Ah, context clues. “Jeopardy!” legend Ken Jennings is giving followers a masterclass in syntax via Twitter. The subject? “California Fever.”
As follower Heather notes, “You got to get up pretty early in the morning to out-context Ken Jennings!”
All too true. “Jeopardy!”s down-to-earth All-Time-Champ is a wealth of wit and knowledge. He’s spitting both Tuesday, too, as the former guest host cites one of his evening Wikipedia ventures. Within, Jennings tweets a screenshot of the online encyclopedia’s reference material for “California Fever.”
Whatcha researching there, Ken? Can we also get a peek at that? Wikipedia lists two results for the “Jeopardy!” icon, stating that “California Fever may refer to:
- California Fever (TV series), an American teen drama series that ran on CBS
- Coccidioidomycosis, a fungal disease caused by Coccidioides immitis or Coccidioides posadasii“
Of the two, Ken Jennings says that “In my experience, you can usually figure out which is meant using context clues.”
Classic. Wikipedia’s list, however, could be a dozen items longer. Or perhaps those forms of “California Fever” are best left to Urban Dictionary.
Will Ken Jennings’ Wit Lead Him to Permanently Host ‘Jeopardy!’?
Like many fans of “America’s Favorite Quiz Show,” we Outsiders are in Ken Jennings‘ corner. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting successor to the late Alex Trebek than his protege and the show’s All-Time-Champion.
As it turns out, “Jeopardy!” may be in Ken’s corner, too. Earlier this year, USA Today asked the show’s (and “Wheel of Fortune”s) Executive Producer Mike Richards if Ken Jennings is being considered for the permanent hosting gig, the EP’s response told all:
“Yes, absolutely. I think we want to look at everyone,” Richards replied.
As for whether these guest-hosting tenures are actually cleverly disguised auditions, the answer is also a resounding “yes” there, too. Richards said as much himself.
“We’re going to look at [all] the guest hosts, we want to see how the community reacts, how people feel,” he continued. “I felt it was very important to not choose someone right away, because we are all still mourning Alex, we all still miss him. Whoever we put in that role would have been in an unwinnable war, so that’s the reason for the direction that we’ve taken.”
If anyone else has the grounded charisma and moxie to take over, however, it may just be LeVar Burton. While Burton and other newly-announced guest hosts have only been given a week’s worth of episodes, “Jeopardy!” fans have been calling for the “Reading Rainbow” vet to step up to the podium.
How will that all work out? We’ll see come July 26, 2021.
