Ken Jennings can't lose on Jeopardy!!

[Doctor Q]

News story: link1 link2 link3

Ken Jennings must be the best trivia expert around. Today he won his 16th consecutive game on the TV show Jeopardy!. His total winnings are now $512,959. The previous record was $184,900, although that was under past rules, which were more restrictive.

Ken Jennings was seen on his 16th straight Jeopardy! episode Wednesday, winning once again to bring his total winnings to $512,959. The 30-year-old software engineer broke the Jeopardy! record early in his run. Tom Walsh, of Washington, D.C., held the previous mark, earning $184,900 in seven days on the show in January. Then along came Jennings, who is no stranger to the world of quick quiz. He was a member of Brigham Young University's successful College Bowl team in the 1990s. Jennings also edits literature and mythology questions for the National Academic Quiz Tournament.

He does well in any category, buzzing in quickly (which takes good timing) and almost always having the right answer.

I don't even watch the show, but after three different people told me about it today, I got interested in the story.

Ken Jennings:

 

[Laslo Panaflex]

Yeah, this guy rules. I have been watching the past couple shows since my mom told be about this guy. He is very impressive.

 

[MongoTheGeek]

Reminds me of a guy back in the 80's who was on Tic Tac Dough. He until recently with who wants to be a millionaire etc. had the record for the most money won. 300k or something like that. Most of it was in cars.

He was on for over a year. Lt Tom McGee IIRC.

 

[agreenster]

My wife and I always tend to eat supper right at 7:30 (just before gym time) and have been watching Jeopardy for a few months now. We've watched 'ol Ken every episode, and it is AMAZING the amount of knowledge this dude has. He's a funny/quirky dude, but very nice. I cant believe the types of stuff he knows. I cant recall the specifics, but I was floored when he got one question that was like "the senate majority leader of 1914" or something.

How does someone know that?

Its been very entertaining watching Ken. Im rootin' for him.

 

[Calvinatir]

THAT MAN IS UNBELIEVABLE! I bet he knows where I was born!

 

[TEG]

I've been watching for at least the last week, plus I watched his first episode. He is phenominal. The oddest thing is that nearly every question he has answered, I have also answered correctly. Maybe now that I have some free time, I should try out for Jeopardy! to see what I can do. Also, anyone notice that these shows were shot in Feb. or Early Mar., as one contestant tonight talked about waiting for the pools to open up in March in Las Vegas. I'm wondering how far he has taken his streak.

TEG

 

[obeygiant]

ultracelebocity

Dude, i'm hoping this guy breaks a million.

He's as famous as William Hung NOW!!

 

[GrannySmith_G5]

I've been watching him. He buzzes first and then thinks about the question and then answers. Since he has so much trivia knowledge it works out for him. Anyone remember that guy that got caught "cheating" on the show Press Your Luck by memorizing the pattern of the game board so he could always get the "whammy"?

 

[Doctor Q]

One of my relatives is a Jeopardy! fanatic. If she is forced to leave the house on a weekday evening, you can be sure the VCR is programmed for Jeopardy!. I went with her to a taping of the show, and she was thrilled to go. She even tried out for the show once, but she didn't make the cut.

When she's at home, she seems to know all the answers, but it's easy to speak up on the ones you know and just nod your head (as if you knew it) on the rest. But if you or I were really in the spotlight, I'll bet it would be much harder to think, much less beat two other contestants!

 

[Calvinatir]

I've been watching him. He buzzes first and then thinks about the question and then answers. Since he has so much trivia knowledge it works out for him. Anyone remember that guy that got caught "cheating" on the show Press Your Luck by memorizing the pattern of the game board so he could always get the "whammy"?

i watched the special on that! It was amazing! and they actually paid him out his money! All of it!

 

[MacFan26]

I've always been a jeopardy fan, it's fun when you actually know some of the answers . This week Letterman has been doing bits on him, and it's been quite funny.

 

[krimson]

I saw his first 5 games, and on his first win, he answered a one of the $2000 clues and he added a (s) to the end of the question. So i wrote to jeopardy, and they said it was too late but thanks for catching that, and they hope i keep watching.

But yeah, that guy is probably the best i've seen in a long time. But i dont think this new change in rules is a good thing, doubling the previous limit to 10 may have been better... but that's IMHO.

 

[Doctor Q]

Ten points to the first person who correcty explains why this thread has two exclamation points in the title.

 

[Applexilef]

THAT MAN IS UNBELIEVABLE! I bet he knows where I was born!

Not only that, he also knows exactly what tv channel you were watching on Monday, March 25th 1997 at 3:45pm

 

[krimson]

Ten points to the first person who correcty explains why this thread has two exclamation points in the title.

What is, Cause you were too lazy to put the 3rd in?

 

[wordmunger]

Ten points to the first person who correcty explains why this thread has two exclamation points in the title.

What is, because the name "Jeopardy!" already has an exclamation point, so the sentence needs another exclamation point in order to be read properly as an exclamation?

 

[Doctor Q]

Yes, wordmunger. You win 10 points. You may exchange them for a Power Mac G5 at any participating Apple Store.

 

[MacNut]

I bet this is all a stunt to get people to watch because of falling ratings. Or maybe he is cheating, wanna bet Trebek is giving signals. This would be a great bit for SNL to do with their celebrity Jeopardy.

 

[leftbanke7]

What ever happened to 5 day winner and you are done? The news here in Utah is all ga-ga over the dude b/c he's a BYU grad. Frankly, I could care less and I am sure there are much better and more interesting things the news could report on.

 

[Doctor Q]

What ever happened to 5 day winner and you are done?

A rule they eliminated. I assume that they used to worry that one genius would monopolize competition, but now they believe it makes for better publicity and more excitement.

 

[Sparky's]

And if this turns out to be another "$60,000 Question" fraud it's gonna put TV game shows back a few centuries

It does remind me of the guy on the old '50s show "You asked for it" who could watch a 100 boxcar train go by, then recite every single serial number on every car in order each being about 9 or 11 numbers long, Thats memory!

I'd love to see that show revised

 

[MacFan26]

and he wins again.. 17 in a row is pretty impressive. I wonder how much longer he'll be on. Must not be much fun for the other two contestants!

 

[Jennings_sucks]

I hate Ken Jennings :grumpy: He's like 30 and he has a comb over, and if you know this much useless junk, it's not something to brag about. It annoys me how he tilts his head to the side when they say the total amount he's won thus far at the beginning of the show. I'm curious to see this "wife" he talks about. BOO ERNS KEN JENNINGS
sincerely,
Phillipe

 

[Doctor Q]

Did you catch the blunder Ken made today?

To an answer in the "Governors of New York" category, he said "Who is (firstname) (lastname)?" instead of "Who is (lastname)?, causing him to get the question wrong. Giving only last names is a basic Jeopardy! strategy, and by not following it he lost a few hundred dollars - the poor guy. To Ken's credit, Alex also messed up the governor's name.

At the show filming I went to, Alex screwed up a few times. Each time, they refilmed him saying the sentence again, then spliced it in. No wonder he seems perfect most the time. The contestants of course only get one shot.

 

[me_94501]

This keeps making me think of the movie Quiz Show.