Jeopardy! crowns Ken Jennings as its Greatest of All Time champion. Legendary trivia game show Jeopardy!, consisting of host Alex Trebek, blue box panels, and nuggets of wisdom, has sported a fair share of champions over the years. Last year, sports gambler James Holzhauer took the game show by a storm with his dominating gameplay and snagged 32 consecutive wins. This put him on track to surpass Jeopardy!’s all-time champion, Jennings.
Early last year, Jeopardy! became the talk of the town when Trebek revealed in a somber message that he’d been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Unrelentingly, Trebek continued his hosting duties and returned for season 36. Trebek’s grave announcement coincided with the game-changing antics of Holzhauer, and viewers became enthralled with Holzhauer’s winning streak. As it stands, the reigning Jeopardy! champion is Jennings, who tapped out at just over $2.5 million in 74 games. Jennings was dethroned in 2004 after providing the wrong answer to a question about taxes. Recently, Jennings declared he could give Holzhauer a healthy dose of competition to claim the top Jeopardy! title and was presented the chance when ABC announced the special event Jeopardy!: The Greatest of All Time. Vying for a grand prize of $1 million, the intelligent trio of Jennings, Holzhauer, and Jeopardy’s highest earner, Brad Rutter, competed in a series of matches.
According to ComicBook News, Jennings has emerged the victor of the Jeopardy!: The Greatest of All Time tournament. Following four nights of fierce competition between the greatest players Jeopardy! has ever witnessed, Jennings snagged the $1 million prize to clock in his Jeopardy! winnings to $4,370,700. Providing a dose of riveting television, the final match came down to the final seconds with Holzhauer poised to create a tie if he answered Final Jeopardy correctly. However, Jennings clenched his victory when he correctly answered “Who is Iago?” to the Shakespeare clue, “He has 272 speeches, the most if any non-title character in a Shakespeare tragedy.”
Overall, the Jeopardy!: The Greatest of All Time profited its contestants. Rutter did not win any matches but still retains the title of the highest-earning Jeopardy! contestant. Holzhauer may have left the Jeopardy! stage without the grand prize, but has left a permanent mark on the trivia show with speculation he could replace Trebek as the new Jeopardy! host. Runners-up Rutter and Holzhauer pocketed $250,000 and the experience of a lifetime.
Jeopardy! appears to be going strong with a highly successful tournament, Trebek announcing he has no plans to retire soon and clocking in more than 8,000 episodes. Attracting nearly 15 million viewers each night, Jeopardy!: The Greatest of All Time has proven Jeopardy! is America’s favorite game show. The program has become part of the family during its syndication and welcomed into the homes of millions. Jennings, Holzhauer, and Rutter brought a spark to the seemingly docile trivia show and left fans wondering what is next for Jeopardy!
Next: Jeopardy: The Greatest Of All Time Contestants & Rules Explained
Source: ComicBook
