Ken Jennings
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Ken Jennings (born circa 1973) holds the records for the longest winning streak and the most money won in non-tournament play on the syndicated game show Jeopardy!.
Ken Jennings' streak on Jeopardy!
Including shows aired through July 15, 2004, Jennings had won US $1,050,460 through 32 episodes. Since the show is taped months in advance, additional results have been determined but are not yet publicly known.
In addition to his daily winnings, Jennings will certainly return for the "Tournament of Champions", where he will likely be the odds on favorite to win an additional $250,000. Should he remain champion by the end of the 2003-04 season, he would have to wait until 2005 to compete in the ToC; otherwise he will return during the fall of 2004.
In 2003 at the start of the syndicated show's 20th season, Jeopardy!'s rules were changed to allow a contestant to remain on the show for as long as he or she continued to win. Previously, contestants could not return after winning five-consecutive games. After the rule change, and until Jennings's run, the record winning-streak was set by Tom Walsh, who won $184,900 in seven games in January 2004.
Jennings's winning streak on Jeopardy! has made him something of a celebrity; he has received a good deal of national media coverage and appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to present Letterman's "Top 10 List". Jeopardy! ratings have gone up 41 percent during Jennings's run on the show.
When asked what he intends to do with his winnings, Jennings has said that he intends to tithe to his church, donate to public television and NPR, and other than perhaps "splurging" on a trip to Europe, invest the rest for his family.
Biography
From Salt Lake City, Utah, Jennings is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a graduate in computer science and English of Brigham Young University, where he played on the school's quizbowl team for three years. He also identifies himself as an avid comic book and movie buff with a Web site listing his top 2000 favorite movies. He achieved "honors" at both University of Washington and Brigham Young University. He currently writes and edits literature and mythology questions for NAQT, a quizbowl organization. He is now a software engineer for a healthcare-placement firm.
Jennings grew up in Seoul, South Korea, where his father still works for an international law firm. He watched Jeopardy! on Armed Forces Television while growing up.
Records
Jennings has already broken or tied the following records:
- Most consecutive appearances on Jeopardy!: 32 episodes (broken)
- Highest total winnings on Jeopardy! in non-tournament play: US $1,050,460 (broken)
- Highest total winnings in one day on Jeopardy!: US $52,000 (tied - twice)
Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek often mentions the other possible records that Jennings could break. Included in the records Jennings still has ahead of him (not all of which Trebek has mentioned):
- Most consecutive appearances on a game show (currently 46 days by Thom McKee on Tic Tac Dough in 1980)
- Highest total winnings on Jeopardy! including tournament play: (currently US $1,155,102 by Brad Rutter in 2001-2002)
- Highest total winnings on a syndicated game show: (currently US $1,155,102 by Brad Rutter on Jeopardy! in 2001-2002)
- Highest total winnings on a game show: (currently US $2,180,000 by Kevin Olmstead on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001)
See also
As Jennings has captured the imagination of pundits across the nation, he naturally invites comparisons to characters in pop culture
- David Foster Wallace wrote a fictional short story called Little Expressionless Animals in which the main character is a woman who wins Jeopardy! every day for a year.
- The movie Quiz Show chronicles the winning streak of Charles Van Doren, who captures the attention of the nation, and is later found out to be a fraud
Daily winnings
| Day | Air Date | Winnings | Running Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Wednesday, June 2 | $37,201 | $37,201 | ||
| Day 2 | Thursday, June 3 | $22,000 | $59,201 | ||
| Day 3 | Friday, June 4 | $37,000 | $96,201 | ||
| Day 4 | Monday, June 7 | $30,000 | $126,201 | ||
| Day 5 | Tuesday, June 8 | $29,799 | $156,000 | ||
| Day 6 | Wednesday, June 9 | $25,000 | $181,000 | ||
| Day 7 | Thursday, June 10 | $50,000 | $231,000 | ||
| Day 8 | Friday, June 11 | $35,158 | $266,158 | ||
| Day 9 | Monday, June 14 | $25,000 | $291,158 | ||
| Day 10 | Tuesday, June 15 | $50,000 | $341,1586]] | $35,000 | $376,158 |
| Day 12 | Thursday, June 17 | $34,000 | $410,158 | ||
| Day 13 | Friday, June 18 | $30,000 | $440,158 | ||
| Day 14 | Monday, June 21 | $31,601 | $471,759 | ||
| Day 15 | Tuesday, June 22 | $15,200 | $486,959 | ||
| Day 16 | Wednesday, June 23 | $26,000 | $512,959 | ||
| Day 17 | Thursday, June 24 | $40,000 | $552,959 | ||
| Day 18 | Friday, June 25 | $48,801 | $601,760 | ||
| Day 19 | Monday, June 28 | $21,000 | $622,760 | ||
| Day 20 | Tuesday, June 29 | $40,000 | $662,760 | ||
| Day 21 | Wednesday, June 30 | $35,000 | $697,760 | ||
| Day 22 | Thursday, July 1 | $40,000 | $737,760 | ||
| Day 23 | Friday, July 2 | $17,600 | $755,360 | ||
| Day 24 | Monday, July 5 | $19,600 | $774,960 | ||
| Day 25 | Tuesday, July 6 | $14,000 | $788,960 | ||
| Day 26 | Wednesday, July 7 | $40,000 | $828,960 | ||
| Day 27 | Thursday, July 8 | $40,000 | $868,960 | ||
| Day 28 | Friday, July 9 | $52,000* | $920,960 | ||
| Day 29 | Monday, July 12 | $52,000* | $972,960 | ||
| Day 30 | Tuesday, July 13 | $32,000 | $1,004,960 | ||
| Day 31 | Wednesday, July 14 | $17,500 | $1,022,460 | ||
| Day 32 | Thursday, July 15 | $28,000 | $1,050,460 |
* Tied for the largest Jeopardy! one-day winning total (the theoretical maximum win for a single day of Jeopardy! is $566,400)
Daily average: US $32,826.88
External links
- Jeopardy! web site
- JEOPARCHIVE!: Full recaps of all 20th season episodes
- Statistics from Jennings' run on Jeopardy! (updated daily)
- Yahoo! Group for fans of Ken Jennings
- Ken's Top 2000 Favorite Movies Page
- "O.K., Alex, Smart Nerds for $1 Million," The New York Times, July 13, 2004.
- Jeopardy Ratings Skyrocketing
- tvgameshows.net