NEWS: Ken Jennings Finally Goes Down!

The 74 time Jeopardy champion, Ken Jennings, was finally defeated in his 75th episode by a California real estate agent named Nancy Zerg. This outcome has been known since the taping in September, but the episode finally aired tonight.



I caught the show tonight, Ken finally beat himself by wagering high and missing two "Daily Doubles". Mrs. Zerg didn't play an overly impressive game, Ken just slipped up. A great *gasp* came from the crowd when he revealed his incorrect Final Jeopardy response.

Some quick facts and figures:

Losing question: "The category was business and industry." The clue: "Most of this firm�s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year."

Answer: H&R Block.

Jennings� average daily haul was $34,063.51. He toyed with the previous daily record of $52,000 � tying it four times � before shattering it with a $75,000 win in Game 38. He gave more than 2,700 correct responses.

Ken is a Mormon and he plans on giving 10% of his 2.5 million dollars in winnings to his church.



[edit on 30-11-2004 by Banshee]

I work with a Mormon couple and they are as proud of this guy as they would be of their own son. It's a pretty spectacular performance. There's no telling how many past champions might have done if they could have continued past five shows.

Also, Jeopardy is not nearly as hard as it was when it first debuted. It was dumbed down and the stakes were raised in the eighties, I believe. Prior to that categories and questions were purely academic and mostly arcane. There were no "Madison Avenue" type questions in those days.

I knew he lost. People have been seeing him around town the past few months.

Originally posted by NotTooHappy
I knew he lost. People have been seeing him around town the past few months.

Thats because they tape 5 shows a day, he was going back and forth between home and the studio, he was talking about it on Leterman last night. I think he blew it on purpose IMO. The answer if he gave made no sense, FedEX employes work 4 months out of the year? No one thinks that.

Originally posted by Wask
[I think he blew it on purpose IMO. The answer if he gave made no sense, FedEX employes work 4 months out of the year? No one thinks that.

It was a bad answer but not that far off the mark. UPS used to take on sesonal workers to get by the christmas season. The guy was like a computer. He seldom got a question wrong. It was amazing to watch.