For all those who still think J! was rigged for KJ

[PYLdude]

Even though Ken Jennings has been off of Jeopardy! for a week, I'm still hearing from people that the show was rigged for him (or at least, that's what they think of the situation). Here's my theory.

-First of all, you couldn't get away with purposely rigging a show like that these days. Even though some have tried. Look at it this way...do these show producers want to be responsible for the official death of the game show genre as we know it (even though this is a little extreme)?

-Also remember this. Think about what happened when Barry & Enright were caught during the 1950s rigging scandals. In this case, King World has a LOT more to lose. Remember, in addition to Jeopardy!, they also control the highest rated game show (Wheel), two of the highest rated talkers (Oprah, Dr. Phil), and many other programs they have under their syndication wing. Sony's problems are about the same, as they have an interest in Wheel and a huge syndication ring (Seinfeld, etc.), and would most likely be forced to give it up if they were caught. But considering that King World is part of the vast Viacom media empire, I think that it's possible (though UNLIKELY) that the entire empire could come crashing down.

That's my theory. I will now take your criticisms and comments.

[dzinkin]

You will no more convince the "Ken cheated!" folks than you will convince those who think that John F. Kennedy was killed by the Mafia, that George W. Bush stole the presidency, that Bill Clinton ordered the murders of hundreds of people, or that the actions of television hosts at an East Lansing, Michigan PBS station are controlled by UFOs.  (Although, come to think of it... ;-)

Facts don't matter to conspiracy nuts.  You're trying to use reason to appeal to people who don't want to be reasonable -- a futile exercise.

[chris319]

The fact that game show rigging is a federal crime notwithstanding.

[DrBear]

Hmmm....Jeopardy starts with a J...as does Jennings' last name...and his first name Ken starts with a K, the last letter in Trebek...

Coincidence? I should say not!

[starcade]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' date=\'Dec 8 2004, 01:49 PM\']Even though Ken Jennings has been off of Jeopardy! for a week, I'm still hearing from people that the show was rigged for him (or at least, that's what they think of the situation). Here's my theory.

-First of all, you couldn't get away with purposely rigging a show like that these days. Even though some have tried. Look at it this way...do these show producers want to be responsible for the official death of the game show genre as we know it (even though this is a little extreme)?

-Also remember this. Think about what happened when Barry & Enright were caught during the 1950s rigging scandals. In this case, King World has a LOT more to lose. Remember, in addition to Jeopardy!, they also control the highest rated game show (Wheel), two of the highest rated talkers (Oprah, Dr. Phil), and many other programs they have under their syndication wing. Sony's problems are about the same, as they have an interest in Wheel and a huge syndication ring (Seinfeld, etc.), and would most likely be forced to give it up if they were caught. But considering that King World is part of the vast Viacom media empire, I think that it's possible (though UNLIKELY) that the entire empire could come crashing down.

That's my theory. I will now take your criticisms and comments.

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I do think Ken's wins were probably legit -- but the first part of this is flatly wrong.  You can most certainly rig anything you want to rig these days, and, in the days of a very pro-corporate FCC and big-time ironclad silence contracts on the parts of many of the participants, probably get away with it.

As for the second part, a big corporation needs to get and maintain interest.  The only real reasons I wouldn't put J! on this same threshhold is that J! has had a long run and a great reputation.  Newer shows, however, would not necessarily get that pass.  For example, I think the John Carpenter Millionaire win was manipulated, insofar as that SOMEONE was going to win the big prize around that time to trump Greed's team-millionaire win which aired about the same time.

But big corporations have an interest in manipulation of SOME products.  Look at the Tuck Rule Game for one example.

[chris319]

You can most certainly rig anything you want to rig these days

You can rig a show but the law hasn't changed; it's still a federal crime. I can do 100 mph on the Interstate but I face the prospect of paying the consequences. As they say, don't do the crime if you can't do the time.