Jeopardy and Ken Jennings
 

Okay, I'll admit I'm hooked. I always loved Jeopardy, but never made an actual effort to schedule it until now. Ken Jennings looks absolutely unbeatable, and I'll bet he won't be able to scare up a game of Trivial Pursuit when he finally gets back home.

My wife feels sorry for all the other contestants who blew their one big shot at being on Jeopardy by going up against Superman. She thinks that all of the losers from the Jennings Dynasty should get a second chance.

Does anybody know how far in advance this thing is taped? Days? Weeks? Maybe months? If so, there are people out there right now who were in the studio audience the day Jennings finally gets beaten, and why aren't they talking?

Unless, as Trebeck alluded the other day, the season will end with Jennings still on top. If that happens, does he get to come back next season? And since when did Jeopardy need a "season" anyway?

they tape all the jepordy episodes over 30 some days, spread ( i think) over 2 months. i read someone said that there have been no leaks about the show where he loses, so everyone thinks they ended taping with him still champ.

i imagine that he will be in the next season.

I think it's funny that he showed up immediately after Jeopardy changed the rules to allow contestants win more than 5 days in a row. It's like he knew he could win 30-something games in a row and was just waiting until the time was right.

I used to watch Jeopardy almost every day, I like to think I am pretty good. However since the middle of May I just kinda stopped watching TV altogether so I have missed out on the KenJen phenomenon.

Does anyone know, was he there as soon as the format changed from 5-time champions, or were there a few minor winners before him and after the change?

Personally if I was on the waiting list for Jeopardy (and I do hope to be on one day) I think I'd be calling in sick till ole KJ is ousted.

He wasn't the first guy on the show this season, but I didn't even know they changed the rule until he showed up. And I watch essentially every day.

This is absolutely stunning.

I watch it as much as my schedule allows me too, and I think that KJ is the man. But I think that he should figure out how much money it would take to have exactly one million after all the taxes, then he should get that exact amount and retire. I know if I was a month long champion, I wouldnt ever want to lose so I would retire undefeated.

Trebek is such a tool. Jennings should walk into his office when he finally looses and take his job. Or else challenge him to a playoff for the job. And no blue cards with the answer for Trebek. 'Ill take falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into a ditch for 300 Alex.'

The ones you're seeing this week were taped in mid-march. I think Fridays show (today) is the last one for a while. He doesn't lose but they go to specialty Jeopardy I think. Celebrity, college, and so on. Methinks Kens supposed to be back August 11th to tape new episodes or so.

I do know they tape a weeks worth of shows in one day and his run started taping in Feb I beleive according to one article I read.

guy started to bug me awhile ago, the way he snap/cocks his head and the fact he is a mormon is kind of dissappointing.

:rolleyes:

Jealousy and bigotry don't go very well together.

I think that "X and bigotry don't go very well together" is a truism for all X.

I saw my mormon uncle last night for the first time in about a year. He's a great guy. Sure, he's got some kooky ideas, three wives and over thirty children, but he's a great father and husband and friend. There's nothing wrong with mormons.

Except when X is something along the lines of "irony", "parody", "satire", ect.

/Dave Chapelle took the White Power movement and made it laughable.

"WHITE POWER" - Clayton Bigsbe

He was on Jay Leno last night, pretty personable guy. I was only half paying attention though.... Trying to stay awake for the Dashboard performance... I didn't, had to tape it :p

Everytime I watch, I always hope he loses. Like a week straight is cool... but then he is just screwing all the other contestants. It's not much of a game when you know he'll win every time, no? I feel bad for the poor saps who finally got on the show and have to go against him.

I enjoy Jeopardy when I get the chance to watch it, but I don't often. I didn't hear about this guy until he was about to break the million mark. since then, its been on at my gym everyday and I have gotten to see a few episodes while on the treadmill. Now, is it just me, or have the questions gotten easier? Seems to me a few years ago many of the questions were truly difficult, now I can answer most of them, and I am by no means a genious. I think that this was a scam rigged up by Jeopardy to boost ratings..."I know, lets change the rules after umpteen years to allow the champion to play continuously until he loses and the get some chump to play along, feed him the answers so that he wins repeatedly and appears to be unbeatable. Think of the huge buzz that would generate..." Oh yeah, thats what happened, its all a scam.

It's sad that so many people are hostile towards success. What's wrong with him continuing to win? Why do contestants who cannot beat him deserve to move on and he doesn't?

Well, after one or two episodes, he does begin to have an unfair advantage... Practice. He knows when to click the clicker. You cant click too early or too many times, or it basically locks you out. If all the other contestants had as much practice withthe clicker, i think we would be seeing much closer games.

hes riiich beeyotch! yeah i agree with peryn and that he always gets the daily double and bets like 9000 dollars.

this reminded me of this:

http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/whammy.htm

Press Your Luck is the most pathetic game show in TV history. I noticed the patern when I was a little kid, and I would know when to buzz in. Then I'd laugh at the morons when they failed miserably.

He had the timing down decently in the beginning, but now with the practice he's had he's unstoppable. When he answers more than half the board before someone else even buzzes in, it's pathetic.

If he's confident he bets between $5,000 and $10,000 to whatever will give him a quantity divisible by 5,000. If he isn't confident, he does the same, but just to get up to the next divisor of 5,000.

I felt pretty awesome the other day, when he buzzed in on a question that I knew the answer to and he got it wrong. I was feeling pretty good, for a while. Then he answered a bunch of questions about microbiology and some really obscure foreign history and stuff, and I felt dumb again.

Not just after taxes, but after tithing. As a devout Morman, he has promised to tithe his winnings. They're in for quite the donation.

Ever think that Jenning would make a great host in the event that Trebek retires?

everytime jennings wins, one person out there is getting more and more popular. They don't know it yet though. That person is the one who takes ken down! He will become the monster killer; he will be my hero. (or she, doesn't matter)

Did anyone ever see the commercial about the guy who tackled Barry Sanders? They kept saying how magnificent one man could be while showing Barry Sanders breaking all sorts of tackles. Then right when you thought they were gonna say "Barry Sanders is the greatest", they said "*someguy* is the greatest...for actually tackling barry sanders". I'd like to see a jeopardy commercial like that for the guy who beats jennings.

i don't see how anyone can beat this guy. Of all the episodes i've watched, it's been a cake walk for him. The guy doesn't even have to wager anything in Final Jeopardy cuz he's so far ahead!

i think he has the potential to go thru all of next season undefeated.. wouldn't that be some accomplishment!

Nope. Because he'd smile after every damn answer and say "I'd have gotten that one."

This *could* be a publicity scam. Look at all the publicity surrounding Jennings. Jeapordy ratings are through the roof.

I think it would be cool if they made a publicity commercial themed toward the old '80's "Bo Knows" commercials. Have it go Ken knows this and Ken knows that, then have some dude be like "Ken, you don't know diddley".

Somehow go from there to make it funny. They've got a 50% increase in viewership since he started. Sounds like everybody involved is making out like bandits.

He's a smart guy, but as others have noted, he simply rings in faster than everyone else. I wonder if there is a pattern that he has spotted that allows him to do that or he genuinely has faster reaction times than the rest of humanity.

Maybe he's a mutant, like the X-Men???

I know the Jeopardy people have this little light that's like a race light they watch that lets them know when they can buzz in. He probably has just got the technique down.
Not to knock him though. I mean, he still knows all the answers.

The rule was actually changed in Fall 2003, no one really noticed because nobody had this sort of run before. There was another contestant that had an 8 show run (in January, I think), but that's nowhere near 30-something so it didn't get any publicity.

I watched the last season episode the other day, and he bet some crazy amount on final jeopardy to get his total up to 75K for the game. He is a maniac. I wonder if Alex is getting sick of Ken.
And BigGov, I don't find him smug, so I doubt he'd announce "I'd have gotten that one." He still sighs with relief at the end of every show, instead of looking all serene and confident, so I think he's aware of his mortality and the pressure that's on him. The more he wins, the bigger backlash when he loses.

i wonder if kenjen is under any duress during the break. hes known worldwide now and theres constant pressure from fans and the media to continue the streak. i wonder if the break between seasons is gonna fuck up his mojo.

I don't think Trebek is getting sick of him at all. Ken is extremely intelligent and has proven himself without being overly cocky; they even have a little dialouge going with each other throughout the show - subtle, but still there

Ken doesn't care about all the karma, mojo and breaking records shit that all the viewers care about. Don't expect him to stop kicking ass anytime soon either.

People can talk shit about Utah all they want, but for only having 0.5% of the nation's population, Utah is sure hyped alot in the media. Not only do we have the best Jeopardy! player ever, we will also be kicking the NBA's ass next year too! Kiss our ass Gund! You snooze, you lose!

They don't give us alot of things to compete in, but when they do, you better run and hide mofo's!

P.S. I'm usually more reserved and educated than this, but Utahn's are also good at one other thing..........not holding their liquor well, so pardon my abrasiveness.

They need to bring past 5-day winners to play him(old rule). Also, bring that one guy that one the million dollar tourney. I at least want him to sweat a little. Is it possible, that one person knows that much? I think its a scam, but who knows....

Jeopardy isn't that difficult, it's the timing, which he has down pretty damn good.

if you watch close enough, many times everone up there knows the answers.....but its just the one with the timing that gets to chime in. this guy does have really good timing, and plus he knows a bunch of shit. i would really, really love to see this turn out to be a scam, but its not.

i'm not sure how my post was jealous. his head cock is annoying towatch.

and as an agnostic, it pains me to see religions like mormonism have anyone to cheer for. certainly not bigotry on my part

Head cock...heh heh.

Yeah, see, that IS bigotry. Disliking a group of people based on nothing more than their inclusion in that group -- bigotry. Intolerance or prejudice against a group with differing religous beliefs, political opinions, etc.

I wonder if they will change the way you ring in at some point to take Ken out. He's great for ratings for now, but eventually won't be.

Imagine the ratings on the day AFTER he loses.

You'll be able to hear crickets in the audience.

Unless the guy that beats Ken just destroys him. Then the ratings could be even higher.

Is he still going? I haven't watched the show in a while. How much is it up to now?

He's still the champ, but they've been on break for a while, new season starts like September 1st or something like that.

Well, even if Ken does eventually lose, he will still be back for the Tournament of Champions.......

Spoiler: I was watching some cable news network tonight, I think it might have been MSNBC, but anyway they reported that Ken Jennings finally lost today on his 75th (or so) consecutive show. However, as the aired shows are several weeks behind the taped ones, this means that it is still like 5-7 weeks or so before his defeat will be shown. I think it said they are currently airing shows with Jennings in his 30s for episodes. Whether or not this was true or just same fake news leaked to the channel I don't know, but I just thought I'd spill the beans anyway!

Wow. That's pretty incredible. Spoiler: 75 episodes is an excrutiatingly long-ass time to be on any TV game show. Or any show for that matter.

Ken Jennings is scheduled to be on Letterman tonight, and "Nightline" is also supposed to be airing a story about him tonight. Since yesterday was his 74th show and he has hit $2.5 million, I guess this is the night.

Set your tapes. Will his conqueror be male or female?

i think i might have to check Jeopardy out tonight, for the first time in quite a while.

Ya gotta tip your cap to him - -it's been a helluva run... and to be able to make 2.5 million dollars on what is basically useless information... even better. (My mother always told me that my trivia fascination would never get me anywhere-- she was right about me -- but damn -- this guy has been great)

I don't watch Jeopardy daily, but the shows that I've watched (with the exception of one) he's wiped the floor with his opponents...

Good for him...

I've got to wonder myself if he doesn't either just walk or throw the game. I think he certainly feels he's won enough, and while she was with him during the first part of his run, I don't see how it'd be feasible for his wife (not to mention kids) to be with him during this whole thing. Plus, he's GOT to be tired of living out of hotels. 75 and 2.5 are awfully interesting numbers for something to just randomly happen.

All hail Ken, King of the Geeks.

Here's a link to a spoiler article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...y=ken+jennings

Call me a conspiracy theorist (you wont be the first) ;) but isnt it possible that Ken is a plant in order to boost Jeopardy ratings on the back of a new format?

Well, I don't think so. I think there were probably dozens of potential Ken Jennings before the unlimited wins rule came into effect. I think initially KJ was a ratings boost, and now people are probably tired of him. I"m positive Alex is sick of the guy. They just don't seem like they like each other.
KJ is a genius. I mean, he has almost no weaknesses. He absolutely destroys almost all of his competitors. Most nights he has a $20,000-25,000 lead on them. I am really interested to see who he loses to... maybe it's Bill Nye or David Suzuki.

If that was the final answer - -then he had to have intentionally blown the answer -- that was not a hard question and pretty obvious...

Ah well --

wow... you really can't see the forest for the trees in your sentence.

hehhe... i just saw it, too bad for him, well it's exactly like the article said. she was at 14.401 and he was at 14.400 when he found out he had lost. hehehe. it wont be the same watching it now.

Wow, 2.5 million, what an amazing run he had. Thatd be really cool to be the person to finally beat Ken Jennings.

Yup, he definately took a knee, no doubt about it in my mind.

I just watched it, and I don't think he threw it. He was stumped on 2 Double Jepardy questions. He just didn't have it this time....

He's been getting the final jeopardy questions wrong more and more lately...

I personally think he was just tired of it. It's gotta seem more like a job now.
Imagine it. "Honey, I don't want to go to Jeopardy today. I think I'll call in sick..."

you can only go for so long at it. hes got 2.5 mil and he will undoubtably go down as the longest reigning champion for years to come. it was obvious he took a dive, you could see it in his smile.

and its true, jeopardy will definatly lose tons of ratings now that hes gone

i forgot to watch it, shit

See I don't buy the taking a dive thing. I could see him just retiring first rather than taking a dive. It just doesn't seem like he's that kind of guy. Although that question was WAY too easy to mess up on maybe he had his one rare brain fart.

Thanks for the tip - I set my tivo.

/geek

well, i'm not a cpa but i can guess what he might pay in taxes. Start off with rounding his winnings to 2.5M.

#1. He's a Mormon. 10% of the gross goes to the church. (250,000)

#2. He jumped up to the 39% federal tax bracket. (975,000)

#3. I dont live in Utah and have no idea what the state taxes are. However, since the money was earned in California and he is NOT a resident of the State of California, he may have to pay California individual earners tax. That's approximately 14%. My favorite tax. The joys of being self employed in California. Arnold promised to do something about this but he lied.
So take off another (350,000).

#4. I have no idea what his deductions are. I think he said he was married with two kids. For the feds, that's a small deduction. He can also write off the $250,000 the Mormon church taxes him for breathing.

So, we start with:

$2,500,000
(250,000)
(975,000)
(350,000)
__________
(1,575,000)


$925,000.00 is what he has lef BEFORE his deductions. Sucks, doesnt it?

Using those numbers, and calculating those deductions, however reliable they are, makes me think if I were Ken Jennings I'd stay a little longer... but it sure did seem like old Ken kind of gave up. I don't think he threw the Double Jeopard questions, or the Final Jeopardy for that matter. I just don't think he was on his game mentally.

I hear that the girl who beat him loses tonight. That tells you how strong she is. She played a half decent game, but it was Ken's to lose.

I'm with you on this. He's always sucked at Final Jeopardy, and it looked like he lost rather than Nancy beat him.

Someone only has so much in them. Its not that he just got dumb one night, but after 74 shows I would think your brain might just be worn out. I'm sure he stopped preparing for the shows weeks ago. he was probably tired of staying in hotels every night and perhaps had other things on his mind. I think he just wasn't focused and was just going through the motions like he was used to. The other lady was playing to win, he was just playing. I don't think he threw the game intentionally, I just think he stopped caring. Those daily double questions were pretty hard though.

I would like to see the guy go up against Ben Stein to win his money. I guess that would be too easy.

As stevo22 said, his brain just got tired. 5 games a day, 74 total, he probably just got worn out. A lot of traveling, too much stress, just worn out.

that sucks, geez not even a million bucks after taxes.
well i still think he is from the future and he came back in time to win $ on jeoparody.

it's not quite that bad - from an AP article:

"Jennings will probably owe about $1.04 million in federal and Utah taxes on the winnings, Byers said, citing preliminary calculations by H&R Block."

As far as the total income, it is his choice to give 10% to his favorite church, so for me at least, add that quarter million back into my wallet. Here is how I sort what goes to God and what I keep. Every night, I take my money and throw it into the air. Whatever God catches, he gets to keep.

I think it's interesting that the actual episode was Sept.7 and everybody had to keep quiet until now.

He has the book deal, and I am sure he will get paid for some appearances if he cares to do that. I think he can make a good deal more money from this.

Plus he will get to come back for the tournament of champions too.