MovieChat Forums > Jeopardy! (1984) Discussion > What a waste of time.

What a waste of time.


James obviously threw the game tonight. There is no way he didn't know that final Jeopardy. He didn't want to beat Ken Jennings for some weird reason, both in this tournament and in the regular game last year. He was so close to beating Jennings in winnings and he threw it then and then threw the game tonight. I wish I didn't watch.

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Appeared that way to me also. That and Jennings not betting anything in that very pivotal round? Looked rigged as hell.

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James just didn't seem to care much and the was always patting Jennings on the back throughout the tournament. James probably looked up to Jennings all these years and didn't want to embarrass someone he idolized. Not fair to your fans James. Now I am not so much a fan. You could have done it, but you didn't want to.

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I couldn't help but immediately think of this movie https://moviechat.org/tt0110932/Quiz-Show

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Of course. Great one.

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modica, that's just how I saw it but my husband says absolutely not, that James' competitive nature wouldn't permit him to intentionally lose to anyone for any reason.

Bottom line is we'll never know.

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That is true, but something was off with him. Just my impression though.

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I don’t think James threw the game. Ken adopted James’ strategy of betting everything on the daily doubles. Also, Brad got a lot of the daily doubles which stopped James from getting them. I think that helped Ken a lot.
For final Jeopardy if James got it right then he would have won. Otherwise Ken would win. There was no reason for Ken to wager anything. Brad did the same thing when he won Battle of the Decades.

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Well, James would have won tonight's match, but they would have needed one more night for either one of them to win the tournament.

That said, I didn't get the feeling that he threw the game, either. This sort of question is really a guess (unless you are some Shakespeare scholar), and Ken's guess just happened to be better.

I simply don't think James would have bet it all in the first place if he was just going to throw the game - he obviously wanted to win.

Kinda ironic how inconsequential Rutter turned out to be throughout the whole thing, though - I was happy when he was the one finding daily doubles because he never had any real money to wager.


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Wow you’re a complete moron. Shut up and stop crying that he lost. Ken outplayed in three of the four games and if Ken bet all his money he would of win even if James knew the answer. Get a life you sore loser.

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Wow, you are really nasty, aren't you? Didn't get enough bullying people in the playground? I just hope you don't have kids. We wouldn't want them to take after someone like you.

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No you’re here making up stuff and being a sore loser. Ken won get over it.

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You are just not a good person. I'm done with you. Bye.

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I never saw it so I have no idea if James threw the game or not but didn't they say throughout the series that Jennings answered more questions correctly?

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Sure seemed that way. I think they just wanted to wrap it up. I'm also not sure James wanted the attention and obligations that would come with being the all time winner.

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Yup makes sense they wanted to wrap the show putting up 15 million viewers and James didn’t want a million dollars. You’re a loser.

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I think you are on to something. I found it suspicious when Ken didn't risk any money in final Jeopardy and James risked all his money and answered incorrectly. James even seemed happy that Ken won and gave him a hug. I wonder what was exchanged between the two of them before the game; something like- James: "Ken I'll let you win tonight and risk all my money and answer incorrectly and you risk no money and even if you don't answer correctly, you will still win tonight." That's probably what went down but, it's baffling to me that James wanted Ken to win. It makes no sense to me at all....

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Complete moron absolute Scumbag. I hope James and Ken sue you for slander.

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I wasn't slandering them at all. I love both James and Ken; they are amazing players. I was just saying that the situation was a little bit suspicious. I honestly didn't mean to offend anyone.

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Yup, James just didn't seem like James through the whole thing. I think he thought of Ken as his idol and threw it. Even when James was on last year, he lost to some waif right before he was going to beat Ken in the amount of money won. I knew the final Jeopardy answer and the fact that James didn't is highly suspect.

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Congratulations go on Jeopardy and win then. Get James’s thing out your mouth.

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I am pretty sure Ken didn't bet any money at the end because he didn't feel strongly about the category. I think they both were purely guessing, James just bet everything on it because, well, he had to if he had any hope of winning the match.

Hugging is just good sportsmanship, what else are you gonna do under the circumstances... Did you really expect him to be standoffish?? I mean, especially a good, kind-hearted guy like James. But also, with the whole country watching.


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