Friends competing on Jeopardy?

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kprather895
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Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by kprather895 »

I had a curious thought. Say two friends both try out for Jeopardy and get selected. By not knowing of their friendship, the producers have put them together on the same show. Is there an S&P reason why these two friends should not be allowed to compete against one another? The same could be asked about family members and acquaintances who haven't met in some time.

If the producers would rather keep them separated just in case, what happens if they both qualify into the ToC? Is that an issue? By the time the ToC rolls around, I imagine a few of the contenders have formed friendships anyway just by virtue of them being on Jeopardy.

Does S&P have anything to say on the subject? Is there any precedent?
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by Caboom »

Well there's always a theoretical possibility of collusion/cooperation, so I assume the players would be put to different shows. Obviously in the TOC this is only possible in the qf and sf, so if for example a married couple both make their way to the final, I don't think the tptb can do anything to prevent that.

There was some discussion about this in the other thread about jboarders being on the same show, and I believe it was mentioned two people who knew each other were kept apart, so the second player only got on once the streak of the first player was over. Don't know if there is any other precedent that we know of.

It's a different matter if the producers only find out after the fact. I'm sure the players break at least one of the terms of their contract if they fail to notify the producers once they find out they know each other.
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schoe
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by schoe »

I think in my session, there were two players who found out that they had a friend in common, or that one was friends with the other's spouse, or something like that, and the producers made sure they were not in the same show. I don't know what would have happened if the first person went on and kept winning throughout the entire taping session... would they have booted the second person, and if so, would they have flown the second player back out when they recalled him/her? Ken Jennings writes in his book that his friend got the call but had to wait until Ken finished to play (and therefore ended up waiting a long long time), but it's a different situation when TPTB know in advance that two people have a connection so they just don't call the second person out to Sony Studios, versus when TPTB don't know in advance and the player has to take time off from work, pay for flights and hotels, etc., just to then get booted at the taping itself. (They boot LA-area alternates all the time, but again, it's different if someone had to fly in to appear...)

Maybe it's a rare enough situation that it doesn't come up much? How often would (i) two people who somehow unknowingly have a connection both be at the same taping, and then (ii) the person who goes up first keep winning enough to use up all the remaining taping slots (if we assume the first person goes on the first day, they'd have to win at least 5-10 shows to make it an issue)? Maybe that situation has never come up...?
kprather895
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by kprather895 »

I guess the time it's most likely to come up is if both make the ToC. They can try and schedule them apart as best they can, but they can't prevent both from making the final.

And shame on me, I didn't notice somebody made a thread on this topic just a couple days ago. Sorry about that.
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by goatman »

In his book KJ observed that at first tryout his buddy was separated into a diff game to isolate them, they tried out together and at the interview was asked, do any of you know each other?
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by hanzz »

I caught wind ahead of the taping for my college tournament that a friend I'd made at the National Geography Bee a few years earlier was also going to be on my same tournament. I let TPTB know ahead of time, hoping that wouldn't screw either of our chances up, and Maggie in her jovial manner was basically like, "Well, we won't have you guys play together, but if you make the final, oh well!"
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triviawayne
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by triviawayne »

My best guess is they would go with the simple solution; one of the friends plays on the first tape slot, the other is scheduled for the last. As we've found on another thread, only 5% of all players win three games, so the odds of that particular player winning three games while a friend is there waiting in the wings is much lower.

Since Maggie said "oh well" regarding this happening in a tournament, I'd bet for the same in this situation.

All that happens is a really small advantage of two players knowing each others weak areas. A...small...advantage.
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by AndyTheQuizzer »

paging Alex Jacob and/or Scott Blish...
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SweepingDeveloper
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by SweepingDeveloper »

Would this be more likely:

I'm a janitor. I go on Jeopardy. I win enough games to make it into the Tournament of Champions.
I clean up after a teacher who goes on the Teacher's Tournament. He wins.
We both meet in the Finals. Oh well!

It's a fantasy of mine not just being on the show, but being on the show against people I know. :mrgreen:
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MitchO
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by MitchO »

It reminds me of when my poker group goes down to Atlantic City, and end up playing at the same table. Once in a while, someone will voice concern that we all know each other, thinking we're going to gang up on them. I always tell them: "You don't understand, I'd *MUCH* rather take my friends' money than yours ..."
brick
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by brick »

schoe wrote: Ken Jennings writes in his book that his friend got the call but had to wait until Ken finished to play (and therefore ended up waiting a long long time)

Kind of a lucky break for the friend, really. I wonder how he did when he finally got on.
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dhkendall
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by dhkendall »

brick wrote:
schoe wrote: Ken Jennings writes in his book that his friend got the call but had to wait until Ken finished to play (and therefore ended up waiting a long long time)

Kind of a lucky break for the friend, really. I wonder how he did when he finally got on.
I wondered the same thing and sent an email to Ken after I read the book. He wrote back saying that his friend never applied again to be back on Jeopardy!
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brick
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Re: Friends competing on Jeopardy?

Post by brick »

dhkendall wrote:
brick wrote:
schoe wrote: Ken Jennings writes in his book that his friend got the call but had to wait until Ken finished to play (and therefore ended up waiting a long long time)

Kind of a lucky break for the friend, really. I wonder how he did when he finally got on.
I wondered the same thing and sent an email to Ken after I read the book. He wrote back saying that his friend never applied again to be back on Jeopardy!
Huh. Interesting. I guess if your pals with Ken you maybe throw in the towel with trying to impress anyone with your turn on Jeopardy. Kind of sad.
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