Friday, October 27, 2006
Ken Jennings' Final Minutes
Three. Two. One. Zero.
And so went the countdown last week as Ken Jennings' fifteen minutes of fame formally came to an end. It was rather sad to see, the boyish Whiz Kid from "Jeopardy" sitting in a darkened cubicle, among ninety-nine body builders, grandmothers, cheerleaders, etc., after he missed a question about the colors of numbers on a roulette wheel on the new game show sensation "1 vs. 100."
The guy who lasted 75 days on "Jeopardy" went out of the national spotlight with a whimper instead of a bang. But, for heaven's sake, you could hardly expect a good Mormon boy -- who tithed a substantial portion of his winnings and commercial gigs to The Church -- to know whether the number 1 was red or black or green on a roulette wheel. I doubt if he's ever been within 100 yards of a roulette wheel.
And, let's be honest, he never had to be perfect on "Jeopardy." He missed questions there, including some Final Jeopardy ones (but he was usually so far ahead going in that he didn't have to get them right). In the "1 vs. 100" format, he had to get every one right or go home.
So, he's going home to Seattle, probably never to be heard from again. After all, he did lose the Tournament of Champions on "Jeopardy," which was rigged to turn out as the world vs. Ken, and his book for trivia nerds like himself (and, OK, yours truly) probably isn't going to blow the roof off the New York Times best sellers list.
So, as they say, stick a fork in him. He's done. It's too bad in a way. He was congenial enough (but not excessively, especially not when he sank into the depth of that tiny cubicle in a wall of 100 lighted cubicles on a game show so lightweight that you expect it to lift off its set and head for the ozone layer if it weren't for its sister show, "Deal or No Deal," where contestants don't have to actually know anything, except how to recognize numbers, hovering above it -- Ken looked more relieved to be leaving that wall of showboats than disappointed) and clearly an extraordinarily quick study (he ripped through the Potent Potables category when he had to), and now he's three steps into this side of oblivion.
Q: These fifteen-minuters should have preceded Ken Jennings out the door of celebrity instead of staying around to bother us.
A: Who are Paris Hilton and Kevin Federline? (Several other names would have been acceptable, Alex -- Dane Cook, Rick Santorum, James Frey)
Ken surely would have known that one.
And so went the countdown last week as Ken Jennings' fifteen minutes of fame formally came to an end. It was rather sad to see, the boyish Whiz Kid from "Jeopardy" sitting in a darkened cubicle, among ninety-nine body builders, grandmothers, cheerleaders, etc., after he missed a question about the colors of numbers on a roulette wheel on the new game show sensation "1 vs. 100."
The guy who lasted 75 days on "Jeopardy" went out of the national spotlight with a whimper instead of a bang. But, for heaven's sake, you could hardly expect a good Mormon boy -- who tithed a substantial portion of his winnings and commercial gigs to The Church -- to know whether the number 1 was red or black or green on a roulette wheel. I doubt if he's ever been within 100 yards of a roulette wheel.
And, let's be honest, he never had to be perfect on "Jeopardy." He missed questions there, including some Final Jeopardy ones (but he was usually so far ahead going in that he didn't have to get them right). In the "1 vs. 100" format, he had to get every one right or go home.
So, he's going home to Seattle, probably never to be heard from again. After all, he did lose the Tournament of Champions on "Jeopardy," which was rigged to turn out as the world vs. Ken, and his book for trivia nerds like himself (and, OK, yours truly) probably isn't going to blow the roof off the New York Times best sellers list.
So, as they say, stick a fork in him. He's done. It's too bad in a way. He was congenial enough (but not excessively, especially not when he sank into the depth of that tiny cubicle in a wall of 100 lighted cubicles on a game show so lightweight that you expect it to lift off its set and head for the ozone layer if it weren't for its sister show, "Deal or No Deal," where contestants don't have to actually know anything, except how to recognize numbers, hovering above it -- Ken looked more relieved to be leaving that wall of showboats than disappointed) and clearly an extraordinarily quick study (he ripped through the Potent Potables category when he had to), and now he's three steps into this side of oblivion.
Q: These fifteen-minuters should have preceded Ken Jennings out the door of celebrity instead of staying around to bother us.
A: Who are Paris Hilton and Kevin Federline? (Several other names would have been acceptable, Alex -- Dane Cook, Rick Santorum, James Frey)
Ken surely would have known that one.
Comments:
<< Home
1. I live in Seattle, not Salt Lake City.
2. Brainiac (the "book for trivia nerds") *was* a New York Times bestseller (well, extended list).
2. Brainiac (the "book for trivia nerds") *was* a New York Times bestseller (well, extended list).
# posted by 
: 1:17 AM
: 1:17 AM
I stand corrected (although I'm not sure the "extended list" amounts to "blowing the roof off" the N. Y. Times best sellers list). I am correcting Ken's hometown, though.
Post a Comment
<< Home
