Why we’re actually mad at ruthless ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant Arthur Chu

[jsr]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/02/27/why-were-actually-mad-at-jeopardy-villain-arthur-chu/

Why we’re actually mad at ruthless ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant Arthur Chu
By Caitlin Dewey
February 27 at 5:37 pm

The question isn’t why Arthur Chu brought his peculiar, buzzer-smacking brand of game play to “Jeopardy.” The question is why, in 50 long years of the show’s history, more people haven’t done the same.

Chu, if you haven’t heard of him, is the “Jeopardy” contestant nonchalantly bulldozing America’s collective nostalgic vision for how game shows should work, who cruised to his eighth straight victory on Thursday night. The insurance compliance technician from Ohio who is is also a “stand-up comedian, Shakespearean actor, improviser, tour guide, genius and, most importantly, voiceover artist,” according to his Web site — has used his renegade style to earn $238,200 in winnings to date. And it’s that style, not his success, that has inspired so much negative reaction.

Since time immemorial — read: at least September 1984, when the Alex Trebek-hosted daily syndicated version of the show launched — “Jeopardy” has almost always followed a simple pattern: Contestants pick a category; they progress through the category from top to bottom; they earn winnings when they, through their hard-earned and admirable knowledge, get the questions right.

Chu, who has turned 30 since the current episodes were taped, has flipped that protocol upside down … and shaken the change out of its pockets. For one thing, he sometimes plays to tie, not win, thereby guaranteeing he brings a lesser competitor to challenge him the next day. He skips around the board looking for Daily Doubles, gobbling them up before competitors find them, in the process monopolizing all the high-value questions.

[postulater]

1. Kobayashi Maru

Where no-one has gone before.

[postulater]

2. I'll take Captain Kirk for two bars of latinum.

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

3. Pressed latinum I assume?

[rhett o rick]

4. This whole fiasco is absurd. He gains no advantage to pick from bottom of the category

first. His "skipping around the board looking for Daily Doubles" isnt new and isnt some thing anyone couldnt do. The key to his success is that he answers the questions.

[Jim Lane]

7. The linked article makes a very good point about his supposed "new" technique.

As you note, it isn't new. The only difference is that, when it was done by other contestants, there were no social media available for people to exchange hype about it.

[rhett o rick]

8. Exactly. This is good for ratings. nm

[MADem]

5. I've been cheering that guy on. I hope he breaks the money record.

No one in my house is "mad" at him, we want him to keep going.

What he does is he goes for the high value questions first, before his opponents get a "feel" for the clicker. Good for him.

I don't think he's "ruthless," I think he's savvy. He seems like a good kid to me.

[LuvNewcastle]

6. I think he's amazing.

You don't see too many champions who are able to steamroll their competition time after time the way he does. He's got a very quick mind with encyclopedic knowledge. Sometimes I wish the other contestants were more competitive against him and the games were more suspenseful, but it's still a pleasure to see him play. I want him to win a lot, but I also want a lot of the other people to win some of that money. I make sure to tune in every day to see if anyone can best him, which I know is what the people at Jeopardy want.