22 years ago, gameshow fanatics were left shocked when a controversial ruling saw a historic winning streak ended in an instant. Today, it’s still heavily debated among fans of the show.
On Nov. 30, 2004, Jeopardy! contestant Ken Jennings lost, bringing his record-breaking 74 consecutive game streak to an end.
During his reign on the show, the then-31-year-old became a household name. Barbara Walters had named him one of the ten most fascinating people of the year, and he interviewed on many popular late night TV shows, including Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2005, less than a year after his big loss, he even had an appearance on Sesame Street.
In his final game of Jeopardy!, which was hosted by Alex Trebek, Jennings was faced with the clue, “Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.”
Jennings revealed his Jennings his incorrect question: “What is FedEx?,” while his opponent, Nancy Zerg correctly asked, “What is H&R Block?”, bringing her winning total $1 more than Jennings’.
According to History.com, over the course of his Jeopardy! domination, Jennings provided the correct question to 2,693 clues, missing only 263 questions over the course of his 75 episode appearance.
The shocking loss became the subject of a longstanding debate among Jeopardy! enthusiasts, with some even going as far as to call it a conspiracy theory. Reports have stated that because Jennings was such a dominant trivia player, many viewers found it hard to believe he wouldn’t know the answer. Rumors quickly spread, theorizing that he got bored, wanted to quit or intentionally took a dive to end the streak.
In April 2026, Jennings, who has hosted Jeopardy! since 2021, attempted to set the record straight. During an episode of the Inside Jeopardy! Podcast, the show’s executive producer Sarah Whitcomb-Foss shared a video of a Q&A that took place prior to a recent show taping, where a fan asked Jennings about the fateful episode.
“It turned out it was a question about H&R Block, a tax prep company. I always did my own taxes,” Jennings said, per People.com. “No, but I think I could have thought about that one all day, and I would not have figured out that was H&R Block.”
Related: 2008 Bryan Cranston Drama, With 96% Rotten Tomatoes Score, Voted Best TV Show of Last 25 Years
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