# Ken Jennings and Jeopardy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983 "2004-11-04T15:48:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/41 "2004-11-17T20:15:35Z")
> [@](#): > > If fivetimechamp is still a Doper, then you, he, and Mr. Moto are our Jeopardy Dope Squad. And hey, don’t forget about **The Man Who**. I mean, he did, after all, set the single-appearance winning record. Which was admittedly broken again the same week, but still, that ain’t bad. Is it any surprise that a lot of Dopers have made it onto the show? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/42 "2004-11-17T20:19:59Z")
I did not know about **The Man Who**. And **TeaElle** - make sure you let us know when you are on. If you don’t mind revealing your secret identity. Maybe you can beat Ken’s record! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/43 "2004-11-17T21:17:32Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > See, I’m trying to be all sneaky and keep it on the down low by posting it in a vaguely related thread. And I think I’ll stay with that until I have the confirmation package in my hand. Then I respectfully withdraw my offer to start you your own thread until you want one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/44 "2004-11-18T03:48:16Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No shit? Congratulations! > > If **fivetimechamp** is still a Doper, then you, he, and **Mr. Moto** are our Jeopardy Dope Squad. > > Good luck! And START A THREAD ABOUT IT! > > Regards, > Shodan There are at least a couple of other Jeopa-Dopers. **AugustWest** was on the program earlier this year. **h. sapiens** was another 5 time champ, and **twickster** 3 times IIRC Congratulations **TeaElle**! It is all in the buzzer, make sure you anticipate the buzzer. You’ll do great. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/45 "2004-11-18T05:56:57Z")
```auto Year wins place amount 5 time champ (old) 5 $50,703 annieclaus 1967 0 2nd Captain Lance Murdock 2 Colibri 1974 Commasense 1991 1 2nd $7,201 ElvisL1ves 1996 h.sapiens 1994 5 $62,000 semi-finals of tournament jsc1953 1988 0 3rd Mama Tiger 1994 3rd lost to a five-time champ Mr. Moto 2000 0 2nd Richardb 1984 The Man Who 2003 1 $50,000 Myron Myers, in one show Twickster 1994 3 $46,000 Walloon 1 2nd $4,100 Voyager 1997 0 2nd ``` ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/46 "2004-11-18T06:04:15Z")
Crap! I hit the wrong button! Sorry. I was going to say that a few months ago I compiled this list of Dopers on _Jeopardy!_: ```auto Doper Year wins place amount 5 time champ (old) 5 $50,703 annieclaus 1967 0 2nd Captain Lance Murdock 2 Colibri 1974 Commasense 1991 1 2nd $7,201 ElvisL1ves 1996 h.sapiens 1994 5 $62,000 semi-finals of tournament jsc1953 1988 0 3rd Mama Tiger 1994 3rd lost to a five-time champ Mr. Moto 2000 0 2nd Richardb 1984 The Man Who 2003 1 $50,000 Myron Myers, in one show Twickster 1994 3 $46,000 Walloon 1 2nd $4,100 Voyager 1997 0 2nd ``` If anyone can help me update it with new people or additional details about these folks, I’d appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/47 "2004-11-18T15:37:01Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > And **TeaElle** - make sure you let us know when you are on. Or _if_. My understanding is that getting called up to appear doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll definitely get to be on a show. (Much better odds of it than if you’re **not** called up to appear, though.) ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/48 "2004-11-18T15:49:07Z")
> [@LoganDear](#): > > [Link](http://www.kottke.org/04/11/so-close-yet-so-far-away) (don’t click if you don’t want spoilers - of course, it’s not like we can be SURE this info is correct anyway) Thanks much! ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/49 "2004-11-18T15:53:11Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Crap! I hit the wrong button! Sorry. > > I was going to say that a few months ago I compiled this list of Dopers on _Jeopardy!_: > > ```auto > > Doper Year wins place amount > 5 time champ (old) 5 $50,703 > annieclaus 1967 0 2nd > Captain Lance Murdock 2 > Colibri 1974 > Commasense 1991 1 2nd $7,201 > ElvisL1ves 1996 > h.sapiens 1994 5 $62,000 semi-finals of tournament > jsc1953 1988 0 3rd > Mama Tiger 1994 3rd lost to a five-time champ > Mr. Moto 2000 0 2nd > Richardb 1984 > The Man Who 2003 1 $50,000 Myron Myers, in one show > Twickster 1994 3 $46,000 > Walloon 1 2nd $4,100 > Voyager 1997 0 2nd > > ``` > > If anyone can help me update it with new people or additional details about these folks, I’d appreciate it. Yours truly. Shows aired 4/27-28/04. I won a total of $31,100. Won the first day, second place the second. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/50 "2004-11-18T18:45:29Z")
My “name” is misspelled on the above list. I was on in '97. I wonder if I played **Voyager**? ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/51 "2004-11-18T19:50:58Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No shit? Congratulations! > > If **fivetimechamp** is still a Doper, then you, he, and **Mr. Moto** are our Jeopardy Dope Squad. > > Good luck! And START A THREAD ABOUT IT! > > Regards, > Shodan Blanx was on Jeopardy as well, but I forget the stats. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/52 "2004-11-18T20:14:36Z")
**Tea Elle** How did you get on? I’ve been trying to be a contestant since I was in high school. [sorry for the hijack] ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/53 "2004-11-18T23:55:49Z")
[ol] [li]Entered my name as interested in attending a Contestant Search via [Jeopardy.com](http://Jeopardy.com)[/li][li]Received an invitation to attend the Contestant Search in Washington D.C. this past summer. (Purely by luck of the draw.)[/li][li]Took and passed the 50 question applicant test.[/li][li]Was, as a result, able to participate in the mock game/audition which followed immediately thereafter.[/li][li]Came home and waited.[/li]Received a phone call inviting me to come to LA. If I had not been available for the date that they had in mind, I would not be given another opportunity to be on the show this season and would have had to go through the process again next season.[/ol] ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/54 "2004-11-19T00:22:01Z")
When’s your tape date, **TeaElle**? ---
**Author:** ![richardb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@richardb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richardb)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983/55 "2005-01-11T18:22:53Z")
Sorry - I’ve been off the boards for a couple of months… I would have just eMailed **commasense** this info and not bumped an old thread, but you aren’t accepting eMails. You can add to my name on your list that I was beaten by the FIRST 5-time champion (in the second week that the new version of Jeopardy! aired). I think I was also the very first to make a smart-ass comment on my final Jeopardy question board (it was Hi, Mom!). Of course, by final Jeopardy! the outcome was not in doubt. Just in case you want stories of “the early days” as you seem to be something of a Jeopardy! fanatic, here’s my story (everyone else can skip this and be none the worse for wear): I was living in Miami then, but was scheduled to come out with some friends to Los Angeles for the summer olympics (this was 1984). One of my friends (who had won big while in college on Wheel of Fortune, and several years later went on to win $88,000 on a Dick Clark game show called The Challengers, and then many years later lost the $250,000 question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire) had family in LA and came out earlier in the summer than I did. He phoned to tell me that Jeopardy! was starting up again and he had tried out to be on the show, and that I should call to schedule an appointment to try to do the same. I did, and passed the test. My friend was selected to be on the first day of taping (taping the first 5 shows), and I was in the audience. There were a few technical glitches that first day, where they would stop taping to fix things, but the biggest difference in that first week of shows is they did not yet have a “lock-out” system in place. As a result, some contestants would buzz in before the question had been fully read by Alex Trebeck. After that first day they “fixed” this problem, and told us that now no one could buzz in before Alex finished reading the question. My friend got selected in the fourth show from the pool of contestants ready to go on. We had previously talked about strategy, and he felt that the biggest advantage the defending champion had was their confidence in having played the game before. His solution to this was to immediately (after getting his first question right and getting control of the board) rattle the other guy by going for the highest value question in a category first. He had the confidence to figure he would know the answers to even the highest value questions, but figured the others would hesitate as those questions are supposed to be the hardest, and give him an advantage on the buzzer. It worked. Alex even mentioned how he was the first one to ever run a complete category… backwards! He won that game, and the next one, too. The second day of taping (the second week of aired shows) I was selected to be in the contestant pool. I was told that they would not let me and my friend both play in the same game. So I watched from the audience (this time with the other contestant hopefuls) as he played the first game of the second day of taping (the first show aired the second week). He played against this woman who was pretty good, but I believe he still would have won had he not wagered big and lost a daily double. It was "this is the smallest number beginning with the letter B’ and he just didn’t think of a billion in time. He could have beaten her had she gotten Final Jeopardy wrong, but no such luck. The woman who won went on to win her next three games by huge margins (Final Jeopardy always a mere formality), and then for her last game, I was picked to go on. My friend said afterwards I should have feigned sickness and waited for the next days taping, but I didn’t. I put up a reasonable fight - Alex even remarked after the first break that I was the only one either ahead of her or just giving her a run for her money in a while (I don’t remember now exactly and can’t be bothered digging up the old videotape to find out), but after the second round it was all over, and she was more than twice ahead of us lesser mortals. Thus I lost to the first ever 5-time Champion in the current version of Jeopardy! But now my sour grapes part of the story: Remember how I explained earlier that this second day of taping they instituted a lock-out system, so the contestants could not buzz in until Alex had finished reading the question? They did not explain how this system was implemented, however. After the game, my friend who had won the earlier games and a few other friends of mine who were in the studio audience explained how they saw the lock-out system being implemented. There was a guy sitting at a table, along with several other staff members sitting at this table right in front of the studio audience (I suppose these people included scorekeepers and producers and whatnot) who had a little switch in front of him. He would flick the switch when Alex finished reading the question. So obviously, if you tried to buzz in before the guy had flipped the switch, you would be locked out for a second or whatever it was, until he flipped the switch. That was how they implemented their newly devised lock-out system (I have no idea how they do it now. Another friend of mine who was on several years later - and won 5 games - was in a different studio than the one they had taped in the first few years, and you could not see these people from the audience. He’s been invited back for this special tournament of past champions to try and beat Ken Jennings, so I’ll try to check then). Anyways, here’s the important part: they said that they saw this woman looking over at the guy with the switch! Us other two contestants would be reading the question and trying to concentrate on Aex Trebeck to figure out when to buzz in, and she was just watching the guy with the switch! No wonder I could almost never successfully buzz in, no matter how I tried to adjust my timing during the game. If this is true, then arguably she had an unfair advantage over us other two contestants who weren’t clever enough to figure out how to “cheat.” I put cheat in quotes because this probably wasn’t against any stated rules. But it did give her an unfair advantage in buzzing in. Of course, if she didn’t get most of her answers right it wouldn’t have helped her, but I never said she was stupid. Far from it. Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Probably way TMI for most people, but there seem to be a few Jeopardy! connoisseurs out there, so hopefully I’ve added to your knowledge of Jeopardy! minutiae. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-jennings-and-jeopardy/272983.md?page=2)