[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 27 2004, 04:11 PM\'] [quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Jul 27 2004, 04:04 PM\'] Maybe, and Ken can tell us if he chooses to(but of course he isn't going to until after the shows air), in the wake of Ken's 38 game win, they decided to continue taping shows until Ken lost, so as not to break up the momentum. [/quote]
Yeah, and maybe not. Consider the two options:
Continue taping: inconvenience the entire staff of the show, inconvenience the crew who might have had other gigs lined up to fill in the taping break, inconvenience Alex, who may have a had a well-deserved vacation planned.
Follow original taping schedule: inconvenience Ken. Who I imagine isn't feeling all THAT inconvenienced at a million-three.
I could be wrong, but I doubt it. [/quote]
Although you and I both agree with the idea that it's improbable for them to alter their tape schedule, I seriously doubt that the powers that be at Sony would be skittish about rearranging the taping schedule because they're afraid of upsetting the show staff's vacation plans. Alex pitching a fit might hinder the process, since it's kinda tough to do a show like that without the talent, but it seems to me that if there was a compelling enough reason to rearrange the tape days, Alex would be a team player.
That said, what is a compelling enough reason to rearrange the tape schedule? The only one I could think of is if the folks at Sony thought it would be profitable to add six more weeks of episodes to keep the Ken-induced ratings momentum going - easily achieved in three extra weeks of production.
The only problem is that the ratings spike didn't happen until well after they ceased taping for the season - and it wouldn't have been a financially prudent move to approve the budget for 30 extra episodes on the hunch that the first batch of Ken episodes were going to do as well as they did.
So yes, it's definitely improbable that the Jeopardy production schedule would be altered because of Ken, but the motive is not merely respect for the show staff's vacation plans.