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Jun 24
Here’s your Jeopardy! update: Ken Jennings is now a 16 time winner and has just crossed the half-million dollar mark in winnings. Watching him play this game is like watching a virtuoso playing a well-tuned instrument. The man has the buzzer down pat. Neither of the other two contestants could get in before he had practically swept through two categories last night. Late in the episode, he went on a slide when the other two figured out the buzzer and went on a slight tear. He was in trouble near the end when the woman in the middle almost drew to half his total. Then he hit a Daily Double and, instead of playing it safe, bet just enough to shut her out should he get the right answer. He did. He won.
In all fairness, the Vegas photographer on the far right looked scared to death on TV, and probably wouldn’t have done well against anyone.
I have to imagine that the only way he loses now is if he gets bored or too cocky. He took plenty of guesses last night, in part because he was so far ahead he could afford to lose the money. What will happen when he guesses at an inopportune moment?
From what I’ve heard, that won’t happen until next season. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy watching the modern day Chuck Forrest work. (And there’s a reference about 3 of you might get. Yeah, I’m looking at you, tyg.)
Two other notes:
The latest edition of LINUX MAGAZINE (July 2004) has a letter to the editor from one “Ken Jennings, via email.” Could that be the same one?
Also, Chuck Forrest is hunting Iraqi war criminals now.
Jul 16, 2004 @ 14:27:38
Jeopardy should match each dollar over the million that Ken wins and give it to his charity of choice.
Jul 16, 2004 @ 16:05:24
Ken is the best thing that has ever happened to Jeopardy. He seems realy humble, and nice and so smart—to who ever says Ken lost, I don’t beilieve it–maybe he came home cause they have to film for another season or something,I don’t know! But Ken seems unbeatable, I am very attached to him, and I don’t know if I can stand him losing. That J! matching the money is a great idea–someone should e-mail and tell them!
Jul 16, 2004 @ 17:05:51
Well, did he win today or what?
Jul 16, 2004 @ 18:37:23
Ahhh… we all seem to have lost our skepticism. Let’s see… Jeopardy removes the limits on the number of times a player can win. Then, suddenly, we have this very smart guy winning, and winning, and winning. Ratings are going through the roof. What’s Jeopardy’s incentive to have Jennings lose? I see people complaining here, but they apparently keep watching. I myself have watched about 3 episodes and have to say the he is facing some pretty weak competition… Intentional? I’m no rocket scientist, but I kept track during one game and was able to answer enough questions correctly to at least make Final Jeopardy meaningful (ie, I would have had over half of Jenning’s pre-final Jeopardy total)…In the meantime his competition stands there like deer caught in the headlights… and I can assure you folks that you will never see me on Jeopardy.
C’mon people… let’s quit being so gullible.
Jul 16, 2004 @ 22:08:47
Just a quick question? It may have been answered before but does anyone know what his IQ really is?
Jul 17, 2004 @ 00:43:43
Does this mean that Ken Jennings won today, Fri. July 16, 2004? This is the first day in 2 weeks that I have missed and I am dying…the official site is not updated yet! Go Ken, you fellow Mormon and BYU grad!
James
Jul 17, 2004 @ 00:57:34
Yep, Ken did win today. With, I believe, $50,000. He could have wagered much more for final J! and I don’t see why he didn’t (he had $40K going in and the others had under $10K). The topic was food and the answer was something about Dutch farmers breeding this vegetable in the 17th century to make it this royal color.
Jul 17, 2004 @ 02:16:05
It’s killing me! Why are people so eager to expose a “conspiracy” (ie most recently, Tony Andrews)??? Ken keeps winning because he is SMART and FAST, not because the Jeoaprdy producers/creators are trying to create another “Quiz Show” incident. Once the 5 day max was vetoed, it was inevitable that SOMEONE would go this far…if not Ken Jennings, then someone else. How many of the five-day-champs from YEARS past could potentially have gone further than five days? A lot. Ken is exceptional —- that’s all there is to it.
Jul 17, 2004 @ 17:11:17
Keg, of those questions you could have answered, I guarantee you that a smarter guy with over 30 days experience with a Jeopardy buzzer would know 75%+ of them.
Wow. You lose.
Jul 19, 2004 @ 14:48:40
Ken is obviously a robot.
Jul 19, 2004 @ 15:04:07
Gort -> Could be. But he’s the most interesting robot since that one with the arms from LOST IN SPACEE. =)
Jennifer –> Some people think too hard. Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best. Jeopardy! has done remarkably little in 20 years to engender such wild accusations and speculations. But people like to assume a conspiracy in every little thing.
Kat –> I was hoping he’d go for $20 or $25 grand on Final Jeopardy there, too. Ah, well. Someday he has to bet enough to even out that oddball dollar figure he has there at the end of his total. I’m surprised he hasn’t done that yet.
Jul 19, 2004 @ 15:41:44
Mr. De Blieck: Your site comes up on the first page of the result set from a Google search on “Ken Jennings” “Jeopardy!” And what a lively and spirited discussion is contained therein. Excluding other factors, Robot Ken will continue to win until his Iridium-sponge brain ceases to function, in about 2,000 of your Earth years. Regards.
Jul 19, 2004 @ 22:20:28
Did Ken Jennings win?
Jul 20, 2004 @ 15:10:27
Of course. Next appearance: Tuesday, 7/20/2004.
Jul 20, 2004 @ 15:50:49
I’m going away on vacation tomorrow. TiVo will be watching Jeopardy! for me until I get back on Monday for a mini-marathon. UGH
Jul 20, 2004 @ 17:39:34
I just thought of something, do you think that since kj grew up in south korea he had to learn their language? i don’t know how that came to mind though. who ever said that ken eventually stops, well I don’t want to believe you but that really isn’t something that anyone would joke about. If it’s true, i hope that he earns more than $1,155,000 by then, because if he does, he then will have set the all-time record for total cash winnings on an American game show.
Jul 20, 2004 @ 17:50:25
For anyone that wants to know more about kj, there are several informative articles on cbsnews.com. check ‘em out-they’re interesting. I wonder if dylan will grow up to be as smart as his dad.
Jul 20, 2004 @ 18:00:47
Ken is great, and I wish him all the best but c’monnnnn, we really need some hot girls going up against Ken.. something to distract his mind. I wish I could play against him, I’d answer at each question and be he first player to ever attain the lowest (negative) score in gameshow history…I have a feeling a lot of the contestants know the answer, he just assimilates everything very quickly and buzzes the fastest.. but by me buzzing at every answer and incorrectly responding, it will give the other opponent some time to think and buzz in after me… and maybe pose a real threat to kj…
Also: yeah, this site is all over google. a lot of hits already…
Also: did anyone notice the Computer Program questions… Mr. Know-it-all wasn’t so quick with his buzzer on a topic that he should clearly have wiped out faster than anyone else. Ken should definitely NOT be the host, his personality isn’t host material…
i wonder how much alex gets paid?
Jul 21, 2004 @ 11:01:36
Who cares?
Jul 21, 2004 @ 11:04:20
ken signed a contract which states he MUST keep playing until he loses, so he caqn’t just “walk away” whenever he wants. unles he’s willing to “walk away” from the million-plus buks he’s won.
Jul 23, 2004 @ 09:31:33
They should make him wrap it up. The guy’s becoming irritating and the show is no
longer fun to watch. Ken is more full of himself than he was when he started!
Jul 23, 2004 @ 16:04:23
Mike – you are entitled to your opinion, but I think most people disagree with you that Jeopardy “is no longer fun to watch.” Also, in regard to Ken being “full of himself,” what are you talking about?? He has never come across to me as anything but gracious and humble — so please elaborate.
Jul 23, 2004 @ 21:01:46
Since Ken Jennings has been on Jeopardy I will not miss a show, in fact I look forward to them. Ken has made this a very interesting show and I hope he gets to the $2,000.000.00 mark! Keep up the good work Ken!
Melrose
Jul 23, 2004 @ 22:56:27
did ken jennings win on friday july 23,i was unable to watch show,if so, how much and what is total winnings?
Jul 24, 2004 @ 02:54:06
Oh yes, he won — and he ended the season with a BANG!!! He’s been screwing with us (and Alex) this whole time about surpassing the one-day-total of $52,000 (he’s tied it like 3 times)!!! Tonight, however, he obviously wanted it! He wagered $23,000 (and some change) in Final Jeopardy and ended tonight with $75,000!!!! He OBLITERATED the highest the one-day-total! I love Ken Jenning! Now that he’s going to be gone for 6 weeks, my life no longer has meaning! (kidding!) But, seriously, I can’t wait to see what happens next season….is there an end??
Jul 24, 2004 @ 21:43:27
Well your right, its over. See you all in six weeks, this Guy shredded last night to finish the season, he is rare, I have never lost on jeopardy in like 20 years, and he was stomping me. I didnt care though, the best man won, I did OK this season though, in fact, I beat Ken a few times, but towards the end, he destroyed me, I dont know If I can beat him next season, but on the last show, I started doing well again, but he got me with the final question, I am still the King though, but he is the champ and King for now, he beat us all, I hope he goes for like 2 years, I think Jeopardy has gotten harder on those last few weeks, because the sponsors were trying to buck him off, but he stayed on, see you guys at the olympics, and on Jeopardy with me, Ken and the rest of you, Cinderella and Garry Hixon forever, congratulations Ken Jennings!!!
Jul 26, 2004 @ 02:25:30
FYI, search Ken Jennings on eBay! More hits than you’d think!
Jul 27, 2004 @ 02:45:52
So I was thinking……Ken admitted on Leno that he Googles himself…we are one of the first results if you search Ken Jennings…he may be following our chat??? That would be cool, but it’d be even cooler if he’d JOIN us! Just thinking…
Jul 27, 2004 @ 16:51:58
Jennifer: that would, indeed, be incredibly cool. And my e-mail address is on the right column of the web site for anyone who might like to write me. heh
In the meantime, my latest KenJen post is now here:
http://www.variousandsundry.com/index.php?p=1517
I think it’s the best of the bunch so far, so I hope you all jump over there to look at it.
Jul 28, 2004 @ 11:04:39
I remember that guy from high school — there was something called “Brain Bowl” back in the day and although Kenneth (as he was called those days) was good, he wasn’t remarkable. The guy was undeniably smart, though…many of us drooled after his 1570 on the SATs (back when the SAT was actually a partially legit test of aptitude and not the dumbed-down version it is today). Guy graduated in second in our class and was one hell of an illustrator — as in cartoons and caricatures — to boot.
Jul 28, 2004 @ 14:11:56
Come on people, watch the way jennings answers his questions… there is a definite pattern to how he answers… top of a category, straight down, maybe he’ll move on to the bottom up… yeah. No doubt the guy is smart, but this SO smells like a fix. this is just the kind of stunt a down-trodden show like this would want to generate alot of buzz. Producers should get this kid out soon, otherwise one of two things will happen. a contestant is going to go ape and deck him, or collusion will be proved. Mark my words, this is Quiz Show.
ASP
Jul 28, 2004 @ 15:01:43
ASP – there is a strategy to playing Jeopardy! that I discuss a little bit here:
http://www.variousandsundry.com/index.php?p=1517
I’m going to post something new on Jeopardy! strategy soon, too, specifically relating to categry choice.
But picking clues from top to bottom of the same category? That’s been done since the very beginning. Start easy, get comfortable, work up to the hard clues. If that’s your proof of collusion, then you’re just deluded.
Sep 11, 2004 @ 20:48:32
I have heard rumors that Ken goes for 72 days or sumtin and he wins two and a half million dollars. He deserves it. My parents think that he is a hog but he can’t help it! He’s a genius! Ken should be the new host when Alex retires. How old is Trebek, anyway?
Sep 11, 2004 @ 20:52:33
I think that everybody should post on this site more. I admit, I don’t do it enough, and I am thoroughly dissipointed when there are no new results.
By the way, does anyone know when The Sims2 releases for the Mac? I know it has nothing to do with KJ but I need to know!
Sep 11, 2004 @ 20:53:21
How do you spell dissipointed, anyway?
Sep 11, 2004 @ 23:10:03
Caroline – “Disappointed.”
Don’t know about Sims2. I’m still waiting for my Mac to ship. At this point, I know UNREAL TOURNAMENT 2004 is out, but that’s all I know about Mac gaming.
I keep hearing this Jennings-replaces-Trebek idea floating around. I have no idea where it comes from. I guess people just like to find conspiracy theories everywhere they go.
And I’m all for people posting to VandS more. I’m just afraid now that any post I make about the situation will be followed by a dozen people spoiling the end for anyone who may now want to know what it is. If I have to censor every comment, it isn’t worth it.