Will that guy on Jeopardy ever lose?

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Haha, sitting in the corner of a BW3's watching pub trivia in silence with his hat pulled low, until some young up-and-comer recognizes him and tries to get him to come back to the game. He's reticient, but agrees to train the youngster when his family is defeated by marauding trivia thugs.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 02:13 (twenty-one years ago)

The "Ken was bored" theories don't hold up ... he destroyed the competition in the two games last week and won $50K+ each time. And yesterday he faced a tough competitor who was probably smarter than the woman who won today.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 02:25 (twenty-one years ago)

but ken was bored. ok, not im given this shit up bored but just too tired to play 100% all of the time bored. fucker wore out on the whole 'click the button and then think of the answer' method. trying to steal brokaw's light. what was up with alex and the whole 'a woman would know that" comment? or was i hearing wrong? then she came back and dropped him with the easy easy final question

― ke[hm, Wednesday, 1 December 2004 02:50 (twenty-one years ago)

What was the Final Jeapardy question he lost on? I missed it.

― It's hard to kill a horse with a flute (AaronHz), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 04:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 05:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Expect the H&R Block commercials starring Ken Jennings to begin airing next March.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 05:10 (twenty-one years ago)

it would be funny if it was also true of fedex and he was right and he had to come back on and it went on forever. that would actually not be that funny.

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 05:11 (twenty-one years ago)

How the hell could they keep his loss "secret" for 2 months? Swear every studio audience to silence?

That Trebek scares me, I'm sure he killed the Kennedys.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

"How the hell could they keep his loss "secret" for 2 months? Swear every studio audience to silence?"

They didn't. It leaked onto the web almost immediately.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)

The SF Chronicle leaked it almost 3 months ago (see upthread September 9th, 2004 entry).

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Ken Jennings knows better. Like, wtf, Fedex has "seasonal employees"? Yeah. Shit was THROWN.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I was disappointed by the lack of fanfare at the end of his streak. They just ended the show like normal - no balloons dropping from the ceiling - no tears - no fireworks - not even a little peck on the cheek from Alex!

― The boobs previously known as Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I was sort of hoping he would go on forever. I mean, sure, it'd be kind of boring for the first four or five years, but just imagine how moving it would be when you were sixty-five and he passed away on stage!

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 17:25 (twenty-one years ago)

It was disappointing in the sense that the proper, movie-worthy ending would have seen the supergenius Ken get vanquished by an even bigger supergenius. But that's not what happened at all -- Ken dominated the game just like he always does. If he'd gotten even one of the two Daily Doubles then he would have won. Most important for Nancy -- she didn't make any mistakes. In a lot of other games the players knew what they were up against and ended up taking unneccessary chances by making low-confidence guesses on big-money questions. Nancy didn't do that.

But in the end, Ken did more to lose than she did to win, although Ken -- characteristically -- won't admit that when asked in interviews.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost but fedex might have christmas employees or something! or employees that only work when there's lots of birthdays.

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

On Good Morning America they were treating Zerg as Jenning's equal (which seems a bit much given that she has won only one game) Given that the show is taped months ahead of time could producers be pimping her because she goes on a monster run of her own? It would be odd for her to do the circuit knowing she gets shellacked by some anonymous nerd the next night.

― Carl Simon, Wednesday, 1 December 2004 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/1220000/1229829.gif

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.xmission.com/~layne/starcraft/images/zerg.jpg

"Oh my, I won?"

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:30 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.quake.spb.ru/strategy/starcraft/protoss.jpg

"Hell, no - I threw that shit!"

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

His loss was leaked on this thread, you guys!

Apparently he lost
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/09/08/entertainment2352EDT0227.DTL

-- Ed (dal...) (webmail), September 9th, 2004 8:36 AM. (dali) (link)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

yup, it'll air in october
-- cinniblount

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 23:08 (twenty-one years ago)

nancy lost tonight.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 2 December 2004 03:53 (twenty-one years ago)

five months pass...

Did anybody watch the Ultimate Tournament of Champions?

I was happy to see Brad and Jerome in the final. I remember Jerome very well from his initial run -- he was one of the most dominant players I ever saw.

Brad was a more than deserving winner. He crushed his competition in the semifinal, and cruised in the third day of the final. Ken and Jerome actually looked lost out there.

As discussed upthread, "Jeopardy" could learn a thing or two about fanfare. Alex was like "we'll be back tomorrow with regular games". Brad won the match and he reacted like he'd just been congratulated on his tie. DUDE, YOU JUST BEAT LIKE 150 PEOPLE AND WON TWO MILLION DOLLARS. BE HAPPY.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 26 May 2005 02:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Brad was amazing. He was so fast on the buzzer it was almost ridiculous. I have no doubt that if the no-five time rule was in effect when he was playing he would have dominated for a long long time. No shame for Ken though, he was clearly very good and he kept it even for most of the first two days (actually answered more questions both of those days--but missed more too.) Really fun stuff.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 26 May 2005 04:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Brad has improved since he was originally on the show, and even since winning the Million Dollar Tournament (IIRC, he came from behind to win and was not considered to be one of the favourites in the tourney).

Jerome would have dominated for a while as well. He won $96K during his five days on the show (when the $ totals were half of what they are now) and all five of them were typical Ken wins -- complete dominance. He'd go on long rolls and answer questions all over the board while his opponents just stood there. He finished all his games with 20K to everyone else's 4K and was never seriously tested. When tested, however, in the Tournament of Champions, he made far too many mistakes against quality opponents, fell behind early in the final and couldn't catch up. And that's exactly what happened to him in this tournament (what's more, he was extremely lucky to get out of his quarterfinal match).

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 26 May 2005 05:27 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah wtf at least drop some balloons for a motherfucker or something

― ()ops (()()ps), Thursday, 26 May 2005 05:30 (twenty-one years ago)

If they think that balloons and confetti aren't appropriate for a quiz show, then I can understand that. In which case they should take their cues from poker tournaments and bring out the big pile 'o money before Final Jeopardy.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 26 May 2005 05:41 (twenty-one years ago)

The winner of the annual Tournament of Champions gets $250K, right? If Ken wins it this year (and it would be a major upset if he didn't) then I think he'll regain the all-time game show winnings record from Brad.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 26 May 2005 05:54 (twenty-one years ago)

How do they even have the annual Tournament of Champions this year? Who is Ken gonna compete against? Did anyone else even win three times?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 26 May 2005 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Total Jeopardy winnings:

Ken: $3,020,700
Brad: $3,255,102.

So, yes, Ken can pass Brad again if he wins the TOC.

The Wikipedia page here will tell you everything you every wanted to know about the UTOC.

Also, Brad was a five-time champion, won the TOC, and the Million Dollar Masters all within a twelve month span or thereabouts ... so he certainly was a favourite to win the MDM. This all happened so quickly that I guess I was taken by surprise when he won it.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, and it was Brad, not Jerome who was lucky to get out of his *third* round match. I can't believe I forgot that, as I watched the match and couldn't believe my eyes as to what transpired -- Brad came from *way* back in Final Jeopardy and won by a dollar.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Cool, Frank Spangenberg finished 4th. I remember him -- he was a NYC transit cop. Is he still on the job?

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 26 May 2005 16:54 (twenty-one years ago)

"Brad came from *way* back in Final Jeopardy and won by a dollar."

On a question that was almost COMPLETELY freakin' impossible! Lucretia?!?! WHO KNOWS THAT?!?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 26 May 2005 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

"Cool, Frank Spangenberg finished 4th. I remember him -- he was a NYC transit cop. Is he still on the job?"

I think he still is (or was until very recently anyway). He was probably better than the guy who beat him in the semi-finals (Jerome) but he missed the final question (which was pretty damn hard.) Not that it would have made much of a difference.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:01 (twenty-one years ago)

nine months pass...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz7QJr2jj3Y&feature=Views&page=3&t=t&f=b

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Monday, 13 March 2006 16:11 (twenty years ago)

hahaha

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 13 March 2006 16:28 (twenty years ago)

four months pass...

Jennings lashes out!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/25/people.kenjennings.ap/index.html

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 19:38 (nineteen years ago)

still soul-squelchingly correct too: Responding to an article in the New York Post Tuesday that claimed that Jennings had emerged from the shadows to "bite the hand that fed him," the trivia wiz questioned whether the author of the Post piece knew "how asinine this non-story is."

"He knows there's no way I was genuinely calling for angry bees and ventriloquist's dummies to be added to the Jeopardy! format," Jennings wrote on his site. "It's a humor piece, and one which gets its laughs from the outrageous non sequiturs it proposes, not the ripeness of its target for criticism."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060725/en_tv_eo/19591

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 00:49 (nineteen years ago)

"humor"

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 01:10 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

What ever happened to Ken Jennings?

― "lol" as frivolity (Stevie D), Monday, 27 July 2009 06:36 (sixteen years ago)

took his money and went back to utah?

― meme-first attitude (J0rdan S.), Monday, 27 July 2009 06:43 (sixteen years ago)

http://ken-jennings.com/blog/

― abanana, Monday, 27 July 2009 08:05 (sixteen years ago)

he'll be trotted out for some end-o-decade fanfare before too long, I imagine.

― Bruce Hugalow: Hale Juggalo (Pillbox), Monday, 27 July 2009 08:17 (sixteen years ago)

Haha "a deeply unstable Labrador retriever named Banjo."

― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Monday, 27 July 2009 12:43 (sixteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCVfWjlMSa4&feature=related

― lampkles (cozwn), Monday, 27 July 2009 12:49 (sixteen years ago)

he comes to my shows in seattle

― Trey Tsongas (J0hn D.), Monday, 27 July 2009 13:01 (sixteen years ago)

That's awesome.

― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Monday, 27 July 2009 13:23 (sixteen years ago)

i would've thought that answer too

― EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK THERE'S SOME DIFFERENT SHIT POPPIN OFF (latebloomer), Monday, 27 July 2009 13:27 (sixteen years ago)

he sorta seems like the coolest mormon ever. he's a democrat too!

― iatee, Monday, 27 July 2009 17:33 (sixteen years ago)

His little blog post on Gates is very sensible.

― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Monday, 27 July 2009 17:50 (sixteen years ago)

Haven't watched the one that aired today, but manchild Stefan kicked some ass all 5 days last week.

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Monday, 27 July 2009 22:21 (sixteen years ago)

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