"Jeopardy!" guest host Ken Jennings has only been in the role for ten episodes, but he has already experienced one of the rarest phenomena of the game show formerly hosted by the late Alex Trebek. There was a tiebreaker question following Final Jeopardy Friday night.
Contestants Jack Weller and three-day champion Brian Chang both had $18,800 heading into the final question. It was "Statues honoring this man who was killed in 1779 can be found in Waimea, Kauai & In Whitby, England."
Both Weller and Chang correctly guessed "Who is Cook?" in reference to Captain James Cook. Both of them wagered everything and ended up with $37,600.
"Jeopardy!" used to allow two winners in case of a tie. But in 2016, it changed the rules and added a single tiebreaker question. The first person to buzz in with the correct answer would be the winner.
The answer was "In October 1961, Stalin's body was removed from display in this other man's tomb." Chang buzzed in first with the correct answer, "Who is Lenin?" as in former Soviet Premier Vladimir Lenin.
Chang kept his $37,600 and has won $88,102 in his four days. Weller ended up with $2,000 for his second-place finish.
Tiebreakers were part of "Jeopardy!" tournaments but not part of the regular, daily episodes for decades. It was added in 2016 and the first one occurred on March 1, 2018.
Jennings is the first guest host for "Jeopardy!" following Trebek's death last November from pancreatic cancer at age 80. Several other guest hosts including Katie Couric, Aaron Rodgers, Bill Whitaker and Mayim Bialik are slated while the show looks for a permanent successor.
