Some things just seem meant to be.
Ken Jennings made a name for himself back in 2004 by becoming the all-time win streak champion on “Jeopardy!” His record of winning 74 games in a row still stands.
The only contestant who came close to beating it was Amy Schneider who went on a flurry of firsts the end of 2021, becoming the first transgender winner, then the first woman to top $1 million in earnings, before going on to pass a few more previous top winners.
But ultimately, her 40-game win streak didn’t come close to Jennings'.
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Now, it seems Jennings had another “Jeopardy!” streak in sight. Last week he hosted his 100th episode of the beloved game show. He then took to Twitter to humble-brag about the milestone.
"Apparently tonight is my 100th time hosting Jeopardy!,” he posted, “which means (a) I have now hosted more games than I played, and (b) I'm just 9,950 hours away from achieving Malcolm Gladwell-style mastery."
After legendary “Jeopardy!” host, Alex Trebek, passed away in November of 2020, the show went through a near year-long guest host audition process which resulted in a kind of stop-gap solution. The producers picked Jennings and neurobiologist/sitcom actress Mayim Bialik from “Blossom" and “The Big Bang Theory" to share hosting duties until a permanent host is chosen. That is slated to happen on May 6; though Popculture reported Jennings and Bialik will continue the shared hosting duties through 2022.
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Bialik, however, has been very busy with her new sitcom, “Call Me Kat,” and the film “As They Made Us,” starring Dustin Hoffman and Candice Bergen, which she wrote and directed.
She returned to “Jeopardy!” in February for the National College Championship, and just this week expressed hope that she can get the permanent hosting gig. But lately, it’s mostly been Jennings manning the podium, and he seems ready to keep doing it.
If you’re the betting type, this all seems to point to Jennings being a heavy favorite to become the permanent host. But as the guest hosting carousel of 2020-2021 taught us, you just never know.
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