Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings cracks joke about contestants' history of failing at infamously baffling subject

JEOPARDY! host Ken Jennings has cracked a joke on Tuesday about how contestants are historically baffled by one infamous topic - football.

The alum-turned-permanent host's jab had the players on-screen and fans at home going wild.

Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings cracked a joke about how historically badly football clues goCredit: Jeopardy!

An NFL round on Tuesday went better than he had expected so he ad-libbed a remark that fans appreciatedCredit: Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! Season 39 kicked off on Monday and is back with a live studio audience after more than two years of empty seats.

It's also the first season with former champ Ken, 48, and actress Mayim Bialik, 46, officially its dual hosts and the permanent successors for the late, great Alex Trebek.

During Tuesday's game the players were met with a round titled "NFL Opening Weekend."

And host Ken couldn't help himself after the category went better than expected, given how football has gone on the show before.

'CONGRATS, YOU WON'T GO VIRAL!'

In fact, the round went 5/5 correct - and Ken seemed so surprised he adlibbed his remark.

His face lit up as he joked: "You guys did very well on football and will not go viral on YouTube!"

The contestants and live crowd simply burst out laughing.

Fans online also appreciated the moment as one tweeted: "It’s always hilarious to me that the hardest category for Jeopardy contestants is any category that has to do with football."

Another wrote: "They've been studying since that debacle."

A third tweeted: "I love Ken Jennings being Jeopardy host because he knows all the Jeopardy! in-jokes! (This will never not be hilarious)."

Indeed, a few eagle-eyed fans spotted that Ken was referring to one incident in particular, a round that did go viral with 1.8M YouTube views in 2018 with late host Alex.

NOT SUCH A TOUCHDOWN

The resurfaced clip saw Alex losing his cool as the contestants remained silent for the entire category: "Talkin' Football."

The first question, for $200: "Your choice: Do or don't name this play in which the QB runs the ball & can choose to pitch it to another back."

"It's an option play," says Trebek after the timer beep, with visible concern, joking: "I can tell you are football fans."

For $400 he read: "Tom Landry perfected the shotgun formation with this team."

After the second clue resulted in silence from Ryan, Alex and Justin the late host joked: "Do you think we should go to commercial?"

Things continued to go downhill as none of the clues were even attempted by the trivia-toting trio at the time - so painful was the segment.

"Let's look at the $1000 clue just for the fun," Alex tried to coach as the crowd roared with laughter.

Under the clip, one fan wrote today: "Ken Jennings referenced this on tonight's (09/13/2022) episode - after the contestants got the clues in the football category correctly.

This has become one legendary moment from the show."

KEN RUSHES THE FIELD

Monday's Season 39 premiere was indeed Ken's first as an official dual-host with Mayim, and he seemed thrilled in his, to some, destined dream role.

Not only was he intro'd as a "host" of Jeopardy! instead of "hosting" as he has been in the past, but he also was greeted by a live audience for the first time.

"Welcome to the show. I am so honored to be announced as the host of Jeopardy!" Ken said.

"But I am even more excited to be with you beginning a new season. With our Emmy-winning Jeopardy! staff and crew, and an audience back in the studio for the first time in two and a half years! Yes!"

Ken and Mayim began filling in for the legendary Alex after his tragic 2020 passing at age 80 and a whirlwind of Season 37 celebrity guest hosts.

They included Savannah Guthrie, fan-favorite LeVar Burton, Dr. Oz, Aaron Rodgers, Anderson Cooper, and many more who each scored a week or so at it.