mayim Bialik for a few months,” adding, “We are lucky to have her! I’ll be back before the end of the season.”
Since then, he’s been laying low in Hawaii and at home in Seattle, Washington – though he’s said he’s already been tapped to tape more episodes for Season 39, another clue the job may be his.
One possibility that has been implied by execs is that the actress could simply host spinoffs soon, perhaps with Buzzy Cohen.
If so, Ken would host the main show, with “multiple hosts for the franchise” altogether.
“So glad to see Ken back. Much smoother game no pauses between the answer and the acknowledgment of right or wrong,” one Ken fan tweeted tonight.
“No question Ken is the better host. Hope it’s permanent.”
Jeopardy! airs on weeknights at 7 pm ET.
5
On July 18th, champ Emily Fiasco was sadly bested but it was in quite the rare way
5
Her two competitors had the same scores after Final Jeopardy! and the game went into a tie-breaker round
5
William Chou came from behind and won out in the extra-innings showdown – surely an exciting return for fan-preferred host Ken
