| Ken Jennings | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Ken Jennings |
| Born: | May 23, 1974 |
| Occupation: | Host, Contestant, Author |
| Years active: | 2004-present |
| Known for: | His appearances on Jeopardy! Hosting Jeopardy! |
Ken Jennings (also known as The Professor) (born on May 23, 1974) is a game show contestant and host. He is most notable for his record-setting streak of 74 wins on Jeopardy!. He then became the first and longest-running (at six weeks) of the guest hosts of the show following the death of Alex Trebek. After Mike Richards stepped down after a week as the permanent host amid controversy, Ken Jennings became the host of Jeopardy!, sharing duties with Mayim Bialik.
Jeopardy![]
Contestant Activity[]
Host Activity[]
On November 24, 2020, it was announced that Jennings would be one of the guest hosts of Jeopardy! following Alex's death; his first episode as guest host aired January 11, 2021, and his last one aired February 19, 2021. After working as a special host, he revealed that he did not want to be a regular host.
After that, Mike Richards was selected as an official host for Season 38, but he resigned as the host due to all kinds of controversies before the airing. So he served as an adjunct co-host alongside Mayim Bialik. In July 2022, it was announced that both Jennings & Bialik were named as permanent co-hosts on the daily syndicated series starting in Season 39.
In general, the reaction from the public is good, and there are many opinions about what it would be like if Ken was chosen as Alex's successor.
Trivia[]
- After his Jeopardy regular games is done, his all-time high of $75,000 was later broken by Roger Craig at $77,000, and James later swept all ten of the top prize money lists. However, as of 2024, his best 74-win streak and highest Coryat score ($39,200) has been maintained for over 20 years, and the champion who came close to his regular-game earning record is James Holzhauer ($2,462,216), and the champion with the longest winning streak since his defeat is Amy Schneider (40 wins).[1]
- After Ken got off, there was a jinx that anyone who defeated a long-time champion with 10 or more consecutive wins would unconditionally fail to win a streak. The jinx was broken in 2019 with Emma Boettcher beating James Holzhauer.[2]
- Among the four people who became millionaires in the winning streak, he was the only one to exceed $100,000 in the fourth games[3].
- There is a jinx that has not been broken since Ken, in the case of FJ!, when a challenger who has won 10 or more champions tries to win a streak, there is a pattern called TS or only one challenger in the case of FJ!. This jinx was broken by Lloyd Sy defeating Ray Lalonde.
- Since the departure of Ken Jennings, new champions like Nancy Zerg who have beaten 10 or more champions in a row have been nicknamed Giant Killers. In fact, it's a term officially used in other sports as well, and it became a term used by Alex Trebek when he was referring to his departure. Also from this is the slang term ZergCam.
- Coincidentally, the first week of June, when he first aired, is also the time when champions with more than 10 consecutive victories often leave. Julia Collins and five-win champion Dan Feitel left on that date, and five years later, James Holzhauer left the next day. Recently, in 2022, Ryan Long left the first week of June.
- He has the most consecutive lock games in all-time (28, 21st game to 48th game).
- WatchMojo ranked him as #3 on the Top 10 Jeopardy Guest Hosts.
Other Game Shows[]
- Jennings was also the central figure in a game show pilot for Comedy Central, Ken Jennings vs. the Rest of the World. But, that pilot wasn't picked up.
- In 2006, Jennings was a member of the mob on 1 vs. 100. He was eliminated when he didn't know what color the number 1 was on a roulette wheel.
- That same year, he hosted a Minnesota School Quiz show called Face-Off Minnesota.
- Jennings was also the champion on another game show in 2007, Grand Slam. He won the $100,000 grand prize.
- He also appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on October 10, 2008, winning $500,000. Had he gone for the Million Dollar Question, he would've won the million.
- Ken appeared in a 2005 commercial for Allstate featuring actor Dennis Haysbert, proving to him how over 1 million drivers switched to Allstate last year with the question "Would a million people switch to Allstate if it was more expensive?", responding with "What is no way?"
- He also appeared in a 2005 commercial for Cingular Wireless.
- In 2005, University Games released "Can You Beat Ken?"
- On November 14 and 17, 2014, Ken Jennings walked away with $100,000 in Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.
- Ken appeared as the first contestant on the season two premiere episode of 500 Questions, but didn't add anything to his total.
- Ken appeared on GSN's 2019 Best Ever Trivia Show and its successor 2020 Master Minds as one of the regular "Trivia Experts."
- He is co-hosting a revival of The Chase for ABC with Brad Rutter, James Holzhauer, and (as of season 2) Mark Labbett. His nickname is “The Professor.”
- On May 10, 2023, he appeared on CWoF alongside Mayim Bialik and Vanna White.
Cumulative Total[]
Out of the totals Jennings won on Jeopardy!, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, 1 vs. 100, and Grand Slam, he has won an overall total of $5,223,414. He is the top rank for American game show winnings records.
Evaluations[]
Gallery[]
Shows hosted[]
- Face-Off Minnesota
- Jeopardy! (2021-present)
Shows appeared[]
- Jeopardy! (2004-2005, 2011, 2014, 2019-present)
- Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (2008)
- 1 vs. 100 (2006)
- Grand Slam (2007)
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (2014)
- Cover Story: Game Show Super Contestants (2018)
- Best Ever Trivia Show (2019)
- Master Minds (2020-2021)
- The Chase (2021-2022)
- The $100,000 Pyramid (2022)
- Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2023)
References[]
- ↑ The two people mentioned both won the ToC.
- ↑ In addition, Emma, who won 3 consecutive victories, participated at the discretion of the production team, even though she was not eligible to participate in ToC at the time, and rematched with James, and after a close match, she vomited the spirit of finishing runner-up.
- ↑ The rest was accomplished in three games.