Jeopardy! the show includes a quiz competition in which contestants are given general knowledge clues in the form of answers and must phrase their responses in the state of questions. It was hosted by Merv Griffin. The first daytime episode aired on NBC on March 30, 1964, and lasted until January 3, 1975. But did you know who was the Jeopardy! super champion?
Jeopardy! super champion and eventual host Ken Jennings won so many games during his first streak that he admitted to fabricating anecdotes for the show’s interview segment so that he could talk to Alex Trebek.
Who is Ken Jennings?
Ken Jennings was born in Edmonds, Washington, a Seattle suburb, on May 23, 1974. His father was an international lawyer, and Jennings spent 15 years of his childhood in South Korea and Singapore, where his father worked.
Jennings returned to the United States and enrolled at the University of Washington. In 1996, he transferred to Brigham Young University after serving two years as a volunteer missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Madrid, Spain. Brandon Sanderson, an author, was one of his BYU roommates. He also participated on the school’s quizbowl team, serving as captain at one point, and graduated in 2000 with a double major in English and computer science. (Source: Vulture)
Ken Jennings’ Remarkable Jeopardy Streak
Jeopardy! was famous before 2003. Contestants were only allowed to win five times in a row. The rules were changed at the start of the show’s 20th season in 2003 to allow contestants to remain on the show as long as they continued to win. Following this rule change, and until Jennings’ run, the record winning streak was set by Tom Walsh, who won $186,900 in eight games in January 2004.
Jennings’ streak began on Jeopardy! ‘s 20th season on June 2, 2004, with an episode in which he deposed two-time returning champion Jerry Harvey and lasted until season 21. Jennings’ entire winning streak nearly ended in that first episode. The Final Jeopardy question was:
She’s the first female track and field athlete to win medals in five different events at the same Olympics.
Alex Trebek, Host of the Game Show Jeopardy!
Using only Marion Jones’ last name, was not stripped of her medals until December 2007.
We will accept that, in terms of female athletes, there aren’t that many,
Alex Trebek, Host of the Game Show Jeopardy!
If the response had not been accepted, Jennings would have finished third, and challenger Julia Lazarus would have won the game. The off-season break from July to September 2004 Kids’ Week, the Tournament of Champions, and the 2004 United States presidential election from November 2, 2004, pushing his weeks of episodes to air from Wednesday to Saturday, and the College Championship all interrupted Jennings’ run aired from November 10, 2004, to November 23, 2004.
As a result, he went five months without losing. He did not attend the Tournament of Champions because invitations are only extended to champions who have been defeated except the winners] of the College Championship. (Source: Jeopardy)
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