Ken Jennings always prepared for trivia duel

Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Recently-crowned Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings laughs as he responds to a reporter’s question prior to his Tuesday Ubben Lecture at DePauw University.
Banner Graphic/Brand Selvia

What’s it like being Jeopardy! super champ Ken Jennings?

Jennings compares it to being a gunslinger in the old west, though we can assume it comes with less risk of life an limb.

After all, Jennings is 45, while Billy the Kid died at 21.

While he describes life as a Jeopardy! celebrity as “generally a delight,” Ken Jennings said he does have to be prepared to be peppered with obscure trivia questions at any given moment.
Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan

Speaking at the DePauw University Watsom Forum hours before his Tuesday-evening Ubben lecture at the university (Read about it later at www.bannergraphic.com or in Friday’s print edition.), Jennings said seemingly every trivia buff out there wants to give him their best shot.

“There’s this weird thing where people apparently carry around a very hard trivia question with them, just in case they meet me,” Jennings said. “And then they can make me feel bad about myself.”

He says it all with a chuckle, displaying the trademark smile and humor that endeared him to fans during a record 74-show winning streak in 2004.

Funny or not, though, these surprise showdowns really happen to Jennings.

“I was camping with my kids a couple of summers ago and we were just standing in the middle of The Cascades throwing rocks in the lake and this guy comes up to me and he says — this is how he starts the conversation — ‘What band that broke up in 1979 after the death of its lead singer...’” Jennings trails off with laughter. “I’m getting Joy Division trivia somewhere by a lake in the woods.”

There was another time Jennings was speaking at the elementary school where his mother was a longtime libarian, when a teacher approached him.

Teacher: “What’s the name of the apartment building where George Reeves lived on the old ‘Adventures of Superman’ TV show?”

Jennings: “I don’t know. That’s a good one. You got me.”

Teacher (rather intensely): “Of course you don’t know. It was only in one episode.”

“And then (he) walked away,” Jennings recalled.

Then again, Jennings doesn’t resent these little showdowns, enjoying the chance to make someone’s day.

“I usually try to get the question wrong,” Jennings said. “It’s more fun for them, it’s easier for me.”

That’s a good thing because Jennings is probably getting noticed even more these days after winning “Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time” (GOAT) just last month over fellow super champions James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter.

Since 2004, he’s been associated with a show he loves, so what is there to complain about?

“It’s generally a delight being me,” Jennings said. “Jeopardy! was always my favorite show as a kid. It’s been one of the great pleasures of my life to be associated with this show that I grew up watching as a kid and kind of associating with smartness.”

It’s also given him the life he wanted, rather than the one he originally chose.

When he first made it on Jeopardy! in 2004, Jennings was a 29-year-old computer programmer who had realized a few years earlier that programming wasn’t the life for him. He really wanted to be a writer but had taken programming as the safer option.

“It turned out I was not a great computer programmer and I didn’t like it all that much,” Jennings said. “So here I am in my early 20s and I’ve already sold out.”

Now, having won more than $5 million on Jeopardy! and other gameshows, Jennings has turned back to writing, with 12 books to his credit since 2006.

Where would he be without Jeopardy!?

“Alternate universe Ken is an unhappy computer programmer somewhere,” Jennings said. “Maybe his Amazon options are vested so he’s doing just fine financially, but he doesn’t like his job and he probably DVRs Jeopardy!”

Instead uphappy, financialy-secure programmers everywhere DVR his appearances on the show. In fact, Jennings has returned multiple times since his 2004 winning streak, but one thing was still missing from his trophy case.

“After my original streak on Jeopardy! in ‘04, I had been asked back like four or five times for various kinds of super tournaments, gimmicky championship type things,” Jennings said. “‘Play against a computer, Ken.’ ‘Play on a team, Ken.’ I just do what I’m told.

“But I had never won one of these — I was 0-for-4,” he continued. “In fact, I had finished second every time. And, in fact, I had finished second every time to the same person, Bradford Rutter of Lancaster County, Pa., who is just the best Jeopardy! player I’ve ever seen. So, in so far as it’s possible to have a Jeopardy! nemesis, your own game show white whale, I had Brad.”

While Jennings allows there’s no shame in finishing second, he wanted to win just one of the big events, especially if Rutter was involved.

That’s what made the GOAT special so appealing. It was one last shot at glory.

“I kind of thought I had missed my chance. I’m in my mid-40s and I’m noticing that my recall and my reflexes are not quite as quick as when I was first on Jeopardy! in my 20s,” Jennings said. “If you’re in your 40s, you know, it’s like being in ‘Flowers for Algernon’ every day. You feel a little bit dumber every morning when you wake up. I thought maybe I’d missed my chance.”

He clearly had not. In the first-to-three format, Jennings made relatively quick work of the stout competition, winning three shows to Holzhauer’s one and Rutter’s zero.

Jennings said it didn’t come down to a change of strategy from previous tournaments. He just went in with the right attitude.

“Why not just have a good time? Why not just try to enjoy it?” Jennings asked himself. “You’re probably never going to be back. You’re certainly never going to be back with Alex, who’s probably not going to be on the show for that much longer, sadly. Just enjoy every minute of this.”

He did and it worked, as he took home $1 million as the winner.

Besides Trebek, whose battle with pancreatic cancer has people wondering how much longer he’ll remain as host, Jennings’ name and face are probably those most associated with the longtime quiz show. As such, he was asked who he thought a suitable replacement for Trebek might be — perhaps even Ken Jennings.

“That’s very flattering that I was included on your short list of one,” Jennings said with more laughter.

“Personally, I cannot imagine anyone but Alex hosting Jeopardy!,” he continued. “Even to imagine myself in the job is impossible for me because that would imply that Alex Trebek is no longer hosting Jeopardy! and I’m not emotionally prepared to live in that dark timeline.”

Jennings praised Trebek’s resilience against a disease that usually brings about a rather rapid decline, and said he knows Trebek wants to keep fighting and complete the final two years of his contract.

“I would not put it past him,” Jennings said.

He called the next step for producers “a tricky transition,” as Jeopardy! has “a loyal and change-averse audience.”

However, he pointed out that Trebek has never styled himself as the “star” of Jeopardy!, the way Art Fleming did in the 1960s.

“(Trebek) always insisted on being the host of Jeopardy!” Jennings said. “It’s a refreshing lack of ego that you will see from no one else on television today.”

By instead making the game the star, Jennings said, Trebek has made the transition easier, even after nearly 40 years.

“The thing about Jeopardy! is it’s ritualized. It’s the same, almost down to the second, every night. And that’s been true since 1984,” Jennings said. “As long as they keep with that formula, I don’t see how it can go wrong.

“But, personally, I just can’t imagine hearing anybody’s voice reading those clues,” he concluded.

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