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'Jeopardy' winner hits $1 million mark [Ken Jennings, 30-time champ]
Newsday ^ | July 13, 2004, 9:07 PM EDT | The Associated Press

Posted on 07/13/2004 9:23:48 PM PDT by ecurbh

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It's not just that he wins, but he does so in such overwhelming fashion time and again. He always seems to have an insurmountable lead by the end of the first round, and by the time Final Jeopardy rolls around... fergit it!
1 posted on 07/13/2004 9:23:49 PM PDT by ecurbh
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To: ecurbh

This guy is amazing! I'm shocked at his broad range of knowledge...however he was stumped on the Willie Nelson question today :-) I guess his expertise doesn't extend to Country music.


2 posted on 07/13/2004 9:46:27 PM PDT by Larightgirl
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To: ecurbh

Either he is the grand master of trivia, or he's Charles Van Doren redux.


3 posted on 07/13/2004 9:46:58 PM PDT by Loyalist
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To: Loyalist
...Charles van Doren redux!

Bingo!!

4 posted on 07/13/2004 10:36:34 PM PDT by edger (A)
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To: ecurbh

He's the perfect winner too. Very likeable!


5 posted on 07/13/2004 11:20:40 PM PDT by Lijahsbubbe
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To: Lijahsbubbe

I agree, he's enjoyable to watch. Saw his $1 million win tonight, pretty amazing.


6 posted on 07/13/2004 11:25:05 PM PDT by pbear8 (Blessed are the Greeks, I mean the meek!)
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To: pbear8
we absolutely HATE him....

and the dolts he plays against....they sit on their hands the entire game...

I think they wanted a big winner to boost their image, and selected idiots for the guy to play against...

I think "kenny" is reading the question faster than the Alex can read them outloud, and then "kenny" buzzes in first, many times he is just taking good guesses...

I smelled a rat when they asked him at least three questions reguarding Salt Lake .....

I have stopped watching a good portion of the show....

when it comes to final jeopardy, and the one contestant has no money and the other one has like about $400.00, and "kenny" has 30 thousand, that is not entertainment nor exciting....

7 posted on 07/13/2004 11:31:41 PM PDT by cherry
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To: ecurbh
Either he is the grand master of trivia, or he's Charles Van Doren redux.

For me, he's the real deal!

8 posted on 07/13/2004 11:37:12 PM PDT by jws3sticks
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To: cherry

Did you see how he dressed last night? It clearly portrayed his inner self. KEN IS A NAZI!


9 posted on 07/14/2004 7:20:04 AM PDT by freebird5850 ("Tell the truth, there's less to remember!")
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To: Larightgirl
Larightgirl said: "I'm shocked at his broad range of knowledge..."

Incredible. I would love to view tapes of his shows with him present so I could ask him, "How did you know that? When did you learn it?". Too many times I find myself thinking that he knows too many things that I have never even heard of.

From the linked article, Jennings was a member of the BYU College Bowl Team and is active in editing literature quiz questions. He described on a recent show using flash cards to learn mixed-drink recipes. He evidently gets a lot of practice learning facts.

10 posted on 07/14/2004 3:37:30 PM PDT by William Tell
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To: cherry

Oh, stop it. Fercryinoutloud. The guy is a trivia buff and has a background in these sorts of "knowledge bowls". He just happens to be damned good at what he does. You also forget that is was only recently that Jeopardy! decided to let winners just......keep going; NOT end at five wins. Who knows how many other previous winners could have continued on and for how long (anyone here remember young "Chuck" from a few years ago??? Kid was awesome....).

No more Jeopardy! conspiracy theories, already.


11 posted on 07/14/2004 3:44:48 PM PDT by RightOnline
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To: ecurbh

From what I had read he works for a trivia company producing questions for collegiate contests! Quite the advantage at work..


12 posted on 07/14/2004 3:46:58 PM PDT by gopwinsin04
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To: William Tell
He evidently gets a lot of practice learning facts.

I don't think he's practicing... he already seems to know the facts... and the questions!

13 posted on 07/14/2004 3:47:49 PM PDT by pageonetoo (Rights, what Rights'. You're kidding, right? This is Amerika!)
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To: ecurbh
Actually, last night, Alex seemed a bit petulant when he had to talk to him.

Almost time for showtime.

Is it possible that he is still winning, and is home for a break before the next taping?

14 posted on 07/14/2004 3:51:35 PM PDT by don-o (Stop Freeploading. Do the right thing and sign up for a monthly donation.)
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To: RightOnline
Who knows how many other previous winners could have continued on and for how long (anyone here remember young "Chuck" from a few years ago???

Now that the rules have changed, I think the show should invite back all of the 5 game winners to see how far they can go.

15 posted on 07/14/2004 3:52:32 PM PDT by nycgal
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To: nycgal
Not a bad idea; not bad at all.

I been watching Jeopardy since Art Fleming. And listened to a talk show he did on KMOX for a bit. Late Sunday nights as I recall.

Art was the man!

16 posted on 07/14/2004 3:56:34 PM PDT by don-o (Stop Freeploading. Do the right thing and sign up for a monthly donation.)
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To: ecurbh

Unless Stephen Hawkins becomes a contestant, Ken may be there awhile!


17 posted on 07/14/2004 3:58:03 PM PDT by small voice in the wilderness (Quick, act casual. If they sense scorn and ridicule, they'll flee..)
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To: don-o

My Jeopardy watching dates back to the Art Fleming days also. I didn't know that he had a talk show, but I lived in NYC back then.


18 posted on 07/14/2004 3:59:33 PM PDT by nycgal
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To: small voice in the wilderness
Unless Stephen Hawkins becomes a contestant, Ken may be there awhile!

And all the questions would have to revolve around physics and cosmology.

19 posted on 07/14/2004 4:00:42 PM PDT by Poohbah (Technical difficulties have temporarily interrupted this tagline. Please stand by.)
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To: cherry
Okay, I'm going to speak with a level of insight here. You see, in 1994, I was on "Jeopardy." And although I didn't win, I did lead through most of the game. Buy me a beer sometime and I'll tell you the whole sad story of how I went from first place to last in three questions.

Now, I rarely watch the show anymore. Somehow all the fun goes out of it once you've had your shot and lost. So I haven't seen this guy, but I will say this: there's a definite rhythm to the show and to working the buzzer, and the more practice you get, the better you are. Here's how the routine goes: the question is revealed and is clearly legible by the contestants. Alex reads the question out loud. The instant he is done reading a guy offscreen pushes a button that unlocks the buzzers. Buzz in before that, and you're locked out for something like 2 seconds. It took me a couple of minutes to get the rhythm and then I started to dominate. The other thing I realized is that all three contestants know the answers to probably 90% of the questions, so the whole show comes down to buzzer control.

Now, here's the shocking secret of "Jeopardy": Alex blows the question reading a couple of times per show. He mispronounces or fumbles or something. What they do then is have him re-record the questions during the commercial breaks (the shows are taped real-time). Notice that you never see Alex read the question.

20 posted on 07/14/2004 4:04:45 PM PDT by Heyworth
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