Is the ‘next Ken Jennings’ coming to ‘Jeopardy!’?

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

Syndication quiz show “Jeopardy!” is airing teaser promos that seem to suggest April will see “the next great champion.”

• The spot includes on-screen text and audio taken from episodes, including one from host Alex Trebek asking if this person is the next Ken Jennings.
• The show, which typically takes 10 days — two weeks — worth of shows in two days, is presumably far enough in production that it knows a contestant is doing very well.
• Jennings won 74 consecutive games in 2004, so even assuming the champion the spot is promoting starts his or her wining streak April 1, the show would have to be well into production on episodes slated to air in June 2019 to know if someone could come close to Jennings’ record, though it’s not immediately clear how far ahead the show is in production as of this writing.
• “Jeopardy” generally airs new episodes starting in early September and into late July each season, with only about a monthlong break for reruns — which typically, for continuity’s sake, consist of one or more tournament.
• Trebek announced in early March that he is battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
• He returned to work in mid-March to resume taping the rest of the season.