Ken Jennings ends Jeopardy! season with rude comment that hurt player's odds as champ Lu

May 2024 · 6 minute read

KEN Jennings has insulted a Jeopardy! contestant with a remark that some fans ruled unnecessary on Friday's season finale.

Returning champion Lucas Partridge won with a combined $66.2K and will return for more in September.

Lucas, a school counselor from Las Vegas, Nevada, came in with a two-day total of $42,200.

He faced Monika Chavez, a career education librarian from Alhambra, California, and Sharon Bishop, a high school Spanish teacher from Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Sharon picked the clue under “Real Fast” early on for $400.

Ken, 49, read: "Sifan Hassan holds the women's world record in this track event: 4 minutes, 12.33 seconds."

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She guessed: “What is the 50-yard dash?”

Ken ruled her incorrect as the right answer was “The Mile.”

He then snarked: “I think a lot of us can do the 50-yard a little faster than that.”

Sharon, however, still had an impressive game after that, getting a Daily Double correct- but missing the second one.

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Sharon wound up with $17,000, Lucas had $12,000, and Monika had $1,200.

Final Jeopardy under "WORD ORIGINS" read: "Theories on the origin of this, a style of journalism, include Cajun slang for unhinged jazz & Boston slang for a person on a bender."

Only Lucas was correct with "Gonzo" doubling up by betting it all, so he came from behind to win with $24,000 for a three-day total of $66,200.

Ken remarked: “For the first time since June, we have a three-day champion! Thanks for being with us on the Alex Trebek stage. 

We’ve got some great summer reruns coming up and then we’ll see you next season.”

Lucas will spend the summer as the Jeopardy! champion and will return- along with Season 40- on September 11.

FANS THINK KEN 'CROSSED THE LINE'

That said, some fans weren't sold on Ken's comment and felt it put a damper on the season finale and perhaps Sharon's confidence.

One fan wrote on Reddit: “I generally enjoy when Ken comments on gameplay, wagers, mistakes or good gets, etc., and I enjoyed when Alex did it as well.

"But there's a very fine line between commenting on gameplay and calling someone an idiot. To me, it felt like he crossed it in that quip."

Another wrote: "That's a good example of something that Alex could get away with because he was Alex, but could be taken the wrong way coming from someone else."

A third wrote: "What is the point of saying that to a contestant? It's not really a humorous comment.

"It's not like the contestant was someone like James or Brad, who we know are great and could take a little ribbing if they said something dumb.

"It came midway in the first round, Sharon was still trying to get underway and might have still been a bit nervous.

"The host can think a response was poor, but why draw attention to it from a new contestant?"

A fourth agreed: "This is a nuance of hosting. There's a time and a place for snark and sarcasm. This probably wasn't the best use of it.”

A fifth simply basked: "Congrats to Lucas on making it to 3 wins! Nice way to close out the season.

I'll watch the summer repeats, but I also will not be watching Season 40 until the strike is resolved."

And one more: "A great end to what has been (in my totally impartial opinion) the greatest season of Jeopardy! ever."

SEASON 40 & TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

Starting Monday, the game show will air its annual summer slate of reruns, mostly of 2022 tournaments and Masters.

Production on Season 40 is scheduled to begin in mid-August anyway, albeit with one major caveat.

Since the writers are still on strike, new episodes will all be made up of recycled versions of old questions from years past.

As Sony announced this week, the clues will all be recycled versions of old material, bypassing the writers until the strike ends and cheapening the show.

Sony noted in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: "Jeopardy! employs Writers Guild of America members, and the syndicated game show is planning to rely on material from prior seasons (39 years’ worth) as it begins taping shows for the 2023-24 season,"

Fan-favorite Mattea Roach, 24, blasted the move: "It would be preferable for the season to not commence with new episodes until the strike is resolved."

On Tuesday, Amy Schneider also tweeted: "Disappointed to hear that Jeopardy is considering this course of action. For what it’s worth, I, too, will not be participating in any Jeopardy productions that don’t use new clues written by their amazing, unionized writers under a fair, collectively bargained contract."

Fans are also mixed on the implications of going forward because prospective contestants can memorize the archive of past Jeopardy! clues.

This also leaves contestants having to contend with crossing the picket line, and the question of who would host.

Mayim, 47, stepped away from hosting the remainder of this season, and Ken has already been criticized as a so-called scab to wrap things up.

Ken would face tremendous scrutiny if he crossed the picket line again, but since he did so before, he is most likely to host.

Meanwhile, Sony confirmed that Celebrity Jeopardy! will return on ABC this fall: “with original material written by WGA writers before the strike.”

However, the Tournament of Champions has been called off until the strike ends, it was also announced in Sony's statement.

Canadian contestant Ray Lalonde - who won 13 games in the winter - blew the whistle on Friday.

Ray - a Toronto-based scenic artist and union member- posted a viral plea on Reddit titled: "Starting The Season During The WGA Strike."

He wrote: "There are now credible reports that the producers are making contingency plans to start filming the next season of the show with old and/or recycled material if the WGA strike remains unresolved.

"I have informed the show's producers that if the strike remains unresolved I will not cross a picket line to play in the tournament of champions."

The other frontrunners for this fall's scheduled edition of the annual $250K winners tournament, including Cris Pannullo (21 wins), Hannah Wilson (8 wins), Ben Chan (9 wins), and Troy Meyer (6 wins), replied they would also not participate until an agreement with the WGA had been reached.

Fan-fave Hannah replied on Reddit: "I'll stand with you, Ray! A TOC with all recycled clues doesn't sound like much fun to play in, anyway."

Ben commented on Reddit: "Ray, thank you for taking this stand. If you are out, I am out."

Cris replied: "As I have already told Ray personally, I fully agree with his stance and will not participate in any games comprised of recycled clues while the WGA strike is in effect. Glad to see Hannah's (edit: And Ben's!) post here as well."

Fans quickly applauded the contestants for coming together and agreeing they didn't want to compete without writers and with repurposed clues.

LOOKING BACK ON SEASON 39

After a year of big winners, sore losers, and Masterful specials, Jeopardy!'s Season 39 has come to a close.

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Here's a look at some of the most buzzworthy moments of Season 39:

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