He wanted it to be him. He wanted it to be him so badly. Ahead of Ken Jennings stepping in as Jeopardy!’s first interim host in the wake of Alex Trebek’s death, the GOAT revealed in a new Sports Illustrated interview that after his historic winning streak ended back in 2004 (with $2.4 million in his pocket), none other than America’s COVID Dad sent him “a lovely note of praise” about his game-show prowess. (And, we also have to assume, about all those anecdotes he skillfully made up.) “It sounds braggy,” Jennings said, noting that “I knew it was really Tom Hanks” due to the letter being typewritten. It’s a nice story, but even more so for the actor: The last time Hanks and Jeopardy! were trending together was when a group of contestants had no idea who he was … much to his annoyance. And not, as you might think, that SNL sketch.
