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May 1, 2019 11:20 pm  #1


20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

Jeopardy whiz James Holtzhauer won his 20th game tonight. He went 5-for-5 in the Geography category as he steamrolled to another easy victory. Fifty-five more wins and he'll beat Ken Jennings.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/01/entertainment/jeopardy-james-holzhauer-trnd/index.html


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

May 2, 2019 12:28 am  #2


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

There is absolutely no reason to believe that his success is anything but honestly earned, but boy this sure sounds like a nifty plot idea for a movie about a scam/fix that someone perpetrated on a game show...

 

May 2, 2019 8:37 am  #3


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

This reminds me in some ways of the Michael Larson story. 

In case you never heard of him, he was an unemployed ice cream truck driver who spent months endlessly watching a terrible CBS game show called "Press Your Luck" in slo mo on his VCR in the 80s. He discovered the board had a pattern that - if you learned it - made it impossible to lose. 

He managed to get on the show and - despite one slip out of nervousness - wracked up more than $110,000 in one appearance. His game went on so long, they were forced to divide it into two shows. 

The producers were sure he was cheating and tried to deny him the money. But in the end, he did nothing illegal and he took home every penny. 

The show runners eventually figured out what he'd done and changed the rules - and the board. 

It was not a happy ending, however -  Larson blew all his winnings, wound up broke and involved in some shady dealings and ended up working as a Wal-Mart clerk before going on the run from the law, only to die several years later. 

It's quite an amazing story and if you've never seen it, the documentary below is a fascinating look at this very strange game show story. 


 

May 2, 2019 9:02 am  #4


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

i

betaylored wrote:

There is absolutely no reason to believe that his success is anything but honestly earned, but boy this sure sounds like a nifty plot idea for a movie about a scam/fix that someone perpetrated on a game show...

In 1994, the movie Quiz Show was released. It dealt with the 50's game show scandal in general. Specifically, the NBC show 21 and contestants Charles Van Doren and Herb Stempel. Stempel had a lengthy run on the show racking up sizeable winnings. Viewers became tired of him and ratings began to slip. The sponsor and network decided to leave answers for Van Doren in the isolation booth so he could defeat Stempel. It worked, but Stempel cried foul. Things went downhill from there. By 1959, the primetime game show was gone. To give you an idea, how popular these quiz shows were, I Love Lucy was the most watched series in five of it's six seasons in production. In 1955-56 it was beaten by the 64,000 Question.

 

May 2, 2019 9:24 am  #5


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

The creation or expansion of Network Standards and Practices departments was a direct result of the game show Twenty-One scandal...

 

May 2, 2019 10:11 am  #6


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

As pointed out of CNN this morning, Jeopardy is taped weeks in advance; so who knows what the situation is now.

 

May 2, 2019 3:41 pm  #7


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

Didn't know this when I originally posted in this thread, but it's coming back. 

Press Your Luck: Elizabeth Banks to Host ABC's Game Show Revival

 

May 2, 2019 4:00 pm  #8


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

Big Bucks!!!  No Whammies!!!

 

May 2, 2019 4:34 pm  #9


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

betaylored wrote:

There is absolutely no reason to believe that his success is anything but honestly earned, but boy this sure sounds like a nifty plot idea for a movie about a scam/fix that someone perpetrated on a game show...

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dbgff

 

May 2, 2019 8:04 pm  #10


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

Wow, that was a terrific documentary. I'd heard of this scam surrounding the U.K. version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," but I'd never seen it recounted in such amazing detail. Thanks for the link. 

 

May 2, 2019 8:09 pm  #11


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

Holzhauer is the real deal, and he has turned Jeopardy on its head with an almost unbeatable combination of skill (i.e. knowledge), celerity, and strategy. He is a professional gambler from Vegas and what is more amazing than how well he is doing, is why it took 35 or whatever years for someone to adopt his indisputably superior approach.

Last edited by milton (May 2, 2019 8:11 pm)

 

May 3, 2019 11:28 pm  #12


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

mace wrote:

i

betaylored wrote:

There is absolutely no reason to believe that his success is anything but honestly earned, but boy this sure sounds like a nifty plot idea for a movie about a scam/fix that someone perpetrated on a game show...

In 1994, the movie Quiz Show was released. It dealt with the 50's game show scandal in general. Specifically, the NBC show 21 and contestants Charles Van Doren and Herb Stempel. Stempel had a lengthy run on the show racking up sizeable winnings. Viewers became tired of him and ratings began to slip. The sponsor and network decided to leave answers for Van Doren in the isolation booth so he could defeat Stempel. It worked, but Stempel cried foul. Things went downhill from there. By 1959, the primetime game show was gone. To give you an idea, how popular these quiz shows were, I Love Lucy was the most watched series in five of it's six seasons in production. In 1955-56 it was beaten by the 64,000 Question.

 
Thanks mace. There's an excellent chance (pun possibly intended?) I read about this movie when it came out in the 90's, then forgot about its existence and the story behind it, which would be why the idea was so interesting to me...

And thanks Retaw, I'm going to go check out this other scandal on the Daily Motion site, I love things like this

Note to self: Google "Big Bucks!!! No Whammies!!!" ;)

 

May 4, 2019 7:13 am  #13


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

According to Allan Pergamen in the Buffalo News, Jeopardy's ratings on WIVB have improved significantly during Holtzhauer's run. The M/T/W episodes this week drew an 18.1 and two 17.3 shares. Normally, ch 4's ratings for the show are in the 9-10 range. We will have to wait at least a week to find out how long his run will last. There is a teacher's tournament next week.

 

May 4, 2019 11:49 am  #14


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
     Thread Starter
 

May 4, 2019 3:07 pm  #15


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

Dale Patterson wrote:

What amazes me is that rarely are the results leaked. It did happen in 2004, however.

https://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/9336360-why-no-one-has-leaked-jeopardy-spoilers-about-james-holzhauer-s-incredible-winning-streak/

Even if Holzhauer's run is spoiled, it won't hurt Jeopardy!'s ratings. He already has the media coverage and the single-game record-setting strategy. It's why I find "he's not Ken Jennings in ratings" articles to miss the point. You have to build the Ken Jennings benchmark in order to possibly surpass it - plus, it's not like Holzhauer's going to be banned from Tournament of Champions and/or "ultimate tournament" games unless he pulls a Barbara Lowe or a Jerry Slowik.

 

May 4, 2019 6:30 pm  #16


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

gloryosky wrote:

Dale Patterson wrote:

What amazes me is that rarely are the results leaked. It did happen in 2004, however.

https://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/9336360-why-no-one-has-leaked-jeopardy-spoilers-about-james-holzhauer-s-incredible-winning-streak/

Even if Holzhauer's run is spoiled, it won't hurt Jeopardy!'s ratings. He already has the media coverage and the single-game record-setting strategy. It's why I find "he's not Ken Jennings in ratings" articles to miss the point. You have to build the Ken Jennings benchmark in order to possibly surpass it - plus, it's not like Holzhauer's going to be banned from Tournament of Champions and/or "ultimate tournament" games unless he pulls a Barbara Lowe or a Jerry Slowik.

It will be interesting to see how Holtzhauer does against Jeopardy legends like Jennings and Brad Rutter or maybe even the computer, Watson. Remember when Jennings and Rutter played the computer? Watson won.

As a trivia buff, one of my long-time dreams has been to get on Jeopardy but I'd get slaughtered by these guys! Need to study my opera and Greek mythology more.


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
     Thread Starter
 

May 5, 2019 5:40 am  #17


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

Dale Patterson wrote:

As a trivia buff, one of my long-time dreams has been to get on Jeopardy but I'd get slaughtered by these guys! Need to study my opera and Greek mythology more.

Me too Dale. I also have blind spot with science, especially the elements, and (God help me) The Bible.

 

 

May 5, 2019 6:17 am  #18


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

The answer, in the form of a question:   

Who provides more glorious entertainment to SOWNY contestants than Frank Leo, Frank D'Angelo and AM 740 personality Frank Proctor? 

 

May 8, 2019 12:42 pm  #19


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

James Holtzhauer returns to his podium May 20th. He has had a major effect on Jeopardy's ratings. According to Neilsen, in the last three weeks, the game show's numbers have gone from 6.4 to 6.7 to 7.5. The last week [Apr 28] Jeopardy ended Judge Judy's run of 40 consecutive weeks as the most watched syndicated show.

 

May 10, 2019 9:46 am  #20


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

For those of you who are interested, Alex Trebeck will do an in depth interview with Jane Pauley on CBS Sunday Morning May 12th. I don't know when it is scheduled in the 9-10:30 time slot.

 

May 21, 2019 7:52 am  #21


Re: 20 in a row for Jeopardy's James Holtzhauer

The website Jeopardy Fan has calculated some statistics on James Holthauer's 22 wins. He has given 803 correct responses out of 830 attempts. He has correctly answered 49 out of 53 Daily Doubles and has only missed once on his 22 Final Jeopardy clues. That is an overall success rate of almost 97%. At this same point in his streak, Ken Jennings was at 94% overall, but had missed 6 Daily Doubles and 7 Final Jeopardy rounds.