Throughout Jeopardy!’s decades-long run, the beloved game show has had a lot of memorable moments. There have also been a lot of memorable contestants, including current host Ken Jennings. He is one of the biggest winners in Jeopardy! history with a 74-day win streak. It was definitely one for the books, but does he still remember the question that ended his legendary run over 20 years ago?
Every once in a while, Jennings can’t help but bring up his Jeopardy! past, whether it’s a look back at his run or a question that is similar to a viral one he had years ago. And his past was brought up again while he was answering audience questions as part of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast. One fan asked a question that has been haunting him for 20 years, as he wondered if the host really did not know the answer to his last Final Jeopardy! on his last episode all those years ago. Jennings’ response definitely answers it:
Have you ever willingly quit a job where you were making $70,000 an hour?
Considering Jennings cashed in over $4 million with his streak, it would be pretty hard to believe that he willingly gave the wrong answer. So his response to the question is the perfect answer. It also proves that he does very much remember what ended his streak on the show.
Article continues belowThat being said, the fan thought it wasn’t such a bad question, since he wondered if Jennings ever got bored returning to Jeopardy! for 75 days straight, and again, Jennings had a simple response:
Getting bored? Getting bored, no.
Jennings also had an inkling that the reason most people ask him those kinds of questions is because they want to show him up and say they knew what the answer was. But he doesn’t know if other people who were watching at the time knew, either. As for the question that ended his run, Jennings admits that he truly did not know the answer, and he didn’t get it wrong just because he was bored:
As it turned out, it was a clue about H&R Block, the tax prep company... I think I could have thought about that one all day, and I would not have figured out that was H&R Block. That's kind of how these long runs go — they always seem inevitable until a few things happen, and then suddenly, they're not so inevitable anymore.
Even though his 74-game win streak came to an end on day 75, at least it was with a question that Jennings truly did not know. It’s possible someone could know the answer to a Final Jeopardy! question, but in the heat of the moment, they draw a blank and end up getting it wrong. Or perhaps they truly were bored and wanted just to end it. However, for Jennings, on that final day, he really didn't know the answer. And even though it doesn’t haunt him, he does, in fact, remember the question that took him out, and it surely has haunted the fan who asked about it for two decades.
He may not have won his 75th straight game and is technically banned from returning as a contestant, but Jennings definitely won something even better. To go from Jeopardy! contestant to Jeopardy! host and taking over for the late Alex Trebek is quite the honor. And he has certainly been killing it, keeping Trebek’s memory alive and giving viewers an inside scoop on what it’s like to be on both sides of the game.
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