Original-Cin Q&A: Jeopardy! G.O.A.T. Ken Jennings talks his new game show and his trivia Achilles Heel (hockey)
So, you thought you had seen the last of all time Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings? No way! You can’t keep that trivia mastermind away from gameshow territory.
The Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time-winning contestant Jennings is squaring off with contestants in the new trivia game show Master Minds, seen daily on the Game Show Network.
Master Minds, hosted by Emmy®-nominated game show host Brooke Burns (Baywatch) will see if contestants can beat the best trivia minds, including Jeopardy!’s G.O.A.T (greatest of all time).
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Ken Jennings about Master Minds and his time on Jeopardy!
The Greatest Of All Time, Ken Jennings, in his casual royal attire.
ORIGINAL-CIN: I hope you and your family are holding up in isolation and that everyone is well.
KEN JENNINGS: “I've been stuck in the house with two teenagers for almost a month now, but they've been great. They've actually been very sweet because they've got nowhere else to go. We're not competing with friends or anything anymore. Thank goodness we are all healthy and doing well.”
OC: Speaking of your kids, what do they think of dad’s fame and trivia abilities? Do they like to have a friendly game of trivia with you or are they like, ‘Are you kidding me? There's no way I'm going up against dad!’
JENNINGS: “ My 14 year old daughter is over me, like when we have family board game night - which is a lot lately - I'm a different person when i play at home. I'm not competitive at all around the house especially since i'm not competing for big money. ( Laughs).
“My son is a bit of a competitive trivia guy. He and his friends actually had a little bar trivia team from ninth grade on. It was an all-ages thing and they would just show up every night as middle schoolers and get their butts kicked by the moms and dads playing bar trivia at this place. He always wants me to come play with his team, and I've only done it once. But maybe he’s a future Jeopardy! champ in training.”
OC: Earlier this year we saw you play Jeopardy! again in the Greatest of All Time tournament, where you were crowned the champ playing against James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter. I honestly don't think there was a household in North America not watching that series. It was so riveting to see the three of you play. Even though it is a competition and you were playing for that big money and that title, it was nice to see the three of you guys playing together. What was that chemistry like behind the scenes?
JENNINGS: ”We all get along really well and we are friends. James kind of has a pro-wrestling kind of persona that he does in public. But in person, he’s just a very sweet and generous guy. On Jeopardy! you don't normally get to see a lot of that kind of chemistry, because we are playing a game on TV.
“On a regular show you've got three people who are like deer in the headlights because they're on TV for the first time playing for a huge amount of money. We have played the game enough we're not super nervous. But that’s just rare because Jeopardy! is so stressful. It's nerve-wracking for the contestants. It's nothing at all like it seems on your couch.”
OC: Even though you have played so many times it still has to be a little nerve-wracking every time you step behind that podium.
JENNINGS: “Well, there's a million dollars on the line, so that’s stressful for anybody. But honestly, I think the game is just so much fun for me. Playing it for months and months back in 2004, I really got hooked on the adrenaline of it. I really enjoyed that and it's always so much fun to be back just to hear Alex's voice and being in that studio. I really do kind of feel like my home away from home.”
OC: You are on a new game show now called Master Minds on the Game Show Network. Can you give us a quick synopsis of how it works?
JENNINGS: “There are three contestants who are just regular folks. They're just good trivia players. Maybe they've got a bar trivia team with some buddies and they've got to play against each other. And as the game progresses, there's also a panel of three masterminds, checking scores against them. At the end of the game the top-scoring contestant and the top-scoring Mastermind go head to head. So you can win $10,000 at the end of Master Minds, but you might have to beat Ken Jennings head-to-head at trivia. So that's well deserved.”
OC: It's a very fast-paced show, but as much as we are rooting for you, we’re obviously rooting for the contestant because these are some pretty smart people. How was it for you going against the average Joe.
JENNINGS: “It's really tough on me because contractually I've got to play my heart out. I've got to try to get those five questions right. Part of me wants to see them win. You know, that's that's a lot of money for them. They've talked about the trip they want to take, or the car they need to buy, and I've got to walk out there and be heavy. So I'm very excited when somebody wins the $10,000.
OC: The show is hosted by Brooke Burns who has a knack of moving the game along.
JENNINGS: “Brooke Burns is a fantastic host. She used to host The Chase on GSN. So she knows how to handle a fast-paced trivia show and she's amazing at it. I've watched Alex Trebek who is hands down the best but Brooke is so good and knows what she is doing.”
OC: Speaking of Alex Trebek, our Canadian National Treasure. We are all praying that he is well and getting through his Cancer, especially with COVID-19 so front and center. You and he have become quite close over the years and I wondered, after spending so much time, with what is the most valuable thing that you have learned from him?
JENNINGS: “I love how down to earth and humble he is. On Jeopardy! when you see him, he doesn’t flinch, correcting pronunciations and telling people they're wrong and he has a little bit of an intimidating persona. If you see him in person, he’s so cool and collected. He’s usually wearing a baseball cap,jeans and a bomber jacket or something.
“I talked to him just this week to see how he was feeling. And he's still out there even though he's battling cancer and about to turn 80, He was cleaning his own drains after it rained in Los Angeles. He’s one of the most generous people I know and truly, he's still a down to earth Ontario kid. And I think that's fantastic.”
OC: You're just so much fun to watch and I hope we will see you again soon on another Jeopardy tournament - but we all want to know. What is the one category that stumps you?
JENNINGS: “I hate to confess this to you because you're talking to me from Toronto, but my least favorite Jeopardy! category is always ice hockey. I'm terrible at hockey trivia.. I'm sorry Canada.”