Has anyone in the States been watching Jeopardy lately? (Yeah, yeah... go ahead. Mock the shameless geek in me. Actually, I doubt that watching a certain quiz show is enough to turn me into a geek, but then... what do I know?)

In case you haven't been watching ...

Two weeks ago a very clean-cut boyish guy showed up as a contestant on the show. He looked about twenty, so I was shocked (and appalled and jealous! What is it with some of you men folk and this eternal youthful thing you have going on for the longest time? Come on, spill it! I also still want to be dewy and carded at pubs and clubs!) when I discovered on tonight's show that he is 29! Grrr...

Anyway... so about two weeks ago, he started playing Jeopardy. (For those of you who aren't familiar with it: it's a television quiz show forever hosted by uber-nerd Alex Trebek in which the clue is given in the form of an answer and the answer is given in the form of a question. Yes, I know: What is a tad confusing, Alex?)

His name is Ken Jennings and he is from Utah. Now, I don't know for sure if he is a Mormon, but I'm telling you... it won't surprise me if he is. Because in general (and I've known a few Mormons in my life so of course it makes me an expert, ha ha) Mormons are very gifted. Maybe they're onto something, no? And yeah, I'm well aware that not EVERY inhabitant of Utah is a Mormon!

Aaaaaanyway, as usual I digress... Ken started playing and from the onset he was stiff competition for the other two players.

It was surreal to watch him. He finished whole categories on his own. So he won. And the next day, as returning champion, he won again. And I don't know if you're aware of this, but the rules were changed earlier this year (I think) and so now, instead of being able to have a maximum of five wins, contestants can play until they lose.

So Ken won effortlessly and by far for five days straight. And again and again and again after that, and now, ELEVEN wins later, he is STILL the champion, averaging winning totals of about $33,000 per day. So now his winnings total up to about four hundred and something THOUSAND!

I know the guy appears to be a bit nerdy, but maaan, I'm rooting for him! (I've always had a soft spot for geeks, after all.) I want him to win a million. He has already broken every single record there ever was on Jeopardy, so he might as well carry on, I say!

I've never seen the film Quiz Show (yeah, scandalous, I know. It's on the Netflix list though), but I imagine that watching him is a bit like watching the guy in the movie.

So, go Ken Jennings! Rah! Rah! (Heheheheh... I've always wanted to be an American cheerleader, all cuteness and pom poms and hairdo's and whatnot... shhhh!)

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Comments

i totally have the cheerleader dream too - but then there's that exercise problem...

comment by martha at 11:18 AM on 06.18.04 [ link ]

first - totally LOVE Jeopardy. Every time I watch it, My Kid always says, "You should go on there!" It's just b/c I changed my major a lot in college, so I have all this useless information about a wide variety of stuff.

second - I've never found Mormons to be especially gifted. Except for my sister. And her husband. Who are Mensa members. But I think they're the exception.

third - I always like the old champ who was blind. Now THAT was gifted.

comment by kalisah at 11:45 AM on 06.18.04 [ link ]

My boyfriend and I watch Jeopardy semi-religiously...we only miss it once or twice a week. We've been rooting for Ken too. It's so exciting!

comment by Mel at 12:17 PM on 06.18.04 [ link ]

I watched it yesterday for the first time in several years. I used to be quite the Jeopardy freak, but Ken scared the fuck out of me! What on earth has he been doing that he was able to answer all that crap!

Seriously, I was actually frightened. Enough to comment on it to Bill when he got home (he's the reason we don't usually watch it, he doesn't like it). I mentioned this slightly creepy 'software engineer' (which both he & I are) with the evil, Dunwich Horror eyes, who knew absolutely-fucking-everything! I told him that he should watch it, just once to be freaked out by Ken.

I don't think Ken is human. And when did they ditch the 5-day limit on champions? When they had to start competing with Fear Factor?

comment by Maggie at 05:16 PM on 06.18.04 [ link ]

I like Jeopardy!, though as a rule I never make it past the first round at home. I have missed it recently so I don't know about Ken, but I think I'll start watching it this next week.

Also, you really should watch Quiz Show. I liked it enough to buy it at Blockbuster once when they had it on sale.

comment by Gretchen at 10:58 PM on 06.18.04 [ link ]

There is a somewhat related site you should take a look at Press Your Luck Pay special attention to the Michael Larson page. Scary, but fun.

comment by mice at 05:00 AM on 06.19.04 [ link ]

Sadly, I am unable to watch Jeopardy due to my schedule. But I've been following the story in the news. This guy is absolutely incredible!

comment by kdeweb at 05:42 AM on 06.19.04 [ link ]

I used to watch Jeopardy all the time, but I hadn't seen it for a while until I saw it on Friday. That's pretty insane about that guy! I'm sure there would have been other people who could have done the same thing in the past, but with this recent "rule change," he's definitely going to be in their history books for quite some time! :)

comment by Zandria at 05:55 PM on 06.21.04 [ link ]