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Ken Jennings made a sweet gesture to honor a comedy icon but the moment was lost on some Jeopardy! fans.
During Thursday's episode, the host wiggled his earlobe after a question came up in the comedians category for $800 which read, "April 26, 2023 is the 90th bday [birthday] of this funny lady whose Saturday Night Live skits included 'Rancid Harvest' and 'Went With the Wind.'"
The answer was Carol Burnett, which none of the contestants guessed, and when Jennings gave them the response, he turned to the camera and wiggled his ear as he said, "NBC's airing a special in tribute this evening."
While starting her career as a comedienne, the nonagenarian is best known for her sitcom The Carol Burnett Show, where she introduced her signature ear-tug as a tribute to her grandmother to signal she was doing well.
The moment was shared to Jeopardy's official Instagram with the caption, "Happy 90th birthday to this TV comedy queen—Carol Burnett!"
But over on Reddit some fans were confused at the gesture and questioned whether Jennings was giving a secret signal.
"Did Ken pull his earlobes as a hint to something? I noticed he tugged his left earlobe twice after talking about Carol Burnett but it went so fast I didn't know what to make of it," the original poster asked on a Jeopardy! Reddit page.
"You are definitely under AARP-age," replied one Reddit user.
Another added: "It's Carol Burnett's 90th birthday today. A tribute to her signature move."
And a third wrote: "Yes. Carol Burnett would tug her ear at the end of her show as a tribute to her grandmother."
Thursday's edition of Jeopardy! was Jennings' penultimate time hosting the primetime edition of the show before taking some time to host the Jeopardy! Masters series starting on May 8.
The Masters series will feature Jeopardy! mega champions Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, Andrew He, Sam Buttrey and James Holzhauer, and will run for 10 hour long episodes.
Jennings shares Jeopardy! hosting duties with Mayim Bialik, and both were named permanent co-hosts in 2022.
They replaced beloved veteran host Alex Trebek, who died in November 2020 from pancreatic cancer and had hosted the show since the 1980s.
The quiz master first became well known on the quiz show in 2004 when he was a competitor and became its most successful champion with an as yet undefeated winning streak of 74 games.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more