Posted on 07/07/2004 4:13:17 PM PDT by ecurbh
~snip~
But the real TV story this week has to be the undisputed 25-game reign of Jeopardy! supercontestant Ken Jennings. As of yesterday, the 30-year-old software engineer from Salt Lake City had won a total of $788,960, beating the previous record-holder, Tom Walsh, by a margin of over $600,000. Granted, this unprecedented victory streak was also made possible by this season's change in Jeopardy! rules—the term limits have been lifted, as it were, so that the run of a winning contestants may continue indefinitely, instead of being stopped after five consecutive games. But Ken is no mere beneficiary of this loophole in Jeopardy! bylaws; self-deprecating and sweet, the blond, elfin Jennings has host Alex Trebek wrapped around his fast-on-the-buzzer finger. (One evening, the bemused host opened with, "Welcome to the Alex and Ken show," and David Letterman has an ongoing gag in which he speculates that a lovestruck Trebek is helping Jennings cheat.) KenJen has turned the Culver City set into his own private fiefdom.
Watching Ken Jennings play is like witnessing any great athlete in top form: He's the Michael Jordan of trivia, the Seabiscuit of geekdom. Note his systematic habit of moving down the categories vertically, one by one, rather than skipping around the board. His nearly preternatural ability to land on the hidden Daily Doubles. His obscure betting tactics, which, as near as I can divine, are inspired by an obsessive-compulsive need to end each day's winnings with a round figure. His habit of adding some thematic je ne sais quoi to his answers (which, this being Jeopardy!, are of course phrased as questions.) If the topic is a foreign country, he'll answer in that country's accent, and in answer to one clue about hip-hop music, the ultra-white Ken memorably responded, "What is rap, yo?" Like a hot-dogging ball player insisting on his special end-zone touchdown dance, Jennings will no doubt take heat from some viewers for these stylistic quirks, but what the hell? It's show business, of a sort, and KenJen's antics have once again made Jeopardy!—which I hadn't watched regularly since matching wits with my Dad in high school—required viewing.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.msn.com ...
I'm begining to doubt if anyone will be able to dethrone him.
We are actually in one of many parallel universes.
All the Pierre Jennings are, well, triple unsmart. College dropouts and worse.
But, since it is a zero-sum game, Ken Jennings is the grandslam
winner, with the triple spatial-integral of all Jennings' intellects.
I like the show but havent watched it in a long time. The girl in the dorm room next to me my freshman year of college loved the show too and we would compete against each other. We would leave our doors open and shout out the answers. I beat her every day, and by a huge margin. Unbenounced to her, I was watching the show on a Canadian station, which was about 5 seconds ahead of the American channel. So I always knew the answer prior to her hearing the whole question! After a while I finally broke down and told her what I was doing.
are you speaking of ol Pete Jennings, the noted American hater dropout television pitchman from the 20th century?
Oh good. I used to tutor Ken. Glad to hear he's made something of himself.
Being as Jennings is a software engineer, my wife was musing as to whether he might have hacked Jeopardy's computer. Cheating would be an ironic replay of the movie 'Quiz Show'. I like the guy, actually, even though I keep automatically deducting 10% from his winnings (tithing).
He's first on the buzzer so many times it almost looks like they have it rigged so he gets in.
Still, he's super smart. (lucky too. he's had some lucky guesses)
Thanks for spoiling tonight's suspense for us West Coasters.
Just watching the program for the first time and I am in awe of his confidence and answers. Even his guesses are correct......
FWIW, I definitely think this guy is a plant and the program is rigged to boost ratings.......
Hey, it got me to watch this program the first time in over a decade.......
I don't know about that. Anything is possible, but that kind of thing is hard to get away with for very long.
It's the opposite for me. I'm so sick of watching him that I've lost interest in the game. We usually have it on while I'm cooking dinner - keeps me from getting bored - but now I'm only listening with half an ear.
I kind of wish he'd lose so we'd see some new faces. But he is VERY good, I'll give him that.
LQ
I don't know when the buzzers are enabled for answers, I believe they make you listen to the entire clue, but Ken is obviously reading ahead and is ready sooner than his opponents who have not caught on the this.
I think his run is awsome.
Remember the $64,000 dollar question.......
Watching for the first time tonight, the guy is just too darn creepy meaning he had answers to questions that no average individual would have. Answers that only experts in that type of field would know...... Answers that the average joe would never ever come across in their normal everyday readings..........
I consider myself a Master of useless knowledge but what this guy is doing is beyond belief.....
bttt
Oops! Sorry!
Here's some trivia: My mom, apparently, lives on the same street as Jennings. (she had no idea). She got a call from a reporter at the Washington Post wanting to find out some "personal stories" about Jennings. My mom said she didn't know him but that she has been watching and cheering him on. We hope he wins a million!
I know some people have been angered by his politics here, but the guy is amazing to watch. Amazing. I can't imagine who can beat him. I mean, it's not just that he wins every day, it's he averages 30 - 40K, which is unbelievable. I love watching him.
Thanks for ruining the show for me tonight.
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