I think Brad v. Ken v. James (a matchup of the only 3 legitimate candidates for GOAT) is likely to happen relatively soon after the TOC, and doesn't necessitate or need to be watered-down by a super-tournament. Plus, no one wants to see most of the same players who were in the All-Star tournament again so soon.
Or maybe they could do a mini-tournament, with the winner receiving $1M. The tournament only features the semi-final and final rounds, thus the event only lasts a week. Contestants competing could include (I'm doing potential semifinal matches):
- James Holzhauer
- Ben Ingram
- Austin Rogers
- Brad Rutter
- Julia Collins
- Buzzy Cohen
- Ken Jennings
- Roger Craig
- Larissa Kelly
Consider the possibility of the finals coming down to Ken vs. Brad. vs. James. I can see James throwing off Ken & Brad with his Forrest bounce strategy and aggressive wagering on Daily Doubles (assuming he gets the correct response), and James becoming the first human opponent to defeat Brad Rutter.
leszekp wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:01 pm
My own biased suggestion:
All TOC winners, plus additional top players to fill out a 45-player field.
15 preliminary matches, broadcast in February sweeps. Winners go on to a standard 15-player tournament for May sweeps.
A suggestion I have in mind for this super-tournament is James receiving a bye to the finals (regardless of how he finishes the ToC), while Ken and Brad are automatic semifinalists. All other ToC winners/top players are those who made their original appearances after Ken's run.
I'd prefer 364 players, 5 single-elimination rounds, no byes, four-player first round, standard second round, standard quarterfinal, two-day total-point affair semifinals and a three-day totl-point affair final.
This thread has been inactive for almost a month, and the season premiere is tomorrow. My guess is the only change will be the opening title graphics. I suspect it'll be either similar to Seasons 34 and 35, and I think the contestant intros and winnings indicators will be the same as S34 & S35. The set is still the same, and I have a feeling the music package will also be the same.
We'll find out tomorrow. As far as the overall set and atmosphere of the show, I doubt anything will change aside from the opening graphics, as it does every season. In terms of gameplay, though, we could certainly see some more aggressive DD betting after King James introduced the world to his strategy. We may not get another $100K plus game for a very long time (if ever), but a lot more $50K paydays could certainly be in the realm of possibility now.
I predict ToC will be replaced with ToW (Tournament of Watsons). 15 Watsons, 3 rounds, $1,000,000 prize. We'll all be wowed by their impeccable buzzer timing and precise, optimal wagering.
kingskip wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:21 pm
What a shame. It’s definitely time for a new set. Maybe that will happen in November like it did in 1996 and 2002
It's already November (the ToC is airing), and at the end of October they already taped shows for January; I don't think anyone who attended a taping last month said there was a new set.
kingskip wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:21 pm
What a shame. It’s definitely time for a new set. Maybe that will happen in November like it did in 1996 and 2002
It's already November (the ToC is airing), and at the end of October they already taped shows for January; I don't think anyone who attended a taping last month said there was a new set.
I just don't see a new set until Alex leaves, on his own terms or otherwise. If he were to leave in the middle of a season, there may even be a temporary host to finish it out so the new set (with probable new music) will go with the new host, and viewers will feel less like someone stole Alex's job.
kingskip wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:21 pm
What a shame. It’s definitely time for a new set. Maybe that will happen in November like it did in 1996 and 2002
It's already November (the ToC is airing), and at the end of October they already taped shows for January; I don't think anyone who attended a taping last month said there was a new set.
I just don't see a new set until Alex leaves, on his own terms or otherwise. If he were to leave in the middle of a season, there may even be a temporary host to finish it out so the new set (with probable new music) will go with the new host at the beginning of the next new season, and viewers will feel less like someone stole Alex's job.
I just don't see a new set until Alex leaves, on his own terms or otherwise. If he were to leave in the middle of a season, there may even be a temporary host to finish it out so the new set (with probable new music) will go with the new host, and viewers will feel less like someone stole Alex's job.
We just saw a similar scenario play out in Season 37. Alex passed away in November 2020, with his last episodes airing the first week of January 2021. And then we had the rotation of guest hosts to finish off the season; Ken Jennings was the first guest host, and his run lasted for six weeks. Mike Richards was tapped to be the permanent host for Season 38, but his stint only lasted the first week of the season. Ken and Mayim Bialik split hosting duties for the rest of S38; and now they're the permanent co-hosts for this coming season.