‘Jeopardy’ Contestant Takes Shot at Guest Host Ken Jennings During Final Jeopardy

Ken Jennings is onto his second week as guest host of Jeopardy! following the passing of Alex Trebek. Stepping in admirably, Jennings has received some high praise from viewers in the early portion as he is the first of a handful of guests set to take the mantle until the network decides on who to name the full-time host. To his surprise, however, one contestant during Tuesday’s episode took quite the shot at him during the Final Jeopardy round, leaving Jennings speechless.

The latest round of competition saw the defending champion, Brian Chang, going into the final question with the lowest score, trailing the leader Donesh, who had more than doubled his score with $17,000. Between them was Lisa, who sat at $6,600, meaning the Final Jeopardy round was nothing more than for show as Brian had locked up the win. Jennings read off the question, “Adjusted for inflation, the nightly rate this company put in its name in 1962 is now $51.” Chang, realizing he was out of it anyhow, opted to take a shot at the guest host that was more than 16 years in the making. He wrote down, “H&R Block,” which left Jennings’ jaw dropped as he realized the not-so-subtle shot at him and his record 74-game winning streak.

For Jeopardy! viewers at home who may not have realized it at the time, Chang was referencing the Final Jeopardy answer, “H&R Block,” that tripped up Jennings and put an end to his record streak. In Dec. 2014, Jennings, who had collected $2.5 million during his run, finally lost after guessing Federal Express when the correct answer was H&R Block. He wound up losing to Nancy Zerg, who guessed correctly and defeated him with a score of $14,001 to $8,799. After he lost out on that answer, he wound up getting sponsorship offers from both H&R Block, as well as the company he guessed, FedEx.

Jennings has reportedly taped 30 episodes for Jeopardy! as the first guest. After him, the game show will hand over the reins to the likes of Katie Couric and even Aaron Rodgers as a select few individuals will get the chance to serve as guest hosts. The network has not set any timetable for when they would want to name Jeopardy!’s permanent host, though many fans believe Jennings is the most likely to be named the full-time host.