The 40th season of JEOPARDY! ended on Friday night, but many fans couldn’t even tune in because of TV preemptions of the Paris Olympics.
When the landmark Jeopardy! The game did not air at 7pm EST, fans aired their complaints on social media.
5
“It feels like NBC is showing the Olympics all day, so there’s no danger to me,” one Redditor lamented.
“Yes, I was looking forward to the finale after getting off work. I turned on the TV and, yes… Ah, well”, wrote another.
For those who missed it, here’s what happened in the last episode before the game show’s annual summer reruns take place.
END OF SEASON
Two-day champion Davey Morrison of Provo, Utah, faced Rachel Bradley of Greenbelt, Maryland, and Steve Babish of San Jose, California.
In danger! round, Davey – the champion since defeating three-day winner Neilesh Vinjamuri – started early with a $1000 Daily Double.
At the end of the round, Davey was leading with $4,000, but Rachel, in a winning red blazer, was close behind with $3,800, and Steve had $2,400.
On Double Jeopardy!, it was the third contestant, Steve, who took over, winning both Daily Doubles.
When betting $1,500 on the former, host Ken Jennings said: “Just $1,500.” However, Steve lost the last Daily Double, and he and Rachel battled for the lead in Final Jeopardy.
The two newcomers were neck and neck, with Rachel leading with $11,800, Steve with $11,500 and Davey with $6,400. Ken commented, “We have a hell of a game!”
‘WOW!’
The “ANCIENT ANIMALS” clue read: “The first fossils of these creatures with an elongated fourth digit were described in 1784 by the naturalist Cosimo Collini.”
Davey was very incorrect with “giant sloths” and Steve was also wrong with “saber-toothed tigers”.
Only Rachel correctly answered “Pterodactyl”, nearly doubling to $23,597, becoming the new champion while Ken exclaimed, “Wow!”
Rachel looked very happy and will spend the summer as the defending champion.
KEN’S MOVING MESSAGE
The host ended the season with a moving message, taking center stage.
“I’m Ken Jennings, on behalf of all of us at Jeopardy! Thank you for watching season 40.
“We’ll be back on Monday with some of our best shows of the season and we’ll see you in September!”
Ken’s ending was a personal milestone because it was his first season finale as the show’s sole host following the departure of Mayim Bialik.
GOODBYE TO SEASON 40
In between Mayim’s layoff and some of the most intense (and longest) tournaments in program history, Season 40 has been quite the journey.
With the show on annual summer break, eight players have qualified for the next ToC in regular play.
The qualifiers are Isaac (9 wins), Drew Basile (7 wins), Adriana Harmeyer (15 wins), Alison Betts (5 wins) and Dr. Amy Hummel (5 wins), and Lisa Ann Walter from Celebrity Jeopardy!
With four wins, Grant DeYoung and Amar Kakirde are also likely to participate.
To ensure there are enough players for the next Tournament of Champions, it will be held mid-season at the start of 2025 rather than at the start of the new season.
Meanwhile, it seems fitting that the show’s 40th season should have a challenging finale, as it has been – in a word – challenging.
The WGA strike altered the show schedule and there were only four months of regular play.
That said, there have been plenty of winners and winning moments, from comeback queen Juveria Zaheer to another queen in Victoria Groce and a vicious 2024 ToC.
Plus, host Ken stood out, fans said, which was special to witness.
Season 41 will begin on September 9, 2024 and will last until July 2025.
Danger! reruns begin Monday at 7pm ET – check your local listings.
5
5
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
