Jeopardy! fans spot ‘weakness’ in Ken Jennings’ hosting after casting bombshell about him and costar Mayim Bialik

JEOPARDY! fans have spotted a “weakness” in Ken Jennings’ hosting chops during Thursday night’s game.

The “whiplash-inducing” episode aired after a casting bombshell about him and his co-star Mayim Bialik.

Jeopardy! announced its permanent host pick – or picks – between Ken Jennings & Mayim BialikCredit: ABC

But viewers spotted the alum’s ‘weakness’ on July 28th as fans & all 3 players ‘needed a moment to breathe’Credit: ABC
Ken, 48, hosted Jeopardy! on Thursday – the second-to-last game of this exciting season.

Off-stage, the beloved quiz show also announced its final host decision.

He and Mayim, 46, have “signed deals” as permanent replacements for the late, great Alex Trebek, it was shockingly shared Wednesday.

The information was “infuriating” to some who hoped Ken would score the gig – but tonight, his blind spot came to a boiling point.

Fans spotted a pattern with Ken that they’ve noticed “all season” and one put to words.

A Reddit user wrote, “The clue selection seems slow lately because Ken is so fast.

“He’s ruling them correct the split-second after the players respond, and they might need a moment.

“Some contestants aren’t always inclined to play the game at Ken’s speed.”

‘SLOW DOWN, CHAMP!’

Right podium’s Katrina Hill – a Virginia non-profit professional – won her first game with $27K total.

At one point she buzzed in under the category “Starts with two vowels.”

The clue read, “It’s not exactly the same, but for a quick easy way to make this is combine lemon, mayo, garlic & lemon juice.”

Katrina correctly whipped up, “What is: Aeloi?”

Ken responded quite quickly, “Yes, starts with three vowels!”

The player sweetly smiled and took a moment before continuing.

At another point, another player correctly guessed “What is Yarn?”

Ken responded, “Yes that is how you make yarn, you have $4400 and the lead.”

He continued sensing that the room was a bit overwhelmed, “We’re going to take a quick break you can put down your signal buzzers and relax. We have these words for you and then we’ll be right back.”

A fan simply wrote: “Ken Jennings talks too fast on Jeopardy.”

Another buzzed in: “Ken Jennings is doing a good job on Jeopardy. Only one thing, Ken talk too fast. Slow down a bit, Ken!”

‘KEN-SPLAINING?’

Multiple times, the 74-time game show winner – who went on the longest streak in history in 2004 – seemingly couldn’t help but flex.

Ken not only was fast but elaborated on players’ responses numerous times, adding to them.

In Final Jeopardy, the clue read: “It’s the only independent survivor of the Spanish March, buffer states created to protect Christian Europe from the Moors.”

The correct response was “Andora” but 1-day champ Brianne said: “Portugal.”

“You were elsewhere in the Iberian Peninsula, but no,” Ken said after she revealed her response.

On this, a fan ripped: “When a contestant in Jeopardy gets a question wrong, Ken Jennings says ‘no’ like he thinks they’re the biggest idiot on the planet.”

Earlier this week Ken was slammed for allowing Final Jeopardy spelling some called “terrible.”

JEOPARDY! FUTURE UNVEILED

Ken will return when Season 39 starts September, helming its first four months, and Mayim will host “as much as she can” starting January given her Fox sitcom Call Me Kat.

According to EP Mike Davies’ announcement, via a lengthy statement to the show’s official website – they’ll also split specials.

This coming year Ken will “host the inaugural Second Chance competition and the heavily anticipated Tournament of Champions featuring Amy, Matt Amodio, Mattea, Ryan Long, and many, many more,” per Mike Davies.

“Mayim will host Celebrity Jeopardy! on ABC in primetime” and “a couple of new tournaments as well as the Jeopardy! National College Championship” he stated.

The news is categorically exciting since the show will also be getting a weekly podcast and potentially a pop culture-based spin-off.

Some traditionalists also slammed Sony as “weak-willed” for not being able to pick one host.

They began filling in for the legendary Alex 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.

Fans have not been pleased with the actress’ stage presence, slamming her for errors and mishaps quite regularly during her past eight weeks before Ken returned to finish the season last week.

They have nit-picked her comparitively “slow” reaction time to players’ responses, frequent judge interventions for re-scores, and stiff interactions with players during the Q&A storytelling portions.