Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time has come to an eventful close after four big, ratings-crushing nights. Ken Jennings was the first to win three games, earning him a cash prize of $1 million and distinguished title as the quiz show’s greatest competitive player to stand on the stage. Naturally, fans everywhere took to Twitter to give their thoughts on the new champion.
“Ken Jennings played lights-out for that whole tournament, well-deserved victory,” wrote one user, who added they hoped the three players “will make more appearances in the future, very entertaining competitors.”
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Another remarked at Jennings’ “true photographic memory,” calling it “unfair to normal people.”
A third called him a “legend” and remarked that his “ability to adapt to new school Jeopardy! and dominate the games best is incredible.”
The tournament kicked off Jan. 7 and ran for three consecutive nights. Jennings took home the wins on Nights 1 and 3, along with tonight. James Holzhauer was in a distant second, having won on Night 2. Brad Rutter, meanwhile, never managed to win any of the four matchups.
Along with answering the question as to the show’s greatest player ever, the four-night event turned out to be a huge ratings success for ABC. Thursday night’s broadcast of Night 3 even beat out the other three broadcast networks numbers combined.
Despite the high-stakes matchup, the camaraderie between the three players was evident both on the stage and online between games. Jennings even bated Holzhauer by tweeting that he was going to start following him on Twitter “since he’s been following me on Jeopardy! all week.”
The three also showed some solidarity for host Alex Trebek by wearing purple ribbons throughout the competition, an acknowledgment of the host’s struggles since he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in March of last year. Despite some ups and downs with his treatment in the months that followed, Trebek remains optimistic about his future on the show. At least insofar as he’s not talking about retiring from his post any time soon.
Still, whenever he does decide to bow out gracefully, he told ABC it will be “a significant moment” in his life.
“I’ve kind of, in my mind, rehearsed it already, and what I would do on that day is tell the director, ‘Time the show down to leave me 30 seconds at the end. That’s all I want,’” Trebek began. “And I will say my goodbyes and I will tell people, ‘Don’t ask me who’s going to replace me because I have no say whatsoever. But I’m sure that if you give them the same love and attention and respect that you have shown me…then they will be a success and the show will continue being a success. And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.’”