Jeopardy! fans believe Ken Jennings is better at one thing than Alex Trebek was. After a fan watched an episode with the former host on it, a big reaction broke out on Facebook.
“Watching an old Alex Trebek episode. He barely listens to contestants’ conversations and simply says ‘good for you.’ Rather cringey,” a fan in Jeopardy Fan Group said.
After the first 15 clues, the host comes over to the contestants to talk to them. The host usually reads a fun fact off of their card and then engages in conversation with the contestant for about 30 seconds to a minute. Jennings typically has a rapport back with the contestants, whereas fans claim Trebek kept it short and sweet.
“Ken Jennings is much better doing the contestants’ interviews,” a Facebook user replied.
“I was never a fan of Trebek. He seemed condescending sometimes, didn’t seem to really engage with the contestants, and left too many clues on the board imo. I like Ken better,” another commented.
“I think you summed it up pretty well,” a fan agreed.
“When Alex was ‘chatting’ with the contestants, it always sounded awkward, but Ken Jennings makes it sound more like a conversation. No offense to Alex – otherwise he was wonderful!” another added.
“Ken Jennings is much better doing the contestants’ interviews,” one fan said.
“It wasn’t until I watched Ken for a few years and then watched the old AT episodes again on GSN, that I see him differently. Ken is so much better, and I love his chats with contestants. He shows no favoritism. I’ve seen the old episodes when Ken was the contestant and I think there were a couple of times AT’s commentary was unwarranted,” another said.
“Oh yeah, Alex did not GAF about the contestant interviews. The ‘good for you’ always cracked me up. Ken is actually a better host than Alex. I think Ken is tremendous,” a fan commented.
“That was just his style,” a fan defended.
A contestant named Steve Moses even pointed it out to Trebek one time on the show. During his interview, Moses admitted that he and his wife picked up on Trebek saying “good for you a lot.”
“If you say ‘good for you’ to all three contestants in a show, we celebrate the Triple Crown,” meaning they take a drink, Moses said.
“Good for you,” Trebek joked, which made the audience and the contestants laugh.
Jeopardy!, Season 43, September 2026, weekdays, check local listings