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 became the first contestant in the history of the U.S. version of Millionaire to incorrectly answer the million-dollar question; he remained the only one to do so until Josina Reaves missed her million-dollar question on September 25, 2013.
- Ken lost the biggest amount of money ($475,000) in Millionaire history and is also 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 as the second safety net had been reduced to $25,000 in September 2004.
- Josina Reaves, however, only lost $75,000 because she jumped her $250,000 and $500,000 questions, meaning she did not win those amounts, which means Ken still holds the record for most money lost on the American version of Millionaire.
- Ken became the first and only contestant to correctly answer the $500,000 question on the Clock Format (and the first one overall since Lyn Payne in November 2007).
- After Ken's episode aired, he said in a personal blog that he should have used Ask the Audience for the $100,000 question instead of Double Dip. Had this occurred, Ken stated that he would have very likely saved Double Dip for the $1,000,000 question, and since he had ruled out B: V8 and D: A&W, he would have made A: Fresca his second choice, which would have won him $1,000,000.
- However, Ken also said he might have used the Double Dip on his $500,000 question instead of the $100,000 question (or $1,000,000 in this alternative outcome); had that happened, Ken would have most likely still missed the million-dollar question and left with $25,000.
- Ken stated in his blog that he does not regret answering his final question, stating in a quote that “being willing to take risks is what got me to the MDQ (Million Dollar Question) at all, so I can't say it was lunacy just because it didn't work for me every single time.”
- This viewpoint contrasts that of Josina Reaves, who said in an interview that she regretted answering her million-dollar question.
- Had Ken correctly answered his million-dollar question, he would have been the first contestant to win the top prize with Regis Philbin as host in nearly eight years, with Ed Toutant having last won the top prize in September 2001, and Ken would have instead been the last winner under Philbin's tenure. Since this did not occur, Toutant is officially the last contestant to win the top prize with Philbin as host.
- Ken is, however, the last contestant to reach the million-dollar question under Philbin's tenure as host.
- Coincidentally, Ken’s appearance on the show also marked the last time (as of November 2025) that the Fastest Finger round was used on the US version of Millionaire, and Ken is, to date, the last contestant to have made it to the Hot Seat after solving a Fastest Finger Question.
- 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, Bernie Cullen, Steve Perry, Moe Cain and Lyn Payne also had Ask the Audience for their final question, with John Carpenter being the only one not to use it. However, Lyn Payne's run was the only one from this group that was not hosted by Philbin, her run was hosted by Meredith Vieira.
- Ken's featured girlfriend in the audience was Pam Mueller, the 2000 Jeopardy College Tournament Champion.
- 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 is the first and to date only contestant in the US version who has heard the million dollar lose cue.
- Ken also 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 |