“Jeopardy!” has once again snagged the Emmy Award for best game show, bringing its grand total to 46 Emmys over the years — more than any other game show, according to its website.
And although Ken Jennings was up for the best game show host award — a role he’s taken on after dominating “Jeopardy!” as a 74-game champ back in 2004 — that distinction went to a different game show.
Who won the Emmy for best game show host?
The “Jeopardy!” host shared a picture on Instagram holding the envelope that revealed the quiz show to be the best game show winner.
“Six Emmys in row!” Jennings wrote. “Dynasty.”
But Jennings, who has now received the Emmy nomination for best game show host three times, still has yet to claim a win in that category.
The 2025 nominees for best game show included:
- Jennings
- Colin Jost, “Pop Culture Jeopardy!”
- Elizabeth Banks, “Press Your Luck”
- Steve Harvey, “Family Feud”
- Jimmy Kimmel, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
This year, the award went to Kimmel for his work on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Kimmel has been hosting the trivia show since its 20th anniversary celebration in 2020.
In his acceptance speech, Kimmel acknowledged the late Regis Philbin, the series’ original host.
“Regis was the best at this,” Kimmel said, per People. “I don’t think this show would still be on the air if Regis hadn’t hosted it to start with. And he was such an unusual pick at the time. I don’t think people remember that because it became such a big sensation, not just the hit, but a cultural phenomenon, that I don’t think people thought about the fact that Regis was a very unlikely choice as host for this show that became this big deal.”
Jennings actually appeared on a celebrity edition of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” earlier this year, teaming up with actor Matt Damon to win $1 million for charity.
Throughout the game, the “Jeopardy!” host did most of the heavy lifting while Damon got relentlessly pummeled with insults by Kimmel in an apparent effort to keep their longstanding faux feud alive, as the Deseret News reported.
“This was the least dramatic million-dollar moment in ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ history,” Kimmel joked as Jennings and Damon quickly rose through the ranks and didn’t even seem to hesitate on the $1 million question.
Ken Jennings’ history with awards shows
Jennings’ first Emmy nomination for best game show host came in 2023.
In addition to his three Emmy nominations, he’s also a Grammy nominee in the category for best spoken word album due to his help narrating the audiobook for Alex Trebek’s memoir “The Answer is ... Reflections on My Life,” which hit shelves in July 2020 — just a few months before Trebek’s death, per the Deseret News.
Jennings has been the sole host of “Jeopardy!” since the show’s 40th season (after co-hosting for a time with Mayim Bialik).
The 42nd season of “Jeopardy!” premiered Monday, and for the first time in the quiz show’s history, new episodes are now available for streaming, the Deseret News reported.