`NOOOOOOOOOO !!!!! '
Jeopardy! fans left fuming after Jennings reveals he's taking a break as host
“It means a lot to be a successful woman on Jeopardy!”
Jeopardy! fans reacted in anger after Ken Jennings revealed he is taking a break from his hosting gig on the long-running quiz show.
Jennings announced the news of his hiatus and Mayim Bialik's return after Canadian champ Mattea Roach's 23-game winning streak came to an end.
“Congratulations to Mattea Roach on a truly iconic @Jeopardy streak. I believe she's one of only three champs in history ever to `shoot their age': 23 years old, 23 wins,” Jennings tweeted.
“I'm handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) @missmayim for a few months. We are lucky to have her! Thanks for watching, and I'll be back before the end of the season,” he continued.
“Ken is IT!” one person griped. “He knows the game & game strategy, he is funny, quick as heck, humble & endearingly self-effacing.”
“NOOOOOOOOOO !!!!! NOT MAYIM BIALIK!!! I WANT AARON RODGERS!!!” another fan complained.
“NOOOOOOOOOO !!!!! NOT MAYIM BIALIK!!! I WANT AARON RODGERS!!!” a third chimed.
But not everyone was opposed to Bialik's return.
“I think both Ken and Mayim are wonderful hosts!” one fan enthused. “Both are very intelligent and know how to capture the audience.”
“I love both of them and think they should share,” a second added, with another remarking, “Maybe the job sharing works best for both of them.”
After experimenting with a series of guest hosts following Alex Trebek's death in November 2020, Jeopardy! announced late last year that Jennings and Bialik would split hosting duties for the duration of the show's 38th season. The news came after the program fired former executive producer Mike Richards from the gig.
Roach weighed in on who she thinks should be the next permanent host. “I would say Ken because of his history with the show,” she said in a recent interview with Vulture. “As a contestant, there's something really special about being onstage with the greatest player of all-time. Someone who understands in a very visceral way what it's like to be in your position. Mayim is fantastic, but she doesn't have that same experience.”
Roach, a graduate of the University of Toronto, enjoyed a five-week run on the show that netted her fifth place on the all-time list for consecutive games won. Only Jennings, Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio and James Holzhauer won more games or money during their time on the show.
“When I think of the calibre of those four players, I really don't feel like I deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as them, to be honest,” Roach said in an interview posted to the official Jeopardy! website. “And there's a noticeable financial gap between my money and theirs, but it's an amazing accomplishment. Like, I can't believe it. It's such a huge honour that I am being spoken of in relation to people like Ken, James, Matt, Amy. It's ... wow. There's no words.”
Roach went on to add that her biggest accomplishment on the show was surpassing her Jeopardy! idol Julia Collins' 20-game record
Mattea Roach, 23-time Jeopardy! champion
for consecutive wins.
“It means a lot to be a successful woman on Jeopardy!” Roach said. “Like, I think for such a long time it's been all of these GOATs that are men and they're wonderful and they're amazing players, but, like, why is it all men? And you know, now there's Amy and farther behind, me and Julia, and it's, like, great to see.”
But Roach, who lost her 24th game by $1 Friday, conceded that her game “strategy was bad.”
“I would describe my strategy as loss minimization rather than gain maximization,” she said. “I was never somebody who would buzz in on clues and then think of the answer.”
The final clue Roach missed was: “These two mayors gave their names to a facility built on a site of an old racetrack owned by Coca-Cola magnate Asa Candler.”
Roach, who holds the title for the longest run of any Canadian on the show, left the game with US$560,983 in winnings. She will return this fall to play in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.