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 have begun to think the same thing. I especially got suspicious when he would behave as if he was unsure and then quickly spit out the correct answer.
Something just feels wrong about this. I would be less suspicious if he missed a few more since the categories are so diverse. When things seem too good to be true, they often are.
Yep. I think he just presses the buzzer first and then figures out or guesses the answer. He is good. Else he is just facing the 'bum of the day'. Maybe they should bring back previously undefeated people.
If I was a contestant and had to compete with him, I'd figure there was nothing to lose by sitting on the buzzer and give myself a fighting chance. If you assume you are going to lose, go for broke.
I'm glad I'm not the only one. We're watching Jeopardy every night now, just so we won't miss it when he finally loses.
LOL......same in our house.
On Jeopardy, a player cannot ring in until Alex has finished reading the question. The way Jeopardy accomplishes this is by stationing a production assistant off stage and arming him with a device with a button on it. When the assistant feels that Alex is done reading the question, he presses his button and two things happen simultaneously. Small pin lights in the middle of panels surrounding the playing board go on, and an electrical impulse is sent to the buzzers, activating them. If you press your button before the assistant presses his, you really do get locked out for 1/5 of a second. If you keep ringing in before the lock out is over, you keep getting locked out, I think, but the total lock out time seems like it cannot exceed about a second. (Note that I am guessing about that from experience, I have not talked to any Jeopardy techies about this.)
The trick, therefore, is to time the buzzer so that you ring in as soon after the assistant presses his button as possible without coming in too early. Thus, even though Alex constantly calls players "fast" when they're good on the buzzer, the key is not speed but timing. And there are three keys to good Jeopardy timing: Accuracy, preparation, and adjustments.
"I know some people have been angered by his politics here,"
Did the guy come out against Bush or something? Excuse my ignorance, I haven't seen Jeopardy in years.
You're welcome.
They screwed up on a question today and cheated Ken out of some money.
Answer: Sadly, in a Chinese pharmacy, this bile-producing organ from a brown bear can fetch as much as $150.
Ken's question: What is the liver?
Michael's followup question: What is the gall bladder?
The only problem is that the liver is the organ which produces bile. The gall bladder just stores it. Give Ken an extra $1200.
He's a conservative. BYU, Mormon, Utahn. He's made several comments about his views.
That is a good idea, they sometimes have championships, so ken may come back too.
A long time ago, way before computers became commonplace I began to memorize important and interesting things and arranged them mentally in boxes, placing them according to importance in accessible areas; now, some 60 years later, most of the boxes are filled, new boxes are smaller with each passing day and names still escape me - I love this man. My name is Ken, too.
The five richest men in the world are college dropouts.
I would have benounced the Bejesus out of you.
Hey, she got the Canadian channel too. She just never thought to watch it for Jeopardy. She did find it funny though.
You want the answer to the Cryptoquote?
I noticed that too, so much for the fix and egalitarianism.
Phantom Lord <---worst speller ever!
There is a rumor that the end Jennings' run has already happened and the shows now being broadcast are on tape. Does anyone know anything about it?
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