# Jeopardy!, Ken Jennings and the Tournament of Champions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798 "2004-06-23T14:36:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/21 "2004-06-26T21:32:57Z")
Maybe they can do the Michael Jordan thing, and pay him to stay out of the Tournament of Champions. Or, of course, they can always do like the OP says and clone him. I say clone him 13 times and have one other champion come on just to give that person a little shock. ---
**Author:** ![Hooleehootoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eada6e/32.png) [@Hooleehootoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hooleehootoo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/22 "2004-07-01T01:25:24Z")
I thought the other night I heard Alex say that 2nd place now gets $2000 and 3rd gets $1000. That is better than the watches and Meineke muffler coupon I got, so even those of us that didn’t win can feel jealous of current contestants. Jeopardy! is filmed in advance, and I would be surprised if KJ’s streak was still continuing at 76 days or whatever. Wouldn’t word have leaked out from the people at the tapings? But maybe this is not the case and he is still going. Or we can imagine an ueber-KJ who goes on for a long time. At what point would Jeopardy! give up and change the rules? Af some point, they would say “we can’t afford to suffer any more in the ratings. Everyone is sick of this guy!” My wild-ass guess is 30 days. That is six weeks of taping cycles, enough time for the producers to think, discuss and act. And it is about a month of programs ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/23 "2004-07-01T01:42:26Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > I think he’s a replicant. Well, then, he’ll keel over in about three years and someone else can win! “Ken?” “What is… urrrkkk!” ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/24 "2004-07-01T02:12:52Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Well, then, he’ll keel over in about three years and someone else can win! > > “Ken?” > > “What is… urrrkkk!” Naw, in about 20 years, Merv will recut all of the footage of Jennings to remove all references to Ken being a replicant, and make it look like Alex is a replicant, although we can’t be sure due to the ambiguity of the end sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/25 "2004-07-01T02:18:50Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > Naw, in about 20 years, Merv will recut all of the footage of Jennings to remove all references to Ken being a replicant, and make it look like Alex is a replicant, although we can’t be sure due to the ambiguity of the end sequence. Yeah, but he’ll forget about the unicorn origami figure. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/26 "2004-07-01T02:48:27Z")
> [@Hooleehootoo](#): > > I thought the other night I heard Alex say that 2nd place now gets $2000 and 3rd gets $1000. That is better than the watches and Meineke muffler coupon I got, so even those of us that didn’t win can feel jealous of current contestants. Yes, but before the watches and muffler coupons, they used to give people a set of Lee Press-On Nails. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/27 "2004-07-01T04:23:54Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > Naw, in about 20 years, Merv will recut all of the footage of Jennings to remove all references to Ken being a replicant, and make it look like Alex is a replicant, although we can’t be sure due to the ambiguity of the end sequence. Alex could shoot him, and then we could have George Lucas go back and make it look like Jennings shot first. Or we could just have Spielberg turn him into a walkie-talkie. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/28 "2004-07-01T06:42:02Z")
Hijack: Did anyone watch on Tuesday? On one question, Ken forgot to preface his response with “what is,” but was still given the money; nobody said a word about it! Are contestants no longer required to say “what/who is…” to get credit for a correct response? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/29 "2004-07-01T06:44:56Z")
Yes, they are still required to do that. But usually if you screw up once, they give you a warning and let it slide. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798/30 "2004-07-01T06:55:20Z")
I think they’re allowed to screw up in Jeopardy but not in Double Jeopardy. It does seem like they’re bending the rules a little bit for him though. He mispronounces and half-answers A LOT of stuff and they invariably give it to him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-ken-jennings-and-the-tournament-of-champions/251798.md?page=1)