Arthur Chu Is Out of "Jeopardy"

Jeopardy Sign - CES09 (Photo credit: justin_levy)

In "Jeopardy"'s 50 years on TV, few contestants have been as controversial as Arthur Chu, who just completed a 12-day run on the quiz show with a grand total of $297,200. 

Chu is the actor and freelance voiceover artist from Ohio who just might have created the template for future players to win at "Jeopardy", even if it cheeses off longtime viewers.  His method was to seek the bottom of the "Jeopardy" board (where the most money is) to find the hidden "Daily Double", instead of the usual route of going category by category.  Oh, and it also helps to be quick on the signaling device and knowing the correct question to the answer.  By the time "Final Jeopardy" arrived, Chu was usually so far ahead of his opponents that it really didn't matter whether he answered correctly or not.

Chu came across to some viewers as this smug, condescending punk who ruined the game of "Jeopardy" as they knew it.  Not only is this a racist sentiment (Chu is of Asian descent), but it also teaches us that winners are not always nice people.  We've known that at least since the days of Vince Lombardi.

Chu's reign on the show lasted 12 days, which might have seemed longer because of breaks for special tournaments, until he finally met his Waterloo on the episode that aired March 12.  Trailing for much of the game, he missed on "Final Jeopardy"  in response to the answer of who was the last British monarch who wasn't Prince of Wales.  The correct response was:  Who was George VI?  A woman named Diana Peloquin of Ann Arbor, Michigan got that right.  Her reign as "Jeopardy" champ was brief, lasting only into the next episode.

Chu has nothing on Ken Jennings.  His run on "Jeopardy" back in 2004 netted $2.5 million over 74 consecutive appearances before losing on his 75th.  Jennings has since returned to the show a few times to compete in tournaments, including one in which he matched wits with an IBM computer named Watson.

"Jeopardy", which premiered on NBC in 1964, was created by talk show host Merv Griffin, who was also responsible for "Wheel of Fortune".  The current Alex Trebek-hosted syndicated version is now in its 30th season.

So, going forward, will other contestants follow Arthur Chu's lead and hop around the "Jeopardy" board to get as much money as they possibly can?  Or will the producers tinker with the format and make things tougher for those who try?  As long as the show doesn't resort to Chu competing against  Jennings or a computer, the answers to those can only be in the form of a question.