KEN Jennings has gotten into it with disgruntled Jeopardy! fans on Twitter, whom he ruled to be "weirdos."
Some viewers claimed he mispronounced a famous figure's name when hosting Final Jeopardy.
On July 17's episode, Final Jeopardy! was presented under the category "19TH CENTURY POEMS."
It read: "The author of this unfinished epic poem was unsure if he wanted the title character to 'end in hell—or in an unhappy marriage.'"
Contestant Toula Ballas from New York City was the only one correct with "Don Juan" - a famous poem by Lord Byron.
Ken, 49, said she was correct- though she didn't win- in a moment that turned some heads.
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He said: "'Don Joo-in' as Byron would have pronounced it. That's correct."
Ken's take on the name caused viewers to head to Twitter, where they thought he wasn't accurate in his homage.
'WEIRDOS LIKE YOU'
A Twitter user wrote: "Hey @KenJennings on @Jeopardy please learn how to say correctly the final answers. Thanks.
"Don Juan isn't said as is normally said, smh... With luv, A former British lit English PhD candidate."
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Another person replied: "Lol I picked that up too.
And a third wrote: "The Don Juan thing made me mad... I was like Byron did that purposely !!! And he messed it up. Nooooo... lol... Ken I love ya anyway."
At this point, Ken buzzed in and wrote: "I said it the Byron way just for weirdos like you, and this is the thanks I get?"
The original fan replied: "Right Ken ... right... actually, you didnt... I embrace my weirdness and geek out on literature and being educated... not just the business end and trivia end of jeopardy cheers!"
Ken then got defensive again: "I just looked at the clip. I said, “What is ‘Don JOO-in?’ as Byron would have pronounced it.” Went above and beyond for weird nerds."
At that point, the Twitter fan threw in the towel.
They replied: "If you said it that way then you said it correctly. Congrats-- but I heard Don Juan as in Don Wan... maybe I'm hallucinating? Who knows... goodnight Ken Jennings and keep up the good work. I like the show as it's evolved and I believe Mr. Trebek would be proud."
'CONDESCENDING AS HELL!'
Back in March, a fan was bothered by Ken's pronunciation of "Appalachian."
They tweeted: "How many times, @KenJennings? HOW MANY TIMES? #SayItRight #AppaLATCHun."
Ken tweeted back: "You guys lost the war & now the North writes the dictionaries."
He then linked to Webster's Dictionary which backed up his claim he said the mountain range correctly: "Ap·pa·la·chian."
Many of Ken's followers felt that even if Ken was in the right, he went a little further than called for in his reply.
"Oh Ken… that’s actually kinda icky, bro," one user responded to him.
"Not only is this take moronic, it's also condescending as hell," wrote another.
Ken and alum Buzzy Cohen recently went back and forth on the platform when a fan buzzed in.
Someone wrote: "No offense Ken, but my wife would love Buzzy to host. I'll have to hear her complain that you talk too fast making it difficult for her to understand. Help us out & slow it down a notch."
Ken wrote back: "Never. But maybe Buzzy can come over to your house and attend to your wife?"
MAJOR JEOPARDY! DRAMA
Meanwhile, with Ken hosting, Season 39 ends this Friday, July 28.
Mayim Bialik, 47, stepped away from hosting in solidarity with the WGA Writers Strike- and Friday marks the last clues pre-written before the strike.
Ken has been criticized on social media as a so-called scab by fans and even celebrities for returning to the set to wrap things up.
Jeopardy! recently tweeted that reruns will air all throughout the summer and until September 4.
However, the fate of Season 40 of Jeopardy! is unclear once reruns are over in September.
All of Jeopardy!'s small writing staff are WGA members and still on strike.
The next season of the game show was set to kick off with the 2023 Tournament of Champions in early September- but no clues are written.
Ray LaLonde - who qualified having won 13 games - has claimed Jeopardy! may cross the picket line by repurposing past material to go on.
He claimed Jeopardy! is planning to kick off the season with the annual Tournament of Champions without writers by using old clues.
The other frontrunners for the 2023 $250K Tournament of Champions, including Cris Pannullo (21 wins), Hannah Wilson (8 wins), Ben Chan (9 wins), and Troy Meyer (6 wins), replied they will boycott if so.
'IF YOU'RE OUT I'M OUT'
Ray titled his Reddit message: "Starting The Season During The WGA Strike."
"There are now credible reports that the producers are making contingency plans to start filming the next season of the show with old and/or recycled material if the WGA strike remains unresolved.
"I have informed the show's producers that if the strike remains unresolved I will not cross a picket line to play in the tournament of champions."
Fan-fave Hannah Wilson replied on Reddit: "I'll stand with you, Ray! A TOC with all recycled clues doesn't sound like much fun to play in, anyway."
Ben Chan- who lost over a controversial Final Jeopardy typo- commented: "Ray, thank you for taking this stand. If you are out, I am out."
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Cris Pannullo, the 21-day $748K poker ace and ToC frontrunner, replied: "As I have already told Ray personally, I fully agree with his stance and will not participate in any games comprised of recycled clues while the WGA strike is in effect. Glad to see Hannah's (edit: And Ben's!) post here as well- Cris Pannullo."
However, one 2023 Tournament of Champions contestant exclusively told The U.S. Sun: "I've received no information yet about the current timing of the ToC, or how the writer's strike will affect the production."
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