In a recent game of Jeopardy!, host Ken Jennings tried out an accent for one of the Double Jeopardy categories, which fans at home didn’t appreciate
Fans didn’t enjoy Ken Jennings’ accent (
Image: Jeopardy!)
Those who watched Jeopardy on Tuesday Feb. 11 were not a fan of one of the show’s categories.
In the episode, Neilesh Vinjamuri, a software engineer from Lionville, Pennsylvania; Isaac Hirsch, a customer support team lead from Burbank, California; and Adriana Harmeyer, an archivist from West Lafayette, Indiana, all faced off during a Tournament of Champions finals game. Neilesh and Adriana both won a game each before this one – with the first contestant to win three games would be crowned the champion.
During the Double Jeopardy portion of the show, host Ken Jennings decided to flex his accent skills when he read clues from the category “Meyer Schusser, Irascible Refugee Composer of Golden Age Hollywood.” While Ken seemed to be having fun, those at home took to social media to complain.
“The category with Ken putting on an accent was ridiculous,” one person wrote on Reddit. Another added: “Usually love Ken but I couldn’t wait for him to stop talking in the Shusser category.”
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For one of the categories, Ken put on an accent (
Image:
Jeopardy!)
A third complained: “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.”
“I’ll take ‘Ken please never do an accent again’ for 1000 please,” a fourth noted. Others shamed the writers of the show, slamming them for coming up with the category that included clues like: “Ach! I belch better than you play this single-reed woodwind that evolved from the chalumeau; out with you!”
One Jeopardy! fan wrote on Twitter, now known as X: “What is the purpose — WHAT value is added — by that sixth Double #Jeopardy category title?” Another joked: “I know which #jeopardy category they’re gonna go to last.”
The category was actually chosen early in the round by Adriana for the first time, with Isaac also choosing from it later on. Neilesh steered away from the category, which might have helped him secure the win.
The software engineeer finished with a score of 30,000 while Adriana racked up 14,000 and Isaac trailed way behind with 1,300. Neilesh needs only one more game to win the tournament.