Ken Jennings, 50, is known for his strict rulings on Jeopardy! and while some fans appreciate this, others are frustrated when contestants miss out on points due to small mistakes
Ken Jennings is known for his strict rulings (
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Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings has faced backlash on social media over his strict answer rulings on the TV show.
The TV host, 50, is known for his scrupulousness, with misspellings, mispronunciations and poor penmanship often costing contestants points. This means that answers that would have been accepted by different hosts in the past now don’t pass Ken’s rulings, leaving both viewers and contestants stunned.
It’s not uncommon that following a commercial break, after the panel behind the scenes had a chance to review certain answers, the host will announce a ruling change, with contestants losing the money they had previously won. In July 2024, Kelly Proulx’s seemingly correct answer – “Bridalveil Falls” – was considered wrong after deliberation, with Ken and the judges reverting the ruling as the contestant had added an extraneous “s.”
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Then in November, contestant Joey DeSena lost points after pronouncing his answer incorrectly – as instead of saying “Ichabod Crane,” he pronounced it “Ichapod Crane.” One more contestant who fell victim to Ken’s strict rulings was Eamonn Campbell, who struggled to pronounce the word “anesthesiologist” and was ruled incorrect despite being given two cracks at saying it correctly.
Some Jeopardy! fans have expressed their frustration online (
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Earlier this year, Mehal Shaw, who appeared on Jeopardy!’s Tournament of Champions, missed out on a win after correctly answering the question, “What is annus horribilis?” because he misspelled “horribilis” as “horriblis.” Despite losing, Mehal took to Reddit to share his thoughts on the episode and said he agreed with the decision of the show.
He wrote, “The show was 100% right to rule the way they did. Anyone who think otherwise can explain to me why the ‘Mimi Dolphins; would be an acceptable FJ response to the clue ‘It’s Mehal’s least favorite football team.’ In the post game wrapup, Ken said that delivering rulings like that is the least favorite part of his job, and I believe him.
“My heart broke pretty hard when he explained why I was ruled incorrect though, and I’m not proud that I appeared frustrated.” The contestant added, “I wasn’t mad at the judges at all, even though my face may look frustrated. In the post game chat, I remarked that I had a ruling go in my favor in CWC Semis that was arguably the difference in the game there – Polyharmonic was worth a swing of $4000.”
Ken as a contestant alongside former host Alex Trebek in 2004 (
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But Ken’s strict hosting rules could be down to the fact that he was once a game show contestant and won 74 consecutive games. The legendary contestant also appeared in various others Jeopardy! tournaments which helped him get more confident and comfortable in the spotlight.
Ultimately, there is a team behind him and he won’t be the only person making decisions on the show, but some fans have expressed frustration for contestants who seemed to be doing well, only to be losing points after a harsh ruling. A person said on Reddit, “These past few episodes he’s just been insufferable to me! Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me? I know most people weren’t a fan of Mayim [Bialik] but to be honest I’m a fan of neither hosting the show! Ken always feels like he’s playing favorites in a way and lets his favorite contestants (most recently Drew) have extra leeway than others.”
Another asked, “Yeah it’s interesting that sometimes you’re allowed to mispronounce a word and other times you aren’t. Is it just up to Ken’s judgement or is there some kind of convention they follow?” Someone else said, “One thing that has long irritated me about Ken Jennings is his being inconsistent when ruling about a slight variation to pronounce a word. Sometimes he corrects the contestant others he rules against them.”
Alex hosting Jeopardy! in 2010 (
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However, others defended the host, with one saying, “I don’t think it’s up to him to decide if a question is right or not so i don’t see how he could play favourites.” Another wrote, “That’s how most quiz shows work. They have someone in the ear of the host just in case.”
A third person commented, “He’s smarter than the vast majority of people on this planet but is secure enough to never condescend to the players. He’s actually kinder than Alex [Trebek, who passed away in 2020] was in this regard. His humor is light and deft, and he engages beautiful with the players.”
One more added, “Love Ken! He’s such a natural fit and presence. I’m convinced Alex would want it this way. RIP Alex.” Someone else wrote, “He had the biggest shoes in the world to fill and he did it perfectly. His style is very similar to Alex but with enough uniqueness to make it his own.”
