Ken Jennings can't lose on Jeopardy!!

[~Shard~]

My theory, as others have mentioned, is that this guy and his whole streak are a publicity stunt shenanigan. They hand the guy a list of questions and answers before each show, he memorizes them, and then goes out and kicks tail. Thus the buzzing in before he even really thinks about the answer - he just makes sure he buzzes first, and then it takes him a second to pull the answer out of short term memory.

Ever seen the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray? Same deal.

Sure, call me a big pessimist, but it sure looks like this is working out nicely for the network, doesn't it? They've got all of us talking about it and writing about it on chat boards (which should be for Apple!), they've enticed umpteen million Americans to tune into watch a show that was probably previously the very last thing on their minds see this nerdy little freak show trounce the feeble-minded competitors. I'm betting that the cost of a 30 second commercial has gone way up during this run, too.

It's all a big fraud. Even if he's exposed.....or, rather, WHEN he is exposed, what does the network care? They still keep the money, the ratings went through the roof, and it'll all come crashing down. So what? They were probably kicking around cancelling Jeopardy anyway, and Alex Trebek has to be getting sick of hosting that show by now. This way they'll take it off the air with a big bundle of cash.

You heard it here first!

Wow, somenoe who agrees with my theory and appears to be even more serious and committed to it than myself! I was just suggesting all this in a half-serious way, but you seem to be quite pasionate and adamant about it! Nice to see I'm not the only one who likes to play devil's advocate...

 

[aloofman]

My theory, as others have mentioned, is that this guy and his whole streak are a publicity stunt shenanigan. They hand the guy a list of questions and answers before each show, he memorizes them, and then goes out and kicks tail. Thus the buzzing in before he even really thinks about the answer - he just makes sure he buzzes first, and then it takes him a second to pull the answer out of short term memory.

Ever seen the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray? Same deal.

Sure, call me a big pessimist, but it sure looks like this is working out nicely for the network, doesn't it? They've got all of us talking about it and writing about it on chat boards (which should be for Apple!), they've enticed umpteen million Americans to tune into watch a show that was probably previously the very last thing on their minds see this nerdy little freak show trounce the feeble-minded competitors. I'm betting that the cost of a 30 second commercial has gone way up during this run, too.

It's all a big fraud. Even if he's exposed.....or, rather, WHEN he is exposed, what does the network care? They still keep the money, the ratings went through the roof, and it'll all come crashing down. So what? They were probably kicking around cancelling Jeopardy anyway, and Alex Trebek has to be getting sick of hosting that show by now. This way they'll take it off the air with a big bundle of cash.

You heard it here first!

Even if there were some shady things going on there, no one was going to cancel Jeopardy. It ranks first or second among all primetime syndicated shows every year. The show's producers and Trebek make a big pile of money each time, so why would they cancel it?

My feeling is that if there is any cheating going on on the show, they wouldn't dare do it for so long because that would arouse too much suspicion. Ken Jennings has defeated dozens of opponents now and none of them really suspected he knew the answers ahead of time? I'm sure some contestants have done some peeking or figured out a way to really time the signaling button to unfair advantage.

The quiz show scandals of the 1950s ended a lot of TV careers and I really doubt that the game show bigwigs want to take a chance on that again, especially since these are much less innocent times than 50 years ago. And if they got caught, it would really ruin the show's credibility, probably for good. There's too much money to be made in the future to risk it all on enriching one contestant under so much scrutiny.

Another way to look at it is that once Jeopardy took away the 5-day maximum, someone was bound to come along and really run the table. I remember previous 5-day champions that really cleaned up, with the other contestants not having much of a chance. In a way it was only a matter of time.

 

[Sparky's]

Earlier in this thread I posted the response of the $60,000 question back in the 50's. The Corp "Big Wigs" may be totally ignorant on this one. Just think of the MIT students who got together and scammed the Vegas casinos for Thousands before finally being found out one by one. If a professional team got together and really applied todays technology to it "I" could go up and fake being "Ken"....... the longer this goes on the fishier it appears

 

[slowtreme]

As I look back through all these posts where peiople claimed to have inside information about Ken losing...

He didn't. He'll be back next season, but I probably won't.

 

[~Shard~]

As I look back through all these posts where peiople claimed to have inside information about Ken losing...

He didn't. He'll be back next season, but I probably won't.

Yah, I'm with you there! As I said in an earlier post, Ken Jennings' little winning streak here is making me NOT want to watch Jeopardy anymore - I'm almost fed up with this little escapade! Just to give it another chance, I tuned in tonight, but once I heard Alex say, "Whoever wins today will return next season as champion - it could be <name>, it could be<name>, or it could be this guy" (referring to Ken). I changed the station, as Trebek's smugness and "thinking he's cool" got to me.

 

[jefhatfield]

My theory, as others have mentioned, is that this guy and his whole streak are a publicity stunt shenanigan. They hand the guy a list of questions and answers before each show, he memorizes them, and then goes out and kicks tail. Thus the buzzing in before he even really thinks about the answer - he just makes sure he buzzes first, and then it takes him a second to pull the answer out of short term memory.

Ever seen the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray? Same deal.



You heard it here first!

that's actually an enticing theory

...he does stall from time to time, and it's like he's recalling something he read off of a list not long before...but if it's a scandal, who really cares?

...we have marines being killed in iraq and our economy is still in dire straits so if trebek wants to get some ratings, then so be it...it doesn't make me lose sleep...i am reading "all the president's men" and that, to me, is the definition of scandal...btw...i highly recommend the book

 

[mlw1235]

Just think of the MIT students who got together and scammed the Vegas casinos for Thousands before finally being found out one by one

Funny you say that, I was just finished reading that book.........I bet he's good at blackjack too.....

 

[MrMacMan]

Good Job.


75 frikken K.

Thats just amazing, just amazing.


tvgameshows.net/ has been a real help too, wow $75... geez.

 

[~Shard~]

Good Job.


75 frikken K.

Thats just amazing, just amazing.


tvgameshows.net/ has been a real help too, wow $75... geez.

Maybe it's just because it's late and my brain has already shut down for the night, but what in God's name are you talking about?!?

 

[slowtreme]

Maybe it's just because it's late and my brain has already shut down for the night, but what in God's name are you talking about?!?

Ken won $75000 on the last show of the season. Breaking the record. No idea what tvgameshows.net/ is about though.

 

[m.r.m.]

he has over $500,000. he doesn´t need to be cool.

on a sidenote, i hadn´t even heard of him.

 

[gregatwork]

The REAL Story

Everyone knows the "story" Jeopardy is telling, but heres the real story...
Ken was a computer programer/tech support with Sony Pictures Entertainment Company, the parent company to Sony Pictures Television, which produces Jeopary. He was fired by Sony for inappropriate use of company resources. (He was using their servers to run his own web-based business, but thats a whole other story). So anyway, Ken was able to come up with some strange company policy loopholes and had a beautiful case against Sony for what he called his "wrongful termination". He met with VP David Hendler and they struck a deal to prevent Ken from suing Sony. Heres a quick overview of their agreement. Ken was able to show that had he settled out of court with Sony, the likely payout would have been $2 million+. Had the case been heard in court, he could have taken Sony for upwards of $4 million (much of that going to cover Ken's legal fees). Ken had always wanted to be a contestant on Jeopardy, but wasn't allowed because he was an employee of Sony. No longer an employee, he now had his chance, but would have to wait until the next regular season began taping after Labor Day. To drop the case, David agreed to get Ken onto the show and allow him several weeks to make some money on the show. The agreement stated that Ken will continue to win shows and remain the champion until he has earned at least $1.75 million dollars, and won at least 47 consecutive shows, setting a new record for most wins on a game show. Ken is a really smart man in his own right, and the shows producers only tell him the correct answers to 85% of the questions before the show is taped. Mr. Jennings is confident enough that once he has gone past the 47 shows and is no longer receiving the answers, he can continue on his own to earn over $2.18 million, the all-time record for winnings by a game show contestant. If you are a fan of Ken and/or the show, I won't post anymore information here.

 

[jsw]

Any proof to back that up? Seems like a very, very odd thing to do, and doesn't sound likely.

 

[~Shard~]

Everyone knows the "story" Jeopardy is telling, but heres the real story...
Ken was a computer programer/tech support with Sony Pictures Entertainment Company, the parent company to Sony Pictures Television, which produces Jeopary. He was fired by Sony for inappropriate use of company resources. (He was using their servers to run his own web-based business, but thats a whole other story). So anyway, Ken was able to come up with some strange company policy loopholes and had a beautiful case against Sony for what he called his "wrongful termination". He met with VP David Hendler and they struck a deal to prevent Ken from suing Sony. Heres a quick overview of their agreement. Ken was able to show that had he settled out of court with Sony, the likely payout would have been $2 million+. Had the case been heard in court, he could have taken Sony for upwards of $4 million (much of that going to cover Ken's legal fees). Ken had always wanted to be a contestant on Jeopardy, but wasn't allowed because he was an employee of Sony. No longer an employee, he now had his chance, but would have to wait until the next regular season began taping after Labor Day. To drop the case, David agreed to get Ken onto the show and allow him several weeks to make some money on the show. The agreement stated that Ken will continue to win shows and remain the champion until he has earned at least $1.75 million dollars, and won at least 47 consecutive shows, setting a new record for most wins on a game show. Ken is a really smart man in his own right, and the shows producers only tell him the correct answers to 85% of the questions before the show is taped. Mr. Jennings is confident enough that once he has gone past the 47 shows and is no longer receiving the answers, he can continue on his own to earn over $2.18 million, the all-time record for winnings by a game show contestant. If you are a fan of Ken and/or the show, I won't post anymore information here.

Wow, that's really interesting - a well-thought out conspiracy theory with a lot of detail. Can I ask where you got this information from and if there is additional evidence/proof somewhere where we could follow up on this? I'm surprised this hasn't become more public knowledge if this is indeed the truth... Very interesting though...

 

[voicegy]

If it is ever found out that there is anything going on here with Ken and Jeopardy that is anything OTHER than just a guy who happens to be good at trivia and is on a streak, the consequences for Sony, the host network and the show itself would be far, far greater than the money that Ken is/will continue to win.

There is no way that there is a conspiracy going on here. Period.

Ken is Mormon, so, by proxy, his entire religion would get slammed.

Jeopardy is one of, if not the, most popular game shows in history. To risk the show going down in flames forever if this particular run is found out to be "fixed," goes beyond business sense. Sony could well afford a few million to "settle" with Ken regarding any legal issues (if one were to give the preceeding "story" any credence) - why put a cash cow like "Jeopardy" in, well, jeopardy?

The quiz show scandals of the 50's killed any such repeats of fixing games to aquire ratings. There is too much at stake here to attempt to repeat such a horrific mistake. In fact, I'm LESS interested in watching Jeopardy with Ken on it because I'm not given enough time to come up with the correct question in my own head, therefore robbing me of having fun watching the game. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. When things get predictable, interest wanes. (Ken's going to win again tonight, let's see what else is on TV)

I simply cannot BELIEVE what I'm reading in this post regarding this whole subject. Ken's a robot. He's an alien. It's all fixed. He's a freak. They did it to boost ratings. Sony set it up to pay off Ken instead of going to court.

GIVE ME A FLIPPIN' BREAK!

 

[jefhatfield]

There is no way that there is a conspiracy going on here. Period.

Ken is Mormon, so, by proxy, his entire religion would get slammed.


The quiz show scandals of the 50's killed any such repeats of fixing games to aquire ratings.

there may or may not be some conspiracy going on...but you seem to know for sure

i don't think a game show contestant can have any negative bearing on a religion....that would make it a rather shallow religion

so there were scandals on game shows in the 50s? certainly tv producers would never repeat that mistake or any mistake ever again, right?

 

[MongoTheGeek]

it would never happen. Fraud like that killed gameshows in back in the day.

 

[radhak]

...
If you are a fan of Ken and/or the show, I won't post anymore information here.

that ending was even better than the theory itself. congrats on time mis-spent on coming up with such a detailed lemme-be-the-rumor-starter-now

btw, the major hole in your conception is that if that Sony VP was worth his salt, he would simply call in the cops right after the first time Ken put in his 'suggestion' and gets him arrested for blackmail, fraud etc etc. case closed, no money lost.

ps : i have not seen Jeopardy for years now, and don't know how this Ken looks like...

 

[kgarner]

i don't think a game show contestant can have any negative bearing on a religion....that would make it a rather shallow religion

I think he meant that people would think badly of the religion due to his association with it. Which would make the people shallow, not the religion.

 

[jefhatfield]

on the internet, it states ken is mormon and a computer programmer for a healthcare company...no mention of sony

if i understand ken and his bios on the net, his main purpose in life is to spread the gospel and it's unlikely he would be the type of person to get into blackmailing sony *he is deeply religious and it would be very against his character to attack sony in such a way...sure some religious people are dishonest from time to time (they're human), but ken does not seem to be the profile of a corporate infighter

...he gives ten percent of his income to the church which is more than most so i don't think he is a greedy guy and certainly not the type of person to come up with a criminal scheme to raid sony

that being said, i don't think it's beyond jeopardy to seed the show with weak competition to boost ratings...that's not an extreme theory...but ken blackmailing sony is

i hear completely emotional and extreme responses in favor of ken and/or jeopardy or against them...black and white views...reality is never that clean

 

[King Cobra]

Anyone notice that gregatwork's post "The REAL story" is his first and only post so far?

My point is: Few newbs would have the willingness to make such an informative first post without somehow being able to back it up, and then not be willing enough to discuss anything else thus far. I think gregatwork is telling the truth, though that's sort of an unsettling truth.

 

[jefhatfield]

I think he meant that people would think badly of the religion due to his association with it. Which would make the people shallow, not the religion.

being a sf niners fan, i did see the pressure steve young had on him with montana being his predecessor and being a very high profile graduate of byu...being that the y in byu was his ancestor and all...and i am sure there were a lot of niners fans in utah during the steve young years...or at least a lot of byu alumni rooting for steve...whether he played for tampa bay or san francisco

i don't think non mormons really cared about his religion though...he was the most accurate and efficient quarterback ever to play the game (since the invention of the qb rating system)...i wish sf still had steve

so if non mormons didn't care about steve young's religion, i can't see how anybody would think ken jennings would be some major ambassador to the church of later day saints, or any church for that matter

 

[agreenster]

The REALLY REAL Story

Ken






knows







trivia.

 

[kgarner]

so if non mormons didn't care about steve young's religion, i can't see how anybody would think ken jennings would be some major ambassador to the church of later day saints, or any church for that matter

I agree 100% I was just trying to say that the comment you posted (shallow religion) was not (I think) what was intended by the other guy.

You are right though, I don't think that it would really have any effect on how the LDS church is percieved. Not like any religion hasn't had some controversy before.

 

[Doctor Q]

Interesting story: The cult of Ken Jennings

By the way, I think gregatwork is just having fun with us. He posted the identical story here.