JEOPARDY!’s Ken Jennings has claimed he just wrapped another major TV series.
Fans expressed widespread confusion about whether or not he was expanding beyond hosting the game show.
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Ken, 48, tweeted on Sunday: “I was a dialect coach on Rings of Power and it was one of the hardest jobs of my life.”
He added the gig entailed: “Teaching people to talk regular, but say ‘Morgoth’ real weird”.
The TV star – hosting Jeopardy! episodes airing until January when Mayim Bialik, 46, will switch in – didn’t make it clear if he was serious.
The game show only tapes twice a week (or five episodes in a day) so who knows?
‘WAIT, REALLY?’
“Wait really?” one fan replied.
“I second this.” wrote another, agreeing it was unclear if this was the real deal.
“Omg what?! What is this is so cool!!” wrote a third.
“Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power” is the 2022 prequel to the beloved movie and book series set “thousands of years” earlier in middle earth, per IMDB – Ken is not listed as a dialect coach in the credits.
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Dual-host Mayim balances hosting duties with her Fox sitcom Call Me Kat.
Alum Ken – who still holds the game show’s longest streak ever with 74 wins – mainly focuses on the show that made him famous.
Not multitasking TV-wise is a reason so many people love him, aside from his ties to the show.
But that doesn’t mean other opportunities haven’t come across the board.
KEN’S COMEDY SHOW THAT WASN’T
In 2005, one year after Ken won $2.5M and became a household name, he announced a series for Comedy Central.
“Ken Jennings Vs the World” sadly never saw the light of day but nearly did.
“I’ve been in love with game shows as far back as I can remember,” Ken said in its press release. “So the chance to do this show, along with Michael Davies and Comedy Central no less, is like a dream come true for me.”
Funny enough, the show was set to be produced by the man who in 2021 became the executive producer of Jeopardy!.
Davies took over after former EP Mike Richards – who even tried to nab the host gig from Ken – but was ousted as the game show’s top boss for unearthed sexist comments.
Ken has written a few books instead which was still a dream for him – including one called Planet Funny.
Being Jeopardy!’s boss – like host – is no easy feat.
Davies and Richards followed 20-year-long executive producer Harry Friedman, whose crowning achievement was lifting the 5-game win cap from the show in 2003.
Before then, any champ who won that many games took their earnings and bowed out with a new car – going directly to the Tournament of Champions instead of winning until they lost.
One year later, Ken hit the small screen when he was a 30-year-old Seattle-based software engineer and the rest is history.
The game show just wrapped its 2022 tournament – 21 power players entered and 40-time winner (the second highest count after Ken) Amy Schneider took the $250K title.
Over the summer, Ken and Mayim were officially announced as the permanent replacements of the late Alex Trebek who had graced TV screens since 1984.
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