‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After Ken Jennings Lands Movie Role

Martin Holmes June 3, 2025, 8:41 am

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Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings is set to make his film debut in Happy Gilmore 2, the upcoming sequel to Adam Sandler‘s hit 1996 sports comedy comedy movie.

Eagle-eyed Jeopardy! fans spotted Jennings in the recently released trailer for the highly-anticipated movie. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo comes as a news anchor says, “Everyone is talking about the comeback kid Happy Gilmore.” Jennings is then seen in a split-screen shot alongside Stephen A. Smith and rapper Cam’Ron.

“Ken in Happy Gilmore 2?? Did anyone catch that glimpse of him in the trailer?! I squealed!” wrote one fan on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum.

“I think it will be a super brief cameo,” replied another.

“It’s just not Happy Gilmore if he doesn’t get beat up by a game show host,” said another, referencing a scene from the first movie where Sandler’s Gilmore gets into a fight with the late Price is Right host Bob Barker during a celebrity golf tournament.

“I saw this and wondered if he would play the Bob Barker role,” said one commenter. “Love Ken but I don’t see him faring well in a brawl against Happy. But it has to be something related to that storyline, I’m very curious where they go with that.”

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Another user expected a more subdued appearance from the Jeopardy! host. “I think it’s more likely that Ken shows up in his mortal capacities, reading a clue about the resurgent Happy in that events-of-the-movie-are-major-events sorta role that Jeopardy! usually fills in movies,” they stated. “(Even though, since Ken’s saying his name on-camera, I guess Happy still went Triple Stumper? brutal).”

Indeed, from the brief clip, it appears Jennings is on the Jeopardy! set in the movie.

“I agree with this, it’ll probably be some kind of montage like in “Free Guy” (maybe there’s more prominent examples of this but that’s the only one I can think of lol),” replied one fan. “Still cool though! Based on his IMDb, it looks like this will be his first cameo as host!”

'Happy Gilmore 2' Trailer: Adam Sandler's Sequel Serves Up Nostalgia

“I think Ken being some kind of MMA savant would be hilarious,” said another, hoping for a fight scene.

While this is Jennings’ first role on the big screen, he has made appearances in several scripted television shows over the years. He voiced himself in an episode of The Simpsons in 2017, played the character “Dean” in a 2018 episode of Murphy Brown, and appeared as himself in a 2022 episode of Call Me Kat alongside his former co-host Mayim Bialik.

Happy Gilmore 2 premieres on Netflix on Friday, July 25, and will see Sandler reprising the titular role alongside a whole host of famous faces and guest stars, including Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Bad Bunny, Travis Kelce, Margaret Qualley, wrestlers MJF and Becky Lynch, Eminem, Kevin Nealon, and many more.

Happy Gilmore 2, Movie Premiere, Friday, July 25, 2025, Netflix