KEN Jennings has bewildered Jeopardy! viewers with a whirlwind of score corrections in the middle of Tuesday night’s gameplay.
Nonetheless, Isaac Hirsch nabbed a milestone fifth victory, cementing his place in the next Tournament of Champions.
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After an all-out runaway win in the last episode, the Burbank, California champ eyed a coveted fifth victory, entering with $100,586.
He faced Kathy Davis from North Manchester, Indiana, and Anna Paone from Sunnyside, New York.
After the Jeopardy! round, Isaac was only slightly ahead with $4,200 (and a $1000 Daily Double gain), Anna $2,600, and Kathy $3,800.
In Double Jeopardy!, Isaac landed on the second Daily Double when Ken, 50, raised his hand and stopped the game before his wager.
‘DON’T WAGER JUST YET’
At the time, Isaac had a decent lead with $8,600 while his opponents had $600 and $200.
“Isaac, don’t wager just yet. I need to update the scores a bit because our judges have notified me of some changes,” Ken errantly said.
Then came a jarring explanation of four score reversals, all in one fell swoop.
“Kathy, when you corrected your response from corroborate to corroborated, that was no longer an 11-letter word. We need to take the second response, so you will lose $1600 there.”
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He continued, “Isaac, the good news is that we can accept char-grilled instead of char-broiled, so you’ll get back 2400 there.
“In that case, Kathy would have never guessed flame broiled so she gets back $1200,” the host added.
“And finally, last but not least,” Ken continued with a nervous grin, “there is a magic triangle, so that’s a $4000 swing for you, Isaac.”
“So these scores, as you see them, are correct. Now,” Ken concluded, “How much would you like to wager?”
Isaac, now with $15,500, bet $4000, getting the clue correct and widened his lead from there.
He entered Final Jeopardy with $19,400, Anna $9,800, and $3,800 for Kathy.
The champ was the only one correct with “Sinbad” (Anna surprisingly didn’t go all-in despite it being her only chance at victory), adding $201 to win $19,601 for a five-day total of $120,186.
‘WILD’
Fans took to social media, dismayed as the unprecedented score changes that turned into a host summit seemingly out of nowhere.
“That was probably the most score corrections I’ve ever seen on Jeopardy lol,” one Redditor wrote in a game thread. “Still a fun game to watch—way to go Isaac!”
“I think I can safely say I can’t remember the last time I saw *that* before a Daily Double,” wrote another. “‘You’re in second place right now, but our judges have decided you should have an extra $6,400. Mazel tov.’ Obviously, the calls were fair; I’m just saying.”
“That was an insane reversal. The whole game felt very chaotic,” wrote a third.
“Wow what a crazy swing of score changes,” wrote a fourth.
“Never seen such a big swing from scoring changes. Wild,” wrote a fifth.
Others put aside the distracting moment to celebrate the current champ and his ToC entry.
“Well, looks like Isaac is going to be a major threat in the ToC. He’s performing like an all-time great so far; I wonder how long he’ll keep it up!” wrote one more.
The other 2025 ToC qualifiers are Drew Basile (7 wins), Adriana Harmeyer (15 wins), Alison Betts (5 wins) and Dr. Amy Hummel (5 wins), and Celebrity Jeopardy!’s Lisa Ann Walter.
With four wins, Grant DeYoung and Amar Kakirde will also likely join in.
ISAAC ON THE PRIZE
Isaac arrived on last Wednesday’s episode, and has stayed winning since, with three of his five victories coming in a runaway fashion.
Speaking of fashion, he has also turned heads with his wardrobe choices that resemble ’70s menswear.
He’s also won over fans with his hilarious Q&A stories, no surprise since he’s a former stand-up comic.
He recalled a recent fitness journey that left him looking “exactly the same” after gaining 30 pounds.
During his first win, he recalled that his father, Steve Hirsch, competed (and lost) on the show in 1985.
“Well… I think Isaac could be here for a while,” one Redditor earlier wrote.
“Protect Isaac at all costs how is he so effortlessly funny,” another social media user praised.
“Yes, Isaac is winning these games in impressive fashion,” wrote another. “But he’s also winning the interview portion of the show.
“I don’t recall any contestant having such a run of funny and/or charming anecdotes.”
That said, Isaac’s gameplay is no joke. He’s gone 144 correct and 19 incorrect on clues overall and 9 for 11 on Daily Doubles, with an average “corset” – a fancy term for score minus wagering clues—of $21,000.
Jeopardy! Host Timeline
Jeopardy! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts after the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are all of the hosts since the game show’s inception in 1964.
Art Fleming – 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.
Alex Trebek – 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted Jeopardy!’s modern iteration for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.
Guest hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested out a series of guest hosts for week or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton, and Aaron Rodgers.
Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for one week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.
Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.
Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the longest-winning contestant ever) joined Mayim as a guest host and they split hosting duties.
Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! after a lengthy hiatus, having stood with the writer’s strike, and Ken was named sole host.
Ken now helms all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the nightly show, and other primetime specials like Masters.
Isaac is also no stranger to the game show circuit and has a history of other TV stints.
In 2023, he won $140,000 on the ABC game show The Chase, defeating Chaser and nine-day Jeopardy! champion Buzzy Cohen.
In 2017, Isaac also appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, winning $5,000 after incorrectly answering the $20,000 question.
He seems to be faring even better on Jeopardy!, and certainly better than his dad did 30 years ago.
Isaac will go for win six on Wednesday’s episode against two new challengers.
Jeopardy! airs at 7 pm ET – check your local listings.
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