Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings, after 75 appearances on the show and $2.5 million in winnings, was dethroned yesterday on a question about H& R Block:
Going into the Final Jeopardy round, challenger Nancy Zerg trailed Jennings $14,400 to $10,000, and it all came down to this question:
- Final Jeopardy Category: Business and Industry
- Clue: Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year?
Zerg’s response of “What is H & R Block?” was correct, and brought her total to $14,401.
Jennings, who incorrectly responded, “What is Fed Ex?”, dropped to second place with $8,799.
As Jack Bogdanski notes, tax lawyers (and Tax Profs) around the country told their spouses, "I should go on that show." As a consolation prize, H&R Block has offered Jennings free tax preparation services for life.
2 responses to “Jeopardy Champ Loses on Question About H&R Block”
A year from now perhaps we can expect this question on Jeopardy:
“Who is Ken Jennings?”
and the contestants may have mental “Block”.
I heard on a radio report that Jennings claimed he did not know of H&R Block because his tax situation was, until this year, so simple he did his own returns. How can someone NOT know of H&R Block? I don’t drink coffee but I know what Starbucks is….. Of course, I can’t slam dunk a basketball but I know what the NBA is. 🙂