Author Topic: Ken Jennings VS. The Rest of the World (Read 13571 times)

Sonic Whammy · « **on:** July 26, 2005, 10:09:43 PM »

Greetings to all. Brian Sapinski, Sonic Whammy, reporting on behalf of myself, Chuck Donegan and Robert Brown.

Today's pilot performance provided a very interesting show, and it had a lot of the elements that were discussed here before. Now... I don't know exactly how much I can say here, as I do want to follow the rules of the board.

For now, I'll discuss the general layout of things. If I'm allowed to talk about the format, tell me and I'll throw that in later (provided Chuck or someone else doesn't do it themselves).

SETUP:

Ken's desk is center stage, while the 5 players he faces are stage right, and they share a desk which is Match Game 98-esque (3 over 2, names in front, score readouts next to names). Host's podium stage left with the world map/category board. In back of the set behind Ken is a monitor (overhead projector) sporting the show's logo and any visual questions. Overall, the whole thing looks, as Michael Davies called it, like the vision of a drunken college student who is obsessed with international geography and the United Nations. Personally, we all agreed that the set, along with the logo, screamed "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?" to us. Not that we minded.

THE HOST:

Joe Wagner is his name. LA comedian, as has been said. Davies said he chose him for the same reason he chose Jimmy Kimmel 10 years ago for Win Ben Stein's Money: He made Michael laugh 'til his cheeks hurt. And he was very funny. I wonder if perhaps they shouldn't have let him make a joke after every question, but he was still good.

KEN:

Just what you would expect of him. Came out at the beginning in a wacky Japanese getup to welcome us all. He read a set of cue cards in Japanese - and very convincingly accented, too - as a power-suited lady translated what he said periodically. Even during the show, threw a couple of jokes back at Joe which the crowd enjoyed. In short, he hasn't lost a step at all, although I was surprised at a couple of questions he didn't know.

Overall, the whole thing looks very promising. So what do you think so far?

The Pyramids · « **Reply #1 on:** July 26, 2005, 10:30:15 PM »

[quote name=\'Sonic Whammy\' date=\'Jul 26 2005, 09:09 PM\']Greetings to all. Brian Sapinski, Sonic Whammy, reporting on behalf of myself, Chuck Donegan and Robert Brown.

T Overall, the whole thing looks very promising. So what do you think so far?

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I am going to watch it.

Don Howard · « **Reply #2 on:** July 26, 2005, 10:34:03 PM »

[quote name=\'PaulD\' date=\'Jul 26 2005, 09:30 PM\'][quote name=\'Sonic Whammy\' date=\'Jul 26 2005, 09:09 PM\']Greetings to all. Brian Sapinski, Sonic Whammy, reporting on behalf of myself, Chuck Donegan and Robert Brown.
T Overall, the whole thing looks very promising. So what do you think so far?

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I am going to watch it.

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Good to know. Anything else you'd like to add?

goongas · « **Reply #3 on:** July 26, 2005, 10:43:22 PM »

Any word on auditions or taping schedules?

Sonic Whammy · « **Reply #4 on:** July 26, 2005, 11:20:53 PM »

Well, so long as it's safe to talk about the game, I will.

(BTW, no exact word today on taping schedules. IIRC, they said during auditions that they wanted to do something around Sept/Oct, if that's any help.)

FORMAT:

This is, as I said, 5 players representing "the rest of the world" playing against Ken. The group has a common theme to them. Today, obviously, was "game show enthusiasts", but it can be anyone from (as the Playbill said) "Guys named Steve from Brooklyn" to "Ivy League college women in their third semester".

Round 1 starts with 6 categories, one for each of the 6 main continents. Each player in turn chooses one, and 3 1-point questions are played. Anytime a player buzzes in and gets it right, they get a point which is also added to the "World Bank" (more on that later). Ken also plays for points for his own bank. After all 6 categories are played, the two with the lowest scores are eliminated, but the "World Bank" does not decrease with their departure.

Round 2 is the same, expect there are 2 less categories for 2 less players. Questions are now worth 2 points. On the 4th category, Ken sits out, and 5 questions are asked instead of 3. The player with the highest score at the end of this round wins a prize, and earns the right to face Ken.

The final round now involves the "World Bank" and Ken's bank. Each of the banks are multiplied by $100. Ken's bank represents the amount he's playing for for a charity. The "World Bank" equals what the survivor is trying to win for EACH person in "the rest of the world". So if it's 20 points, that's $2000 for me, for you, for the 3rd guy, etc.

The player answers 13 questions (very odd #, I would've knocked that down one) in 60 seconds. Answers are displayed on the monitor, but not evaulated yet. After the minute, the other 4 contestants who were knocked out before get to confer and change one answer of the player's. (This makes sense since this person is playing for them, too.) Afterwards, those answers are covered as Ken comes back on stage and answers the same questions.

After Ken goes, answers are compared and scored simultaneously. High score wins the money in their bank. Interestingly enough, in case of a tie, EVERYONE wins!

Well, that's everything I have here. Feel free to comment more. I'll share as much as you want that I can remember.

chris319 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 27, 2005, 02:03:12 AM »

I see a glaring flaw in this concept. Let's see if y'all can think of what that flaw might be.

JasonA1 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 27, 2005, 02:17:17 AM »

Um...why is the "winner" playing for him and the four losers in the bonus, perhaps? All he gets above those he defeated is a (likely cheap) prize.

-Jason

Dbacksfan12 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 27, 2005, 04:34:53 AM »

[quote name=\'Sonic Whammy\' date=\'Jul 26 2005, 10:20 PM\']High score wins the money in their bank. Interestingly enough, in case of a tie, EVERYONE wins!
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Oh boy! Just like in Mrs. Smith's 3rd grade classroom playing Hangman!

BrandonFG · « **Reply #8 on:** July 27, 2005, 05:31:20 AM »

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jul 27 2005, 01:03 AM\']I see a glaring flaw in this concept. Let's see if y'all can think of what that flaw might be.

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I have two ideas:
-It seems possible that Ken could very well clean out every single question, and thus, the team is left to play for nothing. I'm sure it would be rare, but it's a thought. Although, I wonder if they'd do a house minimum like Wheel and J! do.

-What if, in round 1, only one or two contestants get on the board? What about the other 3? Will there be a tie-breaker to get someone on the board?

Other than that, there's 7 continents in the world, yet only 6 are represented on the show? Not that it makes too much difference, but I still find it interesting.

goongas · « **Reply #9 on:** July 27, 2005, 08:01:35 AM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Jul 27 2005, 04:31 AM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jul 27 2005, 01:03 AM\']I see a glaring flaw in this concept. Let's see if y'all can think of what that flaw might be.

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I have two ideas:
-It seems possible that Ken could very well clean out every single question, and thus, the team is left to play for nothing. I'm sure it would be rare, but it's a thought. Although, I wonder if they'd do a house minimum like Wheel and J! do.

-What if, in round 1, only one or two contestants get on the board? What about the other 3? Will there be a tie-breaker to get someone on the board?

Other than that, there's 7 continents in the world, yet only 6 are represented on the show? Not that it makes too much difference, but I still find it interesting.

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There used to be a slaughter rule to address your first concern, but they got rid of it. I don't know what the rule entailed though. I had the same concern as you, but he has to beat in five other players the first round, and during my mock game we beat him in enough.

There were tiebreakers at the end of each round of the runthrough I particpated in.

Kevin Prather · « **Reply #10 on:** July 27, 2005, 02:19:13 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Jul 27 2005, 02:31 AM\']Other than that, there's 7 continents in the world, yet only 6 are represented on the show? Not that it makes too much difference, but I still find it interesting.

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I don't think the residents of Antarctica will be too offended.

clemon79 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 27, 2005, 04:09:16 PM »

[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Jul 27 2005, 11:19 AM\']I don't think the residents of Antarctica will be too offended.
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"That...is totally condescencing."

Don Howard · « **Reply #12 on:** July 27, 2005, 04:26:37 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 27 2005, 03:09 PM\'][quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Jul 27 2005, 11:19 AM\']I don't think the residents of Antarctica will be too offended.
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"That...is totally condescencing."

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To make things worse, I've learned there will be no questions about cavemen or their history. But I did get some good news today about my car insurance.

chris319 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 27, 2005, 06:21:28 PM »

Quote

I had the same concern as you, but he has to beat in five other players the first round, and during my mock game we beat him in enough.

How difficult was the material in your run-thru?

If the material is too difficult, you're going to have a hard time finding contestants who can stand up to Ken (and who haven't already been on Jeopardy!). If the material is not difficult enough, you might as well be playing The Joker's Wild.

Neumms · « **Reply #14 on:** July 27, 2005, 06:24:52 PM »

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jul 27 2005, 01:03 AM\']I see a glaring flaw in this concept. Let's see if y'all can think of what that flaw might be.

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Or is the glaring flaw that the game play sounds ridiculously boring? (Unless it plays better than it reads, or the host and Ken really are as funny as Ben and Jimmy.)