Jeopardy King Still Riding High
Success doesn't seem to have gone to the head of Ken Jennings - who's writing his name a bit bigger these days, but otherwise seems to be the same mild-mannered, enthusiastic contestant whose "Jeopardy!" winning streak began airing in early June.
Wednesday, Jennings won his 31st game in a row, picking up an additional $17,500 for an accumulated total of $1,022,460 in winnings.
Jennings, 30, has shown few knowledge gaps in his march to millionaire status. He was a member of Brigham Young University's College Bowl team in the 1990s, and he edits literature questions for the National Academic Quiz Tournament.
In his month-long run, Jennings has provided more than 1,000 correct questions. "Jeopardy" contestants are provided the answer and must reply in the form of a question.
Jennings is, of course, only human.
Monday Jennings struck out when asked to name the two years, five years apart, in which The New York Times first used 96-point type for headlines marking historical events.
Jennings answered 1996 and 2001. The correct response: 1969, when man landed on the moon, and 1974, when President Nixon resigned.
The winning streak by Jennings, a software engineer from Salt Lake City, broke the previous record for a "Jeopardy!" contestant, excluding special tournaments. Tom Walsh of Washington, D.C., a former policy advisor to the Senate Finance Committee, set that record of $184,900 in January.
At the start of its 20th season last fall, "Jeopardy!" changed its longtime rule that said a champion must leave after five straight wins. Now a player stays on the show until losing.
Jennings' romp on "Jeopardy!" has brought him an unexpected taste of celebrity, including appearances on and "Late Show with David Letterman."
On "Letterman" Monday night, Jennings drew the dubious assignment of reading the night's Top Ten list, poking fun at "Jeopardy!" emcee Alex Trebek. Jennings nonetheless kept a fairly straight face as he recited "The Top Ten Ways To Irritate Alex Trebek" - with suggestions ranging from "Ask him on air, 'Who did your Botox?'" to "Remind him that although he's a naturalized citizen, he'll always be a product of the evil Canadian empire" and "Insist on buying a vowel!"
"Jeopardy!" is distributed domestically by King World Productions, which along with CBS News, is a part of Viacom.