Jeopardy!’s Ken Jennings disappoints with lenient ruling as newbie Dennis Leung admits he blanked

Jeopardy!’s Ken Jennings disappoints with lenient ruling as newbie Dennis Leung admits he blanked

JEOPARDY! fans have called out Ken Jennings for a breezy ruling on Thursday's episode.

Newcomer Dennis Leung then nearly won out but missed Final Jeopardy, which he admitted on Reddit he may never live down.

Ittai Sopher, a journalist from New Orleans, Louisiana, was the one to beat with a 1-day total of $12,401.

He faced Kathy Barkey, an engineer from Kingston, New York, and Dennis Leung, a biotech scientist from Half Moon Bay, California.

In Double Jeopardy!, a category of “Movies Before and After” entailed combining two titles of films.

Ken, 49, read the $1600 clue, and it went: “Rex Harrison teaches Audrey Hepburn how to speak proper English and vocalize like Billie Holiday.”

Kathy responded: “What is: My Fair Lady Day” and was deemed correct- to an extent.

Ken said: “Yeah, we’ll take that, or 'My Fair Lady Sings The Blues.'”

"Oh, okay," Kathy remarked and moved on to select the next clue, having been rewarded the $1600.

'HOW WAS THAT CORRECT?'
However, some sticklers weren't quite ready to do so, as they felt allowing the response was a bit lenient on Ken's part.

The clue was looking for what seemed to be My Fair Lady, and Lady Sings The Blues.

Billie Holiday’s nickname was “Lady Day,” and while there were movie adaptions like “Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill” - the complete titles of both movies were needed.

One Reddit user wrote: “How is "My Fair Lady Day" correct? I thought the point of Before and After Movie Titles was that you had to have two movie titles in the answer.

Shouldn't the correct response have been "My Fair Lady Sings the Blues"?

Another person wrote: “Yeah, I didn’t follow that decision at all.”

A third argued: “There are other movies about Billie Holiday that begin with "Lady Day", so I guess they thought it was close enough.”

'I JUST BLANKED'
Dennis slightly led with $13,800, Ittai $13,500, and Kathy $6,600 going into Final Jeopardy.

The clue read: "This first U.S. battleship ever built was launched in 1889 but lasted less than 9 years."

Both Ittai and Kathy got it correct as the U.S.S. Maine, but Dennis lost his lead and his earnings, betting nearly it all and writing "U.S.S. Washington."

Dennis shook his head in disappointment as a result.

Ittai was left with a 2-day total of $26,202, and even Ken admitted it was an unexpected ending.

"He looks very surprised, but he survived a scare!" the host said.

Dennis wrote on Reddit: "I just blanked. After they revealed the category, during the break I mentally went through a list of famous ships... I just had a total blank on the Maine.

"The slogan is even Remember the Maine! I guess I didn't. Well, now I will never forget it for the rest of my life."

DAILY DOUBLE EMMY NOMINATIONS
Mayim Bialik, 47, and winningest contestant Ken Jennings, 49, were chosen as the co-successors to the late Alex Trebek in 2022 after his tragic passing at age 80.

Ken is hosting episodes airing until July 28 -at which point Jeopardy! will take its summer hiatus.

Mayim exited her most recent hosting slate early this season to support the WGA Writers' Strike, which Ken is not in solidarity with.

Ken has been criticized on social media as a so-called scab by fans and even celebrities for returning to the set.

Both hosts were nominated for Outstanding Game Show Host in the 2023 Emmy Awards, it was announced yesterday.

Mayim sweetly captioned a moving Instagram post with two photos of the dynamic duo: "Congratulations Ken Jennings on your first Emmy nomination !!"

#jeopardy #kenjennings #mayimbialik #dennisleung