SALT LAKE CITY – Who is Ken Jennings?
It is the beginning of a new era for one of the longest-lived television shows in the country.
Jennings, a BYU graduate who first rose to fame in “Jeopardy!” During a period of 74 consecutive victories from 2004 to 2005, it will host the show from Monday, as the popular game show continues to look for a permanent host after the death of its beloved host Alex Trebek in November 2020.
“Danger!” first aired in 1964, but the version most viewers are familiar with began in 1984 with Trebek as host. It was in the middle of the 37th season, when Trebek died of cancer at the age of 80. His last show was recorded just before his death and aired on Friday.
Shortly after Trebek’s death, it was announced that Jennings would serve as interim host until a permanent replacement was found. Months, the TV show posted a short video with Jennings offering her thoughts on hosting the show. In it, he called the hosting of the show “unimaginable” and added that “he still can’t believe it.”
That being said, Jennings understands that it will be a difficult transition that fans of the show are used to.
“Honestly? I’m with the audience. I don’t want to be here. I want to see Alex here. I know exactly how I feel when I see someone else behind this otter,” he said. “But there are tens of millions of people who love this show. We love this show. Alex loved the show. I’m just happy to complete and help.”
Ken has come a long way since his days as a competitor. Here are Ken’s thoughts behind the desk as the first in a series of invited hosts. pic.twitter.com/0HaxSv8mmW
“Danger!” (@Danger) January 11, 2021
Jennings added that the move from competitor to host offered a different perspective on Trebek’s work in directing the show for nearly four decades. He said he quickly learned that his predecessor had done more than keep the game going and master all the clues of the show.
“I thought I understood everything and then, when I had to do it, I realized he was doing 10 things I didn’t know about for each of them that I saw,” he said. “It’s a very demanding job and he was the best.”
Jennings holds two more of the show’s records: the most consecutive wins (42 over any other competitor in history) and most of the money earned from regular appearances at the show ($ 2.52 million). Jennings has earned over $ 4.3 million from all of her appearances on the show, including after completing her 74-game winning streak. This is the second longest time in the show’s history.
Mated with other “Jeopardy!” starring James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter as co-hosts of a new show called “The Chase” that premiered on ABC last week.
However, his choice to host the program “Jeopardy!” he was met with controversy. Late last month, Jennings apologized for the insensitive tweets she posted on Twitter over the years.
“I definitely posted some frivolous and insensitive things on Twitter,” wrote on Twitter. “Sometimes they worked like jokes in my head and I was dismayed to see them read on the screen.”
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Carter Williams