What’s All the Buzz About?

Contestant Buzzy Cohen had a historic run on Jeopardy
Contestant Buzzy Cohen had a historic run on Jeopardy
Anna Finley

Who is Buzzy Cohen? Both a compelling question and a “Jeopardy!”-style answer to the latest viral phenomenon. Buzzy, the 9-day, $164,603 winner, inspired both positive and negative feedback after his historic run. His on-show antics, such as not wagering any money on Final Jeopardy as well as taunting host Alex Trebek, haves gained him both love and hate from his “fans.”

According to the information given out by the Trebek at the end of the first commercial break of the show, Cohen is a music record executive in California and is married with a daughter. Other information on Cohen includes:

  • Taught his daughter a Hamlet soliloquy
  • His father owns a clothing store in New Jersey, where Cohen grew up
  • Legal name is Austin, named after the $6 million man Steve Austin

The bespectacled contestant has been ridiculed for being too cocky on the show. An example of one of his less popular actions was when he did not wager any money during the final and most important round of the show, and instead, wrote a quip poking fun at the host Alex Trebek. The animosity amounted to the creation of a “Screw Buzzy Cohen” Twitter account, with the hashtag “#DOWNWITHBUZZY” in the bio. But it seems as though Cohen is a different breed of champion. His cockiness shines through with his smug smile and his knowledge of the game. According to an Entertainment Weekly interview, Cohen explained that he would essentially try to beat Trebek in reading the question and answer right as he finished. So Cohen obviously has a high “Jeopardy!” IQ, but this does not make him cocky. Being confident in yourself is one thing, but being cocky is something else.

On the other hand, people also enjoyed watching Cohen reign victorious for 9 days in a row. While watching the show, one viewer tweeted that she has “never loved a man the way [she] love[s] Buzzy Cohen.” Some have drawn comparisons from him to the childhood show character Arthur, because of the thick brown glasses that he wears.

Whether you liked Cohen’s run on Jeopardy or not, it is hard to call his 9-day feat unimpressive. However, his streak pales in comparison to the most winning Jeopardy contestant of all time, Ken Jennings, who won over $2 million over a 75 game span.

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