Jeopardy!’s extended summer hiatus dates revealed as fans mourn ‘what will we do without Ken Jennings?’
JEOPARDY!’s extended summer hiatus dates have been revealed as fans are left mourning ‘what will we do without Ken Jennings?’
The trivia show is a staple in many viewers’ daily routine every single day for the majority of the year – but the end of summer marks the one time the series is off the air.
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Ken Jennings hosts the Jeopardy! Masters tournamentCredit: Getty
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Ken Jennings participates in the Inaugural Inside JEOPARDY! live event at Edge at Hudson Yards on April 12, 2024 in New York CityCredit: Getty
Jeopardy! fans will have to bid farewell, for now, to beloved host Ken, 51, when the season 41 finale airs on July 25.
The series will take a long six-week break which is a stark contrast from airing every other day of the year, including holiday’s but excluding weekends.
Following the hiatus, season 42 is set to premiere sometime in early September.
While there is no confirmed date for when the show will be back, it’s most likely set to return on Monday, September 8th.
Fans are already crying and asking “what will we do without Ken for that long?”
Another Jeopardy! fan then made a suggestion with the newfound free time, writing: “If anyone missed this season of Celebrity Jeopardy!, I highly encourage you to check it out.
Never mind if you’ve never heard of the celebs. I found it very entertaining, and Ken was in peak form interacting with them.”
Celebrity Jeopardy! aired over the spring on ABC primetime as a spinoff to the regular daily trivia episodes.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY!
Jeopardy!’s upcoming season comes after the series has struggled to land the plane with season 41.
Despite a strong start to the season, with fan-favorite champions such as Isaac Hirsch, Drew Goins, Adriana Harmeyer and Drew Basile, the post-tournament episodes this year have been a let down to fans.
The end of season 41 has failed to produce many multi-day champions during a lackluster streak.
The season even broke a record for longest streak of one-day champions after contestants failed to win back-to-back games for 14 episodes.
Jeopardy! champ Jason Singer sneaks in plea to producers on final clue before finally breaking one-day winner’s ‘curse’
Ratings were highly impacted by the weak games, as The U.S. Sun previously revealed that viewership plummeted by over over 1 million.
For the week of June 16 to June 22, ratings have dropped down to 7,787,000 viewers, according to Nielsen.
This is an over one million viewer decline from the week of March 3 to March 9, as Jeopardy! had 8,902,000 viewers tune in.
The U.S. Sun previously reported 8,430,000 viewers watched Jeopardy! for the week of January 20 to 26.
Jeopardy! 2025 Tournament of Champions
Jeopardy!’s next Tournament of Champions will take place this winter, midway through Season 41 (exact airdate TBA) and it’s shaping up to be another showstopper. Here’s who is officially eligible so far:
Adriana Harmeyer (15 wins and $349,600 total)
Isaac Hirsch (nine wins and $215,390)
Greg Jolin (five wins and $135,002)
Survivor alum Drew Basile (seven wins and $129,601)
Alison Betts (5 wins and $121,500)
Mark Fitzpatrick (five wins and $107,201)
Dr. Amy Hummel (5 wins and $100,994)
Ryan Manton (four wins and $83,179)
Grant DeYoung (four wins and $81,203)
Will Wallace (four wins and $79,998)
Amar Kakirde (four wins and $55,899)
Lisa Ann Walter (winner of Celebrity Jeopardy! 2024)
The prize for winning the ToC is $250,000 and a coveted slot in Jeopardy! Masters.
Jeopardy.com notes: “All 4-time and over winning players starting from 04/10/24 will be eligible for a future Tournament of Champions.”
“Presence on this list does NOT guarantee an invitation to compete. Other eligibility rules apply and final selection is up to the producers’ sole discretion.”
During the premiere week of September 9 to September 15, 7,113,000 viewers tuned in for the episodes.
The ratings drop comes as Jeopardy! has struggled with having exhilarating multi-day streaks.
Ken even revealed on an episode last week that this is the longest one-day champion steak in 20 years.
On the July 2 episode, contestant Jason Singer broke the 14-game long “curse” of having a new winner every single episode.
However, his success was short-lived as he lost the following game – bringing his Jeopardy! run to an end.
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The beloved host also runs Celebrity Jeopardy! and the various spinoffsCredit: Getty
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Ken Jennings has hosted Jeopardy! since 2021Credit: 2022 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
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Jason Singer, left, was the first champion to win more than one game in 14 episodesCredit: ABC/Jeopardy!
