Jeopardy! viewers were not impressed with Ken Jennings on Tuesday after he attempted a ‘ridiculous’ accent during one round of the much-loved gameshow.
The latest episode saw season 41 power players Neilesh Vinjamuri, Isaac Hirsch and Adriana Harmeyer battle it out in the Tournament of Champions.
During the Double Jeopardy! categories, around 20 minutes into the episode, Adriana chose ‘Meyer Schusser, irascible refugee composer of golden age Hollywood,’ and Ken wasted no time in asking the clues.
However, the 50-year-old TV host adopted an accent as he said: ‘So, young man, you studied with that Schoenber fellow at this university in Westwood? Better to learn in a honky tonk on Central Ave.’
forced to apologize over a sexist clue in November 2024 – then did the accent a second time when contestant Isaac selected Meyer Schusser too, and people tuning in at home weren’t thrilled about it.
Taking to Reddit, one person moaned: ‘The category with Ken putting on an accent was ridiculous.’
Another person commented: ‘Usually love Ken but I couldn’t wait for him to stop talking in the Shusser category.’
A third viewer wrote: ‘C’mon Ken! He usually doesn’t fall for annoying hosting tropes but damn he took that accent too far. Nails on a chalkboard to my ears.’
Jeopardy! viewers were not impressed with Ken Jennings on Tuesday after he attempted a ‘ridiculous’ accent during Tuesday’s episode
Season 41 power players Adriana Harmeyer, Isaac Hirsch, and Neilesh Vinjamuri battled it out in the Tournament of Champions
TV host Ken put on an accent as he read out this clue to contestant Adriana
And someone else added: ‘I’ll take ‘Ken please never do an accent again’ for 1000 please.’
Elsewhere on the Reddit thread, fans were quick to console Isaac after he commented and wrote: ‘I don’t really have a lot to say about this game, as it’s the worst game of Jeopardy I’ve ever played and I’m sure I didn’t do a great job masking my disappointment about that.
‘At the same time, I’m hoping people don’t mistake my disappointment for a lack of grace— Neilesh and Adriana have both played fantastically and I’m genuinely happy for them.
‘Coming into TOC, I think I felt a greater sense of pressure than I did in my original Jeopardy run, where I didn’t expect much of anything good to happen.
‘I came into this Tournament as a top seed and felt a lot of pressure to perform up to that, and thus really couldn’t shake the feeling that ultimately I was disappointing my family, friends, and various well-wishers with how I had been playing.
‘It’s a lot to emotionally process in a short time and I’m sorry if it makes me come off badly on television,’ he added.
Viewers quickly replied and complimented Isaac on his performance, as one person told him: ‘No lack of grace at all. Your feelings are completely understandable. You set high standards for yourself, it’s not going how you hoped or expected, and you’re a competitor.’
Another said: ‘I think it’s truly admirable that you came to the sub to share your thoughts and feelings with us both about your own game and your fellow competitors.
Contestant Isaac Hirsch took to the Reddit thread and claimed it was the ‘worst game’ he’s ‘ever played’
Isaac posted a lengthy comment and admitted he ‘didn’t do a great job’ of masking his disappointment
‘Of course, we here don’t know how it all ended but if it turns out that you didn’t have the success you would have liked don’t be too hard on yourself. You are a finalist in a Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions and that says it all,’ they added.
‘I don’t think you have anything to apologize for Isaac. It’s natural to be frustrated and to me at least it does not come across as unsportsmanlike or disrespectful in the slightest,’ a third told him.
A fourth person claimed: ‘I think you are being way too hard on yourself. Neilesh and Adriana are amazing but you have been in the thick of it every game.’
And someone else added: ‘Your frustration/disappontment has been noticeable. But, IMO, it just seems like genuine disappointment, not like unsportsmanlike or anything negative.’
