Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Jeopardy To Get New Champion Tonight

The soft-spoken software engineer Ken Jennings, who is Jeopardy!'s longest-running champ, could finally get beaten and booted off the pre-taped show tonight after a record 75 appearances, according to numerous Web reports.
With $2.5-million in his back pocket, the 30-year-old Jennings has earned the title of highest-earning player ever on a syndicated quiz show.
Yesterday, a two-minute audio clip was circulated on the Web, including the question that is reported to have stumped this king of quiz. Sudbury, Ont.-native Alex Trebek, Jeopardy!'s host, can be heard saying, "The category is business and industry, and here is the clue, ladies and gentlemen: Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal, white-collar employees work only four months a year?"
The theme song starts. "You have 30 seconds," says Trebek. "Good luck."
Well, if the trivia pundits are correct, Jennings finally chokes.
A contestant named Nancy guesses H&R Block. Jennings writes FedEx.
Trebek yells, "Nancy, you're right!" The crowd groans, long and loud.
Sounding like the cat who swallowed the proverbial canary, Trebek wraps up the final minutes of the show: "Nancy Zern, congratulations! You are indeed a giant killer. A new Jeopardy! champion at $14,401!" Then the host continues. "All good things have to come to an end, don't they? Well, too bad for Ken. But he's going home with a lot of money -- $2½-million [U.S]. Congratulations young man."