This popular game-show host would be a welcome addition to “The Traitors” castle.
Who is: “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings?
“The Traitors,” Peacock’s hit competition, invites reality TV stars of all stripes to plot against and backstab each other. With his famously oversized brain, Jennings would seem to be a natural fit for the intricate strategy game.
The only problem? The game show GOAT-turned-emcee has no interest in donning a cloak and planning a “murder” — though he’s a fan.
“I love ‘Traitors’ so much, but I don’t know if any reality show is actually fun to be on,” he says. “You know, [the show is] creating net happiness for me, the viewer — and I’ve enjoyed so many of these shows. Maybe now it’s time for me to give back and suck it up and suffer on one of these shows. But I can’t say I would look forward to it, even though I love them.” He considers it for a minute. “I guess hanging out with [“Traitors” host] Alan Cumming, that pays for itself. That’s it’s own reward.” (For the record: Jennings is still a “no.”)
Ken Jennings’ ‘unifying theory of ‘Jeopardy!’
TVLine recently spent time with Ken Jennings while he was in New York, promoting “Celebrity Jeopardy! All Stars,” which kicks off Friday (ABC, 8/7c). The tournament’s competitors, who will vie for $1 million for a charity of their choice, include past champions (like Lisa Ann Walter, “Abbot Elementary;” Ike Barinholtz, “The Studio;” and comedian W. Kamau Bell) and other notable players from past seasons (like Cynthia Nixon,”And Just Like That…;” Ray Romano, “Everybody Loves Raymond;” Rachel Dratch, “Saturday Night Live;” and Jackie Tohn, “Nobody Wants This”).
While we had him, we asked Jennings about a bunch of “Jeopardy!”-related topics. Read on for his thoughts on..
… A ‘UNIFYING THEORY OF “JEOPARDY!”‘: Take another look at that roster of returning champions. “What’s interesting is, they’re all comedians,” Jennings notes. “My new, unifying theory of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” is that the comedians have a leg up, because they’re used to making these connections in real time — in their act, to formulate jokes or ad-libs, or to yell at a heckler or whatever. There’s a lot riding on them being able to put unusual patterns and connections together… Exciting to have them back.”
… HIS FAVORITE TYPES OF “JEOPARDY!” MEET-UPS: In addition to “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” the show holds several other tournaments: Teen, College, Teachers, and so on. If he had to pick a favorite? “The most tense is probably Masters, where the most money is riding on it,” he says. “The clues get so hard that I don’t know any of them anymore — and you’re still watching people do it! It really is like the Olympics, where you’re like, ‘Can a human figure skater do that?! Is this pole vault possible?!” That’s what Masters is for me.” For pure overall enjoyment, though: “Probably Second Chance,” he says. “The iea here is that these are players who actually did not win their first game, and their story would have been over. But what if we could look at the stats and scout out who might have been great, if not for one little flap of a butterfly’s wing? One clues goes the other way — could this have been a 20-game champion? And the answer turns out to be: Yes, sometimes these people that we bring back for Second Chance turn out to be extraordinary players.”
‘I don’t wake up like this’
… KNOWING WHEN A MOMENT FROM THE GAME WILL GO VIRAL:“‘Jeopardy!” is the same every night, and that’s what people love about it,” he says. “You don’t know who’s gonna win. You don’t know what the clues are gonna be. But tonight’s ‘Jeopardy!’ will feel exactly like the last time you watched ‘Jeopardy!,’ whether that was last night or 20 years ago. It’s a constant in American culture.” So when anything out of the ordinary happens during a taping — like the recent Final Jeopardy! in which player Alison Betts wrote “Who Is I hope they both bet everything?” in a last-ditch (and ultimately successful) effort to outlast her competitors — Jennings says he can instantly feel a social media moment coming on. “Suddenly, I’m leaning forward, like, ‘What’s gonna happen now?'” Jennings says, laughing. “It almost feels like it’s uncharted territory.”
@jeopardy Replying to @Fanndr Leaving this here for you 💙 Jeopardy! FinalJeopardy! #trivia #funnymoments
… HIS ON- (AND OFF-) SCREEN FASHION SENSE | When we compliment Jennings’ bold fashion choices — the man does not mind mixing patterns — he shrugs it off as “stolen valor. You’re looking at the work of [‘Jeopardy!’ key costumer] Steven Zimbelman,” he explains. “I am not a good dresser in real life.” In fact, on his way into a taping, “When I talk to the contestants, the last thing I always says is, ‘They won’t let me host the show in Uniqlo or Kirkland Industries,'” he says, laughing. “Because it’s almost always one of those two things.” He gestures to his navy suit-plaid shirt-maroon tie ensemble. “I don’t wake up like this.”