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These are our final answers

IT'S GEEK WEEK. AND WE MEAN THAT IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY: Our pop culture phenomenon of the moment is Ken Jennings, a software engineer and an editor of literature and mythology questions for the National Academic Quiz Tournament who lives in Utah and looks like the male version of a Stepford wife.

As of Wednesday, he had won 16 consecutive games on Jeopardy! and $512,959, adding to the show winnings record he set earlier in his run. Jennings' media appearances have included CBS's The Early Show, the Late Show With David Letterman and Fox Sports Net, which Wednesday used video of Jennings to compare him to the Devil Rays' 12-game winning streak.

This got us to wondering where Jennings fits in game-show trivia and history, and how much of his booty he'll actually end with to wisely invest or act out his "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" fantasy.

IN CONTEXT: Money won on game shows is taxed. So, for example, when all those people on Survivor yap about winning $1-million, they really should be yapping about winning half that. The new edition of TV Guide says that Survivor all-star Rupert Boneham, who won $1-million in a viewer vote last month, ended up with about $520,000 after the government took its cut.

TOP PREVIOUS REGULAR "JEOPARDY!" WINNERS . . .: Keeping in mind that the show recently doubled the value of questions and stopped limiting champions to five days of competition:

1. Tom Walsh $184,900

2. Brian Weikle $149,200

3. Arthur Gandolfi $137,300

4. Sean Ryan $123,797

5. Chris Miller $123,597

TOP WINNERS IN SYNDICATED GAME SHOW HISTORY:

1. Brad Rutter, Jeopardy! Million $ Masters and 2001 Tournament of Champions winner, $1,155,102.

2. Nancy Christy, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $1-million.

2. Kevin Smith, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $1-million.

4. Ken Jennings, Jeopardy!, $512,959.

TOP WINNERS IN NETWORK GAME SHOW HISTORY:

1. Kevin Olmstead, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $2.18-million during an escalating bonus contest (also first game show multimillionaire).

2. Ed Toutant, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $1.86-million.

3. Lt. David Legler, Twenty-One, $1.765-million.

4. Curtis Warren, Greed, $1.41-million.

5. John Carpenter, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, $1.125-million.

NETWORK TV'S FIRST QUIZ SHOW MILLIONAIRE: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's Carpenter, who appeared on the ABC show on Nov. 19, 1999, and May 24-25, 2000.

FIRST NETWORK MILLIONAIRE NOT ON A Q&A SHOW: Richard Hatch, Survivor: Borneo winner.

LONGEVITY LEGEND: In the late 1970s, Thom McKee won 43 consecutive games on Tic Tac Dough over nine weeks before losing. His $312,700 in cash and prizes was a syndication winnings record for one player that lasted until 2002.

THE ROAD TO NO. 1: On his comprehensive Web site TVgameshows.net, broadcasting professor and game-show guru Steve Beverly estimates that Jennings would have to win 66 games at his present pace to top Kevin Olmstead's record.

Sources: TVgameshows.net, www.jeopardy.com www.museum.tv, TV Guide, Associated Press.

- Sharon Fink can be reached at 727 893-8525 or fink@sptimes.com

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