Uh, what? I thought part of this thread discussed making this a rule, meaning it isn’t now. I thought 2nd and 3rd took home a fixed amount of cash, like $3000/$2000.
Man, I missed this the past couple weeks. Today’s drama:
Ken had $42,000 going into FJ. Forty-two sporkin’ thousand bucks (far, far more than either of the other two contestants). He bids $10,000, nails FJ (and is the only one to do so) and ties the $52,000 record AGAIN. Just do the deed already!
Interesting Final Jeopardy! question today:
What two twentieth-century US presidents had middle names that are the same as the last names of two other presidents (not necessarily twentieth-century, though)? ANSWER: William Jefferson Clinton and Ronald Wilson Reagan
But ONLY the champion keeps the cash. I never have liked that rule, but that’s how it is.
Damn. :smack: I guess I was misinformated about the fixed consolation prizes…in lieu of the trips and such that they used to give away. Still, if you can’t touch Ken, don’t blow your chance to lock up 2nd place!
Did Alex say today that tomorrow is the last episode of the season? Holy crap…
I’m almost glad he’s not. Alex’s reactions are always fun.
That was a good one. I got half of it Clinton, missed the other half. Completely blanked, in fact.
Why on Earth is he doing the thing mentioned in the spoilers? Isn’t he losing money that way?
I think part of it is he’s enjoying taunting Alex.
Also he’s afraid of losing money he’s already earned.
On Wednesday’s show (7/21), one clue said that Belgium was divided into three regions: Wallonia, Flanders, and this one. Ken Jennings said, “Bruxelles”, and gave the correct French pronunciation (brooks-ell). But Alex said he was wrong. Huh? As you can see by my user name, my ancestry is Walloon, and I have cousins in that third region, whom I have visited. The English term is the Brussels-Capital Region or the Brussels Region, the French term is Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, and the Dutch term is Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest.
Given that the word “region” was already supplied by the clue, why was Bruxelles wrong?
Ken posts on the official Jeopardy message board (yes, it’s him, he was posting there before his streak began). He has said that he doesn’t want to break that particular record just for the sake of breaking it. He is content to tie and not steal the previous record holder’s thunder. He said something like “There are plenty of other records to break.” (And he seems happy enough to tackle those.)
I loved Alex’s comment about applauding a run of “STUPID ANSWERS.” Also the video demonstration of Photoshop a week or so ago that involved putting Alex’s mustache back. 
I thought he put a Z sound in the middle, not a KS, like “Broozels.” It sounded to me like he was going for Bruxelles and just didn’t quite make it.
I thought that decision was questionable, but then we’ve found other cases where they gave him the benefit of the doubt. So it balances out.
All hail King Ken!
So now we know why no one has spilled the beans. It’s not over yet.
Thirty-eight shows and over $1.3 million. And he finally broke the $52,000 limit! $75,000! I suspect it’ll be a long time before that record is broken!
The next record coming up is the number of shows: 46. And he might very well beat the British Millionaire champ in total winnings, too. (At this moment one pound sterling is about US$1.83.) That would only take about 14 or 15 more shows at his current average, just about the time he passes the 46-show record. How convenient!
So what does Ken do post-Jeopardy? Do you suppose we could get him to run for president? Hands up everyone who’d rather vote for Jenkins than Bush or Kerry?
NEWS FLASH, not only did he steal the previous record holders thunder today. He struck like lightening while doing it. His one day total was $75,000. Way to go Ken! Can’t wait to see him back in 6 weeks.
I wonder if they’ll try to shorten the lag between taping and airing.
There’s no way the secret will be kept this time, unless they don’t have a studio audience (and it would be difficult even then).
Might be a good time to do a prime-time, live (or short tape delay) series of shows until the run is over.
It was hard for me to not post before everyone else had a chance to see it yesterday (I see it at 5:00 CET, 6 hours ahead of EDT). Of note: Ken’s $75,000 performance not only breaks the one day total record, it also breaks the LONG standing one day total mark adjusted for value inflation. (The previous record, before the doubling of values in the two rounds was $34,000…$68,000 in the current format). Not only that, he set the 5 day weekly total record with over $220,000 for the week! (Also breaks the adjusted mark). Amazing. How long can he go?
Jman
Well, Mr. Griffin, I gotta admit that I was skeptical. You hear this kind of hype all the time. It’s really “just the most amazing thing” indeed. Thanks for bringing us Ken! 
Question: can anyone recall whether Ken ever went into Final Jeopardy without having more than twice his nearest competitor?
I remember a couple of “squeakers,” where he didn’t have more than double of Contestent #2.
He’s got six weeks to either a)keep studying and brush up on more arcane trivia or b)get out of practice and crash and burn on the first day of the new season.
Thanks, Ken. You got me back into watching Jeopardy! again.
BTW, I got the Final Jeopardy question right on the season finale.
Anyone notice how quick Ken is on the signaling button? I’ve noticed several times where he’s rang in, only to struggle to answer the question. Most times he’s gotten it right. Is he also using the signaling button when he’s not sure of the answer, just to get in first?
Me, too! — although, admittedly, I selected the two easy ones: Hamlet and Macbeth. :o
I picked Hamlet (duh) and Richard III.
Stupid thing is, I’ve never read or seen performed Richard III. It just “sounded” right. Funny the bits and pieces your mind picks up, storing away until they’re needed.