Poor Ken Jennings. Last May the record-breaking Jeopardy! brainiac was beaten by former Pennsylvania record-clerk Brad Rutter in the game show's three-day Tournament of Champions. Rutter scored a cool $2 million, while runner-up Jennings walked off the stage with $500,000 and Alex Trebek's undying respect.
Having quit his computer software job, he's gone on to do TV commercials for Cingular and Allstate, designed a board game and even appeared alongside Grover on Sesame Street. When he's not busy with his various and sundry projects, the Type-A personality occasionally permits himself some time to zone out in front of the boob tube. Here, we submit Ken's viewing habits for your amusement.
TV Guide: What are you watching?
Ken Jennings: I never miss
Jeopardy! It's true. [I watch it] to size up the competition. I'm also a big
Iron Chef fan — not the American remake, but the original. And
The Daily Show
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Poor Ken Jennings. Last May the record-breaking Jeopardy! brainiac was beaten by former Pennsylvania record-clerk Brad Rutter in the game show's three-day Tournament of Champions. Rutter scored a cool $2 million, while runner-up Jennings walked off the stage with $500,000 and Alex Trebek's undying respect.
Having quit his computer software job, he's gone on to do TV commercials for Cingular and Allstate, designed a board game and even appeared alongside Grover on Sesame Street. When he's not busy with his various and sundry projects, the Type-A personality occasionally permits himself some time to zone out in front of the boob tube. Here, we submit Ken's viewing habits for your amusement.
TV Guide: What are you watching?
Ken Jennings: I never miss
Jeopardy! It's true. [I watch it] to size up the competition. I'm also a big
Iron Chef fan — not the American remake but the original. And
The Daily Show
read more
Poor Ken Jennings. Last May the record-breaking Jeopardy! brainiac was beaten by former Pennsylvania record-clerk Brad Rutter in the game show's three-day Tournament of Champions. Rutter scored a cool $2 million, while runner-up Jennings walked off the stage with $500,000 and Alex Trebek's undying respect.
Having quit his computer software job, he's gone on to do TV commercials for Cingular and Allstate, designed a board game and even appeared alongside Grover on Sesame Street. When he's not busy with his various and sundry projects, the Type-A personality occasionally permits himself some time to zone out in front of the boob tube. Here, we submit Ken's viewing habits for your amusement.
TV Guide: What are you watching?
Ken Jennings: I never miss
Jeopardy! It's true. [I watch it] to size up the competition. I'm also a big
Iron Chef fan — not the American remake but the original. And
The Daily Show
read more
Thanks to the $2.5 million he took home courtesy of his 74-game Jeopardy! winning streak last year, Ken Jennings is living on Easy Street. But that address looks a lot like his old one.
"I haven't even bought a new car," says Jennings, 30, who still drives his 11-year-old Saturn. Friends kid him about ordering water with his lunch. In fact, the biggest check he's written has been the six-figure payment he shipped to the IRS. (OK, he did remodel his kitchen, but that was more "because my wife wanted to.")
"Everybody is disappointed because I didn't blow all my money on 10 Jaguars," Jennings says with a laugh. "People want to live vicariously through you and then say how stupid you are for how you spent [your winnings]. But I've hardly changed my life at all."
The biggest difference? He's taken a leave from his computer software job in order to film TV commercials for Cingular and Allstate, design a board game and appear alongside Grover on S
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Here's one all-star team that won't be showing up before a congressional committee anytime soon.
This week Jeopardy! brings back nine of its biggest winners for the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. Their mission: to take down Ken Jennings.
The Murray, Utah, software engineer became a national sensation last year — well, at least among America's quiz-show enthusiasts — by winning more than $2.5 million on Jeopardy! Hardly a trivial amount of money. But will the Kenster remain the show's all-time champion?
Not if this group — which includes Chuck Forrest, Frank Spangenberg, Brian Weikle, Robin Carroll, Brad Rutter, Eric Newhouse, Bob Verini, Sean Ryan and Tom Walsh — gets its way. They will spend close to six weeks competing against 45 winners from previous episodes. Out of this competition, two
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Forget about the Rumble in the Jungle. Beginning this week on Jeopardy!, it's all about the Quest for Ken.
Ever since Murray, Utah, software engineer Ken Jennings became a national sensation last year by winning more than $2.5 million on the game show, Jeopardy! viewers and previous winners have been gunning for a superstar play-off. "The whole [Ken] phenomenon reminded people what a terrific format [this game] is," says Jeopardy! executive producer Harry Friedman. "It brought viewers back."
The 15-week Super Tournament, which kicks off this Wednesday, will feature nearly 150 former champions from as far away as Thailand and Sarajevo to compete for a shot at the $2 million prize. "Once the excitement of the competition is in your blood, it doesn't leave," Freidman notes. "Nobody seemed to care how much money [they'd win], even though that's an added bonus. When asked about [his availability] dates, one [former contestant] said to
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