Jennings and Rutter got it right, too. But when the dust settled at the end of Wednesday's competition, Jennings (with a total of $24,000) and Rutter (total of $21,600) were so many laps behind Watson's $77,147, it was as if they were running in the next race.
In Wednesday's final match, Watson competed - if you could call this walkover a competition - against Rutter and Jennings in a full game of "Jeopardy!" The winning Watson took home the $1 million grand prize. Actually, IBM donated it to two lucky charities.
Heading into its final night of stealing every scene on "Jeopardy!" Watson had pretty thoroughly whomped the two brainiacs.
After hitting both Daily Doubles on Tuesday's show - the middle of a three-episode competition arc for Watson - the IBM computer was leading with a commanding total of $35,734. Rutter's pot stood at $10,400. And Jennings had to be wishing he'd never agreed to participate in this man-vs.-machine February-sweep stunt, 'cause he was holding an embarrassingly low $4,800.
Jennings holds the show's record for winning the most consecutive games (74), and Rutter is known for earning the most money in "Jeopardy!" history. Watson was not impressed.
That is not to say Tuesday's edition of "Jeopardy!" was lacking in drama. Quite the contrary. When the second night of play got to the "Final Jeopardy!" category - "U.S. Cities" - the situation was thus:
Jennings looked a delicate shade of green on the left, with just $2,400 in his pot. Rutter, looking stricken on the right, had $5,400 to his credit. In the middle: Watson, looking smug, had amassed $36,681.
The "clue," as show host Alex Trebek read: "Its largest airport is named for a World War II hero. Its second largest for a World War II battle."
Jennings bet his entire kitty that the correct reply was "What is Chicago?" Rutter wagered $5,000 that the question was "What is Chicago?" Apparently Rutter planned to console himself with $400 if he got it wrong.
Both men were correct! That put them both . . . still hopelessly behind Watson.
Watson thought the question was: "What is Toronto?" On the other hand, Watson had wagered only $947.
"Oh, you sneak!" Trebek cooed.
Watson winked.
The $1 million prize is money well spent for the syndicated game show's producers. In its TV debut Monday, Watson handed "Jeopardy!" its best single-day rating in four years. The next night the show broke that record, clocking its biggest rating in nearly six years, according to preliminary stats from Nielsen Media Research.
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