It was bound to end sometime. It couldn't go on forever. No matter how magnificent, all good things must come to an end.
No, I'm not talking about MTV's \Laguna Beach,"" (which, and it bums me out, actually does end next week). I'm talking about the seemingly unstoppable run of ""Jeopardy!"" demi-god Ken Jennings, whose winning streak on the show finally came to an end this week but not before Utah's favorite computer geek racked up over $2.5 million in prize money.
This summer, around the time Jennings hit the $1 million mark, I wrote a column for my hometown newspaper and basically said he was a weirdo and I was sick of all the attention he was getting. Well, a couple months and another million haven't changed my opinion of this guy too much, but I will give him a little credit.
Just based on his appearance alone, you'd probably say that Jennings had the intimidation factor of a daffodil. But somehow, he managed to so thoroughly terrify his opponents that almost every competitor he faced was resigned to losing. You could see it in their faces. You could hear it in their voices. They just seemed afraid to buzz in, let alone answer a question in the presence of Jennings. For that, I give him props.
But it all changed Thursday afternoon when Jennings finally met his match. California real estate agent Nancy Zerg did the unthinkable and knocked off the champ.
Granted, Jennings probably beat himself more than Zerg beat him, missing a couple of Daily Doubles in addition to the Final ""Jeopardy!"" question.
With Jennings dethroned, the world can go back to normal. For one thing, I won't have to deal with people asking me to flip to ""Jeopardy!"" while I'm watching Pardon the Interruption at 4:30 to ""see if that 'Jeopardy!' guy is still on."" Alex Trebec can go back to being the smartest guy on the ""Jeopardy!"" set (albeit with the aid of his note cards) and most importantly, people can stop caring about ""Jeopardy!""
In his time on the show, Jennings didn't just win 74 straight games. He didn't just answer 2,700 questions. He also became a pop icon. He made ""Jeopardy!"" a show people willingly tuned into on a daily basis, instead of something you accidentally flip to when there isn't anything else on TV.
Somehow Jennings also became a transcendent figure. This guy was everywhere. Sure you would expect to see him on Entertainment Weekly or on VH1's endless string of pop culture commentary shows, but Jennings took being a game show winner to a new level. Despite having the charisma, he managed to get himself on the late night talk show circuit. Even SportsCenter highlighted his run. (Some people have a problem with this because ""Jeopardy!"" is not a sport. I would argue that neither is poker, but that doesn't keep ESPN billing fatsos like T.J. Cloutier or Greg ""Fossil Man"" Raymer as athletes).
If you ask me, it was a little unnecessary. Let's just let game show winners be game show winners. I don't need to see them being interviewed by David Letterman or Dan Patrick. With Jennings' streak finally finished, order can finally be restored and I can go back to watching PTI uninterrupted.
Joe is a sophomore planning to major in journalism. Email him at jphasler.wisc.edu.
