Ken Jennings

Jennings was born on May 23, 1974,[8] in Edmonds, Washington, a suburb of Seattle.[9][10] His father was a lawyer employed internationally, and Jennings spent 15 years growing up in South Korea and Singapore where his father worked.[11]

Upon returning to the United States, Jennings attended the University of Washington. Following two years as a volunteer missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he was assigned to serve in Madrid, Spain, he transferred to Brigham Young University in 1996. There he played on the school's quizbowl team, at one point serving as captain, and graduated in 2000.[9]

Before 2003, Jeopardy! contestants were limited to five consecutive games. At the beginning of the show's 20th season (in 2003), the rules were changed to allow contestants to remain on the show as long as they continued to win.[12] After this rule change, and until Jennings' run, the record winning streak was set by Tom Walsh, who won $186,900 in eight games in January 2004.

Jennings' run began during Jeopardy!'s 20th season with the episode aired on June 2, 2004, in which he unseated two-time returning champion Jerry Harvey, and continued into season 21. In that first episode, Jennings' entire winning streak nearly ended before it even began. The Final Jeopardy answer was, "She's the first female track & field athlete to win medals in five different events at a single Olympics." Jennings responded with "Who is Jones?", using only the last name of Marion Jones (who was not stripped of her medals until December 2007). Host Alex Trebek said, "We will accept that, in terms of female athletes, there aren't that many." If the response had not been accepted, Jennings would have finished in third place, and challenger Julia Lazarus would have won the game. Jennings' run was interrupted by the off-season break (July until September), 2004 Kids' Week, the Tournament of Champions (aired from September 20, 2004 through October 1, 2004), the 2004 United States presidential election (aired on Tuesday, November 2, 2004, pushing his weeks of episodes to air from Wednesday to Saturday) and the College Championship (aired from November 10, 2004, through November 23, 2004). As a result, he went the entire five months without a loss. He did not participate in the Tournament of Champions, as invitations are only extended to champions who have already been defeated (with the exception of the winner[s] of the College Championship), which Jennings had not yet been.

On December 28, 2004, Sony announced a 15-week, 75-show Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions. It featured Tournament of Champions, College Championship, and Teen Tournament winners from the show's 21-year run, as well as over 100 five-time champions. Jeopardy!'s executive producer, Harry Friedman, explained, "The 2003 rule change, which allows Jeopardy! players to keep playing until they're defeated, raised the question about how other five-time champions might have played under this rule. This tournament is an opportunity to give those past champions another chance to shine." The field totaled 145 players including Jennings, who, unlike the other competitors, was automatically placed in the finals. The Ultimate Tournament of Champions offered substantial cash prizes; with a grand prize of $2 million to the winner, $500,000 for the first runner-up, and $250,000 for the second runner-up. Guaranteed prize money was offered to all contestants.

In the final round of the Ultimate Tournament, Brad Rutter decisively defeated Jennings and Jerome Vered, with respective final scores of $62,000, $34,599, and $20,600. Jennings won the $500,000 prize for second place, but as a result of the Ultimate Tournament, Rutter temporarily displaced him as the highest overall winner of money on game shows. Jennings has said he is still happy with his second-place finish.

From February 14–16, 2011, Jeopardy's "IBM Challenge" featured the computer company's Watson against Jennings and Rutter in two matches played over three days.[20] The winner of the competition was Watson, winning $1 million for two charities, while Jennings was second and Rutter was third, receiving $300,000 and $200,000, respectively. Jennings and Rutter each pledged to donate half of their winnings to charity.

This was the first-ever man-versus-machine competition in the show's history. At the end of the first episode, in which only the first match's Jeopardy! round was aired, Rutter was tied with Watson at $5,000, while Jennings was in third with $2,000. After the second episode in which the first game was completed, Jennings remained at third with $4,800 while Rutter at second had $10,400.[21] The competition ended with Watson with $77,147, Jennings with $24,000, and Rutter with $21,600.[22] Below his response during the Final Jeopardy! round, Jennings wrote on his screen "I for one welcome our new computer overlords." It was the first time Rutter had been defeated against any human player, although the defeat is not on Rutter's Jeopardy! official record, as the competition was deemed an exhibition.

Jennings wrote about playing against Watson for Slate.[23]

In 2014, Jeopardy! aired a special five-week Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades tournament. Jennings made it to the finals along with Brad Rutter and Roger Craig. Jennings placed second, winning a $100,000 prize, and Rutter won first place, securing a $1-million prize.

In the 2019 Jeopardy! All-Star Games, with 18 former champions, Jennings was one of six captains, choosing 2015 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions runner-up Matt Jackson and 2012 Jeopardy! College Champion Monica Thieu (who coincidentally eliminated Jennings in a 2016 episode of 500 Questions) to complete his three-person "Team Ken".[24] Team Ken finished second to the team captained by Rutter, with Jennings winning $100,000, one-third of the $300,000 second-place prize.[24] This brought his lifetime Jeopardy!-related winnings to $3,522,700.

In June 2019, Jennings said a future face-off between him and Jeopardy! record-holder James Holzhauer would be "irresistible."[25]

On November 18, 2019, ABC announced that Jennings, along with Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer would return to Jeopardy! in a tournament to determine who is the "Greatest of All Time" scheduled to air on January 7, 2020.[26] Jennings won the championship to be crowned with the "Greatest of All Time" title and a first-place prize of $1 million.[27]

Jennings in 2005

Taking advantage of the notoriety that Jennings' losing Final Jeopardy! answer afforded, H&R Block offered Jennings free tax planning and financial services for the rest of his life.[28] H&R Block senior vice president David Byers estimated that Jennings owed about $1.04 million in taxes on his winnings.[29][30]

In a 2011 Reddit IAmA, Jennings recalled how in 2004 the Democratic politicians Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid unsuccessfully asked Jennings to run for the United States Senate from Utah.[31]

Jennings has written several books. Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs details his experiences on Jeopardy! and his research into trivia culture conducted after the completion of his run.[32] Ken Jennings' Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions in 365 Days, a hardcover book, is a compilation of trivia questions—with 3 categories and about 20 questions per day of the year.[33] Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks explores the world of map and geography enthusiasts.[34] Because I Said So! is a humorous examination of "the myths, tales & warnings every generation passes down to its kids".[35] He also has written five books for his children's series, Junior Genius Guides. [36]

Jennings also had a column in Mental Floss magazine called "Six Degrees of Ken Jennings", in which readers submit two wildly different things and he has to connect them in exactly six moves, much in the same vein as the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.[37] The column ran from November 2005[38] to the September–October 2010 issue.[39]

According to Variety.com, Jennings and television producer Michael Davies teamed up as executive producers on a new game show format for Comedy Central. According to Comedy Central execs, it was planned that Jennings would co-host and participate.[40] The series was planned to premiere late in 2005 or in the first quarter of 2006; as of April 2006, development had stalled, and the show's future remained uncertain. Jennings explained on his website that "Stephen Colbert's show was doing so well in its post-Daily Show spot that Comedy Central decided they weren't in the market for a quiz show anymore." However, as of mid-2006, he was still shopping a potential game show titled, Ken Jennings vs. the Rest of the World.[41]

Jennings appeared on The Colbert Report on September 13, 2006. During the interview, Colbert discussed Jennings' book, Brainiac, and mocked him not knowing the number of pages the book contained. After Colbert coined a word to describe intellectual nerdiness, "poindexterity", Jennings was going back and forth over what the correct noun for "poindexter" was. Jennings noted, as he had done earlier that day on NPR's Talk of the Nation, that since his streak, people "seem to have an extra-hard trivia question" in case they run into him.[42]

He also appeared twice on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! program. In his February 25, 2006, appearance on the "Not My Job" segment, he answered all three questions correctly, winning for a listener Carl Kasell's voice on that person's home answering machine. Jennings stated, "This is the proudest moment of my game show life."[43] On June 1, 2013, Jennings made his debut as a panelist on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

Entertainment Weekly put his performance on its end-of-the-decade "best of" list, saying, "Answer: A software engineer from Utah, he dominated the quizfest for a record 74 shows in 2004, amassing $2,520,700. Question: Who is Ken Jennings?"[44]

Jennings narrated the audiobook of The Answer Is..., Alex Trebek's autobiography. His rendition was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards.[45]

Other game show appearances

Jennings appeared on the first two episodes of the NBC game show 1 vs. 100 on October 13 and 20, 2006, as a mob member. He incorrectly answered the question, "what color is the number 1 space on a standard roulette wheel?" as "black" instead of "red" in his second episode, eliminating him from the game.[46] He left the show with $714.29, his share of a $35,000 prize shared among 49 mob members. Jennings returned to the show for a special "Last Man Standing" episode aired on February 9, 2007. He was eliminated on the final question, which asked which of the three options had been married the most times, he answered King Henry VIII, while the correct answer was Larry King. This episode was the first time Jennings had a chance at a rematch against rival Brad Rutter, who was also part of the mob and was eliminated before Jennings.

Jennings in 2008

In 2007, Jennings was invited to be a contestant on the game show Grand Slam hosted by Dennis Miller and Amanda Byram, also a Sony Pictures production. The show debuted on Game Show Network (GSN) on August 4, 2007, and featured sixteen former game-show winners in a single-elimination tournament. Jennings, seeded second behind Brad Rutter, won the tournament and became the 2007 Grand Slam Champion after defeating Ogi Ogas (a second-round winner against Rutter) in the finals. He earned $100,000 for his victory.

Jennings was a contestant on an episode of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?[47] that aired on October 10, 2008, which held the possibility of exceeding Rutter's total game show winnings. After winning $500,000, enough to surpass Rutter's total, Jennings chose not to attempt the final $1-million question, which would have deducted $475,000 from his winnings if he missed it. As is customary on the show, Jennings was then shown the question to see what would have happened, and he provided the correct answer. Had he risked his winnings and correctly answered the question, he would have become the show's second $1-million winner.

From 2008 to 2009, Jennings appeared on GSN on Fridays for the trivia game Stump the Master. Home viewers send questions via the GSN website. Four callers are put on hold and Jennings selects from one of the categories. The caller for the category he picked comes on the line and reads the question. If Jennings does not answer or is incorrect, the caller wins $1,000 or more. Any time Jennings is right, the jackpot is increased by $1,000. All callers are given a small prize, whether they participate on the air or not.

Jennings has appeared on multiple episodes of Doug Loves Movies, hosted by Doug Benson, and has won a few times.

Jennings also appeared on two other Sony Pictures Television game shows, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, as a frequent expert for the lifeline "Ask the Expert", and also taped a pilot for the proposed 2009 CBS revival of Sony's The $25,000 Pyramid.[48]

Jennings appeared on Millionaire in 2014 as a contestant during Guinness World Records Edition themed week, where he won $100,000 after deciding to walk away on his $250,000 question. If he had gone for it, he would have been right and would have won $250,000.[49]

Jennings appeared on the second-season premiere of 500 Questions on May 26, 2016[50] and was eliminated on the fourth question by winter 2012 college champion Monica Thieu, leaving with no winnings. Jennings later teamed up with Thieu, along with Matt Jackson, in the Jeopardy! All-Star Games in 2019.

Jennings appeared on an episode of @midnight aired May 15, 2017, during the fourth season, which he won. As a result, he served as the funniest person on the internet for May 16, 2017.[51]

In April 2019, it was announced that Jennings would be one of eight recurring "Trivia Experts" for the new Game Show Network program Best Ever Trivia Show, hosted by Sherri Shepherd. The show premiered at 4:00 p.m. ET on June 10, 2019.[52]

Jennings agreed to a deal with Microsoft to promote its Encarta encyclopedia software (which was later discontinued). He is also engaged in speaking deals through the Massachusetts-based speakers' agency American Program Bureau.[73] In 2005, Cingular Wireless (now AT&T) featured Jennings in commercials portraying him as having lots of "friends and family" (coming out of the woodwork).

University Games produced a Can You Beat Ken? board game, in which players vie against each other and Jennings in an attempt to earn $2.6 million first. Each question in the game was asked to Jennings, and his answers, both correct and incorrect, are recorded on the cards.[74]

Jennings has been an active member of the trivia app FleetWit, regularly playing in the live trivia races.[75] As of March 2018, on average, he had answered 89 percent of questions correctly and has won over $2,000.[76] Jennings regularly competes in LearnedLeague under the name "JenningsK".[77]

Jennings and his wife Mindy[9] have a son, Dylan, born November 22, 2002,[78] and a daughter, Caitlin, born November 13, 2006.[79]

Jennings writes questions for, edits the literature and mythology categories of questions of, and is otherwise active in, National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT), a quiz bowl organization;[80] in particular, he read questions as a moderator at the 2005, 2006, and 2009 NAQT High School National Championship Tournaments in Chicago.

During his Jeopardy! winning streak, Jennings was a software engineer for CHG Healthcare Services, a healthcare-placement firm in Holladay, Utah.[81]

Jennings is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[82]

• Jennings, Ken (2018). Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1501100581.
• Jennings, Ken (2016). Ken Jennings' Junior Genius Guides: Dinosaurs. New York: Little Simon. ISBN 978-1481429566.
• Jennings, Ken (2015). Ken Jennings' Junior Genius Guides: Ancient Egypt. New York: Little Simon. ISBN 978-1481429528.
• Jennings, Ken (2015). Ken Jennings' Junior Genius Guides: The Human Body. New York: Little Simon. ISBN 978-1481401739.
• Jennings, Ken (2014). Ken Jennings Junior Genius Guides: Outer Space. New York: Little Simon. ISBN 978-1481401708.
• Jennings, Ken (2014). Ken Jennings' Junior Genius Guides: U.S. Presidents. New York: Little Simon. ISBN 978-1442473324.
• Jennings, Ken (2014). Ken Jennings' Junior Genius Guides: Greek Mythology. New York: Little Simon. ISBN 978-1442473300.
• Jennings, Ken (2014). Ken Jennings' Junior Genius Guides: Maps and Geography. New York: Little Simon. ISBN 978-1442473287.
• Jennings, Ken (2012). Because I Said So! The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1451656251.
• Jennings, Ken (2011). Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1439167175.
• Jennings, Ken (2008). Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions in 365 Days. New York: Villard. ISBN 978-0345499974.
• Jennings, Ken (2006). Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs. New York: Villard. ISBN 978-1400064458.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ken Jennings.

• Official website
• Omnibus podcast web site
• Jennings' February 2013 TED talk (video), "Watson, Jeopardy, and me, the obsolete know-it-all"
• Ken Jennings at IMDb
• 2006 IMNO Interview with Ken Jennings