Kenneth "Ken" Basin, an entertainment lawyer and Harvard Law graduate from Los Angeles, California, was the last contestant on the 10th Anniversary Special of the U.S. version of the show on August 23, 2009. He achieved the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first person in the U.S. to miss the $1,000,000 question, thus losing $475,000 and leaving with $25,000.
In 2003, Basin was a contestant on Jeopardy's College Championship that year. He went to the semifinals only to be eliminated there and took home a consolation prize of $5,000.
WWTBAM Run[]
Fastest Finger Question[]
| Fastest Finger Question | |
| Put these U.S. states in order of their total population, starting with the smallest. | |
| ⬥ A: Wyoming | ⬥ B: Delaware |
| ⬥ C: Pennsylvania | ⬥ D: North Carolina |
| Out of 10 contestants, 4 got it right, but Ken (with a time of 3.71 seconds) was the fastest to correctly answer A-B-D-C, making it into the Hot Seat. |
Ken's Run to the Million[]
| $100 (1 of 15) - 0:15 Time Limit Category: Selling It | |
| In a straightforward 2008 ad campaign, Michelob used the slogan "Crafting a Better" what? | |
| ⬥ A: Coffee | ⬥ B: Soda |
| ⬥ C: Beer | ⬥ D: Double chin |
| $200 (2 of 15) - 0:15 Time Limit Category: In The Shower | |
| Hair products known as "2-in-1s" are typically a combination of shampoo and what? | |
| ⬥ A: Toothpaste | ⬥ B: Conditioner |
| ⬥ C: Shaving cream | ⬥ D: Deodorant |
| $300 (3 of 15) - 0:15 Time Limit Category: It's Elemental | |
| On the periodic table, what is the only element that is named after a U.S. state? | |
| ⬥ A: Europium | ⬥ B: Neptunium |
| ⬥ C: Californium | ⬥ D: Einsteinium |
| $500 (4 of 15) - 0:15 Time Limit Category: Award Shows | |
| In 2009, what entertainment awards show announced that it was expanding its pool of "Best Picture" nominees from five films to ten? | |
| ⬥ A: Tonys | ⬥ B: Emmys |
| ⬥ C: Grammys | ⬥ D: Oscars |
| $1,000 (5 of 15) - 0:15 Time Limit Category: UPS | |
| To maintain its vast fleet of delivery vehicles, each year UPS uses thousands of gallons of what color paint? | |
| ⬥ A: Brown | ⬥ B: Blue |
| ⬥ C: Red | ⬥ D: Green |
| $2,000 (6 of 15) - 0:30 Time Limit Category: Phrase Origins | |
| Which of these expressions comes from golf and not baseball? | |
| ⬥ A: Right off the bat | ⬥ B: Par for the course |
| ⬥ C: Step up to the plate | ⬥ D: Out of left field |
| $4,000 (7 of 15) - 0:30 Time Limit Category: From the Swahili | |
| What popular game's name is derived from a Swahili word meaning "to build"? | |
| ⬥ A: Scrabble | ⬥ B: Jenga |
| ⬥ C: Boggle | ⬥ D: Dominoes |
| $8,000 (8 of 15) - 0:30 Time Limit Category: Grandmas | |
| What 2009 big screen comedy features Betty White as a wacky grandmother? | |
| ⬥ A: I Love You, Man | ⬥ B: The Proposal |
| ⬥ C: Paul Blart: Mall Cop | ⬥ D: The Hangover |
| $16,000 (9 of 15) - 0:30 Time Limit Category: A Talented Life | |
| Reflecting on a career that brought him worldwide fame, Garry Kasparov penned a 2007 book titled "How Life Imitates" what? | |
| ⬥ A: Cooking | ⬥ B: Tennis |
| ⬥ C: Chess | ⬥ D: Fashion |
| $25,000 (10 of 15) - 0:30 Time Limit Category: Spell It Out | |
| Which of these historical names can be spelled out by writing three U.S. state abbreviations in a row? | |
| ⬥ A: STALIN | ⬥ B: CAESAR |
| ⬥ C: GANDHI | ⬥ D: DARWIN |
| $50,000 (11 of 15) - 0:45 Time Limit Category: He's a Keeper | |
| Which member of the Obama Cabinet held the same job in George W. Bush's administration? | |
| ⬥ A: Robert Gates | ⬥ B: Ken Salazar |
| ⬥ C: Timothy Geithner | ⬥ D: Steven Chu |
| $100,000 (12 of 15) - 0:45 Time Limit Category: Listen Carefully | |
| In the 1984 movie "Gremlins," which of the following is not one of the three rules for taking care of the creature Mogwai? 'Double Dip' lifeline used | |
| ⬥ A: Don't get him wet | ⬥ B: Keep him out of bright light |
| ⬥ C: Never feed him after midnight | ⬥ D: Don't let him sleep too much |
| $250,000 (13 of 15) - 0:45 Time Limit Category: In the Middle | |
| If you want to take a vacation to the "Geographic Center of North America," you should pack up your car and drive to what U.S. state? | |
| ⬥ A: North Dakota | ⬥ B: Texas |
| ⬥ C: Colorado | ⬥ D: Wyoming |
Before Ken's 14th question, Regis talked with Nancy Christy, the first female million dollar winner. She gave Ken the following advice: "You know more than you think you do. Trust yourself."
| $500,000 (14 of 15) - 0:45 Time Limit Category: Making Headlines | |
| What film actress's death was reported on the front page of the debut issue of USA Today? 'Phone-a-Friend' and 'Ask the Expert' lifelines used | |
| ⬥ A: Audrey Hepburn | ⬥ B: Marlene Dietrich |
| ⬥ C: Grace Kelly | ⬥ D: Greta Garbo |
| Ken was not sure, so he decided to call his friend Jerome, who was only 35% sure it was Kelly, but narrowed it down to A or C. Then, Ken decided to ask the expert Bill Nye, who, through the process of elimination, came up with Hepburn. Risking $225,000, he decided to go against Bill Nye and with his friend Jerome, and won $500,000. |
| $1,000,000 (15 of 15) - 4:39 Time Limit Category: Bottoms Up! | |
| For ordering his favorite beverages on demand, LBJ had four buttons installed in the Oval Office labeled "coffee," "tea," "Coke" and what? 'Ask the Audience' lifeline used | |
| ⬥ A: Fresca | ⬥ B: V8 |
| ⬥ C: Yoo-hoo | ⬥ D: A&W |
| Ask the Audience Results: A: 15% ⬥ B: 12% ⬥ C: 40% ⬥ D: 33% | |
| Ken had a hunch, but decided to use his last lifeline, Ask the Audience, with Yoo-hoo being the most voted answer (40%). Ken also thought it was Yoo-hoo, and after pondering for a minute if he would regret more losing $475,000 than not winning an additional $500,000, Ken decided to go with his hunch Yoo-hoo with 1 minute, 12 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, his hunch turned out to be wrong, as the correct answer was A: Fresca.
Total Winnings: $25,000 |
Gallery[]
Ken on Jeopardy!
Trivia[]
- Ken's Phone-a-Friend was Jerome Vered, a 5-time Jeopardy! champion from 1992, and one of 3 finalists in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, including future Millionaire contestant and expert Ken Jennings and future Millionaire Plus One Brad Rutter, who went on to win the tournament and its $2 million top prize.
- Ken became the first and only contestant to correctly answer the $500,000 question on the Clock Format (and the first one to do so since Lyn Payne in 2007).
- Ken lost the biggest amount of money ($475,000) in U.S. history, and the only U.S. contestant to lose $475,000. Under the old money tree, he would've been the first to lose $468,000 and leave with $32,000, so he lost an additional $7,000, due to The Walt Disney Company, the production company behind the U.S. version of Millionaire, reducing the monetary values for questions 10, 11, and 12.
- Josina Reaves only lost $75,000 because she jumped her $250,000 and $500,000 questions, meaning she did not win those amounts.
- Before showing the $1,000,000 question, Regis thought Ken was the first ever contestant to have Ask the Audience for the final question. In reality, John Carpenter, David Goodman, Jim Matthews, David Stewart, and Bernie Cullen, Steve Perry, Moe Cain, Lyn Payne also had Ask the Audience for their final question, with only the first was unused. Although, the latter was only hosted by Meredith Vieira.
- Ken Basin is one of two major "horrible losses" to occur during the 10th Anniversary Celebration; the other is Ellen Gaines, who flunked out on her $1,000 question and left with absolutely nothing.
- Ken's featured girlfriend in the audience was Pam Mueller, the 2000 Jeopardy College Tournament Champion.
- He was the first and to date only contestant in the US version who has heard the million pound lose cue.
- Ken appeared as a contestant on the first pilot of a US version of The Chase for Fox in 2012.
Quotes[]
- Ken: In law school we would say that people who went to law school went there because they were risk-adverse and people who were risk loving went to business school. I went to law school. Maybe I should have gone to business school.
- Regis: Oh! I see! Yeah, it's getting more exciting by the second!
- Ken: I'm going to ask a favor. I'm going to ask the audience to start cheering in advance and just stop abruptly if I get it wrong because C, final answer! Give me a million dollars!
- Regis: No, it's not the final answer, you just lost a lot of money... It's Fresca! Fresca!
- Regis: Ken leaves with $25,000.
References[]
| Preceded by Jim Robinson |
U.S. Contestant (10th Anniversary Special) Ken Basin |
Succeeded by none |