Ken Jennings: I Wasn't Bashing 'Jeopardy!'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"Jeopardy!" ace Ken Jennings says recent comments he posted on his Web site about the long-running game show and host Alex Trebek weren't "bashing."
"I know, I know, the old folks love him," Jennings said of Trebek in a July 19 letter titled "Dear Jeopardy."
Trebek, 66, who grew up in Sudbury, Ont., has hosted the show since 1984. Jennings, a software engineer from Salt Lake City, won $2.5 million during his 74-game winning streak on "Jeopardy!" in 2004.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Click Here for the Television Center
He also took aim at what he said were the show's "effete, left-coast" categories and "same-old" format.
"You're like the Dorian Gray of syndication," he wrote. "You seem to think 'change' means replacing a blue polyethylene backdrop with a slightly different shade of blue polyethylene backdrop every presidential election or so."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
After reports of his comments appeared in the media Tuesday, Jennings countered on his Web site that his letter was meant to be "a humor piece."
"For the record: I've loved 'Jeopardy!' since I was a kid, as anyone who talks to me for about five minutes knows. Making goofy jokes about TV shows isn't 'bashing.' I believe it's the whole reason Al Gore invented the Internet."
Jennings also responded Tuesday to people who posted comments on his Web site's message board, calling them "humor-impaired sock puppet users."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}