The Future of Jeopardy

[wheelloon]

Hi everyone, my name is Mark, I'm new on the forum, and a dedicated WOF fan.

I was just curious what everyone felt the future of J! will be (ratings, any more "Ken" streaks...), now that Ken Jennings is gone.

Personally, I believe that now that Ken is gone, unfortunately, its ratings are going to drop to even lower then what they were even before Ken got on.  I think that people are losing interest in the show, and that since people aren't watching just to keep track of Ken anymore, they won't be consistently watching the show every night.

I just checked J!'s ratings on tvgameshows.net, and J! was at number 3 for the first time in months!!! Wheel was back at number one.  Could this snowball, or will it stop here?

What do you all think?

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'wheelloon\' date=\'Dec 5 2004, 12:12 PM\']Hi everyone, my name is Mark, I'm new on the forum, and a dedicated WOF fan.

I was just curious what everyone felt the future of J! will be (ratings, any more "Ken" streaks...), now that Ken Jennings is gone.

Personally, I believe that now that Ken is gone, unfortunately, its ratings are going to drop to even lower then what they were even before Ken got on.  I think that people are losing interest in the show, and that since people aren't watching just to keep track of Ken anymore, they won't be consistently watching the show every night.

I just checked J!'s ratings on tvgameshows.net, and J! was at number 3 for the first time in months!!! Wheel was back at number one.  Could this snowball, or will it stop here?

What do you all think?

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That #3 was from mid-November, when Ken was still running strong. Besides, despite the #3 position, the ratings were still at their best for the show. As for J!, I think there will still be slight interest, as folks will still see if someone can start a little winning streak. And if I'm not mistaken, I think part of that was also the College tourney, so that could have something to do with it as well.

BTW, always use your own judgment for reading tvgameshows.net. :-)

[Don Howard]

Jeopardy! will be on the air for at least six more years as announced a couple of months ago.
We'll all continue to watch, I'm sure. We're back to champs lasting just a day or so and wimpy Daily Double wagers and shouldn't expect another Kenzilla just like Tic Tac Dough had no one coming anywhere near Thom's landmark total.
I'm fine with that. It's back to shouting answers (or is it questions?) back at the TV and trying to beat the contestants.
But if someone goes a week or more without a defeat, we'll undoubtedly hear, "Oh. He's won eight times. Is that all?"--even though that'd be the second-longest anyone's ever gone on that quizzer.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Dec 5 2004, 05:43 PM\']We'll all continue to watch, I'm sure. We're back to champs lasting just a day or so and wimpy Daily Double wagers and shouldn't expect another Kenzilla just like Tic Tac Dough had no one coming anywhere near Thom's landmark total.

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And before Zach even says anything, we know about Erik Krapelian (sp?), Kit Salisbury, Wilbur Hicks, and others. They still didn't touch Thom's final total.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Dec 5 2004, 08:28 PM\']And before Zach even says anything, we know about Erik Krapelian (sp?), Kit Salisbury, Wilbur Hicks, and others. They still didn't touch Thom's final total.

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But Brandon.
Erik won $158,549 and was defeated by John Q. Public on the 6/31/82 episode!  How could you not care?

[wheelloon]

Oh yeah, im certain J! won't get knocked off the air because of this, and im pretty sure that in 2010, when it and WOF's contracts are up for renewal, they both will be along for the ride.

Im curious to what reactions will be like if a person comes along that wins about 9 or 10 games in the row... I can hear the newspapers now "THE NEXT KEN JENNINGS???"...HAH! But it will be fun to watch to see if anyone remotely approaches what Ken has done...

By the way, does anyone else think that WOF should have a similar no-limit rule? I think that if J! has it, there is no reason why Wheel shouldn't have it too...

Also, what exactly was Thom Mckee's final grand total on TTD?? I don't remember an exact number...

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'wheelloon\' date=\'Dec 6 2004, 01:26 PM\']Oh yeah, im certain J! won't get knocked off the air because of this, and im pretty sure that in 2010, when it and WOF's contracts are up for renewal, they both will be along for the ride.

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[/quote]When have WoF and J! ever been in the final year of their contracts?  I recall they always get extended every couple of years or so.  By this time in '06, King World will likely extend both shows to the 2011-12 season (at least).

Also, what exactly was Thom Mckee's final grand total on TTD?? I don't remember an exact number...

$312,700.

... Put down that Viagra espresso!! ...

Not going there.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'wheelloon\' date=\'Dec 6 2004, 01:26 PM\']By the way, does anyone else think that WOF should have a similar no-limit rule? I think that if J! has it, there is no reason why Wheel shouldn't have it too...[/quote]

Not at all. I wouldn't mind seeing returning champions, but I just don't see the drama in someone winning 74 consecutive games of Hangman. I honestly think Wheel's ratings would go down instead of up. Besides, some people actually thought J! was rigged because of Ken's streak...just think of what they'd say if someone won that many games of Wheel of Fortune. ;-)

Also, what exactly was Thom Mckee's final grand total on TTD?? I don't remember an exact number...

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EDIT: Jason beat me to it.

[Thad Dixon]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Dec 6 2004, 02:11 PM\'][quote name=\'wheelloon\' date=\'Dec 6 2004, 01:26 PM\']By the way, does anyone else think that WOF should have a similar no-limit rule? I think that if J! has it, there is no reason why Wheel shouldn't have it too...[/quote]

Not at all. I wouldn't mind seeing returning champions, but I just don't see the drama in someone winning 74 consecutive games of Hangman. I honestly think Wheel's ratings would go down instead of up. [/quote]

I STRONGLY disagree.  I think its ratings would go up, and they'd go up SO much that Wheel would clobber Entertainment Tonight in the ratings in every market where the two shows air opposite each other.  In fact, I think in that case, Wheel's ratings would surpass ET's to the point where Paramount would be forced to cancel ET after over two decades on the air at that point (even if that show had a contract similar to Wheel's in terms of how long it was supposed to run).

Besides, some people actually thought J! was rigged because of Ken's streak...just think of what they'd say if someone won that many games of Wheel of Fortune. ;-)

Yeah, right.....if you ask me, I'd say that'd be like saying the wheel on TPiR is rigged when every contestant that gets up on stage ends up winning at least $1,000 on that wheel.  Besides, in my house, I've been known (by my parents) to solve a LOT of Wheel puzzles before the contestants on TV, sometimes even solving them with only a few letters revealed; I'd say that kind of player would just make things more challenging for me as far as that goes.

[wheelloon]

I STRONGLY disagree. I think its ratings would go up, and they'd go up SO much that Wheel would clobber Entertainment Tonight in the ratings in every market where the two shows air opposite each other. In fact, I think in that case, Wheel's ratings would surpass ET's to the point where Paramount would be forced to cancel ET after over two decades on the air at that point (even if that show had a contract similar to Wheel's in terms of how long it was supposed to run).

I thought Wheel already was already beating ET's ratings anyway?? Even so, I do agree that I think its ratings would go up BIG TIME!!!!! Even if they only allowed people to come back for a maximum of only 3 or 5 days, it still would be neat to see people rack up that kind of money like they used to in the early 90's.

When have WoF and J! ever been in the final year of their contracts? I recall they always get extended every couple of years or so. By this time in '06, King World will likely extend both shows to the 2011-12 season (at least).

Wheel and J! are renewed through the 2010-2011 season with their markets I am certain of. I think that they have to sign contracts with Kingworld in 5 year increments or something (can anyone confirm this?). Oh, by the way, WOF and J! have never been in the final year of their contracts that I know of, since they entered syndication.

Besides, some people actually thought J! was rigged because of Ken's streak...just think of what they'd say if someone won that many games of Wheel of Fortune. ;-)

I see where you are coming from with that, it would definitely make some waves in Hollywood...  The only thing I'm suspicious of has to do with Ken's loss...  He lost on his 75 day, and at 2.5 million dollars, to a finance question, of all things!  We know Ken loves round numbers... could that be rigged?

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Thad Dixon\' date=\'Dec 6 2004, 01:58 PM\']In fact, I think in that case, Wheel's ratings would surpass ET's to the point where Paramount would be forced to cancel ET after over two decades on the air at that point (even if that show had a contract similar to Wheel's in terms of how long it was supposed to run).

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...and the three major networks would be SO impressed that they would ALL change to a COMMERCIAL-FREE ALL GAME-SHOW FORMAT, right?

Dude, pack me a bowl of that when yer done. That's clearly some good stuff.

[Jimmy Owen]

Why would WOF want to drive ET off the air?  They're both syndicated by units of Viacom.  Wouldn't it be better to have them co-exist peacefully while raking in the billions?

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Dec 6 2004, 02:11 PM\']I wouldn't mind seeing returning champions, but I just don't see the drama in someone winning 74 consecutive games of Hangman. I honestly think Wheel's ratings would go down instead of up.

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Exactly...

If you allowed contestants on "Wheel" to stay on for as long as they won and a Ken Jenning-esque contestant would begin a reign of terror, several things would probably happen which would cause ratings to slide:

1) Once this super-contestant starts winning, he or she will have such a feel for the wheel -- this would lead to a "Michael Larsen"-ish system in which they will will know what they have to do (as far as the right amount of ooomph on the spin) to hit the big wedges while avoiding the Bankrupts.  

2) It will be so predictable on what letters he/she will pick in the first few turns, that it will almost sound like the beginning of a cheer out of Russia or something (Give me a T...S...R...N...E...L...What's that spell???  TSRNEL!!!).

3) He/She will be so good, about 98% of the contestant pool would never have a chance to equal the spelling bee knowledge of he/she -- Wheel contestants only need to know how to spell "Wheel" in order to pass the first round of auditions...Jeopardy!'s contestants must have a good wealth of knowledge to begin with if they are to pass Audition Step 1 -- The Test.  

4) He/She's reign of terror would overshadow both Wheel's "1.5 Billion Colors of Light" and Vanna 's wardrobe -- two things Sony would never allow a contestant to upstage!!!

[fsk]

I don't think an extended winning streak is possible on WoF because of the luck factor involving the wheel.  (The rules forbid a controlled spin.)

Suppose you were so good that you could the solve the puzzle before a single letter was revealed.  What would your chance of winning be?  There's always the possibility that you could hit Bankrupt, and another player could go on a hot streak on their turn.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'fsk\' date=\'Dec 6 2004, 08:45 PM\']

Suppose you were so good that you could the solve the puzzle before a single letter was revealed.  What would your chance of winning be? 

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A player is allowed to solve a puzzle before they spin the wheel, no? I remember a contestant early in the syndie run who hadn't yet spun the wheel in that round(not a Speed Up round, but the puzzle ROCK AND ROLL STAR had some letters revealed) and solved the puzzle. Can a contestant solve the puzzle at the outset of the round before spinning the wheel?