Ken Jennings might be the first Jeopardy! host who can be categorized as “terminally online.” Not only does he post with the best of them on social media, specifically Bluesky, but he’s now managed to incorporate the site’s memes into his work life. Last week, Jennings posted that while he usually avoids tinkering with the writing side of the show, he did get together with Jeopardy! writers for a special project. It seems the compulsion to get in a neat little joke that only the internet-poisoned denizens of Bluesky would appreciate proved too strong.
“I don’t usually meddle on the writing side of Jeopardy!,” Jennings wrote. “But tonight I called in a favor for our Bluesky viewers.” He then posted a picture of the Jeopardy! board featuring two categories: False Berlin and Bizarre Little Men.
Those who knew, knew, appreciating the reference to one of Bluesky’s Hall of Fame memes, on the level of Twitter’s Milkshake Duck or anything Dril ever wrote. Those who didn’t know, however, were understandably confused, so allow me to explain. Long ago, in Anno Domini 2023, Bluesky user @lowbeetle posted a fictional exchange between Alex Trebek and themself as a Jeopardy! contestant.
Trebek: Feel free to ask these diminutive spirits for sexual favors, but don’t say “Guten Tag”— they’re not actually German!
Me: Who are the slut gnomes of False Berlin?
Trebek: Bizarre little men. You’re still in control of the board.
It’s a meme that works on several levels, both aping the SNL Jeopardy! skits featuring a foul-mouthed Sean Connery, while also oddly having a veneer of plausibility. I don’t know about you, but whenever I come across this meme I can’t help but laugh because I can perfectly hear “Bizarre little men” in Alex Trebek’s even-keeled voice. Jennings, somehow, managed to convince Jeopardy!‘s writers to come up with two whole categories that pay homage to this legendary post.
And while I understand why it didn’t happen, it would have been even funnier if Jennings somehow also managed to sneak “slut gnomes” into the broadcast. It’s too bad that the @lowbeetle account seems to no longer be active, but I hope the person responsible knows they’ve now been immortalized in Jeopardy! history.