'Jeopardy!' Fans Are Rooting for Ken Jennings After a Hosting Milestone
The Jeopardy! gods have not officially spoken, but the rumbling from Jeopardy! heaven seem to indicate that there could be a new official host on the horizon. In the never ending power struggle, famed former winner Ken Jennings seems to have gained some traction. On March 15, Jennings, who currently also boasts a position on the ABC series The Chase, announced that he wouldn't be returning for a second season. That has led fans to question whether that means Jennings has been tapped as the official Jeopardy! host for the upcoming season.
And make no mistake: people have opinions about it. On March 11, Jennings marked his 100th episode stepping in as interim host of the long-running quiz show, posting on Twitter, "Apparently tonight is my 100th time hosting Jeopardy!, which means (a) I have now hosted more games than I played, and (b) I’m just 9,950 hours away from achieving Malcolm Gladwell-style mastery." The tweet was celebrated by a flood of fans who voiced support for Jennings and then another smaller flood who used the opportunity to air out their disdain for Mayim Bialik. Told you—this is Jeopardy! Fight Club. Few fanbases are more vocal than this one.
Bialik, who has also fervently expressed interest in the permanent gig, has been hosting the primetime specials of Jeopardy! while Kennings has been manning the syndicated episodes. The two were in contention for the permanent role before Mike Richards was named (and subsequently unnamed) permanent host. The Jeopardy! host search came with its own trail of scandals, with most of its contenders being dragged into the line of fire—Jennings for a series of unsavory, offensive past tweets and Bialik for allegations that she was anti-vaccination.
But the people want what the people want and that seems to be Jennings, if social media is any indication.
As the saying (kind of) goes, one The Chase's trash is another Jeopardy's treasure. Or something like that.
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